The Political Thought of Thomas Spence

Our guest this episode is Dr Matilde Cazzola who introduces us to the ultra-radical English thinker and activist Thomas Spence (1750–1814), famous for his “Plan” for the abolition of private land ownership. Often dismissed as an eccentric anachronistic figure, Spence is shown by Cazzola to be a fascinating political agitator aiming for the overturning of the ancien regime in favour of the “swinish multitude”. He is also, Cazzola contends, a subtle thinker with something to contribute to radical thinking about communal property today.

Dr Matilde Cazzola’s recently published book is entitled The Political Thought of Thomas Spence (Routledge, 2021). Matilde Cazzola is a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory in Frankfurt Am Main, where she is currently conducting a research project entitled Philanthropy, administration and the law in the 19th-century British Empire.