Technocratic Planning and the Emergence of a Socialist Orthodoxy

Abstract

The world of the late nineteenth century was one of continuous innovation and novelty that impinged, for better or ill, on the life of every inhabitant of the rich nations, and on a large part of those living in colonies or subject to the political and economic hegemony of the great powers. Novelties from the commercial sector transformed consumption, work and travel patterns, while weaponry emerging from the new technologies would bring misery and death to millions from August 1914, as it had already for many in colonial nations and subject areas. The ideology of liberalism, emanating most powerfully from the British Empire, saw the world through an unchanged vision of entrepreneurs, competition and free trade.