The Ideas of Gerard Winstanley: This Week’s Historical Document
This week’s historical document comes from a lecture by the great socialist historian Christopher Hill. Hill’s work dealt with the radical religious movements that appeared in the mid seventeenth century in England, many of which were calling for a radical economy using the Bible as the authority calling for a radical society.
Among the groups that Hill studied were the Diggers, who were calling for the lands not used by the Nobility to be held in common. They also wanted the abolition of property and the creation of a communist agrarian society. Their leader was Gerard Winstanley. Since agriculture was the basis of this society, one can think of it as a collectivization of the means of production.
Hill’s lecture can be found here.
Also there’s a wonderful song about the Digger colony at St. George’s Hill–”The World Turned Upside Down.” Here’s Billy Bragg’s version:
I also recommend Hill’s books on the subject: The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution, which is a deep discussion of the theology of the religious groups of this time period, and Liberty Against the Law, which is more of a social realist history of the same people.
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