British guild socialism aimed to eliminate private profit as the driver of production

Evidence

However, guilds in Britain went a step further since they got rid of not only the pillars of private property and wage relations, but also profi t as the driver of production altogether. Like the miners, the guilds intended to enable a “new industrial system” based on a new motive, “the motive of public service under free conditions” (Cole 1921b, 17), deemed far superior to that of private profi t. Guild Socialist leaders, including Cole, Frank Hodges, and S. G. Hobson, envisaged a starting point for the fullblown realization of a guild socialist society based on a democratic economy and a new industrial system. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 433

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the distinguishing feature of British guild socialism versus Italian cooperatives: abolition of profit motive itself, not just private property and wages.
• XREF: connects to: Guild socialism had to survive inside capitalist markets it sought to replace; Workers’ self-governance sought to abolish the wage relationship and production for profit — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism: An Intervention, 186; Postwar state support briefly enabled guild socialism before austerity funds were cut (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Workers’ self-governance sought to abolish the wage relationship and production for profit #complicates (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 186
• Guild socialism had to survive inside capitalist markets it sought to replace #qualifies (0.85)
• Postwar workers rejected labor as a commodity and demanded democratic control of production #expands (0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 185
• Postwar state support briefly enabled guild socialism before austerity funds were cut #expands (0.75)
• Worker guilds thrived in industries requiring little capital and where capitalism had failed housing #qualifies (0.75)
• Middle-class concessions yield only formal socialism masking monopoly capitalism #qualifies (0.72) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 572