Neighbours, Distrust, and the State

Abstract

Abstract There has been a growing acceptance among historians that significant social and personal tensions and divisions existed even within the apparently homogeneous and solid ‘traditional’ working-class communities in Britain before World War Two. But no work has been undertaken on how any such conflicts and distrust also affected political views—and particularly attitudes held towards external institutions such as the state. A larger role for government, it has continued to be argued, was generally rejected by these communities. This book investigates, across a range of topics, whether it is true that the poor in particular were hostile towards the interventions of the state in Britain in this period. It suggests that the evidence previously used by historians looking at this question painted a somewhat distorted picture of uniformity. There was a far more diverse range of attitudes than realized within these communities. Power differences (including between men and women) and struggles with neighbours or others of the working class were crucial in the development of individuals’ attitudes. Many of the poor wanted authorities to have a larger role, and for there to be greater intervention, in neighbourhoods, institutions, and lives. As well as being a direct challenge to current historical understandings on this topic, this book’s themes have a contemporary political relevance. Many of the points it makes are also important for further challenging the idea, held across much of the political spectrum, that understanding a ‘lost’ solidarity of working-class neighbourhoods is essential to comprehending current political responses in these communities.