Social theorist, born in Besançon, France. He worked as a clerk before publishing his first work The Social Destiny of Man, or, Theory of the Four Movements (1808, trans title). After inheriting his mother's estate in 1812, he was able to develop his ideas in such works as The New Industrial World (1829, trans title). He advocated a reorganization of society into self-sufficient units (phalanstères ) which would be scientifically planned to offer a maximum of both cooperation and self-fulfilment to thier members (Fourierism ). Several experimental 'phalanxes' were founded in France and the USA, and although these failed, his ideas attracted great popular interest and many adherents.