Ruskin and Social Reform: Ethics and Economics in the Victorian Age (International Library of Historical Studies)

In the first book to analyze the form and influence of Ruskin's social theory, Gill Cockram looks at Ruskin's significant contribution to social and intellectual thought in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In a field often overlooked by 19th century historians, 'Ruskin and Social Reform' clarifies for the first time how Ruskin's social theory was disseminated to a much wider readership than was evident in the mid-nineteenth century and how it was that Ruskin achieved great prominence as a social philosopher. Cockram examines the chronological development of Ruskin's thought and establishes the extent of his influence among the nascent labour movement. It was the support of a thinker as original and as unconventional as Ruskin that helped to challenge the laissez-faire conformities of classical economics and launched the quest to find a more ethical and humane basis for social policy-making. "In the first book to analyse the form and influence of Ruskin's social theory, Gill Cockram looks at Ruskin's significant contribution to social and intellectual thought in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In a field often overlooked by 19th century historians, "Ruskin and Social Reform" clarifies for the first time how Ruskin's social theory was disseminated to a much wider readership than was evident in the mid-nineteenth century and how it was that Ruskin achieved great prominence as a social philosopher. Cockram examines the chronological development of Ruskin's thought and establishes the extent of his influence among the nascent labour movement. It was the support of a thinker as original and as unconventional as Ruskin that helped to challenge the laissez-faire conformities of classical economics and launched the quest to find a more ethical and humane basis for social policy-making."--Bloomsbury Publishing. "In the first book to analyse the form and influence of Ruskin's social theory, Gill Cockram looks at Ruskin's significant contribution to social and intellectual thought in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In a field often overlooked by historians of the nineteenth century, Ruskin and Social Reform clarifies for the first time how Ruskin's social theory was disseminated to a much wider readership than was evident in the mid-nineteenth century and how it was that Ruskin achieved great prominence as a social philosopher." "Ruskin and Social Reform is required reading for students of political thought and Victorian society, as well as economists and economic historians who are critical of the formal assumptions of economic theory."--Jacket Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 Conventions......Page 10 1 Introduction......Page 12 2 John Ruskin: The Emergence of a Social Critic......Page 24 3 Ethics and Economics: The Reception of Unto This Last and Munvera Pulveris......Page 51 4 Vindication: A Changing Society and a More Favourable Reception......Page 78 5 Frederic Harrison: Positive Thinking......Page 105 6 Hobson, Ruskin and New Liberalism......Page 136 7 Ruskin and the Socialists......Page 173 8 Conclusion: Moral Reconstruction in a Capitalist Society......Page 206 Notes......Page 218 Select Bibliography......Page 248 Index......Page 268 Introduction -- John Ruskin : The Emergence Of A Social Critic -- Ethics And Economics : The Reception Of Unto This Last And Munera Pulveris -- Vindication : A Changing Society And A More Favourable Reception -- Frederic Harrison : Positive Thinking -- Hobson, Ruskin And New Liberalism -- Ruskin And The Socialists -- Conclusion : Moral Reconstruction In A Capitalist Society. Gill G. Cockram. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [237]-256) And Index.