Samuel George Hobson

{{no footnotes|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = S. G. Hobson | image = S G Hobson.JPG | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Samuel George Hobson | birth_date = {{birth date|1870|02|04|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Bessbrook]], [[County Armagh]], [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1940|01|04|1870|02|04|df=yes}} | death_place = [[Dunstable, Bedfordshire]], England | political_party = {{unbulleted list |[[Independent Labour Party|ILP]] (1893-1905)}} | spouse = | awards =  | alma_mater = | signature = | signature_alt = | module = {{Infobox academic|child = yes | thesis_title = | thesis_year = | school_tradition = [[Guild socialism]] | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | influences = | era = | discipline = {{hlist | [[Economics]] | [[political studies]]}} | sub_discipline = {{hlist | [[Co-operative economics]] | [[political theory]]}} | workplaces = | doctoral_students =  | notable_students =  | main_interests = | notable_works =''National Guilds: an Inquiry into the Wage System and a Way Out'' | notable_ideas = | influenced = }} }}

'''Samuel George Hobson''', often known as '''S. G. Hobson''' (4 February 1870 – 4 January 1940), was an Anglo-Irish writer and socialist, perhaps best known as a theorist of [[guild socialism]].

== Biography == Born in [[Bessbrook]], [[County Armagh]], Hobson was given a [[Quaker]] education in [[Saffron Walden]] and then [[Sidcot]], [[Somerset]]. Moving to [[Cardiff]], he became an active [[socialist]], joining first the [[Fabian Society]] and then becoming a founder member of the [[Independent Labour Party]] (ILP). He began writing for the ILP newspaper, ''[[Labour Leader]]'', and in 1900 was elected to the Fabian Society's executive.

Hobson stood for the ILP in the [[1895 United Kingdom general election|1895 general election]] at [[Bristol East (UK Parliament constituency)|Bristol East]], becoming a member of the [[Bristol Socialist Society]] for some years. In the [[1906 United Kingdom general election|1906]], he stood as an "independent Labour" candidate in [[Rochdale (UK Parliament constituency)|Rochdale]]. By this point, he was keen to go beyond the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]'s Parliamentary activity and create an actual socialist society.

From 1906, Hobson developed a theory of a socialism based on [[guild]]s, a form of [[workers' self-management]] inspired by Mediaeval forms of organisation. He left the Fabians in 1910 and soon began writing for [[Alfred Richard Orage]]'s magazine, ''[[The New Age]]''. He coined the term "guild socialism," and in 1914, his writing for the publication was compiled as ''National Guilds: an Inquiry into the Wage System and a Way Out''. He helped found the [[National Guilds League]], but following disagreements with [[G. D. H. Cole]] over strategy, and ''The New Age'''s move to supporting [[social credit]], he ceased theoretical work.

Throughout this period, Hobson had been involved in various profitable activities, managing a banana [[plantation]] and editing an investment journal. Eventually, he attempted to organise a builders' guild, but this was not a success.

Hobson wrote a memoir entitled "Pilgrim to the Left - Memoirs of a Modern Revolutionist" which was published by Longmans, Green & Co. in 1938.

== References == * [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobson, Samuel George}} [[Category:1870 births]] [[Category:1940 deaths]] [[Category:People from Bessbrook]] [[Category:Quakers from Northern Ireland]] [[Category:British socialists]] [[Category:Independent Labour Party parliamentary candidates]] [[Category:Members of the Fabian Society]]