Episode notes
- Fabian socialism gains durable U.S. roots with the Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS), 1905; earlier efforts failed for moving too fast.
- Early U.S. socialist/Fabian scene = scattered clubs and individuals; Robert Hunter recalls small, obscure reform circles vs. Europe’s parliamentary socialist leaders.
- Some Americans joined the London Fabian Society for prestige and lack of a U.S. equivalent; British Fabians made socialism “university-trained,” respectable, and for many “a substitute or an adjunct of religion.”
- A U.S. Socialist Party (Debs/Hillquit) polled well in 1904 but had little path to power; revolutionary and immigrant-labor currents remained strong.
- Fabian “magic formula”: present socialism as college “education”. ISS (renamed ...
Keywords
socialismFabian SocietyHistoryBooksGradualism