Description
Book SynopsisThe renewal of radicalism maps the trajectory of Labour politics from its origins in the mid-Victorian tradition of working-class radicalism through to its emergence as a major electoral force in the 1920s. Focusing on largely neglected areas in southern England, the book offers a new narrative of continuity that challenges conventional understandings of English political history. By applying the conceptual analysis of ideologies to the world of local politics, the book identifies, for the first time, the conceptual building blocks of radical and labourist ideologies. It also offers fresh perspectives on the Labour party’s contribution to the ‘nationalisation’ of political culture, the survival of restrictive assumptions about gender, place, work and race in the face of socio-economic change, and the process through which identities and ideologies were forged at a local level.
Trade Review'Provides an in-depth look into attitudes to radicalism and how it was succeeded by an inclusive Labour Party. The local lens is particularly welcome as it enables readers to catch a glimpse not just of politics, but of everyday life in Britain at the time and the ways in which the working people attempted to defend their economic and social interests.'
Alexandra Sippel, Miranda
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Table of ContentsIntroduction
1 Radicalism, class and populism
2 Charles Bradlaugh and the English constitution
3 Radicalism, socialism and labourism
4 Splits in the progressive party
5 Labour and the nationalisation of politics
6 Labourism, class and populism
7 Labourism and the challenge of war
8 Old radicalism and the new social order
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
