César De Paepe and the Ideas of the First International

Bibliographic Data

ID12740786
AuthorsWILLIAM WHITHAM (Princeton University, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume16
Issue3
Pages897-925
Publication date2017-12-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueModern Intellectual History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1479-2443 • E-ISSN: 1479-2451
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1479244317000609
OpenAlexW2773347975
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited26

This article explores the ideas of a key thinker of the International Working Men's Association in the 1860s and 1870s. César De Paepe, recognized by contemporaries as a major advocate of “collectivism,” attempted to justify social property as the logical consequence both of mutualist justice and of economic necessity. His theories played a significant role in informing the programs of other socialists in the turbulent 1870s, and sustained the successes of the Belgian workers’ party into the twentieth century. While historians focus on Marx and Bakunin or posit a break between “early” and “late” socialism, the study of De Paepe's writings in context draws attention to neglected themes in the intellectual development of modern socialism, and suggests that “utopianism” could underwrite practical politics. The article concludes by reflecting on De Paepe's significance for contemporary politics and the practice of intellectual history

Archaeology · Collectivism · Context (archaeology · Economic Justice · Epistemology · Individualism · Intellectual history · Political science · Politics · Socialism · Sociology · European Political History Analysis · French Historical and Cultural Studies · History · Law · Legal and Social Philosophy · Philosophy

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