The Webbs and the non-white world : a case of socialist racialism

Are socialism and racialism incompatible doctrines? By today's standards, it would seem so, since it is widely held that socialism implies a belief in human equality and an assertion of the right of all peoples to self-determination. A denial of these assumptions is almost always at the heart of racialist theories. Two generations ago, such a clear distinction between what we now see as completely hostile views was not always made. Historians of the European left have to take account of the fact that prominent socialists have voiced views on race which reflect prejudices we usually associate with men of other political persuasions. Perhaps there is room in an account of the history of several labour movements for a phenomenon which may be called 'socialist racialism'. This article will attempt to show in the British case the appropriateness of this term when applied to the thought of the Fabian Society's most distinguished spokesmen, Sidney and Beatrice Webb.