FABIAN SOCIETY OF GREAT BRITAIN.   Term Paper ID:24993 Click to get this paper

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Paper Abstract: Founding, history, leadership, ideology, influence of socialist group. Paper Introduction: Of all modern political groups the Fabian Society of Great Britain may have remained truest to its name. Unlike all the Democratic, Socialist, Liberal, Labor, and Communist groups, the Fabian name referred to a strategy rather than to an ideology. The name was taken from the Roman general Fabius Cunctator whose fame rested on his skill at defeating superior forces by means of wily tactics, great patience, and the avoidance of full-scale confrontation. The Fabian Society, founded by Thomas Davidson in 1883, aimed at the introduction of a socialist state in Great Britain. Unlike many groups that advocated various forms of socialism, however, the Fabians rejected the idea of revolution in favor of gradual, evolutionary change in the existing political and economic structure. The Society experienced periods of low activity during more than a century of existence, Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. A. In the 199 s Fabian ideas continued to exert considerable influence.But the continual cry of analysts and politicians has been that, in manyrespects, Fabian ideas had not been adapted to a changed reality.Piachaud, in a Fabian pamphlet, has summed up this point of view. Thus, until 19 theFabians "limped on with wounded versions of their respective forms ofpermeation" (Bevir 195). The proof that a degree of social control couldwork, after the rigors of the Great Depression in which the Conservativeshad done little to alleviate the declining standard of living in Britain,led to a resurgence of interest in Labour and in Fabianism. In terms of democracy this meant that the Webbs, who viewed thefullest development of the individual as "filling, in the best possibleway, his humble function in the great social machine," were not interestedin absolute equality but in representation as a sufficient good in itselfwhich need not lead to total equality (Beilharz, Labour's 52). D. The Webbs deplored the waste inherent in suchuncoordinated activities and held that the improved consumption for whichHobson argued was impossible where competition encouraged the manipulationof consumers' choices to such a strong degree as in twentieth-centuryBritain. Cole,quoted in Cole 319). Unlike many groups that advocated various forms of socialism,however, the Fabians rejected the idea of revolution in favor of gradual,evolutionary change in the existing political and economic structure. He argues that by providing opportunitiesto develop human capabilities the inequities of various outcomes willlargely resolve themselves. Second, he holds that Fabianismadheres to an essentially static view of society that, in an increasinglydynamic world, has led to public policy postures based strictly on"planning and controls as a rational way forward" (2). Its members alsocontinue to be numbered among the active membership and leadership of theLabour Party. D. By 1918, when Labour reorganized itself as afull-fledged political party it was Sidney and Beatrice Webb who draftedthe party's program, in "Labour and the New Social Order." The programcommitted the party to a range of social control initiatives--includingfull employment, graduated taxation, various safeguards for workers, vastlyexpanded education and social services, and public ownership of industry.The connection established from the beginning between Labour and theFabians has varied in strength but it has never lapsed completely and hasbeen strongly renewed in recent years. SidneyWebb, for instance, drew heavily on Bentham's utilitarianism as well as onMarx's analysis of economics as the determinant of political conditions.For Webb, therefore, the maximum happiness of the greatest number could"only be attained by means of the communal use of the resources ofproduction" (Cole 28). H. H. Cole notes that the national management of the war resulted in "whatwas in effect partial nationalisation, centralised control administered bynon-profit-making servants of the community," many of whom were FabianSociety members (275). This meantthat, in 1929, a Labour government was incapable of taking very many stepthat would even approximate an answer to staggering unemployment. In Blair's view, theLabour Party's initiative in establishing a "bold and radical identity" forlabor consists in formulating a vision of change in which the Party is thepolitical alternative that upholds the interests of the individual againstthe vested interests for whom the Tories work ("Battle" 3). But Hobson also saw the market ashaving an essentially cooperative, as opposed to entirely competitive,aspect and urged greater accommodation of market on the grounds that insome circumstances, under the right conditions, the market did generateincentives of a type that would "secure efficient production and transmitthe right kind of signals to ensure that what was produced efficiently waswhat was wanted" (Thompson 21 ). In Webb's view the goal of the Society was to forward socialism byinfluencing those members of the Liberal Party, or any party, inclined tolisten and modify their positions toward a socialist perspective. 1, 3.---. The decline of the Society was reversed in the 194 s, however,largely due to the absence of any opposition to the Conservatives exceptfor the newly reorganized Labour Party and to the unusual conditions ofwar. The Webbs' views came to predominate among Fabians. Third, Piachaudbelieves that Fabians proceed from the general assumption that they knowbest and tend, therefore, to promote policies that condescend to do thingsfor people. But the nature of British socialism inthe 199 s has clearly changed as the voter-approved Conservative demandsfor the rights of individuals (often merely a disguise for free marketimperatives) and the realities of the market itself have had to beaccommodated. This approach to Fabian ideas is clearly a carefully designed,politically realistic approach to the challenge inherent in the long reignof the Tories in the 198 s and 199 s. But, in a society "with power and decision-making diffused to different centres, big changes" should be made throughdebate and agreement based on the acknowledgment of common interests(Morris). The precise nature of these controls is seldomelucidated by Labour politicians, perhaps because they could not foreseewhat the public would stand for. Thus, while Piachaud's analysisdeals at length with Fabian concerns such as redistribution, consumption,and the role of the state in social welfare and economic policy,politicians such as Tony Blair, who recently led the Labour Party in itslandslide return to power, put the reworked Fabian message in more slogan-like terms--looking "afresh" at Fabian ideas as G. This belief in the inevitability of socialism meantthat the Fabians lacked some of the sense of urgency that motivated manyother socialist groups. Employing tactics based on gradualism, permeation of the existingstructure, education, its low-key relationship with the Labour Party, andthe general promotion of ideas, the Fabian Society has influencedpoliticians, social thinkers, and the general fund of ideas to an extentthat sometimes escapes notice. Cole remarked, the advance of socialism was seen "interms mainly not of power alone, but of power animated by rationalconviction, and inspired by the ethical impulse to achieve social justice"(quoted in Cole 33). D. In 19 , with the formation of the LabourRepresentation Committee, which became the Labour Party in 19 6, the Webbsjoined with other Fabians in creating a political vehicle for gradualsocialism that was to be the most effective means of promoting socialism intwentieth-century Britain. Labour's Utopias: Bolshevism, Fabianism, Social Democracy. Thus Sidney Webb's notion of Fabianaction "began with the idea of Fabian experts showing politicians whatpolicies were necessary for an efficient society" and this is the approachtaken even today by the Society (Bevir 184). The notion of gradual socialism was particularly appealingto politicians in a time when the possibility of voter approval of anincreasingly socialized state presented itself. The Webbs, Shaw, and others were,however, deeply suspicious of the market which inevitably produced anarchybecause it was the site of "atomistic decision-making [which] proceeded onthe basis of relative or total ignorance and waste was the inevitableconsequence" (Thompson 2 5). Though,he allows, it is the "incompetence and self-serving greed, disregard forthe victims of their actions, [and] deception and lying" of theConservative Party that brought about the decline of British society andthe British economy, some of the blame must also be laid on traditionalFabianism (2). Thegradualism of the Fabians was ill-suited to the political moment in which arapid response to the problem of unemployment and a clear promise of atransformation of the economy was needed and Labour was soon replaced. As G. But the influence of theSociety has long been developed through a deliberate policy of "permeation"and education developed primarily by the Webbs, who were among the mostinfluential of the early Fabians. Works CitedBeilharz, Peter. "Crossroads for Labour." Fabian Review Jan.-Feb. Another prominent characteristic of the Fabians has been theiroptimism. Of all modern political groups the Fabian Society of Great Britainmay have remained truest to its name. Fabian Pamphlet 558. In theirconception the ideal socialist society was one in which the division oflabor was developed to its highest possible point. The Fabian Society, founded by ThomasDavidson in 1883, aimed at the introduction of a socialist state in GreatBritain. This supportof the individual is accomplished by "using the power of the community toachieve what people are unable to achieve on their own" (Blair, "Pride" 5). "Hobson and the Fabians: Two Roads to Socialism in the 192 s." History of Political Economy 26 (1994): 2 3-2 . In short, "they did not identify the 'useful' class with thosefunctions classified by Marxism as real, because productive labour" butimagined a multi-class society in which each individual had a function tofill that was at the service of society as a whole (Beilharz, "Fabianism"141). In order tobring about such changes it is not necessary to achieve full-scalenationalization of industry. But, taken as awhole century's worth of policy direction, these characteristics can fairlybe said to represent a general Fabian position. But the Societyhas always been remarkable for its tolerance of a variety of opinions andits avoidance of dogmatism. They also, as Fabian Society representatives, serve in theParliamentary Labour Party, a branch of the Party's federal structure whichis represented by delegates to the annual party conference and has someformal authority in policy-setting for the Party. Margaret Cole has described the principal characteristics of theFabian Society. The Webbs' rejection of this over-interest in the proletariat put anend to the hopes that the Independent Labour Party would turn out to be thepolitical vehicle for the Fabians. London: Routledge, 1992.Bevir, Mark. In some respects thefailure of that government can be blamed on the dominance of Fabian ideasin the Labour Party. As a result of adopting the Fabians' notion that the market wasirremediably flawed the Labour Party was left with little room in which tomaneuver. Throughout thefollowing decades the influence of Fabianism remained high within theLabour Party. In this way the controls over capital flows and investment canbe adjusted to the "right mix of incentive and control" to ensure that ahighly productive British industrial sector becomes the goal of the wholesociety (Morris 5). The name was taken from theRoman general Fabius Cunctator whose fame rested on his skill at defeatingsuperior forces by means of wily tactics, great patience, and the avoidanceof full-scale confrontation. TheSociety experienced periods of low activity during more than a century ofexistence, but has revived several times. Yet lingering problems of Fabian-style social control continue toplague those who argue for this new socialism. At its highest point,immediately following World War II, the Society claimed only a little morethan 8, members. Hobson, was based on the attitudeof the most prominent Fabians toward the market. They rejected the parasitism of the non-productiveclasses (of which they were themselves members) unless individual membersof the class were engaged in work for the good of the society. Thus the Society largely avoided direct political action, though itwas instrumental in the formation of the Labour Party. "A Battle We Must Win." Fabian Review Sept.-Oct. . As G. They rejected the notion of incipient proletarianrevolution and held that, as Sidney Webb put it, their democratic idealsmeant that their ideas were "prepared for in the minds of all" and that,because it was to arrive gradually, socialism would "cause no dislocation,however rapid may be the rate of progress" (quoted in Cole 29). Thus, a final characteristic of the Fabians wastheir gradualism. Generally this assured belief in their own opinions has ledFabians to promote policies based on their "concern about outcomes ratherthan people's capabilities" (3). In Piachaud's analysis the traits of Fabianism that hedeplores have a rigidity that many Fabians might see as an inference ofdogmatism, which they have always struggled to avoid. D. 1, 3.Piachaud, David. They could not implement policies, either monetarist or fiscal,that depended on the expansionist mode of "increasing purchasing power andallowing its subsequent salutary effects to be transmitted to the economyas a whole through the medium of the market" (Thompson 214). 1993, pp. H. First, he argues that "theassumption that state action was preferable to either family, community, ormarket activity" has led to "virtually ignoring the personalresponsibilities of individuals" (2). Though some Fabians, such as GeorgeBernard Shaw and Annie Besant, placed the concerns of the workers first,Sidney and Beatrice Webb rejected Marx's notion that the proletariat wasthe only class whose interests were identical with those of an equitablyorganized society. What's Wrong With Fabianism? In the 188 s and 189 sinfluential Fabians such a Shaw and Besant worked assiduously in favor ofthe formation of a socialist party as an alternative to the Liberal andConservative parties. As Bevir has shown, the great majority of theFabians "far from hoping to foist socialist policies on a recalcitrantLiberal party, typically wanted a new party through which socialists andRadicals would advance the interests of the workers" (185). Cole, himself the most Marxist ofthe major Fabian thinkers, noted, the Society sought diversity of opinion.It attracted "those for whom democratic Socialism is not a creed alreadyworked out in full . It is all very well to'teach a man to fish,' as Piachaud notes, but when he has no job--andLabour policies on control of capital and reinvigoration of Britishindustry are tentative at best--the knowledge may not help him. In responding to both the Fabian tendency toconcentrate on the social organism and the Conservatives' radical emphasison individual responsibility, Blair held that the new Labour Party'ssocialism adhered to "the basic principle from which the Left builds" anddefined this principle as the "belief that we are members of a communityand society as well as individuals alone and a conviction that it is, inpart at least, through acting together, collectively, that individualfreedom and aspiration are advanced" ("Battle" 3). Thompson has shown that the rejection of the liberalstrain in Fabianism, represented by J. 5.Cole, Margaret. Second, the main trend in Fabian thought wasdemocratic and parted from Marx's analysis of class conflict and itsinevitable production of a revolution. Thedevelopment of this permeation approach was not, however, the onlyalternative the Society could have chosen. "Fabianism, Permeation and Independent Labour." Historical Journal 39 (1996): 179-96.Blair, Tony. . 1993, pp. In the 193 s the Society reached its low point following the brieflife of the Labour coalition government of 1929. H. Cole had suggestedFabians should do. London: Fabian Society, 1993.Thompson, Noel. First, it was highly eclectic in its sources. The Story of Fabian Socialism. "Fabianism and Marxism: Sociology and Political Economy." Australian Journal of Political Science 27 (1992): 137-42.---. In Hobson's fairlyliberal approach the collective ownership of the means of production andthe "conscious social control of economic activity" had to replace themarket-driven economy (Thompson 213). But its influence on political thought in GreatBritain has frequently been far greater than its small size might indicate. Unlike all the Democratic,Socialist, Liberal, Labor, and Communist groups, the Fabian name referredto a strategy rather than to an ideology. The need for themanagement of the various specialized types of work within the society,including those in government, and the need to coordinate and manage notjust the specialized functions but the nationalized collective entities aswell resulted in the Webbs' "proclivity to read politics as administration"(Beilharz, "Fabianism" 144). The somewhat elusive nature of state intervention in Blair's approachis clarified by Morris who holds, as the Webbs had long before, that theindustrial base had to be strong in order for the economy to flourish."Intervention," he says, "must not be allowed to become a dirty word withinthe Labour Party" because, especially after many years of Conservativerule, the industrial base of Great Britain has been so seriously underminedby the switch of British capital to investment abroad that local industrycannot be revived without government initiative (Morris 5). "Pride Without Prejudice." Fabian Review May-June 1994, p. It is true that this particular formof state control may run counter to the present needs of the nation, butwithout an adequate industrial base--or a population educated to thedemands of a postindustrial information society--much of the new owner-occupied housing may well wind up in the hands of the rentier class whichhas been restimulated by the Thatcher-Major years. But, at the same time, the Webbs tiredof getting through only slowly to the Liberals they lobbied, while Shaw andothers failed to get Fabians elected to Parliament. As Piachaud points out, itwas the Labour-controlled local authorities who were most frequentlyopposed to surrendering government-owned housing to those who wished tobecome owner-occupiers, even though "housing tenure has become a principalsocial divider in society" and there were many who were willing toeliminate this barrier if housing was made available for purchase (15).Perhaps the local authorities clung to this remnant of Fabian-inspiredsocial control because they had yet to see what alternatives to the oldsystem the Labour Party has to offer. Their approach to political strategy wasbased, in part, on their notion that society was proceeding inevitablytoward socialism and that it was only necessary to get the leaders of thecommunity to recognize this inevitability to bring about at least thebeginnings of a socialist state. And the Society devoteditself primarily to the endless production of the pamphlets and otherpublications that kept Fabian ideas before the public and gave Fabianthinkers room in which to develop. but rather a developing and highly adaptablecorpus of social doctrine that needs to be continually thought out afreshas situations change" and theories are tested in practice (G. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1961.Morris, Bill. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.