The ‘Federation of Progressive Societies and Individuals’

Abstract

In order to attempt an understanding of a period that has been variously described as a 'pink', and 'low, dishonest decade', it is of some relevance to consider the role played by certain of the groups which multiplied during the 1930s and contributed towards the 'heady' debate of those years. While much has been written on the direct rivals of the Labour Party notably the Communist and Independent Labour Parties, and the Socialist League little attention has been paid to the plethora of smaller groups whose raison d'etre was not to offer themselves as alternatives to the Labour Party, but rather to exert a critical influence within the wider Labour movement. One such'outsider' (i.e. extra-parliamentary group) was the Federation of Progressive Societies and Individuals, which, while having an individual identity, encompassed within its range a number of societies, groups and associations, whose interests complemented its own. The Federation sought to mirror and represent the concerns of its affiliates and thence to channel them into the wider Labour movement. Its chosen role was that of an