Sidney Webb

Sidney Webb (l-isem sħiħ: Sidney James Webb, l-ewwel Baruni ta’ Passfield, OM, PC; twieled fit-13 ta’ Lulju 1859 – miet fit-13 ta’ Ottubru 1947) kien soċjalista, ekonomista, riformista u kofundatur Brittaniku tal-Iskola tax-Xjenza Ekonomika ta’ Londra (bl-Ingliż: London School of Economics). Huwa kien wieħed mill-membri bikrin tas-Soċjetà Fabian fl-1884, li bħal George Bernard Shaw issieħeb magħha tliet xhur wara li ssawret. Flimkien ma’ martu Beatrice Webb u ma’ Annie Besant, Graham Wallas, Edward R. Pease, Hubert Bland u Sydney Olivier, Shaw u Webb biddlu s-Soċjetà Fabian fis-soċjetà politika-intellettwali preeminenti fl-Ingilterra Edwardjana. Huwa kiteb il-Klawżola IV oriġinali favur in-nazzjonalizzazzjoni għall-Partit Laburista Brittaniku.

Sfond u edukazzjoni 
Webb twieled f’Londra f’familja ta’ professjonisti. Huwa studja d-dritt fl-Istituzzjoni Letterarja u Xjentifika ta’ Birkbeck u kiseb lawrija fl-Università ta’ Londra fil-ħin liberu tiegħu, mingħajr ma waqaf jaħdem f’impjieg fl-uffiċju. Huwa studja wkoll fil-Kulleġġ tar-Re f’Londra (bl-Ingliż: King's College London), qabel ma ssejjaħ biex jaħdem bħala avukat fl-1885.

Ħajja professjonali 
Fl-1895, huwa għen biex tiġi stabbilita l-Iskola tax-Xjenza Ekonomika ta’ Londra, billi uża legat li kien tħalla lis-Soċjetà Fabian. Huwa nħatar bħala Professur tal-Amministrazzjoni Pubblika fl-1912, kariga li kellu għal 15-il sena. Fl-1892, Webb iżżewweġ lil Beatrice Potter, li kienet tikkondividi l-istess interessi u twemmin tiegħu. Bil-flus li ġabet magħha martu seta’ jitlaq l-impjieg tiegħu fl-uffiċċju u jikkonċentra fuq l-attivitajiet l-oħra tiegħu. Sidney u Beatrice Webb waqqfu r-rivista New Statesman fl-1913.

Karriera politika 
Webb u Potter kienu membri tal-Partit Laburista u kellhom rwol attiv fil-politika. Sidney sar Membru Parlamentari għal Seaham fl-elezzjonijiet ġenerali tal-1922. L-influwenza tal-koppja toħroġ fid-dieher mill-fatt li kienu ospiti tal-Coefficients, dining club li kien jattira wħud mill-istatisti u ħassieba ewlenin ta’ dak iż-żmien. Fl-1929, ġie elevat għal Baruni ta’ Passfield, ta’ Passfield Corner fil-Kontea ta’ Southampton. Huwa kien Segretarju tal-Istat għall-Kolonji kif ukoll Segretarju tal-Istat għall-Affarijiet tad-Dominji fit-tieni Gvern Laburista ta’ Ramsay MacDonald fl-1929. Bħala Segretarju Kolonjali huwa ħareġ il-White Paper ta’ Passfield li kienet tirrevedi l-politika tal-gvern fil-Palestina, li qabel kienet ġiet stabbilita permezz tal-White Paper ta’ Winston Churchill tal-1922. Fl-1930, saħħtu bdiet tmur lura u minħabba f’hekk kellu jirreżenja minn Segretarju tad-Dominji, iżda baqa’ jservi ta’ Segretarju Kolonjali sal-waqgħa tal-Gvern Laburista f’Awwissu 1931.

Il-koppja Webbs injorat l-evidenza dejjem tiżdied tal-attroċitajiet li kienu twettqu minn Joseph Stalin u baqgħu jappoġġaw lill-Unjoni Sovjetika sa mewthom. Meta kellhom ’il fuq minn sebgħin u tmenin sena rispettivament, il-kotba tagħhom Soviet Communism: A New Civilisation? (1935) u The Truth About Soviet Russia (1942) xorta waħda kienu jagħtu valutazzjoni pożittiva tar-reġim ta’ Stalin. L-istoriku ta’ żmien Trotsky Al Richardson iktar ’il quddiem iddeskriva lil Soviet Communism: A New Civilization? bħala “propaganda Sovjetika pura u gidba faħxija għalkollox”.

Kitbiet 
Webb kien il-koawtur, flimkien ma’ martu, tal-ktieb The History of Trade Unionism (1894). Għas-Soċjetà Fabian huwa kiteb dwar il-faqar f’Londra, il-jum tax-xogħol ta’ tmien sigħat, in-nazzjonalizzazzjoni tal-artijiet, in-natura tas-Soċjaliżmu, l-edukazzjoni, l-ewġenika, u r-riforma tal-House of Lords. Huwa fassal ukoll il-Klawżola IV, li wasslet biex il-Partit Laburista Brittaniku jimpenja ruħu favur is-sjieda pubblika tal-industrija.

Referenzi fil-letteratura 
F’The New Machiavelli (1911) ta’ H. G. Wells, il-koppja Webbs, bħala “l-Baileys”, jiġu mmaqdra u rredikolati bla ħniena bħala manipolaturi tal-borgeżija li jaraw sa mneħirhom. Is-Soċjetà Fabian, li Wells kien membru tagħha għal perjodu qasir (1903-1908), tiġi mmaqdra kważi bl-istess mod.

Fid-djarju tagħha, Beatrice Webb kitbet li huma kienu “qraw il-karikaturi tagħhom stess... b’interess kbir u bi tbissima fuq fommhom. Ir-ritratti tagħha makakki ħafna b’mod malizzjuż”. Hija tagħmel reċensjoni tal-ktieb u tal-karattru ta’ Wells fid-dettall, u fil-qosor tikteb: “Bħala tentattiv ta’ rappreżentazzjoni ta’ filosofija politika, il-ktieb ifalli għalkollox...”.

Ħajja personali 
Meta Beatrice Webb mietet fl-1943, l-urna bl-irmied tagħha ndifnet fil-ġnien ta’ darha f’Passfield Corner. L-irmied ta’ Sidney Webb indifnu hemmhekk ukoll fl-1947. Ftit wara, George Bernard Shaw vara petizzjoni biex it-tnejn li huma jindifnu mill-ġdid fl-Abbazija ta’ Westminster, u eventalment din il-petizzjoni ġiet aċċettata. Attwalment, l-irmied tal-koppja Webbs jinsabu fin-navata tal-Abbazija ta’ Westminster, qrib l-irmied ta’ Clement Attlee u Ernest Bevin.

Il-koppja Webbs kienu ħbieb tal-filosfu Bertrand Russell.

Fl-2006, l-Iskola tax-Xjenza Ekonomika ta’ Londra, flimkien mal-Assoċjazzjoni tal-Abitazzjonijiet, bidlet isem ir-residenza tal-istudenti tagħha f’Great Dover Street għal Sidney Webb House biex tagħti ġieħ lil Sidney Webb.

Arkivji 
Il-kitbiet ta’ Sidney Webb jinsabu fl-arkivji ta’ Passfield fl-Iskola tax-Xjenza Ekonomika ta’ Londra. Posts dwar Sidney Webb jidhru regolarment fil-blog tal-arkivji.

Biblijografija 

 Xogħlijiet ta’ Sidney Webb

 Facts for Socialists (1887)
 Fabian Essays in Socialism – The Basis of Socialism – Historic (1889)
 A plea for an eight hours bill (1890)
 English progress towards social democracy (1890)
 Practicable land nationalization (1890)
 The workers' political programme (1890)
 What the farm laborer wants (1890)
 A Labour policy for public authorities (1891)
 London's neglected heritage (1891)
 London's water tribute (1891)
 Municipal tramways (1891)
 The municipalisation of the gas supply (1891)
 The reform of the poor law (1891)
 The scandal of London's markets (1891)
 The "unearned increment" (1891)
 Socialism : true and false (1894)
 The London vestries : what they are and what they do : with map, table of vestries, etc. (1894)
 The difficulties of individualism (1896)
 Labor in the longest reign (1837-1897) (1897)
 The economics of direct employment (1898)
 Five years' fruits of the Parish Councils Act (1901)
 The education muddle and the way out (1901)
 Twentieth century politics : a policy of national efficiency (1901)
 The Education Act, 1902 : how to make the best of it (1903)
 London Education (1904)
 The London Education Act, 1903 : how to make the best of it (1904)
 Paupers and old age pensions (1907)
 The decline in the birth-rate (1907)
 Grants in Aid: A Criticism and a Proposal (1911)
 The necessary basis of society (1911)
 The Economic Theory of a Legal Minimum Wage (1912)
 Seasonal Trades, with A. Freeman (1912)
 What about the rates? : or, Municipal finance and municipal autonomy(1913)
 The War and the workers : handbook of some immediate measures to prevent unemployment and relieve distress (1914)
 The Restoration of Trade Union Conditions (1916)
 When peace comes : the way of industrial reconstruction (1916)
 The reform of the House of Lords (1917)
 The teacher in politics (1918)
 National finance and a levy on capital (1919)
 The root of labour unrest (1920)
 The constitutional problems of a co-operative society (1923)
 The Labour Party on the threshold (1923)
 The need for federal reorganisation in the co-operative movement (1923)
 The Local Government Act, 1929 - how to make the best of it (1929)
 What happened in 1931: a record (1932)

 Xogħlijiet ta’ Sidney u Beatrice Webb

 History of Trade Unionism (1894).
 Industrial Democracy (1897); tradott bir-Russu minn Lenin bħala The Theory and Practice of British Trade Unionism, San Pietruburgu, 1900.
 Problems of Modern Industry, (1898)
 English Local Government (1906-1929) Vol. I–X
 The Manor and the Borough (1908)
 The Break-Up of the Poor Law (1909)
 English Poor-Law Policy (1910)
 The Cooperative Movement (1914)
 Works Manager Today (1917)
 The Consumer's Cooperative Movement (1921)
 Decay of Capitalist Civilization (1923)
 Methods of Social Study (1932)
 Soviet Communism: A new civilisation? (1935, Vol I Vol II) (it-tieni u t-tielet edizzjonijiet tal-1941 u tal-1944 ma  kellhom "?" fit-titlu)
 The Truth About Soviet Russia (1942)

Iktar qari 

 Bevir, Mark. "Sidney Webb: Utilitarianism, positivism, and social democracy." Journal of Modern History 74.2 (2002): 217–252. online
 Cole, Margaret, et al. The Webbs and their work (1949).
 Davanzati, Guglielmo Forges, and Andrea Pacella. "Sidney and Beatrice Webb: Towards an Ethical Foundation of the Operation of the Labour Market." History of Economic Ideas (2004): 25–49.
 Farnham, David. “Beatrice and Sidney Webb and the Intellectual Origins of British Industrial Relations.” Employee Relations (2008). 30: 534-52
 Harrison, Royden. The Life and Times of Sydney and Beatrice Webb, 1858-1905 (2001)
 Kaufman, Bruce E. "Sidney and Beatrice Webb's Institutional Theory of Labor Markets and Wage Determination." Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society 52.3 (2013): 765–791. online
 MacKenzie, Norman Ian, and Jeanne MacKenzie. The First Fabians (Quartet Books, 1979).
 Radice, Lisanne. Beatrice and Sidney Webb: Fabian Socialists (Springer, 1984).
 Stigler, George. “Bernard Shaw, Sidney Webb, and the Theory of Fabian Socialism,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society (1959) 103#3: 469–75.

Sorsi primarji 

 Mackenzie, Norman, ed. The Letters of Sidney and Beatrice Webb (3 volumes. Cambridge University Press, 1978, pp. xvii, 453; xi, 405; ix, 482)
 Volume 1. Apprenticeships 1873–1892 (1978)
 Volume 2. Partnership 1892–1912 (1978)
 Volume 3. Pilgrimage, 1912–1947 (1978)

Referenzi 

Ekonomisti
Politiċi
Twieldu fl-1859
Mietu fl-1947