Fabian Socialism

Immediately after the death of Karl Marx, various non-Marxist socialist ideas appeared in
various countries of Western Europe, especially in France and England. Fabian socialism is
one of the similar non-Marxist ideas created by the English. History of Western State
Thought In 184, a group called the Fabian Society was born in England. The social thought
and ideas of that group came to be known as Fabian socialism. Among the members of the
Fabian group are Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb, and Bernard Shaw. Sufficient reliable
information is known about the lifestyle of all the members. And based on that information,
it is easy to say that the Fabians were in fact a British intellectual community whose
members placed special emphasis on the spread of socialist education (and the growth of
social consciousness). The Fabians believed that the necessary changes in society could be
brought about by inspiring the common man in the principles of equality and freedom.
Reading their various works / books, it is understood that they were influenced by Marx's
theory as well as the thoughts of some other non-Marxist economists. For example, the
famous English political scientist and economist John Stuart Milli. Mill's political economy
has demanded the expansion of some pro-people state activities, setting aside his
individualistic state philosophy. Perhaps in the interests of the emerging middle class, the
upper middle class bourgeoisie. Eminent author Ernest Barker says, “Mill, rather than Marx,
was the Father of Fabian Socialism. Barker's remarks suggest that the Fabian socialists have
adopted a liberal tradition in their own country, England, and in some cases have sought to
reach a kind of socialist discourse by welcoming state initiatives (as Mill said). Although Mill
is primarily an individualistic philosopher, in one or two cases he has recommended the
expansion of state action in the public interest. All these seemingly pro-people and socialist
ideas of Mill are said to have laid the foundations of Fabian socialism.

The idea of Marxist revolutionary change had no effect. Instead, the Fabians resorted to
reformist and evolutionary thinking. Finding the origin of the word Fabian can be found in
the mind of such an evolutionary slow change. It is said that Augustus Fabius, a general in
ancient Rome, introduced a new type of war policy. According to this principle, his armies
would move forward to deal with any enemy quickly, without haste, without attacking, but
in a slow but well-organised manner. Judging by all the opportunities and favourable
conditions, the armies will launch large-scale attacks on the enemy at the right time. This
war-policy of Fabius helped the Fabian socialist thinkers to formulate a policy of social
change. The Fabian socialists, like Fabius's troops, wanted to move against the capitalist
system at a slower pace. They think that the primary task is to educate and make the
people aware through gradual reforms. Then it will be possible to eliminate social inequality
with those educated and conscious people and deal with other related social problems.
Apart from Fabius's war strategy and Mill's economic philosophy, the other person who laid
the foundation for the formation of Fabian socialism was Henry George, the author of the
book Progress and Poverty, a worshiper of evolutionary thought. His other writings also
present a variety of ideas about evolutionary socialism. One or two of the Fabian socialists
also played a key role in the formation of the Labor Party in England. The people of England
were losing confidence in the role of the Liberal Party against the Conservative Party. On
that occasion the Labor Party was born in the 1920s. And the role of the Fabians in the
formation of that labor party is quite significant. Sidney Webb, a prominent member of the
Fabians and one of the leading thinkers, thought that following the teachings of history, the
advent and establishment of socialism, including democracy, seemed equally essential. He
said that the dominance of the feudal aristocracy in England until the seventeenth century
had diminished over time and the opportunities of the middle class had expanded. In the
last half of the nineteenth century, various political and social rights have spread beyond the
borders of the middle class to the common people. Sidney Webb hopes that the way in
which industrialization has spread in his time will in the near future replace the old person-
centered industrial management system with a collective management system and
gradually a socialist system of production and state system will emerge. This is clearly the
idea of an evolutionary / reformist socialism.

History of Western Statehood Fabian (evolutionary) socialists modified Marxist economics

and presented economics of their choice. The Fabians do not consider Marxist (surplus)
value theory to be correct. According to them, the Labor Theory of Value presented by
classical economists like Adam Smith and David Ricardo is flawed. Karl Marx repeats the
same mistake by following that classical line, even if he does not include the idea of "surplus
extraction". According to Fabian theory, society is the source of value, not labor. ‘Labor’ is
not valued as the only force or element. The price of a commodity is determined as an
expression of various social forces. And as a result, any special capitalist can be a claimant
of commodity production. However, just as the Fabian socialists did not agree to consider
labor power as the sole or main source of value, they also did not accept the demand for
dividends on the part of the capitalists. In this case, I think Marx's influence on the Fabians
is relatively strong. Like Marx, the Fabians say that the dividends demanded by capitalists
through capital investment are unfair and exploitative. But the Fabians are reluctant to
accept the contradiction of capitalism and labor that Marxists speak of in industrial society.
The Fabians do not accept Marx's theory of class conflict. According to the Fabians, the
main contradiction is that of society versus capital. The whole society, rather than the
workers, has been pointed out by the Furriness as the other side of the conflict - society as
opposed to capital. Workers were also not referred to as a major part of society. According
to Fabian theory, socialism will manifest itself at a slow, certain pace by bringing the
country's resources out of the hands of a handful of capitalists into the control of society.
Marxists also refer to socialism as the continuation of the process of socialization of
resources (and especially the means of production). The difference is that Marxists want to
start the process of socialization by revolutionizing capitalism and establishing proletarian
(ie, leading working class) leadership. Fabians, on the other hand, say that through non-stop
reforms, society can gradually bring the country's resources under its control without any
militant or destructive activities. In a word, the Fabian socialists do not want to accept that
the revolutionary organization and leadership of the working class is one of the foundations
of Marxist socialism. Fabian socialism is a form of social reformism. And Marxism is fiercely
anti-reformist. According to Marxists, revolutionaries can sometimes support some reform
work, but their revolutionary program will never be reformist or reformist. Reformism is
just a kind of revisionism. Welfare State only through class conflict - by eliminating the path
that is, an attempt can be made to form a welfare state. That does not include socialism. In
the twentieth century, the Labor Party government in England undertook a similar state
program; One or two of the Fabians also found a place in the Labor cabinet. The apparent
gap between Marxist socialism and that government awaits no new explanation. Gettell, a
prominent writer on the history of statehood, said that the kind of socialist thought
presented by the Fabian Association could be called a form of ‘socialized liberalism’. Only
with the help of state law can the condition of the working class be improved - that was the
conviction of the Ferrians. And we have already mentioned the method; That is to say, the
workers must be freed from the slow, sure pace of capitalist exploitation and oppression,
just as the Roman general Fabius defeated Hannibal, through progressive legal reform.
Heney George's Progress and Poverty and George Bernard Shaw's The Fabian Society: Its
Early History help determine the nature of Fabian socialism. British state thinking has never
been free from its liberal and pragmatic traditions. Naturally, pragmatism is predominant in
Fabian socialist thought. We can also consider Fabian socialism as the British version of
(German) evolutionary socialism. Initially the removal of privately owned control over
landed property and later the imposition of various state rules on industrial capital at
various levels - thus the Fabians became active in a reform movement. Under no
circumstances were they willing to take the path of Marxist class struggle. They think that it
is possible to bring socialism in a peaceful democratic way. Critics say the Fabians have
ignored bureaucratic problems in order to have confidence in a democratic state. Instead of
establishing socialist control, the Fabians were unaware that the bureaucracy could distort
the democratic structure and resort to anti-labor measures. Just as the Fabians sought to
strengthen the democratic ideology by talking about the decentralization of power, they
have made their socialist program meaningless by ignoring the dangers of bureaucracy.