This book challenges existing accounts of the role of religion in early-nineteenth-century British socialism. Against scholarly interpretations which have identified Owenite socialists as anti-religious or as imitating Christianity, this book argues that Owenites offer a re-conception of the nature of ‘religion’ as advanced through knowledge of the natural and social world, as a prospective source of solidarity which could serve as the unifying bond for communities, and as constituted by ethical conduct. It shows how this re-conception was formed through a sincere and considered...
This book challenges existing accounts of the role of religion in early-nineteenth-century British socialism. Against scholarly interpretations which ...