socialism of the chair

1 definition found

socialism of the chair - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Socialism \So"cial*ism\, n. [Cf. F. socialisme.]
     A theory or system of social reform which contemplates a
     complete reconstruction of society, with a more just and
     equitable distribution of property and labor. In popular
     usage, the term is often employed to indicate any lawless,
     revolutionary social scheme. See Communism, Fourierism,
     Saint-Simonianism, forms of socialism.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           [Socialism] was first applied in England to Owen's
           theory of social reconstruction, and in France to those
           also of St. Simon and Fourier . . . The word, however,
           is used with a great variety of meaning, . . . even by
           economists and learned critics. The general tendency is
           to regard as socialistic any interference undertaken by
           society on behalf of the poor, . . . radical social
           reform which disturbs the present system of private
           property . . . The tendency of the present socialism is
           more and more to ally itself with the most advanced
           democracy.                               --Encyc. Brit.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           We certainly want a true history of socialism, meaning
           by that a history of every systematic attempt to
           provide a new social existence for the mass of the
           workers.                                 --F. Harrison.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Socialism of the chair [G. katheder socialismus], a term
        applied about 1872, at first in ridicule, to a group of
        German political economists who advocated state aid for
        the betterment of the working classes.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]