Is there anyway to make a proto socialist and progressive movement like the levellers successful? Could it displace liberalism as the opposition to the old ways?
The Levellers weren't the proto-socialists, that was the Diggers. The Levellers were very early democrats.
oopsThe Levellers weren't the proto-socialists, that was the Diggers. The Levellers were very early democrats.
Are there any anarchic movements that are more peasant/serf focused that could potentially incorporate urban workers?Yes, the Diggers (who called themselves the True Levelers) were supporters of a sort of agrarian communism while the Levelers were so moderate by comparison, that they were practically completely different things.
I can't see the Diggers/True Levelers taking over the Commonwealth at this time (barring a disastrous war that basically knocks the country into anarchy), but I could see them being the ideological beginnings of a philosophical movement that could gain a lot of traction.
The issue with socialism replacing liberalism is that socialism is meant to benefit the working class while liberalism was meant to benefit the merchant class. The merchants were wealthy and wanted free trade and personal liberties (while being opposed by ancient aristocracies). I'm not sure how you can get working class social mobilization to take place hundreds of years earlier, but you definitely can. It'd be difficult to have something like socialism instead of liberalism become the main opposition to the old order pre-1800s, but it's possible.