Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 09:54:38 +0900
From: Guy Yasko <guyy-AT-aqu.bekkoame.or.jp>
Subject: Re: William Morris


Hans Ehrbar asks who is William Morris.  Perhaps others can give a more detailed
reply, but Morris was a 19th c. English Socialist, now known more among 
architects, designers, and Liberty shoppers.  With connections to the Neo-
Raphaelites and the arts and craft movement, Morris came to socialism out of 
concern for what capitalism had done to workers
Atheir labour, and the products 
of labour.  Morris established a cooperative which attempted to counter the 
capitalist alienation of labour by fostering and protecting craft work.  In 
Morris' view, work should mean more than the execution of orders but include 
thought and aesthetic reflection.  Not surprisingly,  Marxists concerned with 
the work process -- for example, the French Socialisme ou Barberie group -- hold
Morris in high regard.  For more, see E.P. Thompson's biography.  




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