Utopian socialism and the origins of trade unionism

The term "utopian socialism" was coined later, and critically, by Marx and Engels to distinguish these early thinkers from their own "scientific socialism." Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825), a French aristocrat, proposed in The New Christianity (1825) a society organized scientifically by industrialists and scientists, championing rational economic planning and an end to the idleness of unproductive classes; his followers, the Saint-Simonians, developed ideas about investment banking and public works that would influence French industry. Charles Fourier (1772-1837) proposed organizing society into self-sufficient communities called "phalansteries," advocating harmony among human passions and work organized to be attractive rather than forced; his ideas influenced later communal experiments such as Jean-Baptiste Godin's "Familistère" in Guise, France.