Timeline of Fabianism

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Time period Development summary More details
1880s This decade sees an upsurge in socialist activity in Britain, with the Fabian Society being at the heart of much of it.[1]
1890s "In the early 1890s, the Fabian Society established its new branches in Bradford, Bristol, Manchester and Sheffield."[2]
1990s The society becomes a major force in the modernization of the Labour party, building on its work from the 1980s and developing many of the ideas that would come to characterise New Labour.

Full timeline

Year Event type Details
1831 "The doctrines of Frederic Harrison's (1831-1923) positivism also contributed to the Fabian theory of socialism. Besides, the early Fabians derived inspiration from diverse writers, poets, thinkers, scientists and politicians including William Langland, William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Owen, Auguste Comte, Charles Darwin, Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone, William Morris, as well as Christian Socialists."[2]
1839 "Another significant influence was the American economist Henry George (1839-1897). Emulating George, the Fabians stated that both land and capital were unearned increments for landlords and capitalists."[2]
1848 Early Fabian economic theory was developed in great measure under the influence of John Stuart Mill's Principles of Political Economy (1848), and his famous essay On Liberty (1859) helped shape the basic tenets of Fabian socialism.[2]
1859 Early Fabian economic theory was developed in great measure under the influence of John Stuart Mill's Principles of Political Economy (1848), and his famous essay On Liberty (1859) helped shape the basic tenets of Fabian socialism.[2]
1883 "The Blands joined a socialist debating group which evolved to become the (middle-class, socialist) Fabian Society in January 1884. On 4 January 1884, Bland chaired the first meeting and was subsequently elected to be the Society's honorary treasurer, a position he held until his sight failed in 1911."[3] With Edward Pease. Bland served as co-editor of the Fabian News, a monthly journal.[2]
1884 (January 4) The Fabian Society is formed.[1] "On January 4, 1884 at 17 Osnaburgh Street, a splinter group, which put social reform before moral regeneration, broke away from the Fellowship and formed the Fabian Society for the purpose of reconstructing British society on a non-competitive basis in order to secure its general welfare and happiness. The founding members included Edward Pease, Edith Nesbith, Hubert Bland, and Frank Podmore. "[2]
1884 (September 5) "On September 5, 1884, Shaw contributed the second important Fabian Tract, titled A Manifesto, which presented opinions, later known as 'principles of Fabianism'. The most important 'principles' are be summarised below:
Land and capital have created the division of society into hostile classes, with large appetites and no dinners at one extreme and large dinners and no appetites at the other. Nationalisation of land is a public duty. Capitalism has ceased to encourage invention and to distribute its benefits in the fairest way attainable. Under the existing system of the national industry, competition has the effect of rendering adulteration, dishonest dealing, and inhumanity compulsory. The Public Revenue should be levied by a direct Tax. The State should compete with private individuals — especially with parents — in providing happy homes for children, so that every child may have a refuge from the tyranny or neglect of its natural custodians. The sexes should enjoy equal political rights. The State should secure a free, liberal education for everybody. The established Government has no more right to call itself the State than the smoke of London has to call itself the weather.[2]
"
1884–1886 " The membership of the Fabian Society steadily increased, from 31 in 1884 to 116 in 1886"[2]
1885 (May) "Nine months later George Bernard Shaw became one of its most active members, and in May 1885, he invited two young Colonial Office clerks, Sidney Webb and Sydney Olivier to join the Society. Some other early notable members included Beatrice Potter (later Webb), Edward Carpenter, Eleanor Marx (Karl Marx's eldest daughter), Annie Besant, Graham Wallas, and briefly, Herbert George Wells (from 1903 to 1908). "[2]
1887 "In 1887, the Fabian Society published its programme, known as “The Basis,” which proposed “the use of the existing institutions, party and parliamentary machinery for the realization of social reforms.” These reforms, which can be described as Fabian socialism, aimed at “ the elimination of privately owned land and the establishment of community ownership of the means of production.” (Milburn 320) The instruments to achieve these goals were democratic government control, municipalisation and nationalisation. The Fabian Society rejected the Marxian theory of the class struggle and postulated that the transition from capitalism to socialism would never be carried by force."[2]
1889 The Fabian Essays is published, containing essays by George Bernard Shaw, Graham Walls, Sidney Webb, Sydney Olivier and Annie Besant.[1] "The Fabian Society disseminated its ideas in lectures, public debates, and tracts. The most important early tract was Fabian Essays in Socialism, edited by George Bernard Shaw and published in 1889. It contained eight lectures, delivered in 1888 in the workingmen's clubs and political associations of London by seven influential members of the Fabian Society: Shaw, Sidney Webb, William Clarke, Sydney Oliver, Annie Besant, Graham Wallas, and Hubert Bland. They set forth the ideology and programme of the Society in hope that they would gradually prompt the Liberal party to adopt and implement in English law. The authors dealt almost wholly with English conditions and problems. The tract sold 46,000 copies prior to World War One and became the blueprint for socialist legislation. It was also published in the USA and other countries and translated into several languages."[2]
1891–1913 Edward R. Pease serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1891 "the Society began to publish a monthly journal, Fabian News, with Bland and Pease as editors."[2]
1892 "The Fabian Societies elsewhere in the United Kingdom reached the peak membership of about 1500 in 1892, and then followed a steady decline, and a significant revival by 1913 (McBriar 165)."[2]
1892 " In 1892, Sidney Webb and five other Fabians were elected to the London County Council, where they tried to propagate the ideas of 'municipal socialism', which called for the public ownership of urban utilities and tramlines, better wages for city workers, improved free public education and vocational training. Early Fabians were also very active in various educational boards in London. For example, Sidney Webb was Chairman of the Technical Education Committee of the London City Council, Graham Wallas was Chairman of the School Management Committee of the London School Board, and another Fabian, the Rev. Stewart Headlam was Chairman of the Evening Classes Committee of the School Board (Mc Briar 202)."[2]
1892 "The early Fabians hoped that the Liberal Party would implement social reforms. By 1892, English liberalism had sufficiently been permeated with Fabian ideas. At the same time the Society began to attract socialists and labour leaders, such as Heir Kardie, Will Crooks, and Ben Tillett. In Manchester Robert Blatchford (1851-1943) established a local Fabian Society and edited a socialist weekly, The Clarion, which gained a large working-class readership."[2]
1893 "In 1893, he published a utopian socialist tract, Merrie England, which sold over two million copies in Britain only. In the last years of the 19th century, many provincial members of the Fabian Society supported the newly established Independent Labour Party, and in 1900, the Fabians helped establish the Labour Representative Committee, which became the Labour Party in 1906."
1893 "The leading Fabians proposed different strategies of permeation. They considered the Liberals to be more open to Fabian influence than the Conservatives. Therefore, for some time they supported the Liberal government, but when they realised that it did not intend to introduce social reforms, they published in 1893 a pamphlet, To Your Tents, O Israel, in which they called for the creation of a truly working-class party. When the Independent Labour party was formed in that year, the Fabian Society supported it."[2]
1895 The London School of Economics is founded by The Fabian Society. "One of the greatest achievements of the early Fabians was the foundation of the London School of Economics in 1894. It was a successful attempt to contest with ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The decision to create an educational establishment that would investigate the social and economic problems of late Victorian Britain and propagate the ideas of the Fabian Society was made by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, Graham Wallas and George Bernard Shaw at a breakfast party at the Webbs' summer house (Borough Farm) near Milford, Surrey, on 4 August 1894."[2]
1895 "In 1895, the Fabian Society received a large grant from Henry Hunt Hutchison, a Derby solicitor, which helped them accomplish this project. Soon the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) developed rapidly through private grants and donations. It became an important centre of influence of Fabian socialism. "[2]
1899 "the Fabian Society participated in the formation of a local government Information Bureau."[2]
1899 "Until the Boer War, in 1899, the Fabian Society had paid little or no attention to the imperial rule. The Society was mostly concerned with domestic issues, such as national ownership, free education, and improvement of the life of the poor classes. A major split occurred in the Society over its response to the Boer War, leading to the resignation of Emmeline Pankhurst, William Clarke, and J. Ramsay MacDonald, at that time a member of the Fabian Executive Committee and the future leader of the Labour Party."[2]
1899 "In 1899, a group of Fabian rank-and-file members, led by the future guild-socialist, S. G. Hobson, and supported by a few members, unsuccessfully attempted to get the Fabian Executive to issue a statement of opposition to the war against the Boers."[2]
1900 "However, it was in 1900 that the Society finally published a tract drafted by George Bernard Shaw, Fabianism and the Empire, which became the most significant statement of the Society's imperial policy. Shaw supported imperial expansion because, as he claimed, the world evolved toward big and powerful states. The Fabians criticised Liberals, but supported British imperial policy as a means of disseminating enlightened principles of governance throughout the world."[2]
1900 " In 1900, the LSE merged with the University of London, and in 1903, the LSE opened the first department of sociology and social economics in Britain."[2]
1900 "In 1893, he published a utopian socialist tract, Merrie England, which sold over two million copies in Britain only. In the last years of the 19th century, many provincial members of the Fabian Society supported the newly established Independent Labour Party, and in 1900, the Fabians helped establish the Labour Representative Committee, which became the Labour Party in 1906."
1902 "Sidney Webb, contributed significantly to the preparation of the Education Act of 1902, which handed over the control of local schools to borough or city councils. Over time, the education system in Britain emulated many Fabian ideas. Another important success of the early Fabians was their contribution to the implementation of the municipal reform, which was to produce, as they believed 'municipal socialism' (Clarkson 468)."[2]
1903 " In 1900, the LSE merged with the University of London, and in 1903, the LSE opened the first department of sociology and social economics in Britain."[2]
1906 The Fabians lobby for the introduction of a minimum wage, for the creation of a universal health care system in 1911 and for the abolition of hereditary peerages.[4]
1906 "In 1893, he published a utopian socialist tract, Merrie England, which sold over two million copies in Britain only. In the last years of the 19th century, many provincial members of the Fabian Society supported the newly established Independent Labour Party, and in 1900, the Fabians helped establish the Labour Representative Committee, which became the Labour Party in 1906."
1913–1920 British Labour Party politician William Sanders serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1915–1919 Edward R. Pease serves as Acting General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1920–1939 English political writer and journalist Frank Wallace Galton serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society. Todat, according to The Times, he was a liberal at heart rather than a socialist, and thought to be the model for the character of Henry Straker in George Bernard Shaw's play Man and Superman (1903).[5]
1931 The independent New Fabian Research Bureau is created as the brainchild of G. D. H. Cole, setting the scene for much of the work of the 1945 Labour government before merging into the main society in 1938.[1]
1939 By this time, there are 6 local Fabian societies in the United Kingdom.[1]
1939–1945 John Parker serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1939-46 English political theorist, economist, and historian G.D.H. Cole serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1940 (October) The Fabian Society establishes the Fabian Colonial Bureau to facilitate research and debate British colonial policy.[6]
1945 229 members of the Fabian Society are elected to Parliament of the United Kingdom at the 1945 general election.[1]
1945 By this time, there are 120 local Fabian societies accross the United Kingdom.[1]
1946-47 Bosworth Monck serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1946-48 English political theorist and economist Harold Laski serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1947-49 Andrew Filson serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1948-50 G.D.H Cole serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1949-53 Donald Chapman serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1950-53 John Parker serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1953-54 Austen Albu serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1953-60 William Rodgers serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1954-55 Harold Wilson serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1956-56 Margaret Cole serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1956-57 Arthur Skeffington serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1957-58 Roy Jenkins serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1958-59 Eirene White serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1959-60 H.D. Hughes serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1960-61 Lord Faringdon serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1960-63 Shirley Williams serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1961-62 C.A.R. Crosland serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1962-63 Mary Stewart serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1963-64 Brian Abel-Smith serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1964-65 Anthony Wedgwood Benn serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1964-76 Tom Ponsonby serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1965-66 Peter Townsend serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1966-67 William Rodgers serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1967-68 Arthur Blenkinsop serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1968-69 PeterShore serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1969-70 Thomas Balogh serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1970-71 Jeremy Bray serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1971-72 Peter Hall serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1972-73 Anthony Lester serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1973-74 Frank Judd serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1974-75 Nicholas Bosanquet serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1975-76 Colin Crouch serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1976-77 Giles Radice serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1976-82 Dianne Hayter serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1977-78 Dick Leonard serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1978-79 Philip Whitehead serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1979-80 Peter Archer serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1980-81 Shirley Williams serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1981 Apr David Lipsey serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1982 David Lipsey serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1982-85 Ian Martin serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1983 Stella Meldram serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1984 Jenny Jeger serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1984-85 Tessa Blackstone serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1985-86 Andrew McIntosh serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1985-89 John Willman serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1986-87 Austin Mitchell serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1987-88 Nick Butler serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1988-89 Bryan Gould serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1989-90 David Bean serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1990-91 Robin Cook serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1990-1996 Simon Crine serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1991-92 Oonagh McDonald serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1992-93 Dianne Hayter serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1993-94 Glenys Thornton (Acting) serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1993-94 Ben Pimlott serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1994-95 Alf Dubs serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1995-96 Maggie Rice serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1996-97 Chris Smith serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1996-97 Stephen Twigg serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1997-98 Margaret Hodge serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1998-99 Tony Wright serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
1997-2003 Michael Jacobs serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
1997 After Tony Blair’s victory, over 200 Fabians sit in the House of Commons, including many of the cabinet. The society acts as a supportive yet critical friend to the government, offering advice and guidance on policy development without being afraid to point out any shortcomings.[1]
1999-2000 Calum McDonald serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2000-01 Gordon Marsden serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2001-02 Denis MacShane serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2002-03 Paul Richards serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2003-04 Stephen Twigg serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2003-11 Sunder Katwala serves as General Secretary of the Fabian Society.
2004-05 Eric Joyce serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2005-06 Seema Malhotra serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2006-07 Ed Balls serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2007-08 Anne Campbell serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2008 (February 14) Criticism In an article published in The Guardian (following the apology offered by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to the "stolen generations"), Geoffrey Robertson criticizes Fabian socialists for providing the intellectual justification for the eugenics policy that led to the stolen generations scandal.[7][8]
2008-10 Sadiq Khan serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2009 Making a speech in the United States, the British MP George Galloway denounced the Fabian Society for its failure to support the uprising of Easter 1916 in Dublin during which an Irish Republic was proclaimed.[9]
2010 The Fabian Society enters a new era, after the fall of the Labour government and the election of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.[1]
2010-12 Suresh Pushpananthan serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2012-14 Jessica Asato serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2014-16 Seema Malhotra serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2015 The role of the Fabian Society as a pluralist, non-factional forum within the Labour movement comes to the fore after the 2015 election and the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader.[1]
2016 As of date, the Fabian Society has about 7,000 members.[10]
2016-18 Kate Green serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2018 Recognition The Fabian Society is rated as "broadly transparent" in its funding by Transparify.[11]
2018-20 Ivana Bartoletti serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2019 (June) The Fabian Society reaches 7,136 individual members.[12]
2019 Recognition The Fabian Society is given an A grade for funding transparency by Who Funds You?.[13]
2020- Martin Edobor serves as Chairman of the Fabian Society.
2020 The Fabian Society’s membership increases to an all time high of over 8,000, including 16 members of the shadow cabinet, and the society goes as close to the heart of Labour policy thinking as at any time in its history.[1]

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References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Our History". Fabians. Retrieved 31 August 2022. 
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 "The Fabian Society in Late Victorian Britain". victorianweb.org. Retrieved 1 October 2022. 
  3. ↑ Briggs, Julia (23 September 2004). "Bland, Hubert (1855–1914), journalist and politician". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47683. 
  4. ↑ "History". web.archive.org. 7 December 2006. Retrieved 31 August 2022. 
  5. ↑ "Mr. F.W. Galton", The Times, 12 April 1952, p. 8.
  6. ↑ "Collection: Papers of the Fabian Colonial Bureau | Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts". archives.bodleian.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 August 2022. 
  7. ↑ Geoffrey Robertson (13 February 2008). "We should say sorry, too". The Guardian. London. 
  8. ↑ L.J. Ray (1983). "Eugenics, Mental Deficiency and Fabian Socialism between the Wars". Oxford Review of Education. 9 (3): 213–22. doi:10.1080/0305498830090305. 
  9. ↑ pas1888 (29 December 2009). "George Galloway Easter Rising 1916" – via YouTube. 
  10. ↑ Annual Report 2016 (PDF) (Report). Fabian Society. 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2022. 
  11. ↑ "Round-Up of Transparify 2018 Ratings". Transparify. Retrieved 31 August 2022. 
  12. ↑ Annual Report 2019 (PDF) (Report). Fabian Society. 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2022. 
  13. ↑ "Fabian Society | Who Funds You?". whofundsyou.org. Retrieved 31 August 2022. 
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