Guild-Socialism

What does the RSF think of the political doctrine of Guild-Socialism (propagated by thinkers like J. Hobson and W. Sombart)?

I actually wasn't aware that Werner Sombart was a guild socialist; I was under the impression he had been a Social Democrat and eventually embraced corporativism towards the end of his life. I'm really not familiar with the work of John A. Hobson, could you explain some of his views to us?

The only guild socialist literature I've read thus far are a few of G. D. H. Cole's writings. In my opinion, there is little difference between guild socialism, as envisioned by Cole, and the views typically associated with the syndicalist tradition. Participatory economics is basically a fully developed model of syndicalism, and I'm an advocate of that economic system.

Aploiges for the thread revive but below is a link for Coles work on Guild Socialism.

http://lib-161.lse.ac.uk/archives/fabian_tracts/192.pdf


Enjoy

How do GD Cole's ideas compare with AJ Penty's?

English Socialist wrote:How do GD Cole's ideas compare with AJ Penty's?

Arthur Penty's early work on guild socialism was rather vague relative to G. D. H. Cole's, who devoted a significant amount of time to providing content to the theory. Penty eventually abandoned socialism altogether and became a Luddite, a proponent of distributism, and a sympathizer of fascist corporativism.

Penty wrote in awe of the Christian Social doctrine - which I think has been a crutch for many Distributists. I have read a fair bit of his work, but cannot help feeling that his belief in a spiritual salvation in the hereafter hampered his commitment to action in the here and now. Distributism - like Social Credit - has positive points, but it fails to appreciate that a large scale society needs to have a strong government which will guide every aspect of the economy and enshrine Workers' power. The Libertarian approach is a sure path back into Capitalism and Corporativism (which differ in no important ways).