Posted on 17th October 2019
The Quaker Socialist Society provides both fellowship and a forum for tackling social issues through Quakerism.
The society stands for ethical socialism, social justice and a fair, safe, peaceful world.
It is a Quaker presence in the socialist movement and makes the insights of socialism available for Quakers.
Each year the society delivers its annual Salter Lecture, with an audience of up to 1,000 people each year; as part of the programme for the Quakers in Britain Yearly Meeting. The 2019 Salter Lecture is called Solutions for a Divided Society and was delivered by the Quaker and MP Catherine West
The first Quaker socialist group was called the Socialist Quaker Society (SQS) and founded in 1898 by a group of Quakers who saw, “Their unique position for the spread of Socialism”. The SQS published a journal named The Ploughshare and the society lasted until 1924.
The present-day Quaker Socialist Society was founded in 1975. Two years later in 1977, it published its first pamphlet, Foundations of a True Social Order. The pamphlet was seen as the starting point for progressive, Quaker social action.
Image from quakersocialists.org.uk/