This paper reconstructs the history of the reform of Britain’s company laws during the 1850s and makes three major arguments. First, the Law Amendment Society was the driving force for reform and organized the campaign for change. Second, the advancement of working-class interests and ideas of fairness were central to the conceptualization of these reforms and the course of their advocacy. Company law reform was broadly conceived to include the revision of the law of partnership, corporations, and cooperatives to create a level playing field in which smaller entrepreneurs could compete against established capitalists. Finally, central to this campaign was the institutional logic of “fair competition.” Socialists and liberals both used this logic, demonstrating how moral ideas can shape organizational change.

本文重构了1850年代英国公司法改革的历史，并提出了三个主要论点。首先，法律修正协会是改革的动力，并组织了变革运动。第二，工人阶级利益和公平观念的进步对于这些改革的概念化及其倡导过程至关重要。公司法改革被广泛认为包括修订合伙企业法，公司法和合作社法，以创造一个公平的竞争环境，使较小的企业家可以与已建立的资本家竞争。最后，这项运动的核心是“公平竞争”的制度逻辑。社会主义者和自由主义者都使用这种逻辑，证明道德观念如何影响组织变革。