Vidal, François

Vidal, François

 

Born 1814, in Coutras; died 1872. French socialist.

In his youth Vidal was fascinated by the ideas of C. H. Saint-Simon and C. Fourier. In 1846, Vidal published On the Distribution of Wealth, or the Distributive Justice of Social Economy, the most characteristic expression of his views. He worked out a so-called social economics, according to which colonies for the unemployed and labor associations were to be set up with the help of the state; he considered them a means for the gradual peaceful transition to socialism. During the Revolution of 1848, Vidal was L. Blanc’s secretary in the Luxembourg Commission. In 1850 he was elected to the National Assembly and joined the Mountain faction. After the Bonapartist coup d’etat of Dec. 2, 1851, Vidal abandoned political activity.

WORKS

De la répartition des richesses, ou de la justice distributive en économic sociale. Paris, 1846.
Vivre en travaillant! Projets, voles et moyens de reformes sociales. Paris, 1848.