Robert Owen (1771-1858) was the founder of British socialism, and one of the most influential reformers in Britain and America in the first half of the 19th century. This book contains all Owen's key writings on the ideal community, socialism, religion, and the capitalist economic system.

This collection of literary utopias calls for a complete overhaul of existing assumptions about utopian writing in this period. The representation of utopian texts in these volumes shows that William Morris is far from "representative" of basic trends in the genre in this era. This is Volume 1 of 6 and looks at selected works from 1875 to 1879.

Dystopia: A Natural History is the first monograph devoted to the concept of dystopia. Taking the term to encompass both a literary tradition of satirical works, mostly on totalitarianism, as well as real despotisms and societies in a state of disastrous collapse, this volume redefines the central concepts and the chronology of the genre and offers a paradigm-shifting understanding of the subject. Part One assesses the theory and prehistory of 'dystopia'. By contrast to utopia, co...

Imperial Sceptics provides a highly original analysis of the emergence of opposition to the British Empire from 1850–1920. Departing from existing accounts, which have focused upon the Boer War and the writings of John Hobson, Gregory Claeys proposes a new chronology for the contours of resistance to imperial expansion. Claeys locates the impetus for such opposition in the late 1850s with the British followers of Auguste Comte. Tracing critical strands of anti-imperial thought through to t...

This book investigates Thomas Paine's social and political thought in both its British and American moments. It examines the ways in which Paine's ideas were understood. The book restores him to the position his contemporaries accorded him, that of an important writer on politics and society.

A comprehensive scholarly edition of the writings and correspondence of Thomas PaineThomas Paine: Collected Writings is the first major new edition of Paine’s works, bringing together all his writings in six breathtaking volumes that dramatically revise our previous understanding of his activities as a writer and his importance as a democratic theorist in the age of revolutions. It includes about 180 new letters and some two hundred works newly attributed ...

A comprehensive scholarly edition of the writings and correspondence of Thomas PaineThomas Paine: Collected Writings is the first major new edition of Paine’s works, bringing together all his writings in six breathtaking volumes that dramatically revise our previous understanding of his activities as a writer and his importance as a democratic theorist in the age of revolutions. It includes about 180 new letters and some two hundred works newly attributed ...

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring John Stuart Mill (1806-73) is widely regarded as the leading liberal philosopher, economist, and political theorist of nineteenth century Britain. In his lifetime he was best known for his System of Logic (1843) and the Principles of Political Economy (1848). Today Mill is chiefly identified with On Liberty (1859), perhaps the definitive text of modern liberal statement of its subject, and pr...

In his early works Owen argues that, since individuals are wholly formed by their environment, education is the crucial factor in transforming them. Later he came to adopt far more radical positions, proposing nothing less than 'the emancipation ofmankind' and the creation of a 'new moral world', a full-scale reorganization of British society, major reforms of working practices and the Poor Laws and the establishment of co-operative model.

In the period 1700-1850, the history of utopian thought cast light on ideas of property-holding, community, and social and political reform movements, including those for the extension of rights to slaves, women and animals. This text includes some of the best-known tracts of the period.

Many discussions of J. S. Mill's concept of liberty focus too narrowly on On Liberty and fail to acknowledge that his treatment of related issues elsewhere may modify its leading doctrines. Mill and Paternalism demonstrates how a contextual reading suggests that in Principles of Political Economy, and also his writings on Ireland, India and on domestic issues like land reform, Mill proposed a substantially more interventionist account of the state than On Liberty seems to imply. This helps...

In the period 1700-1850, the history of utopian thought cast light on ideas of property-holding, community, and social and political reform movements, including those for the extension of rights to slaves, women and animals. This text includes some of the best-known tracts of the period.