ENGLISH

Citizens and Saints: Politics and Anti-Politics in Early British Socialism

By Gregory Claeys

Book information

Year
2002
ISBN
0521892767, 9780521892766, 0521364906, 9780521364904, 9780511521324
LCC
HX242 .C57 1989
Open Library ID
OL2058099M
Language
english
Format
DJVU
Filesize
2 MB (2585908 bytes)
Pages
380\378
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

Citizens and Saints is a comprehensive study of the profound rupture in the language of reform and revolution which occurred with the rise of socialism. Focusing upon British Owenite socialism, Professor Claeys argues that two schools of political thinking emerged from the 'social' critique of contemporary political radicalism. One, largely identified with Owenite perfectibilism, aimed to transcend existing forms of democracy and to establish more harmonious, less divisive forms of rule. The other, apparently more democratic, aimed to extend popular control of political institutions to economic organisations. Both were sceptical of the 'political' analyses of socioeconomic deprivation proferred by existing radicalism. Such scepticism was to prove crucial to both liberal and socialist political thought, and Professor Claeys shows that such perennial questions as the intrinsically democratic (or otherwise) nature of Marxist socialism can only be understood by reference to the political and intellectual circumstances in which early socialist ideas emerged.

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