Research On George Cole’s Socialist Thought

George Cole was the main representative of the famous British socialist group "Fabian Society" in the first half of the 20 th century and the main political thinker and socialist theorist of the "Labour Party",one of the oldest parties in British politics in the century.His socialist ideas had a wide influence on the political,academic and intellectual circles in Britain and Western Europe in the 20 th century.This paper follows the general research path of the figure’s thought,and elaborates the background of his socialist thought,its main contents and its distinctive features and makes a dialectical evaluation from four aspects..The formation of Cole’s socialist thought has a rich subjective and objective background.Subjectively,he not only adhered to the traditional concept of Western capitalism,but also was deeply influenced by Western socialist schools and traditional political theory of the bourgeoisie,and finally formed his own school by combining them.The former laid the foundation for his socialist outlook,while the latter prompted him to develop his unique socialist ideas in the light of reality.In his lifetime,Cole put forward three socialist ideas,including Guild socialism,basic socialism,and supranational socialism,which have potential commonalities in terms of value pursuits,but also obvious differences and independence in terms of time,context,and connotation.Kehrt’s socialist ideology emerged in the context of the desire of workers to manage their production autonomously as capitalism entered the monopoly period around World War I at the beginning of the 20 th century,and Cole’s thesis is centered on two principles of "function" and "autonomy"--The division of functions on the premise of universal autonomy,and autonomy on the basis of the assignment of functions,divides different industries and society as a whole into autonomous groups according to different industries or attributes,and assigns to each organization or group a distinctive function.Basic socialism,on the other hand,was formed in the context of the domestic industrial depression,economic collapse and social disorder in Britain at the beginning of World War II.It believed that it was necessary to continue to promote socialist ideas and strategies,but opposed the complete overthrow of the capitalist system as the root of the disease,and instead pursued the alternative socialist goals of "ideas,equal opportunities for all,a basic standard of living for all,and democratic freedoms.Supranational socialism,on the other hand,was proposed by Kerr in the mid-to late-World War II,in the context of his deep reflection on how to avoid the recurrence of a tragic world war in Europe and the rapid recovery of Europe and the reconstruction of international relations after the war,to show that if security and peace were sought for one country only,it would mean that ultimately all European countries would not be effectively protected.It should be sought collectively on an international scale,and a unified international economic management body should be established in the economic field,and a pan-European order should be created,with a view to eliminating the two major causes of war: vicious competition and transnational monopoly.Cole’s socialist ideology has distinctive features,such as the promotion of reformism,advocating non-violence and non-revolution,and the departure from Marxism,misjudging the scientific truth of Marxism,as well as the common pursuit of value principles,the persistent desire for freedom,democracy and harmony,and the prominent practical tools.On the one hand,confined to certain temporal and cognitive limitations,Cole’s socialist thought has significant flaws.For example,Kehrt’s socialism overemphasizes independent partition and ignores the possibility of separate governance when the whole society faces common threats;the limited planning policy of basic socialism lacks rationality in the selection of nationalized objects and scientific operation;supranational socialism places too much emphasis on economic integration and leaves politics and society to their own management,which breaks the inherent link between the three and leads to the failure to implement conflict policies and may even The supranational socialism,on the other hand,focuses too much on economic integration and leaves politics and society to their own devices.On the other hand,the positive value of Cole’s socialist ideas cannot be ignored.For example,it has enriched the theoretical spectrum of socialism,as well as innovated the theory of the connotation and path of democracy and the deconstruction and application of socialism from the perspective of the Western countries;in practice,it has inspired the governing of the British Labour Party,such as the "welfare state" system,and the establishment of a pan-European international coal and steel federation and even the European Union.In practice,the inspiration for the establishment of a pan-European international organization such as the European Coal and Steel Union and the European Union has also promoted the security,cooperation and development of Europe as a whole and the growth of its comprehensive strength,as well as its international status as a pole,which have certain theoretical value and practical significance for British and European politics.