Fourier Phalanxes
Charles Fourier
Charles Fourier was a French philosopher and early socialist thinker. He believed that concern and cooperation would create social success. Fourierism, as this was later called was one of several Utopian socialist programs to emerge from the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Fourier thought that people could live harmoniously without government intervention. Unfortunately the longest lasting phalanx only lasted about nine years, but the average phalanxes only lasted an abysmal two years. Although Fourierism was never popular it did influence many movements like socialists, feminism, and it even helped Karl Marx form his own system of beliefs.
Phalanxes
Charles Fourier proposed a type of work unit called a phalanx in which work was distributed on a rational and rotating basis. Members of the phalanxes were paid an hourly wage based on the disagreeableness of the task. The phalanxes never worked out but his ideas lived on and were used by countless movements.