Workers' Liberty

The opinions of William Morris on what we now call ecology are important in any assessment of him as a political thinker in his own time.

Morris was a political activist, and although his personal life was informed by his socialist politics, he did not see lifestyle or consumer behaviour as a substitute for political action.

Morris was more coherent when commenting more concretely on housing under socialism. In The Housing of the Poor, an article published in Justice, (19 July 1884), he wrote:

Morris apparently disliked urban living before he became a socialist, and he appears to have carried over this attitude into his socialist activity. In an early article in Justice, entitled Why Not?

On transport, Morris was even more a prisoner of his time.

Morris had less to say of contemporary relevance on energy, which is hardly surprising since renewables were barely even dreamt of when he was politically active.

One of the great myths about Morris is that he was hostile to technology.

Another of Morris’ contributions to Marxism was his positive conception of work under socialism. Not for Morris - as for his contemporary Paul Lafargue – the right to be lazy.

Perhaps Morris’ most significant breakthrough was to identify working class action and the socialist movement more generally as the essential social agents in protecting the environment.

Morris held to a materialist appreciation of the connection between human productive activity and the ruination of the environment.

Morris had read Marx’s Capital in French by 1884 – an authorised English edition was still to be properly translated at this time.

Sometime in 1882, William Morris decided he was no longer a radical and began to associate himself explicitly with socialism.

Morris made his name as an artist and as a poet, and his commitment to conservation was expressed through his work.

William Morris was one of the outstanding Marxists in the period after Marx’s death.

Perhaps a better approach is to accept what Morris said about himself and look at what he wrote and did for the last thirteen years of his life.

Morris has been claimed by a wide spectrum of socialists – often without careful reference to his views.

Soon after the split with SDF, the Socialist League debated its attitude towards standing candidates for parliament and for other bodies, such as local councils.

One of the reasons for Morris’ scepticism about the possibilities of trade unionism was his understanding of the state. On the ABCs of the state, he was sharp and clear.

Morris also took a close and critical interest in the trade unions.

Morris was no dilettante on matters of organisation. Once he had decided to become a socialist he joined the Democratic Federation and became a leading activist and public spokesperson.

The theme of working class self-emancipation runs through his writings.

Morris understood capitalism in Marxist terms, as a class society, but also as a system that prepared the ground for socialism.

William Morris is perhaps unique in being claimed by almost everyone on the left as an inspiration.

Morris was born on 24 March 1834 in Walthamstow, then a village on the edge of Epping Forest to the north west of London.

William Morris is probably best known to most people these days as the creator of kitsch Victorian wallpaper designs.

Continuing a series on the politics of the early modern British socialist movement with a brief assessment of the politics of the socialists in the last twenty years of the nineteenth century.

By Terry Liddle

Born in 1834 into a wealthy middle class family, William Morris was destined for the Anglican Church. His mother had visions of his becoming a bishop. However, after education at Marlborough and Oxford, Morris abandoned religion in favour of art.