Robert Owen fue un teórico y activista por los derechos laborales y sociales. Es considerado padre del laborismo inglés y del cooperativismo. Defendió la cooperación y la fraternidad para reducir las desigualdades sociales, frente a la revolución y la lucha de clases
The children, especially, had been well treated by the former proprietor, but their living conditions were harsh: crime and vice were bred by demoralizing conditions; education and sanitation were neglected; and housing conditions were intolerable.
