From Social Conscience to Social Action

Comprising one part of the comparative history of reform in Europe and North America, the history of the consumers' leagues reveals a progressive movement from "social conscience" to "social action." Motivations of the women league leaders were extremely complex as were the organizations' theory, structure, and programs. The leagues enabled reformers to exchange ideas and techniques across inter- national boundaries prior to World War I. The main impact of these ideas was to contribute to the decline of laissez faire and the rise of public social welfare thought by fusing the "moral impulse" with "factual, scientific studies" to promote reform

Action (physics · Collective action · Conscience · League · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social reform · Social science · Sociology · Voluntary action · American History and Culture · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Political Economy and Marxism