British guild socialism collectivized production and replaced profit motives with public service

Evidence

Like the Italian cooperatives, the British guilds were groups that collectivized their means of production and were organized so that production rested democratically with the workers, emphasizing local managerial and fi nancial autonomy. … 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. — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 432

Categorization

• DEFINE: Distinguishes guild socialism from ordinary cooperatives: guilds abolished wage relations and profit as the driver, making them more radically anti-capitalist than cooperation alone.
• XREF: Connects to earlier discussions of Italian cooperatives and miner nationalization drives in the same book. — connects to: British guild socialism aimed to eliminate private profit as the driver of production — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order: How Economists…, 433; Guild socialism had to survive inside capitalist markets it sought to replace; State capitalism substitutes the power motive for the profit motive — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 485

Broader Connections

• British guild socialism aimed to eliminate private profit as the driver of production #corroborates (1.00) — Clara E. Mattei, The Capital Order, 433
• Guild socialism had to survive inside capitalist markets it sought to replace #qualifies (0.80)
• State capitalism substitutes the power motive for the profit motive #expands (0.72) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 485