Skip to main content
Palgrave Macmillan
Book cover

Alternatives to State-Socialism in Britain

Other Worlds of Labour in the Twentieth Century

  • Book
  • © 2016

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)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

eBook USD 69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 119.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Other Forms of Association

  2. Other Intellectuals

Keywords

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.

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

  • Law De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom

    Peter Ackers

  • Girton College, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Alastair J. Reid

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

Publish with us