William Morris

William Morris - Towards a socialist ecology

William Morris made a distinctive contribution to the development of Marxist ideas, for example on the nature of work and on the vision of a classless, communist society. But arguably his most significant contribution — and certainly one with great contemporary relevance - was his conception of a socialist ecology. In this respect Morris was a pioneer and an innovator – he evolved from conservationism to integrate ecology within a Marxist framework. His views have much to teach us today in our age of climactic convulsion. Morris made his name as an artist and as a poet, and his commitment to...

William Morris: Romantic or revolutionary?

The Fourth Part of a series; the other articles are collected here: http://www.workersliberty.org/category/marxist-theory/history/marxists/… Morris has been claimed by a wide spectrum of socialists — often without careful reference to his views. However a comprehensive study of writings indicates that he was not a utopian socialist, nor an anarchist, not a Fabian state socialist nor a sentimental socialist, as some have characterised him. Morris was never enamoured by the socialist colonies and experiments organised by Robert Owen, Etienne Cabet and others. He argued that it was...

William Morris, part 3: State and Revolution

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. In ‘An empty pocket is the worst of crimes’ (Commonweal, 17 July 1886) he wrote of the ruling class: “‘This is mine, and whether I can use it or not, nobody else shall’ is the watch-word of property; and Queen, Lords, and Commons, Army and Navy, Judge, Magistrate, Lawyer and Policeman are kept in their places and paid (handsomely too) by Society in order to carry out this watchword to its legitimate consequences, that is, the...

William Morris and 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. This entailed speaking at open-air meetings, selling papers and other literature and giving educational lectures on a regular basis. Far from being a Sunday socialist, he became a dedicated semi-professional revolutionary. The issue of party democracy was one of the reasons behind the split with the SDF in late 1884. When the Socialist League was set up, it specifically subordinated the paper Commonweal to the...

The first British Marxists

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. “Do not on any account whatever let yourself be deluded into thinking there is a real proletarian movement going on here. I know Liebknecht tries to delude himself and all the world about this, but it is not the case. The elements at present active may become important since they have accepted our theoretical programme and so acquired a basis, but only if a spontaneous movement breaks out here among the...

What is the Bolshevik-Trotskyist tradition?

What follows is a summary of the political and ideological traditions on which Workers’ Liberty and Solidarity base ourselves. Isaac Newton famously summed up the importance of studying, learning, and building on forerunners. “If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants”, he wrote, referring to René Descartes, his contemporary Robert Hooke, and presumably also to his direct predecessor Isaac Barrow. In science few people think they can neglect the “tradition” and rely on improvisation. In politics, alas, too many. The summary here, written in 1995, starts as...

The heritage of William Morris

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. William Morris was a polymath who excelled at everything he turned to - from stained glass to textile design, from poetry to translations of the ancient Icelandic sagas and novels that prefigure the work of Tolkien. In 1861 he set up the firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company, which offered paintings, decoration, metalwork...

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