Sources of Socialist Thought: Genesis of Workers’ Movements in Great Britain and France (1800-1830)

Abstract

During the first three decades of the nineteenth century, socialist thought and workers’ movements attained an important level of development. This period gave rise to stream of thought that was subsequently called “utopian socialism” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Saint-Simon and Charles Fourier in France, and Robert Owen in Great Britain were the most important representatives of the utopian movement. Early socialist thinkers attempted to develop a systematic criticism of the social, economic and political conditions, and they also launched actual projects for overcoming the existing social and economic system, and even tried, in some cases, to apply these projects. However, their socialist thought was not directly related to the workers’ movement. Instead, it was a response to the economic and social problems generated by industrial capitalism. This same period also gave rise to a revolutionary tendency inspired by Jacobinism. Neo-Jacobine and radical politicians and agitators were especially active in the press and in publishing. However, the revolutionary element was mainly absent from socialist thought before the 1830s

Keywords

• Socialist thought
• history of political thought
• utopian socialism
• radicalism
• utopianism

Sosyalist Düşüncenin Kaynakları: Büyük Britanya ve Fransa'da İşçi Hareketlerinin Başlangıcı ve Ütopya Düşüncesi (1800-1830)

Abstract

XIX. yüzyılın ilk otuz yılı gerek sosyalist düşüncenin, gerekse işçi hareketlerinin gelişimi için önemli bir döneme tekabül eder. Bu dönemde gelişen, daha sonraları Karl Marx ve Friedrich Engels tarafından “ütopyacı sosyalizm” olarak adlandırılacak olan akımın en önemli temsilcileri Fransa’da SaintSimon ve Charles Fourier, Büyük Britanya’da ise Robert Owen’dır. Dönemin sosyalist düşünürleri bir yandan içinde yaşadıkları toplumsal, iktisadi ve siyasal koşullara dair sistemli bir eleştiri geliştirmiş, diğer yandan da bu düzeni aşmak için çeşitli projeler geliştirmiş, hatta bazı durumlarda bu projeleri uygulamaya çabalamışlardır. Bu dönemde işçi hareketlerinin ve erken dönem sosyalist düşüncenin gelişim çizgilerinin incelenmesi, bu iki çizginin birbirlerinden ayrı yollar izlese de bütünüyle bağlantısız olmadığını göstermektedir. Dönemin sosyalist yazını temelde kapitalizmin sınai gelişmesinin getirdiği toplumsal sorunlara bir çözüm bulma amacı güder. Ayrıca bu dönemde kitle hareketine öncülük etme çabasında olan ve Jakobenizm’den esinlenen bir siyasal hat mevcuttur. Bu hareketin önderlerinin basın-yayın alanında faal olması, sınıf hareketine dair çok sınırlı bir düzeyde de olsa kuramsallaştırma çabasını ortaya çıkarmıştır.

Keywords

• Sosyalist düşünce
• siyasal düşünceler tarihi
• ütopik sosyalizm
• radikalizm
• ütopyacılık

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