Claims for a Decent Life and a True Democracy

John Blewitt explores the intellectual legacy of William Morris and Edward Carpenter, both of whom were active in the socialist movement in the late nineteenth century and are often seen to today as progenitors of the twentieth-century green movement.

For both Morris and Carpenter, a true democracy meant worker autonomy, co-operative organisation and a beautiful and healthy environment in which to live and work. These ideas were given practical expression in the Guild Socialist movement in the opening decades of the last century and in the enduring interest in, and development of, worker cooperatives today. John’s discussion also embraces the imperative need to end the depredations of an increasingly marketised society.

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