Search results for ""Author Kevin Morgan""

Morgan goes far beyond the question of Russian gold, to dig beneath a host of myths and misconceptions. He shows that Labour's parliamentary advance was itself inconceivable solely on the basis of the workers' and trade union 'pennies' with which it is usually identified. In addition to the virtual market that developed in Labour's parliamentary nominations, there was almost always a need to cultivate private benefactors - not excluding Russian ones. Thus, as Morgan shows, George Lansbury drew on a wide variety of financial sponsors to create the space both for his own political career and for Labour's daily newspaper, the Daily Herald. As for the communist party itself, Russian subsidies often gave rise to fierce internal conflict and controversy: it was certainly regarded as mixed blessing by many. Kevin Morgan has uncovered some fascinating new material on this period of left history, and through his insightful analysis a much more complex picture than hitherto emerges, both of Labour-communist relations and those between the CPGB and the Comintern.

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Nobody now thinks the Webbs' Soviet Communism a 'great book' - as Harold Laski hailed it after its publication in 1935. Closer to the mark seems A.J.P. Taylor's verdict - 'the most preposterous book ever written about Soviet Russia'. Some ascribe its apologia for Stalinism to the couple's old age and deteriorating judgement. Others, more influentially, note the affinities it reveals between the Webbs' Fabian philosophy and the bureaucratic dystopia of Stalinism. In this meticulous reconstruction of the Webbs' thinking, Kevin Morgan offers a challenging reassessment of accepted stereotypes. Through their diaries, papers and published writings, he assesses the couple's complex political evolution over some four decades, as Victorian certainties gave way to an age of social and political upheaval. He also shows how much more significant were their individual responses than the cliche of 'two typewriters beating as one' would suggest. While Sidney upheld the statist and technocratic perspectives synonymous with 'Webbism', Beatrice also contributed concerns with associationism and the search for a higher social morality. Their love affair with Soviet communism, which seemed to represent both synthesis and transcendence of these different strands of their thought, was far less idiosyncratic than is sometimes thought. Here it is discussed in a broader context, with separate chapters devoted to the 'roads to Russia' of technocrats and co-operators, debates with guild socialists, and an exploration of the neglected contradictions of the Webbs' own social philosophy. Through this wider cast of characters, from Margaret Llewellyn Davies to G.D.H. Cole, the paradox which emerges is that it was precisely those who had been most suspicious of state socialism who proved most susceptible to its Soviet apotheosis.

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The British trade unionist and Labour MP A. A. Purcell (1872-1935) once enjoyed international notoriety. An outspoken champion of Soviet Russia, he nevertheless performed the highest labour movement responsibilities and was a leading figure on the TUC General Council. Purcell was a member of the earliest British labour delegations to Russia and his presidency of the International Federation of Trade Unions coincided with the TUC's energetic promotion of the cause of Anglo-Russian trade union unity, culminating in the publication of a glowing TUC report on the Soviets in 1925. However, as a leading TUC 'left' his credibility was badly dented by the failure of the General Strike in 1926, and the following year he lost his position with the IFTU. He ended his career in the relative obscurity of the Manchester and Salford Trades Council.

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John Saville (1916-2009) was one of the leading socialist academics of his generation, and one of the most influential figures in British labour history. This new collection of essays offers a variety of perspectives on his lifetime's work. A first section - commitments - assesses Saville's activities, at different times during his life, as a communist, as a founder of the New Left, and as editor (with Ralph Miliband) of the long-running Socialist Register. The middle section - themes - looks at key themes which mattered for Saville, from revolutionary anti-imperialism in India to the politics of Cold War and debates in labour history. In part three - interventions - contributors discuss Saville's contributions to contemporary historical understanding of Chartism, British labourism and the Cold War. The aim is to offer critical analysis and reflection in the tradition which Saville himself did so much to establish.

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The learning region offers a new perspective on the dynamics of change which shape the economy. This book examines the transformation of the modern economy into one in which knowledge is the most important resource and learning the most important process for economic growth.In the modern economy, successful firms, as well as governments, are those which have control over and access to flows of information and knowledge of technologies, markets, and organizational and managerial practices. In order to examine this, the authors apply innovation, industrial network and institutional theories to the many factors which together constitute learning regions: regional innovation policy, geographical clusters of collaborating firms and the role of research centres in the innovative potential of regions. They find that the learning region paradigm opens new possibilities for research and policy and use case studies in Germany, Holland and Belgium to illustrate these possibilities. The authors also examine European Union and regional government policy on innovation and regional development. Finally, they examine inter-firm and intra-firm collaboration and regional business and innovation systems. This innovative new book will prove invaluable to regional scientists, economic geographers and regional planners.

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Communism was one of the defining political movements of the twentieth century. Viewed from different perspectives, it was at once a utopia, an ideology, a system of government, an apparatus of terror and an international political movement stretching to almost every corner of the globe. None of these aspects of its history will be overlooked in "Twentieth Century Communism". Nevertheless, the journal's primary concern is with communism as an international movement of unparalleled scope and cohesiveness. Since the collapse of the USSR and its satellites nearly twenty years ago, this phenomenon has given rise to a rich historical literature, informed both by the accessibility of communist archives and wider developments in social, political and cultural history. "Twentieth Century Communism" is a peer-reviewed journal of 256 pages appearing annually in May. As well as peer-reviewed research and discussion articles, it includes reviews, conference reports, key and a noticeboard section. The core of each issue will be provided by a themed section.

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This issue looks at communism through the prism of its relationship to young people. Contributors discuss young members and youth sections within the communist movement, the youth policies of communist parties and governments, and relationships between the generations both within families and in the public arena.

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