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Robert Owen and New Lanark

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Childcare, education, working conditions, healthcare, crime: these issues are hotly debated in today's society. They are also issues that Robert Owen, seen by some as a visionary and by others as a knave and a charlatan, sought to address in the early 1800s. This free course, Robert Owen and New Lanark, uses a series of essays written by Owen to explore the ideas of this important and controversial figure.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

  • understand the Enlightenment ideas that underpinned Robert Owen's social reform agenda
  • understand how Owen's background and experience at New Lanark fed through into his thinking in the essays in A New View of Society
  • understand the main proposals in the essays
  • understand New Lanark's role as a model for social reform during this period.
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First Published: 09/08/2012

Updated: 14/04/2016

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