Histories of Labour

National and International Perspectives

Edited by Joan Allen, Alan Campbell, John McIlroy

This book is a survey of the global trajectory of labour history, written by labour historians of international repute who are experts in the labour history of particular countries. Considering the labour histories of a number of countries, these essays examine early labour history, the 1960s, the mid-twentieth century, institutional contexts, links to the labour movement and conceptions of class, gender, ethnicity, culture, community and power. The authors analyze key debates, question dominant paradigms, acknowledge minority critiques and consider future directions.  Histories of Labour will be of interest to historians, students of labour studies, and anyone interested in social and political protest, relations between employers and the state and post-structuralism.

Contents

 Preface: Looking Back Half a century (Eric Hobsbawm) • Introduction: Histories of Labour: National and International Perspectives (John McIlroy, Alan Campbell and Joan Allen) • Organized Labour History in Britain: The Society for the Study of Labour History after Fifty Years  (John McIlroy; Britain: 1750–1900, Joan Allen and Malcolm Chase) • Britain: The Twentieth Century (Alan Campbell and John McIlroy) • Ireland (Emmet O’Connor and Conor McCabe) • The United States of America (Elizabeth Faue) • Canada (Bryan Palmer) • Australia (Greg Patmore) • Germany (Klaus Tenfelde) • India (Rana P. Behal, Chitra Joshi and Prabhu P. Mohapatra) • Japan (Takao Matsumura, John McIlroy and Alan Campbell) • Labour History Beyond Borders (Marcel van der Linden) • Index

About the Authors

 Joan Allen is senior lecturer in Modern British History at Newcastle University.

  Alan Campbell was formerly reader in Labour and Social History at the University of Liverpool.

John McIlroy is professor of Employment Relations at Middlesex University.