Making eco-socialists? William Morris and educating the masses

Résumé 0

William Morris (1834-1896) can be considered one of the first thinkers of eco-socialism, which combines considerations of social equality with environmental protection. This article analyses the space that environmental and esthetic concerns held in Morris’s propaganda aimed at workers. From the outset, he stressed the importance of educating the working classes about socialism, in order to “make them socialists”: what ideology did he want to pass on to them? To understand this, the article distinguishes between the different types of interventions by Morris, whose conditions of execution as much as their forms affected the content: his novels are thus the most accomplished expression of his eco-socialist thinking, which is rarely found in his articles or his open-air harangues. It is also important to bear in mind the dual timeframe in which Morris operated: immediately educating people for revolution through Marxist principles; and, in the long term, preparing the ideal society of the future.