Observations On The Old And New Views And Their Effects On The Conduct Of Individuals

Originally published 1965. This reprints the 1977 edition which included a new introduction. From the starting point of "popular" charity education, the book traces the dynamic of ideological and social change from the 1790s to the 1830s in terms of attitudes to education and analyzes the range of contemporary opinions on popular education. It also examines some of the channels through which ideas about education were disseminated and became common currency in popular movements.

Robert Owen and the Owenites were associated with the rise of an early industrial society in Britain and with the development of an agricultural, frontier society in the United States during the first half of the nineteenth century. This book, originally published in 1969, was the first to use both British and American source material, and tells the story of Robert Owen and the movement associated with his name, from the standpoint of comparative social and intellectual history. The book directs new light on Owenism, and at the same time illuminates general problems of the history of social movements and social change in modern societies.

Why has Robert Owen continued to occupy the attention of historians in the twentieth century? What changing significance has been seen in his work? What was his relationship with the great social and political movements of his age? To what extent was the Owenite 'message' of importance outside Great Britain? These and other questions are taken up in this study.