Fabian Socialism as an Identity of a British Communist Group - Essay Example

?Reflective Essay Number Fabian Socialism Fabian Society is an identity of a British communalist group whose primary objective is to facilitate the principles of socialism through gradualist and reformist as opposed to revolutionary approach. Fabian socialism derived its name from Fabius Cuntator, a roman general who the Fabian society admired his strategies. He evaded battles and progressively crushed Hannibal’s forces. Fabian preferred gradualism to revolution as a means of achieving socialism. Fabian society is popular for its achievement during nineteenth century proceeding into First World War. The movement formulated a stolid base for the Labour Party. It also subsequently influenced policies of nations rising from the decolonization of the British Empire, particularly India. Presently, the Fabian Society constitutes one of the communalist groups affiliated with the Labour Party and its presence can be felt and seen in nations such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand (Blackburn 2007). The Fabian Society, a London based movement, was formed in 1884 as a budding from The Fellowship of the New Life of 1883. The Fellowship Society’s main objective was to transform society through leading by example by demonstrating a simple lifestyle for others to emulate. However, because of varied thoughts, some affiliates of the society were focused on involving politics to assist in transformation process of the society. Consequently a decision was reached that a distinct society was to be founded. This was the rise of the Fabian Society. After its establishment, the Fabian Society campaigned for restitution of Western European Renaissance principles and their propagation globally. The Fabian Society was named after a Roman general, Fabius Maximus popularly known as “Cunctator” to connote “delayer.” According to theGuardian (2001), the Fabian Society preferred a gradual change approach to radical change. Fabius adopted the tactics of harassment and attrition as opposed to one-on-one combats against the Carthaginian army led by General Hannibal. The Fabian Society attained great heights of influence, especially through their publication of Fabian Essays of 1889, in which Webb and other Fabian authors made great contributions. The Fabians idea of social reforms and transformation were based on the concept of “permeation” of already established political systems or institutions. Their argument was that the infiltration of the existing political organisations was the main way of achieving natural socialism. The Fabian Society was opposed to Marxist revolutionary approach to social change (social democracy). Renouncing the need to have aggressive and brutal class struggles, the Fabian Society affiliates embraced the idea of developing trade unions as well as other labour movements up to the time when Beatrice Potter, latter referred to as Beatrice Webb because of her union with Sidney Webb, became a member of the society. Webbs in 1900s assisted the group to establish Labour Representation Committee, from which the Labour Party was born. After its inauguration, the Fabian Society lured many famous figures into its socialist foundation. The central figures of the Fabian Society were Sidney Webb and Beatrice Webb among other key members. The two key pillars of the movement published numerous articles on property ownership under capitalism in industrial Britain. In the wake of 1900, majority of affiliates of the Fabian Society took part in the formation of the Labour Party and the establishment of its constitution, in which Sidney Webb extensively applied the principles in the initiating documents of the Fabian Society. As unbelievable as it may look, the Fabian Society started as a mere nine-member movement, who endorsed an executive committee of three members. A former chairman of British Fabian Society, Mrs. Cole, pointed out on the group’s success in instilling its socialist ideologies in the entire society and nurturing the schemes to flourish and change the society. During the pre-war time Fabian writers like Leonard Woolf, RH Tawney as well as GDH Cole developed an intellectual foundation for democratic collectivism. During this period, Clement Attlee, Hubert Morrison and Hugh Gaitskell formed part of the forefront leaders of the Fabian Society. Many members of the society were elected when Labour party won the 1945 election. The Labour Party at that time was characteristic of Fabian School (Blackburn 2007). During post-war era, the Fabian society formed the core of the Labour Party and the basis of social democratic ideology. The Fabian authors assisted in reviving the left debate following the collapse of Attlee regime. During 1990s, the Fabian Society exerted significant authority in the transformation of the Labour Party. The society’s role on developing the constitution of the Labour Party was influential in the emergence of “one member one vote” (thegurdian 2001). The society was also responsible for the amendment of Clause IV. Many pamphlets by Fabian authors in the Southern part of England resulted into policy transformations as well as changes in electoral plan. According to Bashir Abu-Manneh (2011), collectivism agents constitute professionals who are trained, reformist and autocratic elite preferred by the Fabians. Abu-Manneh further agues that the emergence of Fabian collectivism manifests as an look of a fresh social echelon of experts as well as public administrators who thrived from the shift to monopoly capital from the onset of 1880s. Fabianism portrays as the politics of scholars of the period after Laissez-faire capitalism. Fabian political ideology is counterrevolutionary. The Fabian Society refutes the role played by the proletariat by visualising the society as war-free and perceiving capitalist society as an impartial agent of transformation. The politics of Fabians are built on refuting the proletariat’s responsibility in setting forth transformation of their individual welfare. The Constitution and the legislature are perceived by the Fabian politicians as the main drivers of social change. Socialist politics were actually centred on the actions of the elite group in their bid to influence the ruling class (Abu-Manneh 2011). Despite considering socialism as an inevitable consequence of economic development, the Fabians never held the idea of economic development being a result revolutionary process but emphasized that it tails evolutionary change. The Fabians were divergent on the idea of class struggle of proletariats and the establishment of the autonomous proletarian party. Fabianism emerges as an extreme tendency of opportunism (Ward 2011). It was the increasing push by the British Working class in 1893 that compelled the Fabians to sanction Independent Labour Party. In spite of enamours support for the Labour Party, the Fabians maintained their movement of the Fabian Society, which was later to be the main ideological hub for the Labour Party. It was responsible for establishing the political tactics and principles for the Labour Party. As a matter of fact, a greater percentage of influential Labour Party leaders have their roots in the Fabian Society. As a result of revitalisation of numerous political movements from the onset of 1910 to later decades coupled with the inability of the Webbs’ Minority Report aimed at reforming the Poor Law, the influential Fabian ideology of politics faced a great crisis. On their return from touring India, socialism was under increasing amount of pressure from emerging communalists under the influence of French syndicalism and utopian socialism of the English. The Fabian society was experiencing pilling amount of support for upheaval Spear headed by G.D.H Cole, against collectivism. The guild socialist camp was identified by a political construction to confront parliament and the government agencies. The group pushed for liberation of workers from mistreatment and misuse by employing the tactics of boycott sabotage leading to overall strike. The young socialists embraced the idea of industrial democracy and self-administration (Kirkby 1991). They campaigned for workers to form trade unions to administer production process and that the unions should operate simultaneously with government institutions. Their perception of social change was founded on empowering the worker to be the producer and not the end user as well as emphasis on trade unions as opposed to the state. These strategies were aimed at ensuring active participation of producers in politics and liberation of workers slavery by the prevailing wage structure (Blackburn 2007). The ideas of the guild socialist were all abhorrence in the Fabian Society, which exhibited political pandemonium on the left. According to Johari (1987), Sydney Webb perceived state agencies as a representative of social welfare. In Beatrice Webb’s letter to Mrs. Ashbee, Webb explained the underlying disarray that surrounded the emotions and ideology of the Progressive movement, which she perceived to be hazardous affair. Bernard Shaw, after joining the socialist movement in 1884 at the same time with Sidney Webb, became dominant figures in the Fabian Socialist Society for many decades. The influence of Sidney Webb on the Fabian society became more after his marriage to Beatrice Potter, whom they worked together to move the Fabian Society activities to greater levels of societal influence (Cole 1961). To bring the difference between the Fabian Society and other revolutionary organisations, Shaw continuously emphasized that the Fabian Society was highly revered. To back up this claim, Shaw demonstrate it by claiming that the Fabian Society exterminated its anarchists and Borrovians after which it established socialism through instituting many parliamentary procedures , which enabled a common decent and saint citizens to acknowledge socialism and subscribe to socialist movement with no pinch of suspicion of anarchy. The strategy of faking reputation and simultaneously subverting the society for revolutionary roles have attained great success as far as its social change plan is concerned. These tactics enabled the Fabian society to easily access government, banking institutions and other social organisations. Their fine intellectual background permitted the group to gain entry into places where radical societies could not. The Fabians were more rational as compared with Marxian socialists. They comprehended that struggling to impress the working class was much trickier than subverting the thoughts of families of the prominent and successful stratum of the society. As Shaw argues, all the affiliates of the Fabian Society belonged to the middle class while the leaders of the group were of the upper middle class characterized with intelligence and professionalism. The main principle underlying the Fabian movement is collection of an elite class to strategize and set course for the entire society. According to Shaw’s argument, the Fabian Society prospered because of its diligent handling of the class that formed the movement so as to execute the brainwork of planning as it accepted rather than trying to win over the existing political institutions, which the movement aimed at permeating with its socialist ideology of human society. According to the Fabian society, the concept of expert and administrator are the elite class, which the Fabians argue are set to become the most influential group in the society. The elite concept lured ancient English nobles who had lost their elite identity. Aristocracy then started manifesting in the Fabian society, which indicates subconscious moves to recoup influence the socialist way. The Rusells among others are perfect example some of the main figures who tried to regain their fame through socialist movement (Cole 1961). However, the principle of respectability never deterred the Fabian society from keeping away from forming alliances with and aiding their violent socialist counterparts. For instance, the Fabians assisted and abetted Russian Bolshvicks prior to the 1917 revolution. The Fabians also accommodated Lenin together with his Bolshevick followers as they held a radical conference in London (Lenin 2008). In his work titled The Russian Revolution, Alan Moorehead states that the conference in Copenhagen was stormed by the police and the socialist eventually found their way into London, where they received great assistance from Christian socialists who agreed to host the conference under anonymous places. Joseph Fels, a staunch member of the Fabian society, was a crucial financial aid for revolutionary movements. This is evident in the official loan repayment in 1921 by Lenin and Trotsky through the Soviet government (Lilleker 2004). According to the work of Margaret Cole, the relationship between the Fabian Society and Lenin dates back to 1897 when Lenin interpreted Sidney Webb’s journal: History of Trade Unionism. Bolsheviks were welcome as brothers in the Fabian society. More than Makenzie’s claim, the Fabian Society feigned respectability and tried to exhibit good morals as a means of obtaining access into all social and political institutions while enhancing socialism. The Fabians instigated a strategy of propaganda against tyrannical private capitalists while secretly conspiring to establish a unitary autocratic system over the entire society where the elite and administrators planned and determined the direction of operation of the society. The Fabian Society similar to all other socialist movements, allege to signify a transformational society while in real sense, the Fabians institute ancient autocracy on the society. Further, the Fabian society together with Marxism is symbolic of perpetuation of massive propaganda hoax across the globe. Contemporary scholars have faulted socialists for criticizing capitalist system while they fail to put into place a reasonable replacement for capitalism. Finally, Fabian Socialist is global and imperial. From England, the ideology of the Fabians on social change has extended across entire British Empire and beyond. The ever swelling membership of the Fabian Society has indicated that the urge for revolutionary ideology and debate on the left still remains unperturbed. In the 21st century, the Fabian Society still plays an important role in the political arena as ever before. Bibliography Abu-Manneh, B 2011. “Fiction of the New Statesman, 1913-1939,” University of Delaware: Press, Newark. Blackburn, S 2007, “A fair day's wage for a fair day's work?: sweated labour and the origins of minimum wage legislation in Britain,” Ashgate, Burlington, VT. Cole, M 1961, “The story of Fabian socialism,” Stanford University Press, Stanford, Johari, JC 1987, “Contemporary political theory: new dimensions, basic concepts and major trends,” Sterling, New Delhi. Kirkby, DE 1991, “Alice Henry: the power of pen and voice: Alice Henry's life as an Australian-American labour reformer,” Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Lenin, VI 2008, “Left-Wing Communism, An Infantile Disorder,” Wildside Press LLC. Lilleker, DG 2004, “Against the Cold War: the history and political traditions of pro-Sovietism in the British Labour Party 1945-89,” Tauris, London. theGuardian. (13 August 2001). The Fabian Society: a brief history. Accessed on December 3, 2013 from Ward, M 2011, “Beatrice Webb: her quest for a fairer society,” The Smith Institute. Viewed December 13, 2013 from http://www.smith-institute.org.uk/file/Beatrice%20Webb%20-%20Her%20quest%20for%20a%20fairer%20society.pdf Read More