The Acquisitive Society

Tawney’s 1920 essay takes aim at a social order built around the endless pursuit of wealth, arguing that a civilization organized for acquisition rather than service corrodes its own moral foundations. His central complaint is that property has been cut loose from function: people claim rights and rewards without owing any corresponding duty or work in return. In place of this he sketches what he calls a functional society, one in which industry answers to a purpose beyond private gain. Written in the aftermath of the First World War, the book became a founding text of British democratic socialism and still speaks to arguments about inequality and the ends of economic life. Free to read as a PDF and EPUB.