Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "Sidney and Beatrice Webb" - New World

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[[Image:Sidney Webb.jpg|right|thumb|A self-portrait]]
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'''Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield''' [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|PC]] ([[13 July]], [[1859]] – [[13 October]], [[1947]]) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, normally referred to in the same breath as his wife, [[Beatrice Webb]].
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He was one of the early members of the [[Fabian Society]] in [[1884]], along with [[George Bernard Shaw|G. Bernard Shaw]] (they joined three months after its inception). Together with [[Beatrice Webb]], [[Annie Besant]], [[Graham Wallas]], [[Edward R. Pease]], [[Hubert Bland]] and [[Sidney Olivier]], Shaw and Webb turned the [[Fabian Society]] into the pre-eminent political-intellectual society in England in the Edwardian era and beyond.
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Webb was born in [[London]] to a professional family. He studied law at the [[Birkbeck, University of London|Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution]] for a degree of the [[University of London]] in his spare time, while holding down an office job, and in [[1895]] helped to establish the [[London School of Economics]], using a bequest left to the [[Fabian Society]] by a benefactor. He was appointed its [[Professor of Public Administration]] in [[1912]], a post which he held for fifteen years. In [[1892]], Webb had married [[Beatrice Potter]], who shared his interests and beliefs. The money she brought with her had enabled him to give up his clerical job and concentrate on his other activities.
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Both were members of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and took an active role in [[politics]], Sidney becoming MP for [[Seaham]] at the the [[United Kingdom general election, 1922|1922 general election]].<ref>The History of the Fabian Society, Edward R. Pease, Frank Cass and Co. LTD, 1963</ref>  The couple's influence can be seen in their hosting of the [[The Coefficients|Coefficients]], a dining club which attracted some of the leading statesmen and thinkers of the day. In [[1929]], he was created '''Baron Passfield''', continuing as a government minister (serving as both [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] and [[Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs]]) under [[Ramsay MacDonald]]. In [[1930]] ailing health resulted in his stepping down from the Dominions Office, but retaining the Colonial Office. The Webbs were supporters of the [[Soviet Union]] until their deaths, their book, ''[[The Truth About Soviet Russia]]'' being published in [[1942]].
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Webb co-authored a pivotal book on the ''[[History of Trade Unionism]]'' (1894) with wife [[Beatrice Webb]].
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In [[H.G. Wells]]'s ''[[The New Machiavelli]]'' (1911), the Webbs, as 'the Baileys', are unmercifully lampooned as short-sighted, bourgeois manipulators. The Fabian Society, of which Wells was briefly a member (1903-08), fares no better in his estimation.
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==Archives==
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Sidney Webb's papers are among the Passfield archive at the [http://archives.lse.ac.uk/dserve.exe?dsqServer=lib-4.lse.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo='passfield') London School of Economics.] For a small online exhibition featuring some of these papers see [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/webb/webb_exhibition.htm 'A poor thing but our own': the Webbs and the Labour Party.]
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==Bibliography==
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Works by Sidney Webb
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*Facts for Socialists (1887)
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*Problems of Modern Industry (1898)
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*Grants in Aid: A Criticism and a Proposal (1911)
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*Seasonal Trades, with A. Freeman (1912)
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*The Restoration of Trade Union Conditions (1916)
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Works by Sidney and Beatrice Webb
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*[[History of Trade Unionism]] (1894)
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*Industrial Democracy (1897)
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*English Local Government Vol. I-X (1906 through 1929)
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*The Manor and the Borough (1908)
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*The Break-Up of the Poor Law (1909)
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*English Poor-Law Policy (1910)
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*The Cooperative Movement (1914)
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*Works Manager Today (1917)
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*The Consumer's Cooperative Movement (1921)
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*Decay of Capitalist Civilization (1923)
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*Methods of Social Study (1932)
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*Soviet Communism: A new civilization? (1935)
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*[[The Truth About Soviet Russia]] (1942)
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==References==
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<References/> The History of the Fabian Society, Edward R. Pease, Frank Cass and Co. LTD, 1963
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==External links==
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* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1936/revbet/ch12.htm#ch12-1 Critique of Webb by Leon Trotsky in ''The Revolution Betrayed'']
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{{start box}}
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{{s-par|uk}}
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{{succession box
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  | title  = [[Member of Parliament]] for [[Seaham (UK Parliament constituency)|Seaham]]
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  | years  = [[United Kingdom general election, 1922|1922]]&ndash;[[United Kingdom general election, 1929|1929]]
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  | before = [[Evan Hayward]]
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  | after  = [[Ramsay Macdonald]]
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}}
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{{s-off}}
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{{succession box | title=Chair of the [[National Executive Committee|Labour Party]] | before=[[Fred Jowett]] | after=[[Ramsay MacDonald]] | years= 1922&ndash;1923}}
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{{succession box | before = [[Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton|Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame]] | title = [[President of the Board of Trade]] | years = 1924 | after = [[Philip Cunliffe-Lister, 1st Earl of Swinton|Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame]]}}
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{{succession box | before = [[Leopold Stennett Amery]] | title = [[Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs]] | years = 1929&ndash;1930 | after = [[James Henry Thomas]]}}
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{{succession box | before = [[Leopold Stennett Amery]] | title = [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]] | years =1929&ndash;1931 | after = [[James Henry Thomas]]}}
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{{s-reg|uk}}
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{{succession box
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  | title  = Baron Passfield
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  | years  = 1929&ndash;1947
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  | before = ''(new creation)''
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  | after  = ''(extinct)''
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}}''This article is about the socialist politician. For the children's author, see [[Beatrix Potter]].
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{{Co-operatives}}
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[[Image:BeatriceWebb.jpeg|frame|left|Beatrice Webb]]
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'''Martha Beatrice Potter Webb''' ([[January 22]], [[1858]] - [[April 30]], [[1943]]) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] [[socialism|socialist]], economist and reformer, usually referred to in the same breath as her husband, [[Sidney Webb]]. Although her husband became [[Baron Passfield]] in [[1929]], she refused to be known as '''Lady Passfield'''.
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[[Beatrice Webb]] was born in [[Gloucester, Gloucestershire]], the granddaughter of a [[Radicals (UK)|Radical]] MP, [[Richard Potter]].  In [[1882]], she had a relationship with Radical politician [[Joseph Chamberlain]], by then a [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] minister.  This was a failure, and in [[1890]] she was introduced to Sidney Webb, whose help she sought in research she was carrying out.  They married in [[1892]], and remained together for the rest of her life.  She was an active partner in all his political and professional activities, including the organisation of the [[Fabian Society]] and the establishment of the [[London School of Economics]].  She co-authored books such as the ''History of Trade Unionism'' ([[1894]]), and was co-founder of the ''[[New Statesman]]'' magazine ([[1913]]).
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In [[H.G. Wells]]'s ''[[The New Machiavelli]]'' (1911), the Webbs, as 'the Baileys', are unmercifully lampooned as short-sighted, bourgeois manipulators. The Fabian Society, of which Wells was briefly a member (1903-08), fares no better in his estimation.
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Webb's nephew, [[Sir Stafford Cripps]], became a well-known British Labour politician in the [[1930s]] and [[1940s]]. Her niece, [[Barbara Drake]], was a prominent member trade unionist and a member of the [[Fabian Society]].
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==Webb as Co-operative Theorist==
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Webb has made a number of important contributions to political and [[Co-operative economics|economic]] theory of the [[Cooperatives|Co-operative movement]]. It was, for example, Webb who coined the terms [[Co-operative Federalism]] and [[Co-operative Individualism]] in her 1891 book "Cooperative Movement in Great Britain." Out of these two categories, Webb identified herself as a Co-operative Federalist; a school of thought which  advocates [[Consumer Co-operative]] societies. Webb argued that Consumers' Co-operatives should form [[Co-operative wholesale society|co-operative wholesale societies]] (by forming Co-operatives in which all members are co-operatives, the best historical example being the [[English CWS]]) and that these [[Federal Co-operatives]] should undertake purchasing farms or factories. Webb was dismissive of the prospects of [[Worker cooperative]]s ushering in socialism, pointing out that - at the time she was writing - such ventures had proved largely unsuccessful.<ref>Potter, Beatrice, “The Co-operative Movement in Great Britain”, London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.,  1891.</ref>
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==Archives==
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Beatrice Webb's papers, including her diaries, are among the Passfield archive at the [http://archives.lse.ac.uk/dserve.exe?dsqServer=lib-4.lse.ac.uk&dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=(RefNo='passfield') London School of Economics.] For a small online exhibition featuring some of these papers see [http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/webb/webb_exhibition.htm 'A poor thing but our own': the Webbs and the Labour Party.]
 +
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==Bibliography==
 +
 +
Works by Beatrice Potter Webb
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 +
*[[Cooperative Movement in Great Britain]] (1891)
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*[[Wages of Men and Women: Should they be equal?]] (1919)
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*[[My Apprenticeship]] (1926)
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*[[Our Partnership]] (1948)
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 +
 +
Works by Beatrice and Sidney Webb
 +
 +
*[[History of Trade Unionism]] (1894)
 +
*[[Industrial Democracy]] (1897)
 +
*[[English Local Government Vol. I-X]] (1906 through 1929) 
 +
*[[The Manor and the Borough]] (1908)
 +
*[[The Break-Up of the Poor Law]] (1909)
 +
*[[English Poor-Law Policy]] (1910)
 +
*[[The Cooperative Movement]] (1914)
 +
*[[Works Manager Today]] (1917)
 +
*[[The Consumer's Cooperative Movement]] (1921)
 +
*[[Decay of Capitalist Civilization]] (1923)
 +
*[[Methods of Social Study]] (1932)
 +
*[[Soviet Communism: A New Civilization?]] (1935)
 +
*[[The Truth About Soviet Russia]] (1942)
 +
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==References==
 +
<references />
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{{Credits|Sidney_James_Webb%2C_1st_Baron_Passfield&|133069203|Beatrice_Webb|133816902|}}

Revision as of 22:58, 27 May 2007




A self-portrait

Sidney James Webb, 1st Baron Passfield PC (13 July, 1859 – 13 October, 1947) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, normally referred to in the same breath as his wife, Beatrice Webb.

He was one of the early members of the Fabian Society in 1884, along with G. Bernard Shaw (they joined three months after its inception). Together with Beatrice Webb, Annie Besant, Graham Wallas, Edward R. Pease, Hubert Bland and Sidney Olivier, Shaw and Webb turned the Fabian Society into the pre-eminent political-intellectual society in England in the Edwardian era and beyond.

Webb was born in London to a professional family. He studied law at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution for a degree of the University of London in his spare time, while holding down an office job, and in 1895 helped to establish the London School of Economics, using a bequest left to the Fabian Society by a benefactor. He was appointed its Professor of Public Administration in 1912, a post which he held for fifteen years. In 1892, Webb had married Beatrice Potter, who shared his interests and beliefs. The money she brought with her had enabled him to give up his clerical job and concentrate on his other activities.

Both were members of the Labour Party and took an active role in politics, Sidney becoming MP for Seaham at the the 1922 general election.[1] The couple's influence can be seen in their hosting of the Coefficients, a dining club which attracted some of the leading statesmen and thinkers of the day. In 1929, he was created Baron Passfield, continuing as a government minister (serving as both Secretary of State for the Colonies and Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs) under Ramsay MacDonald. In 1930 ailing health resulted in his stepping down from the Dominions Office, but retaining the Colonial Office. The Webbs were supporters of the Soviet Union until their deaths, their book, The Truth About Soviet Russia being published in 1942.

Webb co-authored a pivotal book on the History of Trade Unionism (1894) with wife Beatrice Webb.

In H.G. Wells's The New Machiavelli (1911), the Webbs, as 'the Baileys', are unmercifully lampooned as short-sighted, bourgeois manipulators. The Fabian Society, of which Wells was briefly a member (1903-08), fares no better in his estimation.

Archives

Sidney Webb's papers are among the Passfield archive at the London School of Economics. For a small online exhibition featuring some of these papers see 'A poor thing but our own': the Webbs and the Labour Party.

Bibliography

Works by Sidney Webb

  • Facts for Socialists (1887)
  • Problems of Modern Industry (1898)
  • Grants in Aid: A Criticism and a Proposal (1911)
  • Seasonal Trades, with A. Freeman (1912)
  • The Restoration of Trade Union Conditions (1916)

Works by Sidney and Beatrice Webb

  • History of Trade Unionism (1894)
  • Industrial Democracy (1897)
  • English Local Government Vol. I-X (1906 through 1929)
  • The Manor and the Borough (1908)
  • The Break-Up of the Poor Law (1909)
  • English Poor-Law Policy (1910)
  • The Cooperative Movement (1914)
  • Works Manager Today (1917)
  • The Consumer's Cooperative Movement (1921)
  • Decay of Capitalist Civilization (1923)
  • Methods of Social Study (1932)
  • Soviet Communism: A new civilization? (1935)
  • The Truth About Soviet Russia (1942)

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  1. ↑ The History of the Fabian Society, Edward R. Pease, Frank Cass and Co. LTD, 1963

The History of the Fabian Society, Edward R. Pease, Frank Cass and Co. LTD, 1963

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by:
Evan Hayward 		Member of Parliament for Seaham
1922–1929 		Succeeded by:
Ramsay Macdonald
Political offices
Preceded by:
Fred Jowett 		Chair of the Labour Party
1922–1923 		Succeeded by:
Ramsay MacDonald
Preceded by:
Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame 		President of the Board of Trade
1924 		Succeeded by:
Sir Philip Lloyd-Greame
Preceded by:
Leopold Stennett Amery 		Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs
1929–1930 		Succeeded by:
James Henry Thomas
Preceded by:
Leopold Stennett Amery 		Secretary of State for the Colonies
1929–1931 		Succeeded by:
James Henry Thomas
Peerage of the United Kingdom


Preceded by:
(new creation) 		Baron Passfield
1929–1947 		Succeeded by:
(extinct)''This article is about the socialist politician. For the children's author, see Beatrix Potter.
Co-operatives
Types of Cooperatives

Agricultural cooperative | Building cooperative | Credit union | Consumers' cooperative | Cooperative banking
Cooperative federation | Cooperative union | Cooperative Wholesale Society | Housing cooperative
Mutual insurance | Retailers' cooperative | Social cooperative | Utility cooperative | Worker cooperative

The Rochdale Principles

Voluntary and open membership | Democratic member control | Member economic participation
Autonomy and independence | Education, training, and information | Cooperation among cooperatives
Concern for community

Political and Economic Theories

Cooperative federalism | Distributism | Owenism | Socialism
Social enterprise | Socially responsible investing

Key Theorists

Robert Owen | William King | The Rochdale Pioneers | G. D. H. Cole
Charles Gide | Beatrice Webb | Friedrich Raiffeisen | David Griffiths

Organizations

List of cooperatives | List of cooperative federations | International Co-operative Alliance
Co-operativesUK | Co-operative Party

Beatrice Webb

Martha Beatrice Potter Webb (January 22, 1858 - April 30, 1943) was a British socialist, economist and reformer, usually referred to in the same breath as her husband, Sidney Webb. Although her husband became Baron Passfield in 1929, she refused to be known as Lady Passfield.

Beatrice Webb was born in Gloucester, Gloucestershire, the granddaughter of a Radical MP, Richard Potter. In 1882, she had a relationship with Radical politician Joseph Chamberlain, by then a Cabinet minister. This was a failure, and in 1890 she was introduced to Sidney Webb, whose help she sought in research she was carrying out. They married in 1892, and remained together for the rest of her life. She was an active partner in all his political and professional activities, including the organisation of the Fabian Society and the establishment of the London School of Economics. She co-authored books such as the History of Trade Unionism (1894), and was co-founder of the New Statesman magazine (1913).

In H.G. Wells's The New Machiavelli (1911), the Webbs, as 'the Baileys', are unmercifully lampooned as short-sighted, bourgeois manipulators. The Fabian Society, of which Wells was briefly a member (1903-08), fares no better in his estimation.

Webb's nephew, Sir Stafford Cripps, became a well-known British Labour politician in the 1930s and 1940s. Her niece, Barbara Drake, was a prominent member trade unionist and a member of the Fabian Society.

Webb as Co-operative Theorist

Webb has made a number of important contributions to political and economic theory of the Co-operative movement. It was, for example, Webb who coined the terms Co-operative Federalism and Co-operative Individualism in her 1891 book "Cooperative Movement in Great Britain." Out of these two categories, Webb identified herself as a Co-operative Federalist; a school of thought which advocates Consumer Co-operative societies. Webb argued that Consumers' Co-operatives should form co-operative wholesale societies (by forming Co-operatives in which all members are co-operatives, the best historical example being the English CWS) and that these Federal Co-operatives should undertake purchasing farms or factories. Webb was dismissive of the prospects of Worker cooperatives ushering in socialism, pointing out that - at the time she was writing - such ventures had proved largely unsuccessful.[1]

Archives

Beatrice Webb's papers, including her diaries, are among the Passfield archive at the London School of Economics. For a small online exhibition featuring some of these papers see 'A poor thing but our own': the Webbs and the Labour Party.

Bibliography

Works by Beatrice Potter Webb

  • Cooperative Movement in Great Britain (1891)
  • Wages of Men and Women: Should they be equal? (1919)
  • My Apprenticeship (1926)
  • Our Partnership (1948)


Works by Beatrice and Sidney Webb

  • History of Trade Unionism (1894)
  • Industrial Democracy (1897)
  • English Local Government Vol. I-X (1906 through 1929)
  • The Manor and the Borough (1908)
  • The Break-Up of the Poor Law (1909)
  • English Poor-Law Policy (1910)
  • The Cooperative Movement (1914)
  • Works Manager Today (1917)
  • The Consumer's Cooperative Movement (1921)
  • Decay of Capitalist Civilization (1923)
  • Methods of Social Study (1932)
  • Soviet Communism: A New Civilization? (1935)
  • The Truth About Soviet Russia (1942)

References

  1. ↑ Potter, Beatrice, “The Co-operative Movement in Great Britain”, London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co., 1891.


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