First French edition: history of the formation of an early socialist society in Europe.

First French edition: history of the formation of an early socialist society in Europe.

This is a French translation from the Dutch of a text by the reformer van den Bosch, who, along with his Societé de Bienfaisance set up the colony of Frederiks-Oord in an attempt at social regeneration. In a movement similar to the kibbutzim of the twentieth century, the Societé advocated reintegrating the disenfranchised and neglected by allotting them barren tracts of land which they could renew through their own labour. Within Frederiks-Oord all are given equal rights, but all must also submit to the communal impetus in the formation of 'un état laborieux, mais productif, une existence honnête et indépendante.'

Like so many utopian societies of the nineteenth century, an unquestioned faith in progress and innovation combines with an inherently positivistic notion that through work comes freedom and societal harmony. Throughout, there is a tension between blunt economic appraisals of the individual and idyllic portrayals of the community as a fantasy of ease and prosperity.