POL 315 MODULE 3
UNIT 2
UTOPIAN SOCIALISM
CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Objectives
3.0 Main Content
3.1 Utopian Socialism
4.0 Conclusion
5.0 Summary
6.0 Tutor-Marked Assignment
7.0 References/Further Reading
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The history of efforts of man to create and sustain equanimity has been
legendary. There has been this pervading belief that egoism inherent in
man can be mitigated based on appeal to religion, morals, ethics and
good consciousness of men to overcome the challenge of inequity in
society. The central theme of this brand of socialism is to reform society
not to uproot it. Thus, utopians were largely reformers and gradualists.
2.0 OBJECTIVES
At the end of this unit, you should be able to:
• justify the claim that egoism is inherent in man
• expatiate the claim that utopian socialism is pervasive and
attractive
• highlight the efforts made by some utopian reformers to
overcome the challenge of inequity in society.
3.0 MAIN CONTENT
3.1 Utopian Socialism
Utopian socialist movement developed from a sincere desire for equity
within society. The early propagators of this brand of socialism were
Charles Fourier, Robert Owen, Auguste Comte, De Sismondi, David
Ricardo, Saint-Simon, Lassale, and Louis Blanc; and others included the
Young European Association, growing out of Mazzini’s Italian
movement that worked for union freedom, the Young German Society
founded by German refugees in Paris. Members of this movement were
among the first to appreciate the social applications of the Industrial
Revolution. For the first time, they concluded society could be able to
produce enough for all to have enough to meet their needs. If it is
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