ABSTRACT
Beatrice Webb was a prolific author and student of organizations, who challenged the myopia of many neoclassical economists by investigating the actual conditions of the British working class. Webb described her multiple “apprenticeships”, her partnerships, studies and shared projects with such individuals as Herbert Spencer, Charles Booth and Sidney Webb. Webb lacked formal education but enjoyed the traditional rituals of social engagement of a woman of her class. In 1883, Webb turned to a traditional role for her class and sought to address the problems of poverty through work with the Charity Organization Society. Webb learned to apply the scientific method in a critique of Spencer’s questionable “survival of the fittest” formulation. Webb and Booth investigated working-class life, initially because of discomfiture about their class position and a desire to combat socialists. The Webbs collaborated on a series of books: The History of Trade Unionism, Industrial Democracy, English Local Government, Consumers’ Cooperative Movement and Soviet Communism: A New Civilization?.
