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Fabian Society
Fabian Society Established in 1884 by predominantly middle-class intellectuals to spread and apply socialist ideas to Britain through democratic and gradual, non-revolutionary means. Its name was derived from the Roman general Fabius Maximus Verrucosus, whose military successes in the second Punic War were the result of his preference for piecemeal skirmishes rather than an all-out battle against the Carthaginians (217 bc). The Fabians, who included Sidney and Beatrice Webb, George Bernard Shaw, and later Ramsay MacDonald and Clement Attlee, criticized the current order not so much as unjust, but as inefficient and wasteful. A bureaucratic elite should administer a centrally planned economy to eliminate the inefficiencies inherent in a liberal economic order, and thus avoid failures such as unemployment and poverty. Though generally attached to the Labour Party (it helped found its predecessor, the Labour Representation Committee, in 1900), it also had considerable influence on the Edwardian ‘new’ Liberal Party, for example in its claim that the state had a responsibility to create a minimal provision of social welfare to enable each individual to reach his or her highest potential. It continued to exist as a left-wing political pressure group throughout the twentieth century.
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JAN PALMOWSKI. "Fabian Society." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAN PALMOWSKI. "Fabian Society." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-FabianSociety.html JAN PALMOWSKI. "Fabian Society." A Dictionary of Contemporary World History. 2004. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O46-FabianSociety.html |
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Fabian Society
Fabian Society British socialist society. An outgrowth of the Fellowship of the New Life (founded 1883 under the influence of Thomas Davidson), the society was developed the following year by Frank Podmore and Edward Pease. George Bernard Shaw and Sidney Webb joined soon after this and became its outstanding exponents. The group achieved recognition with the publication of Fabian Essays (1889), with contributions by Shaw, Webb, Annie Besant, and Graham Wallas. The Fabians were opposed to the revolutionary theory of Marxism, holding that social reforms and socialistic "permeation" of existing political institutions would bring about the natural development of socialism. Repudiating the necessity of violent class struggle, they took little notice of trade unionism and other labor movements until Beatrice Potter (who later married Sidney Webb) joined the group. They subsequently helped create (1900) the unified Labour Representation Committee, which evolved into the Labour party. The Labour party adopted their main tenets, and the Fabian Society remains as an affiliated research and publicity agency.
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"Fabian Society." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Fabian Society." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-FabianSo.html "Fabian Society." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-FabianSo.html |
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Fabian Society
Fabian Society. The Society took its name from the Roman dictator Fabius, nicknamed ‘Cunctator’, or delayer. It was founded in January 1884 by a group of middle-class intellectuals to further ‘the reconstruction of Society in accordance with the highest moral principles’, but gradually. Its first pamphlet, or ‘Tract’, Why are the Many Poor?, made it plain that the highest principles were socialist ones. Shortly afterwards Sidney Webb and Bernard Shaw, its most famous members, joined. The latter penned some of its most brilliant tracts. The society's main importance thereafter was as an amazingly fecund womb of ideas for the infant and maturing Labour parties, not all of which were predictable. In 1900, for example, it came out in support of the British empire, on the grounds that it could be made into a gigantic welfare state, which seemed perverse to other socialists. When Labour came to power, however, the Fabians' willingness to engage with the realities around them was a definite boon. It survives: the most senior of all Britain's socialist organizations.
Bernard Porter |
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JOHN CANNON. "Fabian Society." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Fabian Society." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-FabianSociety.html JOHN CANNON. "Fabian Society." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-FabianSociety.html |
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Fabian Society
Fabian Society, a society founded in 1884 consisting of socialists who advocate a ‘Fabian’ policy, as opposed to immediate revolutionary action. One of its instigators was Thomas Davidson (1840–1900). The Fabians aimed to influence government and affect policy by permeation rather than by direct power. The first two Fabian tracts were Why are the Many Poor? (1884) by W. L. Phillips, a house painter and one of the few working-class members, and A Manifesto (1884) by G. B. Shaw, who also edited Fabian Essays in socialism (1889), with contributions by S. Webb, Sydney Olivier, and A. Besant. The society itself continued to attract a distinguished membership of politicians, intellectuals, artists, and writers, ranging from Keir Hardie, Ramsay Macdonald, and G. D. H. Cole to E. Carpenter, E. Nesbit, R. Brooke, and the painter Walter Crane. The society was named after Quintus Fabius Maximus (d. 203 bc), nicknamed Cunctator or ‘the Delayer’ (who became dictator after Hannibal's victory at Trasimene); hence the expression ‘Fabian tactics’.
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Fabian Society." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Fabian Society." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-FabianSociety.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Fabian Society." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-FabianSociety.html |
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Fabian Society
Fabian Society The Society took its name from the Roman dictator Fabius, nicknamed ‘Cunctator’, or delayer. It was founded in 1884 by a group of middle‐class intellectuals to further ‘the reconstruction of Society in accordance with the highest moral principles’, but gradually. Its first pamphlet, Why are the Many Poor?, made it plain that the highest principles were socialist. Shortly afterwards Sidney Webb and Bernard Shaw, its most famous members, joined. It survives, the most senior of all Britain's socialist organizations.
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Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "Fabian Society." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "Fabian Society." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-FabianSociety.html JOHN CANNON. "Fabian Society." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-FabianSociety.html |
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Fabian Society
Fabian Society British society of non-Marxists founded in 1883, who believed that socialism could be attained through gradual political change. With George Bernard Shaw and Sidney and Beatrice Webb as leaders, the society gained widespread recognition and helped found the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, which became the Labour Party in 1906. The Fabian Society is affiliated to the Labour Party and publishes a journal and pamphlets.
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"Fabian Society." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Fabian Society." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-FabianSociety.html "Fabian Society." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-FabianSociety.html |
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