Key Figures in the History of Socialism and Economics
Key Figures in Socialism and Economics
Utopian socialist Robert Owen (1771-1858) is considered the father of cooperativism. He defended the possibility of developing an alternative economic system based on cooperation. His approach sought to replace the capitalist system with a more just one to avoid the problems that plagued Britain.
Karl Heinrich Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher, historian, sociologist, economist, writer, and socialist thinker. He is considered the father and theorist of scientific socialism and communism. As a witness to and victim of the first great crisis of capitalism (1830s) and the 1848 revolutions, Marx set out to develop an economic theory capable of explaining the crisis and compelling the proletariat to actively participate in producing revolutionary change.
Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) was a German philosopher and revolutionary. He co-authored fundamental works with Marx, contributing to the birth of socialist and communist movements. He was also a trade union leader and a member of the First and Second Internationals.
Although Marx is often seen as the primary leader in socialist thought, Engels had a significant influence on him.
Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher, and one of the leading exponents of classical economics. He published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations in 1776, which argues that wealth comes from labor. The book was essentially a study about the process of creating and accumulating wealth and was the first complete and systematic study of the topic.
François Marie Charles Fourier (1772-1837) was a French socialist of the early nineteenth century and one of the fathers of cooperation. Fourier was a scathing critic of the economy and capitalism of his time, and an opponent of industrialization, urban civilization, liberalism, and the family based on marriage and monogamy.
Etienne Cabet (1788-1856) was a French philosopher, political theorist, and utopian socialist. He was the founder of the Icarian movement and led a group of migrants to found a new society in the United States. He published Voyage en Icarie, which describes a communist utopia in the future, contrasting it with the capitalist present. He believed that a revolution was not necessary, but rather a common belief by itself. He did not advocate for violence or the struggle of the working class.
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865) was a French political philosopher and revolutionary, considered the father of anarchist thought and its first economic trend, mutualism.
Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield (1804-1881) was a British politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain, and writer. The son of writer and scholar Isaac D’Israeli, Benjamin Disraeli was part of a traditional Sephardic Jewish family of Italian descent, whose ancestors had been expelled from Italy in 1492. Disraeli was later baptized into the Anglican Church.
Claude-Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon (1760-1825) was a French philosopher and social theorist who is considered among the philosophers of utopian socialism. His ideas influenced European social democracy from the late nineteenth century, and he is considered a founder of sociology.
Mikhail Bakunin (1814-1876) was a Russian anarchist and contemporary of Karl Marx. Possibly the best known of the first generation of anarchist philosophers, he is considered one of the “fathers of anarchism,” defending collectivist theses. He also belonged to the Freemasons, intending to promote anarchist principles.