Question

What are some examples of utopian socialism in action throughout history, other than New Lanark? How do they still influence society today?

Answer 1

The British revolution was characterized by the fast growth of machine manufacturing, which influenced the relations of manufacturing in the sense that autonomous manufacturers were substituted by hired employees, working under the control in more or less large businesses and for the advantage of capitalists. This shift in the relationships of manufacturing brought much serious and lasting pain to Britain's working population. The so-called enclosures, which accompanied the shift from small to large-scale farming, worsened its damaging outcomes.

Some investigators think that Owen’s influence brought no advantage to the British labour movement. He was the true father of the British cooperative movement. There was absolutely nothing utopian about his demand for factory legislation. Nor was there anything utopian about his suggestions on the need to provide at least elementary schooling for the children and young persons working in the factories. In turning his back on politics and condemning the class struggle, he was of course very much in error. It is remarkable, though, that the workers who were attracted by his message were able to correct his mistakes. In assimilating Owen’s cooperative and, to some extent, communist ideas, the workers simultaneously took an active part in the political movement of the British proletariat at that time.

The chief point in Owen’s philosophy was that man’s character was formed by circumstances over which he had no control. For this reason, man was not a proper subject of either praise or blame. These convictions led him to the conclusion that the great secret in the right formation of man’s character was to place him under the proper influences from his earliest years. The nonresponsibility of man and the effect of early influences were the hallmark of Owen’s entire system of education and social amelioration.

At first glance, the peaceful feelings of the majority of the French utopian socialists seem strange in a country where the storm of the Great Revolution had raged not long before and where, it would seem, advanced people should have held revolutionary tradition particularly dear. But it becomes apparent on closer examination that it was exactly the recollection of the latest revolution that predisposed sophisticated ideologists, such as Considérant, to seek measures that could put an end to the class struggle. A psychological response to the revolutionary passions of 1793 was their peaceful feelings. The vast majority of French utopian socialists were afraid of thinking

Whereas Saint-Simon insisted on measures which would put an end to revolution and the majority of the French socialists quite agreed with him on this, the minority, under the influence of Babouvism, fully shared the view of the ‘Equals’ that the revolution had as yet not been completed, since the rich had seized all the good things of life. Therein lies the cardinal difference between the two trends of French utopian socialism: one aimed to put an end to the revolution, the other wished to continue it.