Louis Blanc
| Louis Blanc | |
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| Born |
October 29, 1811 Madrid, Kingdom of Spain |
| Died | December 6, 1882 (aged 71) Cannes, France |
| Residence | Paris, France |
| Era | 19th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophers |
| School | Socialism |
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Main interests
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Politics, history, economy |
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Notable ideas
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Right to work, national Workshops |
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Influences
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Influenced
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Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc (/blɑːn/; French: [blɑ̃]; 29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882) was a French politician and historian. A socialist who favored reforms, he called for the creation of cooperatives in order to guarantee employment for the urban poor.
Following the Revolution of 1848 Blanc became a member of the provisional government and began advocating for cooperatives which would be initially aided by the government but ultimately controlled by the workers themselves. Blanc's advocacy failed and, caught between radical worker tendencies and the National Guard, he was forced into exile. Blanc returned to France in 1870, shortly before the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian war, and served as a member of the National Assembly. Although he did not support the Paris Commune he successfully proposed amnesty to the Communards.
Even though Blanc's ideas of the workers' cooperatives were never realized, his political and social ideas greatly contributed to the development of socialism in France.
Louis Blanc was born in Madrid, his father held the post of inspector-general of finance under Joseph Bonaparte. His younger brother was Charles Blanc, who later became an influential art critic. Failing to receive aid from Pozzo di Borgo, his mother's uncle, Louis Blanc studied law in Paris, living in poverty, and became a contributor to various journals. In the Revue du progres, which he founded, he published in 1839 his study on L'Organisation du travail. The principles laid down in this famous essay form the key to Louis Blanc's whole political career. He attributes all the evils that afflict society to the pressure of competition, whereby the weaker are driven to the wall. He demanded the equalization of wages, and the merging of personal interests in the common good—"De chacun selon ses facultés, à chacun selon ses besoins", which is often translated as "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." This was to be affected by the establishment of "social workshops", a sort of combined co-operative society and trade-union, where the workmen in each trade were to unite their efforts for their common benefit. In 1841 he published his Histoire de dix ans 1830-1840, an attack upon the monarchy of July. It ran through four editions in four years.
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