Machinery, Money and the Millennium: From Moral Economy to Socialism, 1815-1860

288 Pages·1987·18.411 MB·English

by  Gregory Claeys

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GREGORY CLAFYS
“This is by far the most scholarly and most
complete book on the economic ideas of the
Owenite socialists. It incorporates most of
the diverse existing scholarship on the topic
with the author’s substantial original
research. Clearly and competently written,
it can be profitably read by any intelligent
layperson.” £. K. Hunt, University of Utah
This book represents a _ long-overdue
reappraisal of the history of early socialist
economic thinking. It makes full use of a
wealth of recently discovered pamphlets and
periodicals which shed new light on the
development of radical economic ideas in the
nineteenth century.
The author traces the departures made by
Robert Owen and his followers from the
Christian tradition of moral economy — the
regulation of the economy by moral criteria.
Basing his arguments upon the jurispru-
dence of the age, the author discusses the
development of the tradition which led from
Owenism and Chartism to the early ideas of
Marx and Engels.
This scholarly and insightful study will be
of major importance to anyone interested in
the history of political economy and in the
history of socialism and nineteenth-century
thought more generally.
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MACHINERY, MONEY AND THE MILLENNIUM
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2020 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/machinerymoneymi0000clae
GREGORY CLAEYS
MACHINERY, MONEY
AND THE
MILLENNIUM
From Moral Economy to Socialism,
1815-1860
Princeton University Press
Princeton, New Jersey
© Gregory Claeys, 1987
First published 1987 by Princeton University Press,
41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purposes of
criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Claeys, Gregory.
Machinery, money, and the millennium.
Includes bibliographies and index.
1. Owen, Robert, 1771-1858. 2. Socialists—
Great Britain—Biography. 3. Socialism—
Great Britain—History. 4. Socialism—History.
I. Title.
HX696.09C55 1987 335’.12'0924[B] 87-2372
ISBN 0-691-09430-6
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Typeset in Plantin 10'4/12pt
by Cambrian Typesetters, Frimley, Surrey
Printed in Great Britain by
T. J. Press (Padstow) Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall
SOCIAL S>C}l einc ao JB. Hs , aO IV/IISS ION)
THE CHICAGO PUSLIL LIBRARY,
CONTENTS
Abbreviations 1X
Acknowledgements Xill
Introduction
Socialism and the Crisis of the Nineteenth Century XV
I Economic Distress and the Rise of Socialism XVil
II Scope and Intentions Xxl
III Socialism: Lockean, Smithian, Ricardian, Owenite
IV Owenism, History and Civilization XXVi
V Organization XXVili
Chapter One Just Exchange, Charity and Community of
Goods
Explorations in the History of Property Theories before 1815
I The Moral Economy and Community of Goods
Fair Exchange, Fust Price and the Right to Charity
II Property, Labour and Poverty, 1650-1780
III Radicalism and Commercial Society, 1790-1815 21
IV Civilization, Property and the Origins of Socialism 30
Chapter Two Robert Owen
The Machinery Problem and the Shift from
34
Employment to Justice
I Assessing the Problem, 1800-20 35
II Providing a Solution, 1821-58
III Moral and Political Economy in Owen’s Thought 57
vi Contents
Chapter Three George Mudie
The Quest for Economic Socialism 67
I The Earliest Owenite Economic Writings 68
II Mudie as the ‘Economist’ —
III The Later Years 80
Chapter Four William Thompson
From ‘True Competition’ to Equitable Exchange 90
I Voluntary Exchange or Community of Goods? 91
II The Fate of Competition, 1825-31
III Utility and Equitable Exchange 107
Chapter Five John Gray
Planning, Money and the Commercial Utopia 110
I The Lecture on Human Happiness
Productive Labour and Rational Restraint 11]
II Central Planning, Competition and Justice 117
III From ‘Standard’ Production to the Money Problem 125
Chapter Six Owenism, Land Nationalization and the Labour
Movement, 1830-60 130
I The Core Doctrines of Owenite Thought 132
II The Development of Non-Owenite Socialism to 1860 156
Chapter Seven From Owenism to Marxism
Engels and the Critique of Political Economy, 1842-46 166
I Engels, Owenism and Political Economy 167
II Marx, Engels and Owenism 19
Conclusion Socialism, Moral Economy and Civilization 184
I Poverty and the Collapse of Moral Economy 187
II Socialism and Moral Economy
III Economic Socialism and Political Economy 190
Notes 196
Bibliography
Index 240