Histories of Labour: National and International Perspectives

by Joan Allen (Editor), Eric Hobsbawm (Editor), Alan Campbell (Editor), John McIlroy (Editor)

Overview

These specially commissioned essays by labor historians of international repute provide a complete survey of the global trajectory of labor history. Authoritative and well-researched, these essays consider the early labor history traditions as well as the new conceptions of class, gender, ethnicity, culture, community, and power. The contributors analyze key debates, question dominant paradigms, acknowledge minority critiques, and consider future directions. This book will be of interest to historians of working-class political parties and organizations, to students of trade unions and industrial conflict, and to social scientists interested in social and political protest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780850366860
Publisher:	Merlin Press Limited, The
Publication date:	09/01/2010
Pages:	396
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Joan Allen is an senior lecturer in history and chair of the history department at the University of Newcastle. Alan Campbell is a retired university lecturer, a honorary senior fellow, and a former reader in labor and social history at the University of Liverpool. Eric Hobsbawm is a historian and the author of Companion of Honour. John McIlroy is a professor of employment relations at Middlesex University.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors vi

Preface. Looking Back Half a Century Eric Hobsbawm 1

Introduction. Histories of Labour: National and International Perspectives John McIlory Alan Campbell Joan Allen 7

1 Organized Labour History in Britain: The Society for the Study of Labour History after Fifty Years John McIlory 26

2 Britain: 1750-1900 Joan Allen Malcolm Chase 64

3 Britain: The Twentieth Century Alan Campbell John McIlory 99

4 Ireland Emmet O'Connor Conor McCabe 137

5 The United States of America Elizabeth Faue 164

6 Canada Bryan Palmer 196

7 Australia Greg Patmore 231

8 Germany Klaus Tenfelde 262

9 India Rana P. Behal Chitra Joshi Prabhu P. Mohapatra 290

10 Japan Takao Matsumura John McIlory Alan Campbell 315

11 Labour History Beyond Borders Marcel van der Linden 353

Index 384

Editorial Reviews

"The essays collected in this volume vividly reveal the social and political inspirations that gave rise to a creative upsurge of interest in the history of working people half a century ago . . . . The reshaping of the global economy that has marked the most recent decades has also led to new ways of conceptualizing the working class itself."  —David Mongomery, emeritus professor of history, Yale University

From the Publisher