A Radical Endeavor: Joseph Chamberlain and the Emergence of Municipal Socialism in Birmingham

Joseph Chamberlain, an industrial entrepreneur, proponent of the “civic gospel,” and emerging British Radical Liberal leader of the 1870s, established Birmingham as one of the most influential models for municipal socialism in Europe and North America. Arguing gas and water ought to be in public hands and city officials ought to take a role in securing inhabitants’ health, he set the stage for continued mayoral activism and municipal socialism in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.