Robert Owen

Available for over a year

Following on from her acclaimed Radio 4 series on British conservatism and British liberalism, Anne McElvoy now traces the story of British socialism. In this opening episode, she visits New Lanark, the early 19th century Scottish mill village run by Robert Owen, to find out how it became the seedbed for his pioneering vision of socialism. Owen was a successful businessman - but he was also the great early visionary of socialist ideas in Britain. What led him to argue for a utopian transformation of British life, based on ending capitalism and replacing it with small settlements based on communal ownership? With: Lorna Davidson, Gregory Claeys Producer: Phil Tinline.