On the Question of Methodology in Labour History

Abstract

Abstract The present paper deals with some basic questions of methodology in labour history. It deals with three main questions: the question of class and social identities in labour history; the question of the category of ‘labouring poor’ vis-à-vis the category of working class; and finally, the question of the place of state in treating the relation between labour and capital. On the first question, it argues that social identities become sites of social oppression in the moment of class. On the second question, it argues that while the category of ‘labouring poor’ has descriptive power, it lacks analytical rigour and can make sense only in conjunction with the category of working class. Finally, it contends that labour history must understand the relative autonomy of the state while dealing with the question of relation between labour and capital and yet it must not take the question of tripartite arrangement between labour, capital and state too literally or formally, as state does serve the long-term collective class interests of capital. The essay also refutes the valorization of the so-called ‘everyday forms of resistance’ over the importance of the collective class resistance of the working class.