The cause of labor is the hope of the earth: William Morris and regrowth communism

Abstract

What resources does the history of political thought offer for confronting the democratic and ecological crises of the present? Through a reconstruction of the political thought of William Morris within the context of late nineteenth century socialism, I show how he built a vision of ecological flourishing on the foundation of the democratic freedom of workers, which I call “regrowth communism.” According to Morris, only in the struggle of workers for freedom through fellowship is earthly flourishing possible, since mastery degrades both human and nonhuman life. Reading Morris's vision of economic freedom and earthly wealth in the late nineteenth century not only gives us a fuller picture of this moment in the history of political thought, but also a vision of a democratic and sustainable form of life that might provide hope in this moment of dual crises.