Thomas Hodgskin

Thomas Hodgskin
Born(1787-12-12)12 December 1787
Died21 August 1869(1869-08-21) (aged 81)
NationalityEnglish
CitizenshipBritish
Academic career
FieldPolitical economy
InfluencesJohn Locke, Jean-Baptiste Say, Adam Smith

Thomas Hodgskin (12 December 1787 – 21 August 1869) was an English socialist writer on political economy, critic of capitalism and defender of free trade and early trade unions.

His views differ from some of the views later assigned to the word ‘socialism’. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the term socialist included any opponent of capitalism.[1][2][3]

  1. ^ "L'Angleterre a-t-elle l'heureux privilège de n'avoir ni Agioteurs, ni Banquiers, ni Faiseurs de services, ni Capitalistes ?". In Clavier, Étienne (1788). De la foi publique envers les créanciers de l'état : lettres à M. Linguet sur le n° CXVI de ses annales (in French). p. 19.
  2. ^ Braudel, Fernand (1979). The Wheels of Commerce: Civilization and Capitalism 15th–18th Century. Harper & Row.
  3. ^ Hodgson, Geoffrey (2015). Conceptualizing Capitalism: Institutions, Evolution, Future. University of Chicago Press. p. 252. ISBN 978-0226168005.