Australia's First Fabians: Middle-Class Radicals, Labour Activists and the Early Labour Movement

by Race Mathews

Many of Australia's first Fabians are known as legislators, priests, jurists, men and women of letters, diplomats, feminists and educators, yet few are recognised as Fabians. Until this book, little attention has been given to Australian Fabian thinkers, activists and organisations, and their long-term influence on Australian political and intellectual life. This book recreates the lives of the first Fabians in Australia, their political ideas and strategies, and presents their visions for society in a lively and entertaining way. It also explores the similarities between the Fabian Society's development in Britain and Australia. The book will fill a long-standing gap in Australian intellectual history and the history of early socialist movements in Australia.

Genres: Politics

308 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Charles Race Thorson Mathews was an Australian politician, academic, author and reformer. He was a member of Australia's Federal Parliament and the Victorian State Parliament for the Australian Labor Party (ALP).

Reviews

[Dwight Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It explains socialist inner working of Australian politics from 1880s to 1980s. Many intellectuals who did not fit into Labor Party were socialists. Famous ones in London were Bernard Shaw, G.K. Chesteron and H.G. Wells. My father mentioned social gospel in 1930s in Victoria and this was same time as Christian Socialists in churches grew including Anglican church in South Australia.