Charles Fourier: Utopian Socialist

Charles Fourier was born in Besancon, France on April 7, 1772 and died on October 10, 1837. Fourier was a wealthy man due to his inheritance from his father.  He traveled to various places, indulging himself in the business world.  From his experience, Fourier realized the immorality of the business world and saw it fit that he creates a system in which the economy and business thrived.  What Fourier recognized as the problem was poverty.  Charles Fourier wanted to help humanity and fix what he believed was the glitch in the economy. He published his first book in 1808 that was titled “The Social Destiny of Man”.  In this book, Fourier criticized the immorality of the business world.  He believed that, “truth and commerce are as incompatible as Jesus and Satan.” He also believed that poverty was the root of evil in the business world, and that in order to make amends to the economy, socialism would have to be enforced.  Fourierism was the ideas of Fourier and his socialist plan to save the economy and business world.  

Groups- There were Fourierist groups that sprang up, but these groups were little in number and followed Fourierism very loosely.  Fourierism was not very popularly followed, however, Fourier’s ideas were utilized by socialists, feminists, pacifists and others who recognized the immorality in the capitalist system.  Karl Marx used Fourier’s ideas to form his own system of beliefs.

Beliefs-Fourier believed that poverty was the reason for disorder socially and economically.  The main goal of Fourier was to create a society in which the people worked together, both rich and poor, to create a social economy that was profitable and also saved time and labor for the citizens. By uniting all people regardless of economic status, Fourier hoped to eliminate the poverty that was stunting the success of social economy.  He rewarded individuals on their labor and talent and contribution.  Just like pleasure needs variety, so did work.  Fourier believes that the people should constantly switch roles and have variety in their work which produces the best result.

Social Contract:

New Socialist System of Cooperation: He suggested that “phalanxes” should be established.  Phalanxes, which are experimental, are places that combine families that are unequal in fortune and reward each person according to the three properties: Capital, Labor, and Talent.  Phalanx's, offer a maximum of both cooperation and self-fulfillment to its members.  These buildings were designed to accommodate a person’s passions and talents.  Having similarities will allow the member’s to harmonize in a less amount of time and more easily. He saw that by uniting all economic classes, and allowing them to work together, the problem of poverty would be diminished.  Fourier also saw that a friendly union would be formed between the people because of the similiarites they all shared therefore, creating happiness and cheerfulness within the society.

Rules 

Fourier saw it important to seek characters regarded as peculiar.  While qualities such as having a good ear for music, good manners, and a skill in fine art are frowned upon in civilization, they are looked for in Fourier’s society. Fourier also thought to establish a graduate scale respecting age, fortune, knowledge.

Conduct- All members of society are placed into Phalanx’s.  Here, the people are expected to work and get along.  In order to successfully do work, cooperation has to exist.  They way Fourier structured Phalanx’s is based on a person's talents and compassions. With this structure, the people will have no trouble getting along, therefore, work is done, and success is achieved. All member's are expected to contribute or else the system will fail.  If a person misconducts, then they are not allowed to live in Phalanx's and are forced to live in other villages and towns where Fourier believes exists no social connected and where the people act in a perverse manner.

Organization- Each phalanx should be next to a fine stream of water and be intersected by hills.  This allows cultivation to be carried out easily.  Also, they should be isolated from large cities to escape intruders.  In each phalanx, there should be about 1,600 people and these people consist of all genders, ages, and economic status.  The phalanx’s are constructed in wings.  The central part of the phalanx is to be appropriated to peaceful uses.  It contains dining halls, libraries, and is used for study.  Also in this central portion is the place of worship, post-office boxes, and the observatory.  In another wing, all the noisy workshops are combined; including carpenter shops, hammer-work, and children.  This combination will eliminate a great annoyance of the civilized cities. The other wing ought to contain the caravansary with its ballrooms and halls which are appropriate for meetings and intercourse with outsiders.  It prevents other aspects of the phalanx to interfere with domestic relations.  

Communication- There are covered galleries that allow those who cannot afford cars and transportation to communicate with others and are sheltered from the inclemency’s of the weather.  This allows closed communication to run smoothly within the community without disregarding the less wealthy. 

Foreign Relations- Even though it is a socialist society, there is still interaction with outsiders.  In order to keep the economy flowing, trade occurs.  There is even a special place in each Phalanx where domestic relations are taken care of. 

Governance- Because all the people work together, they govern themselves.  It is their responsibility, whether collectively or individually, to maintain the Phalanx, perfect harmony being especially important.  

Marriage and Sex- Fourier prefers families to have few children and to have one-third of the organization consist of celibates. 

Children- He believed in uniform education and fusion of the classes among children.  He also saw children were ready for labor at ages as young as 2 years old.  

Agriculture and Manufacturing- At least seven eighths of the members should be cultivators and manufacturers.  The remaining people will be scholars, artists, and capitalists. 

Economy-  The economy was run on the fact that everyone worked together and created an economy that was beneficial to the society and the individuals as a whole.  They believed that sharing saved resources and also decreased the work of an individual.  With more people doing the same task, days and hours of labor are reduced, and the systems are more productive.  Also, fuel is a great example to how creating phalax’s and sharing can attribute to the economy.  A Phalax has only five kitches; the administrative or the extra, the first, second, and third class, and the provision for animals.  This allows fires to be burned and shared by others so fuel is not wasted and less money is spent on fuel.  

Work- Fourier believes that variety is the desire of nature.  Just like pleasure, work should contain a variety.  That is why member's are frequently in change of session.  Instead of spending consecutive hours in tedious labor, Harmonians spend up to two hours each day in different sessions.  This allows the people to gain more virtue and get pleasure and happiness out of their work. 

Members-Any person who wants to live a life with communal living and live in a socialist ruled world is allowed to join a phalanx and become a believer of Fourierism; however, if an individual is to not contribute to society and not work united with everyone else, that person is to leave the town due to the fact that it is disturbing the socialist system.

Works Cited