# Samuel George Hobson

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S. G. Hobson Born Samuel George Hobson (1870-02-04)4 February 1870 Bessbrook, County Armagh, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Died 4 January 1940(1940-01-04) (aged 69) Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England Political party ILP (1893-1905) Academic work Discipline Economics political studies Sub-discipline Co-operative economics political theory School or tradition Guild socialism Notable works National Guilds: an Inquiry into the Wage System and a Way Out

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**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](/source/Guild_socialism).

## Biography

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

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

From 1906, Hobson developed a theory of a socialism based on [guilds](/source/Guild), a form of [workers' self-management](/source/Workers'_self-management) inspired by Mediaeval forms of organisation. He left the Fabians in 1910 and soon began writing for [Alfred Richard Orage](/source/Alfred_Richard_Orage)'s magazine, *[The New Age](/source/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](/source/National_Guilds_League), but following disagreements with [G. D. H. Cole](/source/G._D._H._Cole) over strategy, and *The New Age'*s move to supporting [social credit](/source/Social_credit), he ceased theoretical work.

Throughout this period, Hobson had been involved in various profitable activities, managing a banana [plantation](/source/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](/source/Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography)

v t e Guild socialism Concepts Direct democracy Economic democracy Guilds Workers' control Workers' self-management Workplace democracy People G. D. H. Cole S. G. Hobson Arthur Penty Karl Polanyi Lionel Robbins Bertrand Russell R. H. Tawney Rafael Uribe Uribe Ernst Wigforss Organisations National Guilds League Fabian Society Blue Labour Related topics Anarcho-syndicalism Council communism Corporatism Distributism Libertarian socialism Market socialism Mutualism (economic theory) National syndicalism Socialism Syndicalism

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