Labouring Men: Studies in the History of Labour [Labor]

by E. J. Hobsbawn

Paperback, 1967

Status

Available

Collection

Publication

Anchor (1967)

Description

The topics covered in this book can be divided into four broad groups: studies of labour conditions up to the middle of the nineteenth century; studies in the 'new trade unionism' of 1889 to 1914; studies in the late nineteenth-century revival of Socialism in Britain; and more general topics covering a wider chronological span. The common factor in this wide-ranging work is that, unlike much other work of labour history, it concentrates on the working classes as such, and on the economic and technical conditions which allowed labour movements to be effective or which prevented their effectiveness. This work is notable not only for its clarity and incisiveness, but also for the richness and variety of the material, which ranges from Marx to Methodism and from labour traditions to the machine breakers.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Heartfield
The chapters on Machine-breakers (insightful, but economistic), Methodism, Marx's Victorian Critics, The Aristocracy of Labour (particularly useful on its extinction under imperialism), and 'Trends in the British Labour Movement since 1850' (interesting from the perspective of the later 'Forward
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March of Labour Halted' essay, this includes a good analysis of Labourism, and usefully plays with the concepts of spontaneity and 'aristocracy of labour', but gives too much to the idea that the British working class is bought off, and tends to assume history will teach the working class what to do).
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Original publication date

1964

Rating

(2 ratings; 3)
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