Why is socialism gaining so much traction and does it have any academic backing?

Im no economics expert but I did a bit of studying in school on the economics of socialist countries (the Chinese economy as a weird middle ground was very interesting) and I just remember always finding market inefficienices everywhwere. I’m very pro markets to the extent that I think the only time a government should intervene with fiscal policy is to adress negative externalities but I’ve seen my view turn from rare to nearly extinct among my peers.

Is there any real literature backing up benifits of socialism because at this point I must either be in a bubble hivemind or a lot of young people are going to flip blue and elect a socialist president in my lifetime