William Morris
Nineteenth century British writer, designer and socialist.
Useful Work versus Useless Toil By William Morris
An article on the nature of work by the nineteenth century libertarian socialist craftsman/artist and designer.
The above title may strike some of my readers as strange. It is assumed by most people nowadays that all work is useful, and by most well-to-do people that all work is desirable.
News from Nowhere - William Morris
Morris's utopian dream of a communist society.
Socialism and Anarchism
Socialism and Anarchism was first printed as a letter in Commonweal, May 5th, 1889.
"By this time the Anarchist faction had secured a majority in the Socialist League and the position of Morris was becoming impossible. This letter, a contribution to a discussion then taking place in Commonweal, illustrates his firmness in principle but also the courtesy and the comradely spirit with which he conducted a polemic which for him was always a most disagreeable necessity. It shows the falsity of the claims sometimes made that he was really an Anarchist. A little later he remarked in a letter to Bruce Glasier, "in good truth I would almost as soon join a White Rose Society as an Anarchist one; such nonsense as I deem the latter."" - A. L. Morton.
How We Live and How We Might Live - William Morris
How We Live and How We Might Live was a lecture delivered to the Hammersmith Branch of the Socialist Democratic Federation (S.D.F.) at Kelmscott House, on November 30th, 1884. It was first printed in Commonweal, 1887.
"Morris sees capitalist society as based on war - between nations, between rival capitalists, against colonial peoples and between classes. Only the victory of Socialist revolution can end all these wars." - A. L. Morton.
Morris, William - How I Became a Socialist
How I Became a Socialist was first published in Justice, June 16th, 1894.
"In his last years Morris modified his long-held anti-Parliamentarian position, agreeing that the time had now come for the formation of a Socialist Party. He did not rejoin the Socialist Democratic Federation (S.D.F.) but ended his breach with Hyndman to the extent of writing several articles for the S.D.F. journal, Justice. In this one he looks back over his life and sums up his development." - A. L. Morten.
Art and Socialism
Art and Socialism was delivered, as a lecture, to the Leicester Secular Society on January 23rd, 1884.
"Art and Socialism's outstanding feature is perhaps the stress laid on work as a necessity of human life, not merely as a means of obtaining a livelihood. Morris insists that only Socialism can restore work to its proper, central position." - A. L. Morton.
