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Notes
1 Paul Lafargue Le droit à la paresse [1880] (Paris: Editions de la découverte, 2010), pp.36–37.
2 Charles Fourier Théorie de l'unité universelle [1822] (Dijon: Les presses du réel, 2000), pp.351–352.
3 Paul Lafargue Le droit à la paresse, p.22.
4 The missing figure from this article is Saint-Simon, a key thinker of ‘organization’ (and of the series). For analyses of his work, see Pierre Musso, La religion du monde industriel (La Tour d'Aigues: Editions de l'aube, 2006); see also his Saint-Simon, l'industrialisme contre l'état (La Tour d'Aigues: Editions de l'aube, 2010); and Diane Morgan, ‘Saint-Simon, Fourier and Proudhon: “Utopian” French Socialism’, in The History of Continental Philosophy vol. I, volume editor T. Nenon, series editor A. Schrift (Durham: Acumen Press, 2010), pp. 265–304.
5 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision of Charles Fourier: Selected Texts on Work, Love and Passionate Attraction translated and introduced by Jonathan Beecher and Richard Bienvenu (London: Jonathan Cape, 1971), p.276.
6 Harmonians will live in Harmony, the societary order which supersedes our ‘civilization’. It is ‘organized so that the gratification of individual desires serves to promote the common good’, see Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision p.420.
7 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.278.
8 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.274.
9 See also Arendt's criticism of work being reduced to slavishly “making a living,…[to] sustaining…the life process”, i.e. to the activity of a mere homo laborans, Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998) p.37; 79ff.
10 For Fourier, Newton's discoveries were pivotal. He wrote: ‘…I soon realised that the laws of passionate attraction were in complete accord with the laws of material attraction, as explained by Newton [and Leibnitz], and that there was a unified system of movement governing the material and the spiritual world. I suspected that this analogy might apply to particular laws as well as to general ones and that the attractions and properties of the animals, vegetables and minerals were perhaps coordinated with the same scheme as those of man and the stars’. Quoted in Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.101. Newton had not realized the full significance of his investigations. It took a Fourier to see that Newton's discoveries could lead to the ‘imminent collapse’ of the various societal forms known up to now and thereby bring about ‘universal social harmony’. Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.84. As was the case for Newton, Fourier's own discoveries were aided by an encounter with an apple. The observation of how an apple falls allegedly led Newton to discover the gravitational laws of attraction. Thanks to this particular fruit, Fourier had an equally enlightening moment when his fellow diner, just up from the countryside where local produce is cheap and fresh, was presented with a grossly overpriced apple in a Parisian restaurant. The centrality of this personal experience, indubitable proof of how merchants scandalously exploit ‘market forces’, leads Fourier to exclaim: ‘An apple became for me, as for Newton, a compass of calculation’ for subsequent social ideas. Charles Fourier, Oeuvres.Complètes (Paris: Editions Anthropos, 1967), pp.16–17. For then on, Fourier realized that societal relations could only be improved if ‘nobler’ devices (ressorts) and enticements (amorces) than those motivating the drive for economic profit are employed, see Charles Fourier, Théorie de l'unité universelle vol. I (Dijon: Les presses du reel, 2000), p.352. I hasten to add that the consistency of ‘noble motivations’ for Fourier should not be understood moralistically.
11 Harmony needs discord: ‘the mechanism of the passionate series needs discords as much as accords’. Fourier also writes: ‘Discord between contiguous groups is a general law of nature: the color scarlet goes very badly with its adjacent shades, cherry, nacarat and capucine; but it goes quite well with its opposites, dark blue, dark green, black, white… Let us repeat that in the societary order there must be discord as well as harmony’. Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.279. See also Charles Fourier Le nouveau monde industriel et sociétaire (Dijon: Les presses du reel, 2001), p.90.
12 Charles Fourier The Theory of Four Movement, ed. Gareth Stedman Jones and Ian Patterson, trans. Ian Patterson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006) p.13.
13 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.99.
14 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.10. For Fourier the progressive series is ‘unequal in every way: in age, fortune, character and understanding’. Charles Fourier, Theory of the Four Movements, p.290. However, despite his explicit rejection of ‘enlightened’ measures to institute ‘equality’, it must be noted that, in Fourier's new order: ‘the common people must enjoy a guarantee of well-being, a minimum income sufficient for present and future needs. This guarantee must free them from all anxiety either for their own welfare or that of their dependents’. Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.275. The vast discrepancy in well-being experienced in contemporary society and in Fourier's own would not exist in the societary order where the general standard of living is much higher.
15 ‘Passionate attraction is the drive given us by nature prior to any reflection: it is persistent despite the opposition of reason, duty, prejudice etc’. Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.216.
16 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.304.
17 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.100.
18 Charles Fourier, Le nouveau monde industriel et sociétaire, p.90.
19 Charles Fourier, Théorie de l'unité universelle, p.354.
20 As stated earlier, it is crucial for Fourier that his phalanx is composed of ca. 1600–1800 people who are ‘unequal’, who are not identically fortuned (whether that be economically, intellectually or physically). The various group identities formed by the passionate series thrive exactly on this coming together of such radically varied personalities, from such different walks of life, for a particular activity which nevertheless passionately concerns them all. The spontaneous (not ideologically coerced) adoption of an activity which both appeals to the senses and interests the mind is the strongest and most transversal of all ties. It manifests itself enthusiastically (see Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.283). Work has become a creative and satisfying form of self-expression. In their differentiation of Fourier's ideas from those of Taylorism and other forms of capitalist industrial psychology. Beecher and Bienvenu clearly state: ‘The internal necessities of the worker in Harmony sprang from his own personality, or… passionate type, not from an internalized sense of duty driven into his psyche by his family, his society, or his religion’. Quoted in Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.46.
21 Fourier tells us that enthusiasm is produced by the accentuated special character of each group's work in its finely nuanced difference with others’. See Charles Fourier Théorie de l'unité universelle, p.357.
22 Charles Fourier Theory of the Four Movements, p.291–2.
23 A phalanstery is the principal building of a Phalanx. The Phalanx is the community or association itself. For Fourier's architectural plans see Oeuvres complètes, vol. XII (Paris: Editions anthropos, 1968) pp.683–717. For the economic waste and social absurdity of isolated households, see Charles Fourier, Theory of the Four Movements, p.123. For an analysis and description of a historical Fourierist-styled project, see Thierry Paquot and Marc Bédarida, eds, Habiter l'utopie: Le familistère Godin à Guise ed. (Paris: Les Editions de la Villette, 2004).
24 Fourier held progressive views on women's emancipation. Judging women by what they like in patriarchal society is like ‘judging beavers by the sluggishness that they show in captivity’. See Diane Morgan ‘Saint-Simon, Fourier and Proudhon’, p.283–285.
25 ‘Civilized’ children, the products of the ‘forced or material bonds’ of the nuclear family, often have to be coerced into sharing. When young people become growing initiates into a ‘free, passionate gathering, dissoluble at will’, sharing is no longer associated with the reluctant relinquishment of personal property to foreign bodies Charles Fourier, The Theory of the Four Movements, p.80.
26 For the gastronomic opulence of life in a phalanx see Charles Fourier, Theory of the Four Movements, p.164.
27 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.256.
28 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, pp.308–309.
29 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.308. Not only recalcitrant children are transformed into eager helpers in Fourier's societary order but colleagues are too. Fourier envisages ‘the company of polite and friendly associates’ who will make ‘people enthusiastic about the work which they perform during their short sessions; it makes them eager to return to work and to meet at other times for group meals’, see Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.282.
30 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision, p.283.
31 This is in fact Fourier's thirteenth passion. For a fuller exposition of all the passions see Patrick Tacussel, Le jeu des passions (Paris: Desclée de Brouwer, 2000); and Diane Morgan ‘Saint-Simon, Fourier and Proudhon’, pp.275–287.
32 Charles Fourier, The Theory of the Four Movements, p.81.
33 Fourier insists that everything is harmoniously related in the universe (tout est lié), see Charles Fourier, Théorie de l'unité universelle, pp.226; 438.
34 The ‘organic’ is defined by Fourier as ‘the laws by which God distributes properties such as form, color, smell, etc., to all created or future substances in the various globes’, see Charles Fourier, Théorie de l'unité universelle, vol. I, p.226
35 Charles Fourier, Théorie de l'unité universelle, vol. I, p.436. Fourier surmised ‘that the attractions and properties of animals, vegetables and minerals might be co-ordinated on the same level as those of man and the stars’. Charles Fourier, Théorie de l'unité universelle, vol. I, p.16.
36 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Selected Writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, ed. Stewart Edwards, trans. Elizabeth Fraser (London: Macmillan), pp.81–82.
37 The ‘passionate eagerness in any pursuit, proceeding from an intense conviction of the worthiness of the object’ is one definition of ‘enthusiasm’ given by the Oxford English Dictionary. This calmer (less crazed or possessed) version of enthusiasm is more appropriate for Proudhon's analysis of the positive effect on the worker of healthy and socially valuable work practices.
38 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité, vol. II (Antony: Editions Tops/Trinquier, 2004) p.17.
39 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité vol I (Antony: Editions Tops/Trinquier, 2004), p. 197.
40 We are to cultivate the natural emergence of the series. As Proudhon writes: ‘organising work means finding the natural series of the workers’. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité, vol. II, p.46.
41 Proudhon's reference to ‘beauty’ necessitates a detailed consideration of the ways the series has been explored aesthetically. As such an analysis is beyond the remit of this article, I here evoke just two contrasting examples: firstly, Claude Monet, when discussing his repeated paintings of haystacks, poplars and the façade of Rouen cathedral with Gustave Geffroy (in a letter dated 7/10/1890), explained that a series enabled him to engage with the instant. The specificity of each one of his re-presentations emerges from its minute differences from the others in the series. Secondly Mario Merz emphasizes the cumulative effect of a series, i.e. for him the significance of the series is produced by the sum total of the differing representations. See, for example, his use of the Fibonacci series in the photographic work Fibonacci Napoli: Mensa in fabbrica (1970) to suggest either active mobilization, or passive resistance of a workforce. For Merz's analysis of the ‘accelerated expansion’ of the Fibonacci series see his I want to write a book right now (Firenze: Hopeful Monster Editore, 1989).
42 H. Trinquier in Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité, vol. I, p.19.
43 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, De la capacité politique des classes ouvrières, 2 vols. (Besançon: Editions du monde libertaire, 1977), p.86. Hierarchies are sources of disorder (and unhappiness) for Proudhon.
44 For this double meaning of ‘capacity’ in Saint-Simon's works, see Pierre Musso, Le vocabulaire de Saint-Simon (Paris: ellipses, 2005), pp.12–14; and Diane Morgan, ‘Saint-Simon, Fourier and Proudhon’, p.267.
45 See Cris Shore and Susan Wright's discussion of ‘blame culture’ in ‘Whose Accountability? Governmentality and the Auditing of Universities’ in parallax, ‘Auditing Culture’, Paul Kilroy, Rowan Bailey, Nicholas Chare, eds, 10: 2 (2004), pp.100–114.
46 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité, vol. II p.57 §430.
47 Robert Linhart, L'établi (Paris: Les éditions de minuit, 1981), p.13–14. Administration could be seen in the same light as assembly-line work. It too is never done. In contemporary society administration often takes the form of a deadening bureaucracy antithetical to lively intellectual activity. For an account of how Saint-Simon's radical reconceptualisation of administration as a creative, facilitating, dynamic activity. See Diane Morgan ‘Saint-Simon, Fourier and Proudhon’, pp. 272; 296.
48 See the case of the Yugoslavs and their ‘zone of autonomous functioning’ through mutual aid, and Demarcy's artisanal autonomy in Robert Linhart, L'établi, pp.33–34; 155–158, and pp. 125; 164–175 for how these forms of resistance are dismantled by management. Demarcy is all but destroyed by auditing ‘culture’ and its drive for normalisation, classification and standardization.
49 Demarcy tries to adapt to the standardized model of workbench imposed on him but fails to. He just cannot perform his repair tasks as successfully as before. The workbench is inflexible. His choice of working pattern is in fact vindicated as his D.I.Y workbench is returned to him and the ‘modern’ one removed. But it is too late. The damage has been done. Linhart relates that Demarcy was evidently: ‘[…] fragilised by the shocking disruption. He was no longer at ease in his workplace. He gave the impression of feeling spied upon. On remand. As if he was expecting the next blow. He closed in on himself. He was always anxious when one addressed him. […] Shortly after, he fell ill’. Robert Linhart, L'établi, p.175. This passage describing Demarcy's fragilization is reminiscent of Proudhon's equally powerful analysis of the effects of governance. See Idée générale de la révolution (Anthony: Editions Tops, 2007) p.309: ‘to be governed is to be watched over, inspected, spied on, overseen, legislated for, ruled over, closed in, indoctrinated, preached at […]’. By way of contrast with Demarcy's demise, the Yugoslavs hand in their notice, conspicuously and in a dignified manner taking the time (as do the other employees) to say goodbye to everyone (but the bosses) before leaving the factory for good.
50 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité, vol. II, p.50.
51 For the series as the condition for the creation of ‘life, duration and beauty’, see the reference cited above.
52 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité, vol. II, p.50; 17.
53 ‘Society seeks order in anarchy’ affirms Proudhon, just as the various processes of life do. Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property? ed. and trans. Donald Kelly and Bonnie Smith (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p.209.
54 Proudhon cited by Trinquier in De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité, vol. I, p.15.
55 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, ‘La fédération et l'unité en Italie’ in Œuvres complètes de Proudhon volume Du principe fédératif, ed. G. Scelle et al. (Paris: Editions Marcel Rivière, 1959) p. 218–9.
56 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Du principe fédératif (Paris: Romillat, 1999), p.122.
57 Federalism is perceived by Proudhon as being the logical outcome of ‘mutualism’: ‘When it is translated into the realm of politics, what we have hitherto termed mutualism or guaranteeism is called federalism. The entire political and economic revolution is summed up in this simple synonym’. See Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Selected Writings, p.111. For an account of ‘mutualism’, see Diane Morgan. ‘Saint-Simon, Fourier and Proudhon’, pp.297–99.
58 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Du principe fédératif, p.162.
59 As for Fourier, harmony should not be understood as beatific concord. As Trinquier makes clear, for Proudhon the golden age is far from being a world without conflict. On the contrary, ‘it is a world in which the liveliest oppositions can develop and organise themselves freely’. Charles Fourier, De la création de l'ordre dans l'humanité, vol. I, p.19.
60 The fuller, more radical consequence of Proudhon's analysis, i.e. mutualism, cannot be dealt with here. See footnote 55 above.
61 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property? p.207.
62 Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property? p.208.
63 Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon ‘Lettre d'un habitant de Genève à ses contemporains’, in Œuvres vol. I, ed. E. Dentu, (Paris: Editions Anthropos, 1966), p.42.
64 See P. Musso Le vocabulaire de Saint-Simon (Paris: ellipses, 2005), pp.17–19.
65 Charles Fourier, The Utopian Vision of Charles Fourier, p.327.
66 See Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt, Multitude (London, Hamish Hamilton, 2004) p.351ff. For Proudhon it would seem that Love was not only a strictly private affair, but also an entirely dispensable ingredient even in the discrete realm of monogamous domesticity. See the description of his marital relations in Edward Hyams Pierre-Joseph Proudhon: His Revolutionary Life, Mind and Works, London: John Murray, 1979), pp.172–173.