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► Fabian Society

Fabian Society             <--Back-

The Fabian Society, often referred to as the intellectual vanguard of the left, was founded in 1884 in order to advocate socialism through gradual reformist change, as opposed to the revolutionary brand common in Europe. The Fabian Society was one of the biggest influences on the Labour Party after its foundation, and many modern Labour principles have their basis in Fabian thought. Similar societies exist in many of Britain's former colonies.

Origin and early History

The Fabian Society was originally born out of part of a greater movement aiming to achieve a better life for Britain's people. As a primarily intellectual society, it attracted people from academic or professional backgrounds rather than working class. The society attracted members such as George Bernard Shaw, Leonard Woolf, Emmeline Pankhurst, Bertrand Russell and John Maynard Keynes. It wrote a good many studies of life in Britain and how best to improve it, such as the one pictured above. The first such pamphlets argues for such actions as the abolition of hereditary peers, for a minimum wage and a National Health Service. Although these things seem commonplace today, all of these were written before 1917, and were considered radical at the time. The Fabian society is named for Roman General Quintus Fabius Maximus, who was known as 'the Delayer', a reference to his tactics of slowly and inevitably destroying his enemies through a murderous retreat.

Politics of the Fabian Society

For much of it's early history, the Fabian Society was known for its advocation of the nationalisation of major utilites, industries and land. It held mostly protectionist policies and was against the free market. Later the Fabian Society became more moderate, and during the inter-war period began to postulate a political position now referred to as 'social democrat'. Many third-world leaders were influenced by Fabian thought in this period, and after independence India, Pakistan and Singapore all modelled their economic policy along Fabian lines. The Fabian Society has held many disparate politicians over the year, including Ramsay MacDonald, Clement Attlee, Tony Benn and more recently Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. It is also interesting to note that four of the societies members, Beatrice and Sidney Webb, Graham Wallas and George Bernard Shaw are responsible for the founding of the London School of Economics. The Society has been effectively a New Labour think tank since 1992, and many New Labour policies, including the independence of the Bank of England, and increased NHS spending through a rise in National Insurance have been credited as Fabian ideas.

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