French Socialisms

Available in English for the first time, Célestin Bouglé's (1870-1940) French Socialisms (1932) provides a comprehensive overview of the relevance of Saint-Simonism, Fourierism, and Proudhonism for today. Bouglé, who is sometimes called the "alter-ego" of the prolific sociologist Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), was a specialist on the neglected ideas of French socialism. In this succinct work, Bouglé traces the roots of socialism, the life and ideas of Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), Charles Fourier (1772-1837), and Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865), and then the impact of their followers on the world. In the Appendix, two articles by Bouglé have been included in the English edition: "Two Resurrections: Saint-Simonism and Proudhonism" (1918) and "Variations of Marxism" (1938). In addition to the translation, the editor Cayce Jamil provides a foreword detailing the relationship between the emergence of sociology and socialism as well as an afterword that traces the significance of French socialism following the original 1932 publication of this book. Lastly, the book includes a sizable list of Further Reading for the interested reader.