By Raymond Tyler
All that believed were together, and had all things in common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (Acts 2:44-45, KJV)
In 1825, Welsh social reformer, utopian, and spiritualist Robert Owen would start a cooperative community called New Harmony in Harmony, Indiana. Owen envisioned a society where workers and community members worked not for a boss but for themselves. This community was founded on the belief that all people were capable of governing their own lives, their own decisions, and their own work. Owen's initiative was part of a broader movement that sought to challenge the hierarchical structures of capitalism and promote social equality and economic justice. The cooperative movement, deeply rooted in spiritual principles of mutual aid, community solidarity, and shared prosperity, drew inspiration from various religious and ethical traditions. These principles emphasized the inherent worth of every individual and the moral imperative to create systems that nurtured human potential and collective well-being.
Although Owen is often remembered as a pioneering social reformer and advocate for cooperative communities, his journey began with a deep immersion in the capitalist world. Owen was born to a family of modest wealth, his father was an ironmonger and saddler. At the age of 10, Owen’s father had gotten Owen an apprenticeship at a draper’s shop. It was Owen’s time at the draper’s shop that would lead him into the textile industry. It was in the textile industry that Owen would carve out his fortune, making a name for himself as a capable businessman as well as something of an autodidact. It was his autodidacticism, his lifelong love of philosophy and literature, that earned him an invitation to join the prestigious Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, a society of learned people who engaged recreationally in academic pursuits, such as lectures, publishing, and debates.
While Owen was a member of the society, he delivered several speeches and engaged in debates that made clear his issues with Christianity. Growing up Methodist, Owen experienced Christianity as a dogmatic tool of oppressive forces that were antithetical to the texts that were crucial to the faith.From his frustration with the church, he developed a spiritualism that, although not described as Christian, aligns with the Christian humanist tradition. Owen would pen his seminal work “A New Vision of Society,” where he would lay out his non-dogmatic spiritual socialism. These ideas would go on to shape the rest of his life.
Influenced by such thinkers as John Locke, David Hume, Thomas Paine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and William Godwin, Owen synthesized their writings and his own spiritual convictions into a unique philosophy and practice. It was in his textile mill in New Lanark, Scotland, one of the first “company towns” of the Industrial Revolution, that Owen would begin implementing his social reforms. He decreased working hours to the 8-hour workday, banned child labor, and made sure that profits from the mills went to childhood education. It was at the New Lanark Mill that the first infant school in Britain was founded. It was not just young children who received education; New Lanark ensured that all children had a basic education. New Lanark also offered ongoing adult education; in the evenings, workers could attend a school to improve vocational skills and even study great literature and philosophy. New Lanark was also equipped with recreational facilities, and all workers were guaranteed healthcare. The mill prospered and showed that it was not necessary to squeeze workers in order to produce profit. Owen’s partners were not happy with his generosity, but he prevailed. Although he was of the capitalist class and identified as a philanthropist rather than a revolutionary, it’s important to note that he himself desired to see the social relationship between the owner and employed abolished.
He hoped to do so in the still-young United States. Unlike his earlier efforts at New Lanark, which focused primarily on improving working conditions and educational opportunities within the confines of industrial capitalism, New Harmony represented Owen's ambitious vision for a society entirely restructured around principles of equality and cooperation. Here, on the site of an earlier religious community, Owen sought to create a real-time utopia where every individual could thrive without the hierarchical constraints of traditional economic systems. At New Harmony, communal living was not just a means of social reform but a bold assertion of Owen's belief in the inherent potential of humanity to organize itself in ways that fostered mutual respect, collective well-being, and shared prosperity. This community attracted a diverse spectrum of intellectuals, artists, scientists, and educators eager to contribute to and experience this radical social experiment firsthand.
Despite the initial optimism of those who flocked to it, the community encountered internal conflicts over governance, economic sustainability, and conflicting visions of communal life. Some critics pointed out that there were not enough skilled crafters compared to the many intellectuals. Over time, some residents grew disillusioned, leading to departures and a gradual decline in community cohesion. Eventually, Owen relinquished control of New Harmony in 1827 to his sons, who made lasting contributions to the history of Indiana and the country. Long before Andrew Carnegie endowed libraries with money extracted from workers, New Harmony established a public library and free public schools for boys and girls.
Although the New Harmony experiment was short-lived, it served as a catalyst for ongoing discussions and experiments in communal living and alternative social structures.
It was some years later that George Ripley adapted Owen’s ideas within a distinctly Christian framework for his own experiment, Brook Farm. Ripley, a Unitarian minister, viewed Owen’s cooperative ideals as a way to harmonize Christian ethics with practical social reform. At Brook Farm, founded in 1841 near Boston, Massachusetts, Ripley aimed to create a community where individuals could lead fulfilling lives through both manual labor and intellectual pursuits within a cooperative and egalitarian environment. Emphasizing Christian values such as charity, mutual support, and communal responsibility, Ripley sought to implement Owenite principles of collective ownership and labor equality. To understand Ripley’s development of the cooperative movement, we must take a look at Ripley’s life and his belief system.
The Harvard-educated Ripley had become increasingly disillusioned with traditional religious doctrines and sought a more practical application of his beliefs in communal living and social equality. Unlike Owen, whose spirituality leaned toward non-sectarian spirituality and humanism, Ripley integrated Christian ethics into his socialist vision, emphasizing principles of charity, mutual support, and communal responsibility. Ripley envisioned Brook Farm as a community where individuals could lead fulfilling lives through both manual labor and intellectual pursuits within a cooperative and egalitarian environment. Although financial challenges led to Brook Farm’s eventual dissolution in 1847, Ripley’s experiment left a lasting legacy as a pioneering example of Christian socialism in America.
Despite the different eras, different geographical locations, and differing foundational philosophies, the cooperative experiments of Owen and Ripley faced similar demises because of external market pressures and internal conflicts. Both were to be societies rooted in collective ownership, labor equality, and intellectual fulfillment. However, these utopian communities struggled to compete with the larger capitalist economy, which imposed significant financial strains. New Harmony suffered from ideological differences and governance issues among its members, while Brook Farm faced substantial debt from an ill-fated venture into a joint-stock company.
It’s tempting to say that external economic factors alone led to the downfall of these cooperatives. But such an explanation ignores the complexities of human interaction. Though both cooperatives had trouble establishing economic legitimacy in the capitalist system, there were many factors that broke them. One could sum it up by saying “interpersonal relationships.”
Talk to veterans of the communes of the sixties or look to other non-hierarchical communities for corroboration. Socialism ain’t an easy fix.
These early cooperative experiments, though, left indelible marks on the trajectory of social movements and cooperative endeavors. Despite their varying interpretations of spirituality and approaches to communal living, Owen’s vision of economic justice and Ripley’s integration of Christian ethics into socialist principles helped bring about a shift in societal consciousness. They challenged the prevailing capitalist norms of their time, advocating for cooperative ownership, equitable distribution of resources, and the empowerment of individuals within a supportive community framework.
Their legacy resonates in today’s cooperative movement, which has expanded globally and diversified across industries and communities. Currently, the cooperative movement continues in such radical projects as Cooperation Jackson, a network of cooperatives in Jackson, Mississippi; Mondragon Corporation, a global corporation of Worker Cooperatives that began in Basque, Spain; and the Solidarity Economy Association, a network of worker-led cooperatives based in the United Kingdom.
The visions of Owen and Ripley, though imperfectly realized in their time, laid the groundwork for a more inclusive and equitable future where cooperative values continue to guide efforts toward a just society for all.
Raymond Tyler is a writer from Appalachian Georgia currently residing in Nyack, NY. He’s a longtime social justice and labor activist, mostly bridging “history from below” with comics. Raymond’s most recent work is the comic Black Coal and Red Bandanas: An Illustrated History of the West Virginia Mine Wars, forthcoming with PM Press October 2024.
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