1913: The New Statesman and the Fabian Research Department. Religion and ‘The Case for Equality’

Abstract

The Webbs and Shaw founded the New Statesman in 1913, which soon became a leading political weekly. Shaw was one of the major funders of the new publication, but soon came into conflict with the New Statesman’s editor, Clifford Sharp, who in some respects was more a Liberal than a socialist. Shaw nevertheless continued his financing. Beatrice Webb now assumed a leading role in the Fabian Society, and started the Fabian Research Department, with Shaw as chairman. In May Shaw gave his second major lecture on equality, probably the most important for making equality part of political discourse ever since. We also touch briefly on Shaw’s lectures on religion and equality, in which he advocated a..