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François Marie Charles Fourier (; ; 7 April 1772 – 10 October 1837) was a French
philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
, an influential early
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
thinker, and one of the founders of
utopian socialism Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...
. Some of his views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become mainstream in modern society. For instance, Fourier is credited with having originated the word ''
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
'' in 1837. Fourier's social views and proposals inspired a whole movement of intentional communities. Among them in the United States were the community of Utopia, Ohio; La Reunion near present-day
Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
; Lake Zurich, Illinois; the North American Phalanx in Red Bank, New Jersey; Brook Farm in West Roxbury, Massachusetts; the Community Place and Sodus Bay Phalanx in New York State; Silkville, Kansas, and several others. In Guise, France, he influenced the . Fourier later inspired a diverse array of revolutionary thinkers and writers.


Life

Fourier was born in
Besançon Besançon (, ; , ; archaic ; ) is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerland. Capi ...
, France, on 7 April 1772. Serenyi 1967, p. 278. The son of a small businessman, Fourier was more interested in architecture than in his father's trade. He wanted to become an engineer, but the local military engineering school accepted only sons of noblemen. Fourier later said he was grateful that he did not pursue engineering because it would have taken too much time away from his efforts to help humanity. When his father died in 1781, Fourier received two-fifths of his father's estate, valued at more than 200,000
francs The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centur ...
. This enabled Fourier to travel throughout Europe at his leisure. In 1791 he moved from Besançon to
Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
, where he was employed by the merchant M. Bousquet. Pellarin 1846, p. 235. Fourier's travels also brought him to Paris, where he worked as the head of the Office of Statistics for a few months. From 1791 to 1816 Fourier was employed in Paris,
Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
, Lyon,
Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
, and
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
. As a traveling salesman and correspondence clerk, his research and thought was time-limited: he complained of "serving the knavery of merchants" and the stupefaction of "deceitful and degrading duties". He began writing. His first book was published in 1808 but sold few copies. After six years, it fell into the hands of Monsieur Just Muiron, who eventually became Fourier's patron. Fourier produced most of his writings between 1816 and 1821. In 1822, he tried to sell his books again but with no success. Fourier died in Paris in 1837. Pellarin 1846, p. 213.


Ideas

Fourier declared that concern and
cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English and, with a varied usage along time, coöperation) takes place when a group of organisms works or acts together for a collective benefit to the group as opposed to working in competition ...
are the keys to social success. He believed that a society that cooperated would see an immense improvement in its productivity. Workers would be recompensed for their labor according to their contribution. Fourier saw such cooperation occurring in communities he called "phalanxes", based upon structures called Phalanstères or "grand hotels". These buildings were four-level apartment complexes where the richest had the uppermost apartments and the poorest had ground-floor residences. Wealth was determined by one's job; jobs were assigned based on interest and desire. There were incentives: jobs people might not enjoy doing would receive higher pay. Fourier considered
trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
, which he associated with Jews, the "source of all evil", and advocated that Jews be forced to perform farm work in the phalansteries. By the end of his life, Fourier advocated the return of Jews to Palestine with the assistance of the Rothschilds. John K. Roth and Richard L. Rubenstein see Fourier as motivated by economic and religious antisemitism rather than the
racial antisemitism Racial antisemitism is prejudice against Jews based on a belief or assertion that Jews constitute a distinct Race (human categorization), race that has inherent traits or characteristics that appear in some way abhorrent or inherently inferior ...
that emerged later in the century.


Attack on civilization

Fourier characterized poverty (not inequality) as the principal cause of disorder in society, and proposed to eradicate it by sufficiently high wages and a "decent minimum" for those unable to work. He used the word "civilization" in a pejorative sense; as such, "Fourier's contempt for the respectable thinkers and ideologies of his age was so intense that he always used the terms philosopher and civilization in a pejorative sense. In his lexicon civilization was a depraved order, a synonym for perfidy and constraint ... Fourier's attack on civilization had qualities not to be found in the writing of any other social critic of his time."


Work and liberated passions

For Herbert Marcuse "The idea of libidinal work relations in a developed industrial society finds little support in the tradition of thought, and where such support is forthcoming it seems of a dangerous nature. The transformation of labor into pleasure is the central idea in Fourier's giant socialist utopia." Fourier believed that there were 12 common passions, which resulted in 810 types of character, so the ideal phalanx would have 1,620 people. One day there would be six million of these, loosely ruled by a world " omniarch", or (later) a World Congress of Phalanxes. He had a concern for the sexually rejected; jilted suitors would be led away by a corps of ''fairies'' who would soon cure them of their lovesickness, and visitors could consult the card-index of ''personality types'' for suitable partners for casual sex. He also defended homosexuality as a personal preference for some people. Anarchist Hakim Bey describes Fourier's ideas as follows:
In Fourier's system of Harmony all creative activity including industry, craft, agriculture, etc. will arise from liberated passion—this is the famous theory of "attractive labor". Fourier sexualizes work itself—the life of the Phalanstery is a continual orgy of intense feeling, intellection, & activity, a society of lovers & wild enthusiasts.


Women's rights

Fourier supported
women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...
. He believed that all important jobs should be open to women on the basis of skill and aptitude rather than closed on account of gender. He spoke of women as individuals, not as half the human couple. Fourier saw that "traditional" marriage could potentially hurt woman's rights as human beings and thus never married. Writing before the advent of the term "homosexuality", he held that both men and women have a wide range of sexual needs and preferences, which may change throughout their lives, including same-sex attraction and ''androgénité''. He argued that all sexual expressions should be enjoyed as long as people are not abused, and that "affirming one's difference" can actually enhance social integration. Fourier's concern was to liberate every human being, in two senses: through education and by liberating human passion.


Children and education

Fourier felt that "civilized" parents and teachers saw children as little idlers. But he himself believed that children as early as age two and three were very industrious. He listed children's dominant tastes as including: #Rummaging or inclination to handle everything, examine everything, look through everything, to constantly change occupations; #Industrial commotion, taste for noisy occupations; #Aping or imitative mania. #Industrial miniature, a taste for miniature workshops. #Progressive attraction of the weak toward the strong.


Utopian aspirations

Fourier was deeply disturbed by the disorder of his time and wanted to stabilize the course of events. He saw a world full of strife, chaos, and disorder. Fourier is best remembered for his writings on a new world order based on unity of action and harmonious collaboration. He is also known for certain utopian pronouncements, such as that the seas would lose their
salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...
and turn to lemonade, and a coincidental view of
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, that the
North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
would be milder than the Mediterranean in a future phase of Perfect Harmony.


Antisemitism

Fourier said Jews were "the leprosy and the ruin of the body politic". He criticized the government for being weak and "prostrate" when confronted with what he called a "secret and indissoluble league" of Jews. Post-Medieval antisemitic rhetoric often accused Jews of being unable to assimilate into a unitary national culture (highly valued by the French nationalists). Fourier was one of the writers to argue that Jews were disloyal and would not make good French citizens. Like others, he placed great significance on the religious restrictions prohibiting Jews from eating at the same table as non-Jews:
he confined himself to sitting down at table and drinking; he refused to eat any of the dishes, because they were prepared by Christians. Christians have to be very patient to tolerate such impertinence. In the Jewish religion it denotes a system of defiance and aversion for other sects. Now, does a sect which wishes to carry its hatred as far as the table of its protectors, deserve to be protected?


Influence

The influence of Fourier's ideas in French politics carried forward into the 1848 Revolution and the
Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...
by followers such as Victor Considerant. *Numerous references to
Fourierism Fourierism () is the systematic set of economic, political, and social beliefs first espoused by French intellectual Charles Fourier (1772–1837). It is based on a belief in the inevitability of communal associations of people who work and live t ...
appear in Dostoevsky's political novel '' Demons,'' published in 1872. *Fourier's ideas also took root in America, with his followers starting phalanxes throughout the country, including one of the most famous, Utopia, Ohio. *Fourier is one of three major utopian socialists whose ideas are critiqued in
Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ;"Engels"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific. *
Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...
, in the preface to his book '' The Conquest of Bread'', considered Fourier the founder of the libertarian branch of
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
thought, as opposed to the authoritarian socialist ideas of Babeuf and Buonarroti. *In the mid-20th century, Fourier's influence began to rise again among writers reappraising socialist ideas outside the
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
mainstream. After the Surrealists broke with the
French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...
,
André Breton André Robert Breton (; ; 19 February 1896 – 28 September 1966) was a French writer and poet, the co-founder, leader, and principal theorist of surrealism. His writings include the first ''Surrealist Manifesto'' (''Manifeste du surréalisme'') ...
returned to Fourier, writing ''Ode à Charles Fourier'' in 1947. *
Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...
considered Fourier crucial enough to devote an entire " konvolut" of his massive, projected book on the Paris arcades, the '' Passagenwerk'', to Fourier's thought and influence. He writes: "To have instituted play as the canon of a labor no longer rooted in exploitation is one of the great merits of Fourier", and notes that "Only in the summery middle of the nineteenth century, only under its sun, can one conceive of Fourier's fantasy materialized." * Herbert Marcuse in his influential work '' Eros and Civilization'' wrote, "Fourier comes closer than any other utopian socialist to elucidating the dependence of freedom on non-repressive sublimation." *In 1969,
Raoul Vaneigem Raoul Vaneigem (; ; ; born 21 March 1934) is a Belgian writer known for his 1967 book ''The Revolution of Everyday Life''. Biography Vaneigem was born in Lessines (in Hainaut Province, Hainaut, Belgium) and studied romance philology at the Fre ...
quoted and adapted Fourier's ''Avis aux civilisés relativement à la prochaine métamorphose sociale'' in his text ''Avis aux civilisés relativement à l'autogestion généralisée''. *Fourier's work significantly influenced the writings of Gustav Wyneken, Guy Davenport (in his work of fiction '' Apples and Pears''), Peter Lamborn Wilson, and
Paul Goodman Paul Goodman (September 9, 1911 – August 2, 1972) was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the ...
. *In Whit Stillman's film '' Metropolitan'', the idealistic Tom Townsend describes himself as a Fourierist, and debates the success of social experiment Brook Farm with another character. Bidding him goodnight, Sally Fowler says, "Good luck with your furrierism." * David Harvey, in the appendix to his book ''Spaces of Hope'', offers a personal utopian vision of the future in cities citing Fourier's ideas. * Libertarian socialist and environmentalist thinker
Murray Bookchin Murray Bookchin (; January 14, 1921 – July 30, 2006) was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. Influenced by G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and Peter Kropotkin, he was a pioneer in the environmental ...
wrote that "The Greek ideal of the rounded citizen in a rounded environment—one that reappeared in Charles Fourier's utopian works—was long cherished by the anarchists and socialists of the last century...The opportunity of the individual to devote his or her productive activity to many different tasks over an attenuated work week (or in Fourier's ideal society, over a given day) was seen as a vital factor in overcoming the division between manual and intellectual activity, in transcending status differences that this major division of work created, and in enhancing the wealth of experiences that came with a free movement from industry through crafts to food cultivation." *
Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...
in Chapter 7 of his novel '' The Blithedale Romance'' gently mocks Fourier, writing: *Writers of the post-left anarchy tendency have praised Fourier's work. Bob Black in his work '' The Abolition of Work'' advocates Fourier's idea of attractive work as a solution to his criticisms of work conditions in contemporary society. Hakim Bey wrote that Fourier "lived at the same time as De Sade & illiamBlake, & deserves to be remembered as their equal or even superior. Those other two apostles of freedom & desire had no political disciples, but in the middle of the 19th century literally hundreds of communes (phalansteries) were founded on fourierist principles".


Fourier's works

*Fourier, Charles. ''Théorie des quatre mouvements et des destinées générales'' (Theory of the four movements and the general destinies), appeared anonymously in Lyon in 1808. *Fourier, Charles. ''Le Nouveau Monde amoureux''. Written 1816–18, not published widely until 1967. * Fourier, Ch. ''Œuvres complètes de Ch. Fourier''. 6 tomes. Paris: Librairie Sociétaire, 1841-1848. * Fourier, Charles. La fausse industrie morcelée, répugnante, mensongère, et l'antidote, l'industrie naturelle, combinée, attrayante, véridique, donnant quadruple produit (False Industry, Fragmented, Repugnant, Lying and the Antidote, Natural Industry, Combined, Attractive, True, giving four times the product), Paris: Bossange. 1835. * Fourier, Charles. ''Oeuvres complètes de Charles Fourier''. 12 vols. Paris: Anthropos, 1966–1968. *Jones, Gareth Stedman, and Ian Patterson, eds. ''Fourier: The Theory of the Four Movements''. Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996. *Fourier, Charles. ''Design for Utopia: Selected Writings''. Studies in the Libertarian and Utopian Tradition. New York: Schocken, 1971. *Poster, Mark, ed.
Harmonian Man: Selected Writings of Charles Fourier
'. Garden City: Doubleday. 1971. *Beecher, Jonathan and Richard Bienvenu, eds.
The Utopian Vision of Charles Fourier: Selected Texts on Work, Love, and Passionate Attraction
'. Boston: Beacon Press, 1971. *Wilson, Peter Lamborn, ''Escape from the Nineteenth Century and Other Essays''. Brooklyn: Autonomedia, 1998.


See also

* Alphadelphia Association * Alphonse Toussenel, a disciple of Fourier * American Union of Associationists * Brook Farm * Decent work * List of Fourierist Associations in the United States * Society of the Friends of Truth


References


Sources

* * * * * *


Further reading


On Fourier and his works

* * * pp. 213–255 * Lloyd-Jones, I D."Charles Fourier, The Realistic Visionary " ''History Today'' 12#1 (1962): pp198–205.
« Portrait : Charles Fourier (1772-1837) ». ''La nouvelle lettre'', n°1070 (12 mars 2011): 8.


On Fourierism and his posthumous influence

* Barthes, Roland ''Sade Fourier Loyola''. Paris: Seuil, 1971. * *Brock, William H
Phalanx on a Hill: Responses to Fourierism in the Transcendentalist Circle
Diss., Loyola U Chicago, 1996. * * *Desroche, Henri. ''La Société festive. Du fouriérisme écrit au fouriérismes pratiqués''. Paris: Seuil, 1975. *Engels, Frederick. '' Anti-Dühring''. 25:1-309. Marx, Karl, and Frederick Engels. Karl Marx, Frederick Engels: Collected Works ECW 46 vols. to date. Moscow: Progress, 1975. * * * * Jameson, Fredric. "Fourier; or; Ontology and Utopia" at


External links

* *
"Charles Fourier Prefigures Our Total Refusal"
by Don LaCoss
''Selections from the Works of Fourier'' a 1901 collection


at marxists.org * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fourier, Charles 1772 births 1837 deaths Proto-socialists 19th-century French non-fiction writers 19th-century French philosophers Burials at Montmartre Cemetery European democratic socialists Scholars of feminist philosophy Fourierists Free love advocates French ethicists French feminists French humanists French male non-fiction writers French male writers French socialist feminists French socialists Libertarian socialists Male feminists French philosophers of culture Philosophers of economics French philosophers of education French philosophers of history Philosophers of sexuality French political philosophers Sex-positive feminists Socialist economists Theorists on Western civilization Utopian socialists Writers from Besançon