Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc (/blɑːn/; French: [blɑ̃]; 29 October 1811 – 6 December 1882) was a French politician and historian. A socialist who favored reforms, he called for the creation of cooperatives in order to guarantee employment for the urban poor. Although Blanc's ideas of the workers' cooperatives were never realized, his political and social ideas greatly contributed to the development of socialism in France. He wanted the government to encourage co-operatives and replace capitalist enterprises. These co-operatives were to be associations of people who produced together and divided the profit accordingly.