286 A Positive Century (1815–1914)Th e Technocratic Variant
Th e technocratic variant of solidarism was the fi rst to appear, at the hands of
an imaginative and eccentric French nobleman from Picardy named Henri
de St.- Simon. He lived during (and even through) the French Revolution— not
the most hospitable of times for a member of the nobility. He was saved from
the guillotine by the peasants on his estate who, in gratitude for the many
kindnesses that he had shown them over the years, pleaded with the revolu-
tionary authorities to spare him during the Terror. In 1814, at the close of the
French Revolutionary Wars, he put forward a plan for the future or ga ni za tion
of Europe— and ultimately of the world— that would entail the eventual aboli-
tion of politics itself.
St.- Simon envisaged that the older elite groups of military and po liti cal
fi gures were in the pro cess of becoming obsolete in the new scientifi c age,
and that the future lay in the hands of a new class of persons, whom he la-
beled industriels. Th ese were the captains of modern industry and of fi -
nance, together with engineers and scientists generally. Th is group would
play the leading role in the great mission of the economic development and
unifi cation of the world, on a nonpo liti cal basis. If this sounds similar to the
scientifi c and technocratic ethos of positivism, the explanation is not far to
seek. Comte acted for a time as secretary to St.- Simon and absorbed many of
his master’s ideas. (Th e two had a bitter falling- out over credit for writings.)
St.- Simonism advocated a wholesale reor ga ni za tion of the world. In its
grandest form, it saw the world or ga nized as a kind of giant corporate enter-
prise, on a thoroughly planned, rational, scientifi c basis. In its vision of a
global planned economy, St.- Simonism was a clear precursor of socialism—
and, in fact, the word “socialism” was coined by St.- Simon (as a contrast to
“individualism”). His ambitious plans had a palpable infl uence on later so-
cialist programs. Friedrich Engels’s famous vision of a future socialist world
in which the “government of men” would be replaced by the “administra-
tion of things” was a direct expression of the St.- Simonian ideal. In such a
world as this, the skills of traditional lawyers, with their subtle doctrines of
rights and duties, would not be required.
Th e leadership of this great enterprise (as it could aptly be termed) was to
be entrusted to scientifi c, technical, and fi nancial elites (the industriels),
working in coordination in the grand cause of global economic develop-