Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a British socialist organization founded in 1884 in London, aiming to establish a democratic socialist state. Its name is inspired by the Roman general Fabius Cunctator, who was known for his strategic patience. The society promotes democratic socialism, advocating for social ownership of enterprises while maintaining democratic governance. Key figures in its history include playwright George Bernard Shaw and social reformers Sidney and Beatrice Webb, who played significant roles in shaping its ideology and publications, notably "The Fabian Essays in Socialism."
Although not a large organization, the Fabian Society has had a significant influence on the Labour Party, providing a platform for social reforms that have led to initiatives like the National Health Service. It operates as a think tank, facilitating discussions on social justice through lectures, conferences, and various publications. The society continues to engage with contemporary issues, focusing on equality, poverty, and the impact of Brexit while nurturing a culture of debate among its members. In the mid-2020s, it maintained a focus on anti-poverty initiatives and research into social issues.
Fabian Society
The Fabian Society is a socialist society in Great Britain. It was founded in London in 1884 to create a democratic socialist state. The society is named for Fabius Cunctator, a Roman general known for waiting for the right moment to attack. Democratic socialism is the political ideology that favors democracy in politics and the social ownership of enterprises.
The group operated under the leadership of George Bernard Shaw and Sidney and Beatrice Webb for many years. Shaw edited the society's Fabian Essays in Socialism, which was published in 1889. Membership has long been popular among members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the Labour Party. A number of social reforms, including the National Health Service, originated within the Fabian Society.
Although it is not a large organization, the Fabian Society has spawned numerous local chapters and, in the mid-2020s, claimed nearly seven thousand members. The organization describes itself as the oldest political think tank in Britain. It works to further its mission through a variety of activities. The organization holds public events such as lectures and conferences. It also publishes numerous books, pamphlets, and periodicals.
Background
The Fabian Society developed from another socialist movement, the Fellowship of the New Life. Scottish philosopher Thomas Davidson founded the fellowship in 1883. Its platform included pushing for a number of changes on moral and social grounds. These changes included an eight-hour workday and improved working conditions, clean and safe rent-controlled housing, work training provided by the government, free education, government oversight of food safety, and land nationalization. The organization operated a number of experimental ventures, including experimental communes and schools.
Soon after its founding, however, the Fellowship of the New Life experienced a split. A splinter group founded the Fabian Society in 1884. It quickly drew several prominent members, including Shaw. Socialist activity was on the increase at the time. Workers launched such actions as the Match Girls' Strike of 1888 and the London Dock Strike of 1889 to protest appalling working conditions and low pay.
The match workers' strike was limited to the fourteen hundred women and girls who worked at the Bryant and May match factory in east London. Their efforts prompted the Fabian Society to begin publishing The Fabian Essays in 1889. The dockworkers' strike was the first large-scale labor strike and was inspired in part by the success of the match workers and the union they had formed. The dockworkers were generally day laborers who were hired at the start of each day as they were needed. Some worked a few hours at a stretch and earned six pence an hour (for reference, in London at the time, a loaf of bread cost about 2.7 pence, and a household paid more than three pence a day for coal and wood for heating and cooking). Ben Tillett, General Secretary of the Tea Operatives and General Labourers' Association, helped organize the strike. Tillett, who was involved in the socialist movement, also organized relief efforts to help the striking workers and enlisted friends to help the cause. Among these was Henry Hyde Champion, a socialist journalist and one of the founding members of the Fabian Society, who created a new publication, the Labour Elector, to publicize the strike and labor issues. The strike ended after five weeks, with the majority of the workers' demands met.
The success of the dockworkers encouraged other laborers, and by 1899, more than two million Brits had joined unions. In 1900, labor leaders—including influential leaders of unions and the Fabian Society—met to form a political body to gain representation for workers in Parliament. Although the labor committee had few successes at first, by 1924 the Labour Party had gained sufficient ground to form a government.
Overview
Despite the formation of the Fabian Society, the organization has encouraged members to voice a wide range of views about social justice in the cause of fostering discussion of issues and even encouraged debate. Essays, for example, did not represent the views of the organization; instead, the authors took credit for their beliefs. Yet the Fabian Society has strongly influenced the political stance of the Labour Party from its founding. Fabian Society leader Sidney Webb wrote the Labour Party's 1918 constitution as well as other works about the party, including Labour and the New Social Order. Fabian's publications proposed the idea of a minimum wage in 1906, the establishment of the National Health Service in 1911, and the abolition of hereditary peers—people who inherited their titles and seats in government from relatives—in 1917.
The close relationship between the Labour Party and the Fabian Society has endured. In 1945, when the party enjoyed its first major victory, more than 220 Fabian members were among election winners. The Fabians renewed their efforts to publish information about socialism with the launch of the New Fabian Essays in 1952. The publication drew a number of influential authors to contribute.
During the 1990s, the left-of-center organization helped to reorganize the Labour Party. The Fabian Society advised changes to the party's constitution and published a number of pamphlets—the Southern Discomfort series—to prompt policy and strategy changes. The organization has worked with the party to steer discussion about issues. Modern members of Parliament (MPs) who are also members of the Fabian Society have included Tony Blair, Robin Cook, Gordon Brown, and Clare Short. The Fabian Society has published a pamphlet on the Third Way by Blair, who was prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007, and the active state philosophy of Lionel Jospin, who was prime minister of France from 1997 to 2002.
In the twenty-first century, the Fabian Society has continued to advocate for equality across Britain. For example, a number of essays have explored disparities in the availability of quality healthcare in some parts of the nation. The organization established five priority projects in the new century: facing the future, a new program focused on the 2020s; shared prosperity, addressing inequality and other issues; changing work, addressing issues of the modern workplace; Britain's future, addressing financial issues, including the nation's place in the global economy; and together, addressing common ground, communities, and public services.
In 2016, the organization stood against Great Britain's efforts to leave the European Union (EU). After the nation voted to leave the EU—a process dubbed Brexit—the Fabian Society focused on issues related to trade agreements, which had the potential to affect workers. In the mid-2020s, the Fabian Society focused on anti-poverty campaigns, specifically launching research projects into poverty among young children and pensioners. The Fabian Society also continued publishing articles regarding social issues and the Labour Party, while engaging in policy developments and political discourse about social democracy.
Bibliography
“About Us.” Fabian Society, fabians.org.uk/about-us. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
“Current Projects.” Fabian Society, fabians.org.uk/about-us/our-projects/current-projects. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
"The Fabian Society: A Brief History." Guardian, 13 Aug. 2001, www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/aug/13/thinktanks.uk. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
"Fellowship of the New Life." Bloomsbury Project – University College London, www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-project/institutions/fellowship‗new‗life.htm. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
"Labour's Legacy." Labour, www.labour.org.uk/pages/history-of-the-labour-party. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.
Shaw, George Bernard, editor. Fabian Essays in Socialism. Cosimo, Inc., 2006.
Wright, Anthony. History Today, vol. 34, no. 5, May 1984, p. 50. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=4870353&site=ehost-live. Accessed 23 Dec. 2024.