Bernstein, Eduard (1850-1932)

German socialist thinker, journalist, and politician. He propounded a reformist as opposed to a revolutionary socialism, notably in his Die Voraussetzung des Sozialismus/The Preconditions of Socialism (1899). He contested the ‘immiseration’ thesis of classical Marxism, and argued that the gradual improvement in working-class living standards in a modern capitalist economy demanded a revision of traditional socialist methods. As a member of the Reichstag (German parliament) 1902-06, 1912-18, and 1920-28 he played a leading role in converting his party to a reformist strategy.