ABSTRACT
’Socialism’ is one of the four founding principles of the Bangladeshi Constitution. However, the precise meaning of socialism within the larger politico-legal imagination of the state remains unclear, despite extensive debates about socialism in the Constituent Assembly. The Constitution provided ‘socialism’ with the task of attaining a ‘just and egalitarian society through the democratic process’. Despite the socialist-democratic goal, the Constitution failed to recognise economic and social rights as justiciable. On the other hand, the constitutional right to property is subject to restrictions or state interference. These contradictions show that the nation lacks any official policy of a robust redistribution of property, which is not conducive to socialism. This chapter first provides a Rawlsian theoretical foundation of socialism to better understand the Bangladeshi formulation of the concept. Second, it measures the constitutional practice of the last fifty years against this standard and demonstrates that the realisation of the socialist vision falls short of foundational aspirations. Finally, it tests a way forward to eliminating the chasm between the constitutional principle of socialism and its practice.
