Socialism between conservatism and liberalism

Organisation : AGORA (CY Cergy Paris Université), BABEL (Université de Toulon), CREW (Sorbonne Nouvelle), ICD (Université de Tours) et TIL (Université Bourgogne Europe)

Programme :
The socialist revival of the late 19th century was marked by tensions that highlighted its multifaceted nature: while criticism of laissez-faire economics was a point of convergence for its various proponents, some believed that collective ownership completed the aspirations of individualism and embodied progress, while others called for a break with capitalism in order to preserve an order that it was deemed to corrupt. Focusing on a number of figures who identified with socialism, this presentation will explore the shifting and ambivalent relationships of the movement with liberalism and conservatism.

Stéphane Guy is a professor of English studies and history at the University of Lorraine (IDEA, Nancy), specialising in the study of political thought and the links between intellectuals and ideologies. He has published a number of articles in the history of ideas and the monograph Genèse du travaillisme: la philosophie de l’histoire des Fabiens (Michel Houdiard, 2019). Stéphane Guy has also coedited several publications, special issues in the Revue française de civilisation britannique (one of which is forthcoming), the volumes The Victorian Legacy in Political Thought (ed. S. Guy, C. Marshall, Peter Lang, 2014), Liberalism and/or Socialism (ed. V. Boullet, S. Guy, E. Okan, J. Tranmer, Palgrave, 2021) and Power and Knowledge since the 18^th Century (forthcoming).