Interpreting the Labour Party: Approaches to Labour politics and history

Abstract

This publication consists of 12 essays on the principal thinkers and schools of thought concerned with the political and historical development of the Labour Party and Labour movement. It is an examination of the major methodologies and approaches in Labour studies and a critical evaluation and appreciation of much of the most interesting scholarship in this area of study. The essays have been written by contributors who have devoted many years to the study of the Labour Party, the trade union movement and the various ideologies associated with them. The book begins with an in-depth analysis of how to study the Labour Party, and goes on to examine key periods in the development of the ideologies to which the party has subscribed. This includes the ideology on inter-war Labourism, the rival post-war perspectives on Labourism, the New Left, and the contentious alliance of unions with Labour. Key thinkers analysed include: Henry Pelling; Ross McKibbin; Ralph Miliband; Lewis Minkin; David Marquand; Perry Anderson; and Tom Nairn. Each chapter situates its subject matter in the context of a broader intellectual legacy, including the works of Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Theodore Rothstein, Stuart Hall and Samuel Beer, among others. This book should be of interest to undergraduate students of British politics and political theory and to academics concerned with Labour politics and history, trade union history and politics, research methodology and political analysis.