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Owen, Robert
Robert Owen (1771–1858) had a remarkable career as an entrepreneur turned social reformer. Born in Newtown, mid-Wales, he rose from linen draper’s apprentice via drapery stores, machine building, and mill management to become, by1800, manager of New Lanark, Scotland, one of the largest cotton mills of the time. The mill had been established by his father-in-law, David Dale, whose regime was in part philanthropic and aimed at improving the living and working conditions of his employees. Owen also instituted workplace and community reforms, raising productivity and profits but also enhancing welfare and educational provision.
He used the community as a test bed for Enlightenment ideas, producing essays on A New View of Society (1813–14) designed to promote social regeneration in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars. ...
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