Fabianism
Fabianism Fabianism describes a broad central tendency in English collectivist thinking about social policy which is essentially non-revolutionary, pragmatic, rational, with a belief in government intervention and the perfectibility of the
welfare state; it is strongly associated with the English tradition of empirical research. The Fabian Society, founded in 1884 by (among others) Sidney Webb and George Bernard Shaw, took its name from a Roman general whose motto was ‘slow but sure’. Avoiding both revolutionary
Marxism and Owenite
utopianism, the early Fabians embraced a programme of ‘municipal socialism’ and state control of the conditions of labour, to be achieved by the Labour Party with
trade-union backing. Political influence was mainly exerted indirectly through marshalling facts in policy-related publications and journalism. Nevertheless, in 1945 over half the members of parliament for the Labour Party were Fabians. Although always concerned with socialist ideals of equality, freedom, and fellowship, Fabian writings have ranged from Richard H. Tawney's
egalitarianism, in the 1920s, to the revisionism of Anthony Crosland in the 1950s. Fabianism, when wrongly bracketed with
social administration, is sometimes criticized as untheoretical, nationalistic, incremental, bureaucratic, and élitist, being addressed mainly to British politicians and civil servants rather than wider issues, grass-roots politics, and the common people. However this criticism seriously underrates the historical influence and continuing strength of the left-wing empirical tradition in the Fabian Society. See also
COLLECTIVISM;
SOCIALISM.
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War of words over MP.
Newspaper article from: Lothian News (Dalkeith, Scotland); 8/24/2007; 362 words
; ...to six. Mr Foy said: The Fabian Society, like Labour Party branches, had a single vote...cast for the East Lothian Labour Party candidate to be selected...undermine both the East Lothian Labour Party and myself?? it won't work...
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Discussing how society should be developed.
Newspaper article from: Shields Gazette (South Shields, England); 5/8/2008; 209 words
; ...right moment. In 1900, the Fabian Society joined with trade unions, co-ops and others to found the Labour Party. Fabian pamphlets in the early years...group is not a branch of the Fabian Society, but a self-governing body...have to be a member of the Labour ...
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Parties line up for May local elections.
Newspaper article from: Hartlepool Mail (Hartlepool, England); 4/7/2008; 700+ words
; ...area. In Hartlepool there are 15 Labour Party candidates, 11 Conservative, eight...candidates BRUS WARD Sheila Griffin Labour Party Jean McKenna Conservative Party BURN VALLEY WARD Allan Barclay Labour Party Sidney Thomas Ellerton UK Independence...
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LOCAL ELECTION RESULTS.
Newspaper article from: Worksop Guardian (Worksop, England); 5/5/2006; 468 words
; ...nine seats of a possible 16 leaving The Labour Party with just seven. The Labour losses follow...Conservative Party 787 Gary Moore The Labour Party 767 Turn out 33.9 per cent East Retford...Conservative Party 1,467 Vivien Thomas The Labour Party 551 Turn out 37.29 per cent East ...
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CAN ISRAEL'S LABOUR PARTY RETURN TO POWER?
Magazine article from: The Middle East; 3/1/1998; ; 700+ words
; ...division and animosity, could Israel's Labour Party seize the initiative? As Andrew Album...healthy lead in the opinion polls, Israeli Labour Party's new leader Ehud Barak is facing up...consistently overstated the popularity of the Labour party. The result has been frequent ...
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Just world; a Fabian manifesto.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 2/1/2006; 139 words
; ...outcome of the project on globalization launched in 2002 by the Fabian Society, the venerable British social democratic organization that still retains some influence in the Labour Party. Collectively, the 14 essays of the book argue for restructuring...
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Labour in the City: The Development of the Labour Party in Manchester, 1918-31.(Book review)
Magazine article from: The Historian; 12/22/2008; ; 493 words
; ...in the City: The Development of the Labour Party in Manchester, 1918-31. By Declan McHugh...This useful study analyzes how the Labour Party's attempt after 1918 to move from its...the working-class supporters of the Labour Party's early years. Declan McHugh explores...
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Television Policies of the Labour Party 1951-2001.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 5/1/2004; 199 words
; Television Policies of the Labour Party 1951 - 2001. Des Freedman. Frank...been a constant feature of the Labour Party during this period. He confines...television policies and asks if the Labour Party has had a coherent view and...
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Local elections 2008 ward results.
Newspaper article from: Hartlepool Mail (Hartlepool, England); 5/2/2008; 387 words
; ...election results: BRUS WARD Sheila Griffin Labour Party 715 elected Jean McKenna Conservative...Conservative Party 314 Allan Barclay Labour Party 271 Sidney Thomas Ellerton UK Independence...per cent DYKE HOUSE WARD Mary Fleet Labour Party 472 elected Alexander Stuart Wood Liberal...
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Foster under pressure over Labour Party donations row.
Newspaper article from: Hastings & St. Leonards Observer (St. Leonards-on-Sea, England); 11/28/2007; 258 words
; ...she was elected deputy leader of the Labour Party. Ms Harman is now under intense pressure...cash donations row which has sent the Labour Party reeling. Foster has so far said nothing...national press about donations which the Labour Party should not have accepted. In the Guardian...
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Glasgow, Ellen
Book article from: The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature
...American novelist, born in Richmond, Virginia. She was a woman of advanced views, a supporter of women's Suffrage, attracted by Fabianism . Her novels, which show the social and political conflicts of her native region, include Virginia (1913); Barren Ground...
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George Douglas Howard Cole
Book article from: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
...professorship from 1944 to 1957. For many years a leading exponent of guild socialism , he later returned to his original Fabianism, acting as chairman of the Fabian Society from 1939 to 1946 and becoming its president in 1952. His many books, mainly on...
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Tawney, Richard H.
Book article from: A Dictionary of Sociology
...x2013;1945 period. His classic texts on Equality (1920) and The Acquisitive Society (1931) exemplify the English tradition of Fabianism and ethical socialism . His best-known historical publications are probably Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926), Land...
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Herbert George Wells
Encyclopedia entry from: Encyclopedia of World Biography
...socialist group that included George Bernard Shaw and Sydney Webb, in 1903; after an unsuccessful attempt four years later to turn Fabianism to mass propaganda and political action, Wells resigned. The New Machiavelli (1911), a novel, was a response to his experience...
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