scholarly journals The Failure of Socialist Unity in Britain c. 1893–1914

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 153-175
Author(s):  
Keith Laybourn
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
William Morris ◽  
The Social ◽  
Autocratic Leadership ◽  
Socialist Movement ◽  
The One ◽  
Intractable Problem ◽  
Political Failure ◽  
Socialist Unity

SOCIALIST unity became an issue for the British left with in a year of the formation of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) in 1884. The secession of William Morris and his supporters from the SDF and the formation of the Socialist League in reaction to the autocratic leadership of Henry Mayers Hyndman brought about a fundamental division within British socialism. Subsequently the creation of other socialist parties, most particularly the Independent Labour Party (ILP) led to further disunity within die British socialist movement. Nevertheless, notwidistanding die proliferation of British socialist societies with their distinctive socialist credentials, diere were several attempts to form a united socialist party between 1893 and 1914. They were normally encouraged, on the one hand, by advocates of the ‘religion of socialism’ such as William Morris, Robert Blatchford and Victor Grayson, and, on the other, by Hyndman and the SDF. The aim of these efforts was to strengdien socialist organisation in times of both political failure and success, but in every instance diey failed due to the intractable problem of bringing together socialists of distinctively different persuasions under the umbrella of one party. These failures have led recent historians to debate two major questions connected with socialist unity. First, diey have asked at what point did socialist unity cease to be a viable alternative to the Labour Alliance between the ILP and the trade unions? Stephen Yeo feels that socialist unity became impossible after die mid 1890s, David Howell suggests that this ‘suppressed alternative’ became unlikely about five to ten years later, as die leaders of die Independent Labour Party opted for the trade union rather than socialist alliance,

Epilogue

2021 ◽  
pp. 223-240
Author(s):  
Mark A. Allison
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
The Other ◽  
World State ◽  
Collective Ownership ◽  
Political Tradition ◽  
Socialist Movement ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The One

This Epilogue sets the waning of British socialist anti-political aspiration in the context of the literary career of H. G. Wells, on the one hand, and the coalescence of the Parliamentary Labour Party, on the other. In their respective spheres, both Wells and the Labour Party represent a decisive turn toward a statist—and forthrightly political—conception of socialism in the early decades of the twentieth century. Wells, the new century’s most prolific and influential socialist writing in English, shares with his antecedents an abiding preoccupation with the aesthetic dimension of socialism. In stark contrast to his predecessors, however, he self-consciously subordinates this aesthetic impulse to his overmastering vision of an emerging socialist world state. Concurrently, the fledgling Labour Party became a locus for the longstanding debates about how socialism was to be made and what posture the socialist movement should adopt to Britain’s existing political institutions and traditions. These debates were foreclosed by the party’s adoption of a new constitution and party program in 1918, which were drafted by the Fabian socialist Sidney Webb. The constitution includes the famous Clause IV, which affirms the party’s commitment to the collective ownership of the means of production. Labour’s reorganization effectively confirmed that in Britain, socialism would be pursued via the parliamentary road—and that state socialism would be its ultimate institutional goal. Consequently, 1918 provides a symbolic end to the anti-political tradition Imagining Socialism delineates—and of the socialist century that it surveys.

scholarly journals Neoliberalism and trade unions in Britain

Tempo Social ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-28
Author(s):  
Steve Cushion
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Conservative Party ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Parliamentary Politics

For the past 30 years, Britain’s ruling class has been deeply split over membership of the European Union. This came to a head over the referendum on so-called “Brexit”. The Conservative Party (Tories) was split into “Remain” and “Leave” wings, both neoliberal, but with a different interpretation of the best way to make profits for the section of British capitalism each represents. Meanwhile the Labour Party is divided between the pro-business, neoliberal wing and the social democratic, reformist wing. The trade unions, with one or two notable exceptions, have conducted their activities within the parameters of parliamentary politics and desperately hoped for a Labour victory. The recent general election gave complete victory to the “Leave” Tories, which is potentially disastrous for the trade unions and their members.

From Europe as a model to Europe as austerity

2012 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 397-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermes Augusto Costa
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Social Europe

Twenty five years after Portuguese EU accession, the labour market in general and the trade unions in particular are faced with severely regressive social measures that undermine past expectations of progress towards the achievement of the Social Europe project in Portugal. Thus, on the one hand, this article identifies some of the ambitions and possibilities earlier opened up for the Portuguese labour market, as well as trade union attitudes to European integration. It is argued, on the other hand, that, in the context of the economic crisis and the austerity measures to which Portugal is subjected, the sense of Portugal’s backwardness in relation to the ‘European project’ has become more acute. The article accordingly focuses on and examines some of the austerity measures and certain controversial issues associated with them. In a final section, the impact of austerity on labour relations and the reactions of social partners, in particular the trade unions, are analysed.

scholarly journals Somos nosotros, somos gobierno. Experiencia de movimientos sociales en Bolivia

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 264-276
Author(s):  
María Virginia Quiroga
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Social Recognition ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
General Elections ◽  
The One ◽  
Movimientos Sociales

The emergence of social movements in the public arena had to do with neoliberalism´s negative consequences. Different actors with different interests worked together against the system, which became their “common antagonist”.  On the one hand, after years of autonomous organization, these social movements won social recognition and increased their power. On the other, political parties and trade unions lost legitimacy.  In December 2005, a faction of the Bolivian social movements won the general elections, and Evo Morales (the cocalero movement´s leader) became the first Aymara president in Bolivian history. How to manage this government it is one of the majors challenges the social movements confront in today’s Bolivia. La emergencia de movimientos sociales en la esfera pública está ligada a las consecuencias negativas del neoliberalismo.  Actores sociales provenientes de distintos sectores y con intereses distintos unieron fuerzas contra un sistema que se convirtió en el “antagonista común”.  Después de años de organización autónoma, estos movimientos lograron reconocimiento político e incrementaron su poder de gestión, mientras los partidos políticos y los sindicatos perdían legitimidad.  En diciembre 2005 una facción de los movimientos sociales ganó las elecciones generales y Evo Morales (líder del movimiento cocalero) se convirtió en el primer Presidente aymara de la historia de Bolivia. Cómo gestionar este gobierno constituye hoy día uno de los mayores retos que enfrentan los movimientos sociales.

scholarly journals The Formation and the Evolution of the British Labour Party

2018 ◽  
pp. 50-62
Author(s):  
Olha Buturlimova
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Development ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Party System ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
Xxth Century ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
British Labour ◽  
The Individual

The article examines the processes of organizational development of the British Labour Party in the early XXth century, the evolution of the party structure and political programme in the twentieths of the XXth century. Special attention is paid to researching the formation of the Social Democratic Federation, Fabian Society and Independent Labour Party till the time of its joining to the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 and adopting the “Labour Party” name in 1906. The author’s aim was to comprehensively investigate the political manifests and activities of those organizations on the way of transformation from separate trade-unions and socialist groups to apparent union of labour, and then to the mass and wide represented parliamentary party. However, the variety of social base of those societies is distinguished, and difference of socialist views and tactics of achieving the final purpose are emphasized. Considerable attention is paid to the system of the individual membership and results thereof in the process of the evolution of the Labour Party’s organization. The reorganization of the Labour party in 1918, Representation of the People Act, 1918 and the crisis in the Liberal party were favourable for the further evolution of the Labour Party. It is summarized that the social base, the history of party’s birth, the conditions of formation and the party system had influenced the process of the evolution of the ideological and political concepts of Labourizm.

From Red to Black

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Messer-Kruse
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
The Other ◽  
Industrial Change ◽  
Mob Violence ◽  
Steady Growth ◽  
Socialist Movement ◽  
The One ◽  
Fundamental Shift

This chapter looks back to how, over the course of a decade, Chicago's “communists” had gone from counseling their followers to avoid violent confrontations to planning them. This evolution of tactics rested on an even more fundamental shift in outlook and social theory. In 1877 when leaders of the Workingmen's Party acted to restrain mob violence, they did so in the belief that industrial change would come about through the steady growth of trade unions and the gradual raising of the working class's consciousness. But in 1886 the men in Greif's basement were skeptical that trade unions could ever deliver more than a few extra crumbs to the workingman's table and had come to believe that workers were ready for violent class struggle. Between the one outlook and the other was a wholesale shift in the socialist movement that began in Europe and swept into America.

scholarly journals George Lansbury and the Middlesbrough Election of 1906

1973 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. W. Purdue
Keyword(s):  
Political Party ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
National Level ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Party Organisation ◽  
Political Machine ◽  
The Social ◽  
Fabian Society

The different elements which came together to form the Labour Representation Committee in February 1900 were, when it came to party organisation, at once its strength and its weakness. Labour was not in the position of a totally new political party having to build up a political machine from scratch, rather the LRC was able to utilise and build upon existing organisations: these were the Independent Labour Party, the Fabian Society, those trade unions which supported the LRC, and trades councils throughout the country (the Social Democratic Federation disaffiliated from the LRC after little more than a year's membership). At both a local and a national level, however, these organisations were often hostile to each other, jealous of their independence and suspicious of attempts by the LRC Executive to control them.

scholarly journals German Social Democracy and German State Socialism, 1876–1884

1964 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vernon L. Lidtke
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
State Socialism ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Socialist Movement ◽  
The One

In the late eighteen-seventies, the German Social Democratic Party, while still healing the wounds of old battles between Lassalleans and Eisenachers, was confronted by foes who delivered attacks on two levels. On the one level, Bismarck and his supporters fought energetically to annihilate the party with the passage of the Socialist Law (October 21, 1878). After some initial faltering steps, the Social Democrats found a firm footing and struggled successfully to preserve their political existence. The movement was preserved, even though the party organization, its affiliates and its newspapers were suppressed. On another level, the Social Democrats faced an ideological challenge. Their political suppression broadly paralleled the emergence of a conservative socialism which flourished for a short time in a variety of forms. Whatever clothing it wore, conservative socialism aimed to undermine the growing appeal of Social Democracy to the working-men of Germany. A theory of State Socialism was the most attractive garment designed by conservative social thought. The response of the Social Democratic Party to the various facets of this conservative socialism is a significant chapter in the history of the German socialist movement.

Social dialogue in Hungary and its influence on EU accession

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 416-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorottya Boda ◽  
László Neumann
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Candidate Country ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
East European ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
Social Council ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
The One ◽  
High Level

The paper reviews the positions of the Hungarian social partners on the labour issues relating to EU accession. In addition to the topics dealt with in the 'Social Policy and Employment' chapter in the accession negotiations, the paper also discusses unions' and employers'views on labour migration, as well as how the adaptation of EU regulations in various sectors is likely to affect employment prospects. The paper argues that, on the one hand, social dialogue on EU accession can become more meaningful if employers and unions develop a co-ordinated strategy. On the other hand, appropriate back-up by experts is also required, because social partners ought to influence the complex system of negotiations being conducted, by experts of both the EU Commission and the Hungarian government, behind the scenes of high-level political negotiations. The authors also analyse the operation of social dialogue fora dedicated to EU accession issues. Hungary was the first East European candidate country to establish a joint committee with the Economic and Social Council (ESC), and within the country labour-related issues of accession have been delegated to the newly founded European Integration Council. In these fora the behaviour of trade unions is largely a consequence of the frustration over the fact that the current right-wing coalition government does not wish to go any further than formally observe the unions' consulting rights on major issues. At the same time organisational weakness and internal divisions still exist on the trade union side.

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