1. Thinking About (New) Social Movements: Some Insights from the British Marxist Historians

Abstract

In this chapter, the author explores ways in which Marxism might contribute to the study of social movements through an engagement with some of the work of the British Marxist historians. In his critique of overly simplistic attempts to contrast old and new social movements, Craig Calhoun refers to the continuity between research into new social movements (NSMs) and Thompson’s analysis of social movements in his classic The Making of the English Working Class . The chapter effectively extends this insight to explore a living tradition of Marxist historiography that breaks down the dichotomy between old and new movements. It coheres with the work of those Marxist students of social movements who have suggested that the seeming decline of working-class radicalism and the rise of identity politics need not confound a sophisticated, humanist and, consequently, ethical interpretation of Marxism. Keywords:British Marxist Historians; British Marxist historiography; language; politics; social movements