Overview
- Poses a major challenge to mainstream Labour History that focuses on strikes, nationalization, trade unions, communism, secular state-socialism
- Introduces readers to a multi-layered examination of different aspects of the history of 20th British labour movements
- Challenges the pre-conceptions and stereotypes surrounding the labour movement
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements (PSHSM)
Access this book
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
About this book
This book poses a major revisionist challenge to 20th century British labour history, aiming to look beyond the Marxist and Fabian exclusion of working class experience, notably religion and self-help, in order to exaggerate ‘labour movement’ class cohesion. Instead of a ‘forward march’ to secular state-socialism, the research presented here is devoted to a rich diversity of social movements and ideas. In this collection of essays, the editors establish the liberal-pluralist tradition, with the following chapters covering three distinct sections. Part One, ‘Other Forms of Association’ covers subjects such as trade unions, the Co-operative Party, women’s community activism and Protestant Nonconformity. Part Two, ‘Other Leaders’, covers employer Edward Cadbury; Trades Union Congress leader Walter Citrine; and the electricians’ leader, Frank Chapple. Part Three, ‘Other Intellectuals’, considers G.D.H. Cole, Michael Young and left libertarianism by Stuart White. Readers interested in the British Labour movement will find this an invaluable resource.
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
Table of contents (12 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Other Forms of Association
-
Front Matter
-
-
Back Matter
Reviews
“This collection is redolent with ideas, displays the pluralism of socialism, and is a very important start to both the intellectual and the pragmatic debate which will inevitably develop over the next few years. It is an engaging and stimulating collection of essays and should be read by those concerned about the future of socialist and civic society in Britain, the need for which might very well develop after Brexit.” (Keith Laybourn, Labour History Review, Vol. 82 (2), 2017)
Editors and Affiliations
About the editors
Peter Ackers is Professor of Employment Relations at De Montfort University, UK, and Visiting Professor of Labour and Social History at Loughborough University, UK. He co-edited Findings a Voice at Work? (2015), and publishes on Hugh Clegg and the ‘Oxford School’ of Industrial Relations, trade unions, working-class Protestantism and labour biography.
Alastair J. Reid is a Life Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge, UK. He was a co-founder of the History & Policy dissemination network. His publications include United We Stand: A History of British Trade Unions (2005) and The Tide of Democracy: Shipyard Workers and Social Relations in Britain, 1870-1950 (2010).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Alternatives to State-Socialism in Britain
Book Subtitle: Other Worlds of Labour in the Twentieth Century
Editors: Peter Ackers, Alastair J. Reid
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34162-0
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-34161-3Published: 16 December 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-74248-9Published: 08 February 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-34162-0Published: 01 December 2016
Series ISSN: 2634-6559
Series E-ISSN: 2634-6567
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVII, 354
Topics: History of Britain and Ireland, Social History, Labor History, History of Modern Europe