Search Results

Matrons, maidens and new men

Tanya Cheadle

in Sexual Progressives: Reimagining Intimacy in Scotland, 1880-1914

This chapter examines the sexual progressivism of Bella and Charles Pearce, important figures within the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1890s Glasgow. Bella wrote as ‘Lily Bell’ for the Labour ... More

This chapter examines the sexual progressivism of Bella and Charles Pearce, important figures within the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in 1890s Glasgow. Bella wrote as ‘Lily Bell’ for the Labour Leader, her column ‘Matrons and Maidens’ providing a weekly feminist critique of contemporary sexual relations, addressing topics including the sexual double standard, prostitution and ‘free love’. Charles Pearce was equally committed to women’s rights, described as one of the era’s ‘new men’. Their route to radical politics was via Chartism and the Ruskin Society, and they initially believed ‘new life’ or ethical socialism held the potential to transform intimate relations. However, during this decade, the relationship between those campaigning for socialism and women’s suffrage was fraught, the chapter providing evidence of the sexualisation of female activists by male socialist writers and of James Keir Hardie’s elision of gender exploitation in his reading of an 1896 brothel scandal. Bella’s eventual denunciation of the ILP as a ‘man’s party’ in 1907, it is argued here, is reflective of the difficulties faced by those putting forward a feminist sexual politics within the masculinist rhetoric and practice of late Victorian socialism.Less

Understanding Party Loyalism

David Howell

in MacDonald's Party: Labour Identities and Crisis 1922-1931

Although backbenchers might have their disagreements with specific policies of the Prime Minister, criticisms and reservations were often presented discreetly and set within a framework of loyalty to ... More

Although backbenchers might have their disagreements with specific policies of the Prime Minister, criticisms and reservations were often presented discreetly and set within a framework of loyalty to the Government. In contrast, those cast as perennial and unreasonable critics were marginalized and during the 1929 parliament increasingly subject to recrimination and disciplinary sanctions. Some bases for parliamentary loyalism were characteristic of any political party, in part because Labour leaders could benefit from a sympathy that acquired much of its power from the authorized version of party history. The Labour leadership down to 1931 comprised essentially those pioneers who had built up the party when there seemed no credible expectations of office. Their achievements both in the construction of the party and as studies in individual social mobility commanded respect.Less

Debating Feminism in the Socialist Press: Women and the New Leader

June Hannam

in Women's Periodicals and Print Culture in Britain, 1918-1939: The Interwar Period

This chapter examines the complex and ambiguous relationship of the Labour Party to gender and feminism in the interwar years through a study of the Labour Leader/ New Leader, the official organ of ... More

This chapter examines the complex and ambiguous relationship of the Labour Party to gender and feminism in the interwar years through a study of the Labour Leader/ New Leader, the official organ of the socialist group, the Independent Labour Party. The paper was aimed at a mixed-sex audience. The chapter focuses on women as journalists, debates on gender differences and women’s nature, and policy questions relating specifically to women, including organising separately, birth control and family allowances. A consideration of these areas highlights the diversity of women’s voices and concerns. It contends that in the new context of the interwar years socialist women did not just abandon their feminist perspective in favour of the class struggle; instead, they were finding ways to work through the complex relationship between the two. The Labour Leader/ New Leader provided a space where issues relating to gender could be debated openly.Less

The Labour Leader as Parliamentarian, 1906–1907

in The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant

This chapter examines the career of David Shackleton as a labour leader and Member of Parliament in 1906–1907. It describes two events in 1906 that saw him clearly emerge as a towering figure in the ... More

This chapter examines the career of David Shackleton as a labour leader and Member of Parliament in 1906–1907. It describes two events in 1906 that saw him clearly emerge as a towering figure in the labour movement. These include the election of officers by the Labour Representation Committee (LRC)-endorsed parliamentarians and the passage of the Trade Disputes Act. This chapter also highlights Shackleton's failure to get the party chairmanship and discusses the views the he placed more value on his position as chairman of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trade Union Congress.Less

Labor, Civil Rights, and Memphis

Joseph B. Atkins

in Covering for the Bosses: Labor and the Southern Press

This chapter discusses the relationship between the civil rights movement and the labor movement in the South. It explains that the civil rights movement was largely influenced by the labor movements ... More

This chapter discusses the relationship between the civil rights movement and the labor movement in the South. It explains that the civil rights movement was largely influenced by the labor movements in the South, which were organized by labor leaders John L. Lewis, Walter Reuther, and A. Phillip Randolph. It notes that the relationship between civil rights and labor is still important in achieving their respective goals, as seen in July 2006 when labor and civil rights advocates gathered to proclaim the importance of one another in advancing the cause of social justice.Less

Making Space for Women: The Labour Leader, the Clarion, and the Women’s Column

Deborah Mutch

in Women, Periodicals and Print Culture in Britain, 1830s-1900s: The Victorian Period

In this essay, Deborah Mutch considers the women’s columns of two socialist periodicals in the 1890s: the Labour Leader (1894–1922), edited by Keir Hardie, and the Clarion (1891–1935), edited by ... More

In this essay, Deborah Mutch considers the women’s columns of two socialist periodicals in the 1890s: the Labour Leader (1894–1922), edited by Keir Hardie, and the Clarion (1891–1935), edited by Robert Blatchford. In spite of the progressive, ethical brand of socialism promoted by the two male editors, Mutch demonstrates that broader anxieties about the place of women within the socialist movement can be mapped spatially in their periodicals. What emerges from a spatial analysis of the women’s columns in both is a clear sense of the relationship between column inches and the gender politics that undergirds each periodical’s editorial agenda. Measuring the space allocated to women in both periodicals yields the conclusion that ‘women’s voices and women’s problems held only a fraction of the importance of men’s,’ which functions to further highlight the ‘marginal position’ that women occupied within British socialism at this time (p. 377).Less

Worker Against Worker

David Lee McMullen

in Strike!: The Radical Insurrections of Ellen Dawson

One of the last organized events of the textile workers strike occurred when Dawson and other Textile Mill Committee leaders took a group of children to the office of the New Bedford school ... More

One of the last organized events of the textile workers strike occurred when Dawson and other Textile Mill Committee leaders took a group of children to the office of the New Bedford school superintendent to protest the brutal treatment these children had received in school from teachers and classmates, and to ask the school system to provide food and clothing for the children of the strikers. When the superintendent declined, the committee called for a student strike. On October 6 of that year, the mill owners of New Bedford announced that they would open their mills on the following day. After almost six months, the New Bedford textile strike was over. The unskilled workers had been sold out by the skilled workers in a bargain between the Textile Council and the Manufacturers' Association. Most unskilled workers felt they had no choice but to return to work.Less

Labor, Race, and the Mississippi Press

Joseph B. Atkins

in Covering for the Bosses: Labor and the Southern Press

This chapter explores the struggles of Southern labor leaders against the Mississippi press. It contends that newspapers in Mississippi have taken anti-union stands, even berating union leaders for ... More

This chapter explores the struggles of Southern labor leaders against the Mississippi press. It contends that newspapers in Mississippi have taken anti-union stands, even berating union leaders for promoting racial integration. It notes that newspaper columnists were also blasting labor unions, and even advocating that unions should be kept out of the facilities of Mississippi.Less

Introduction

in The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is the career of David Shackleton of Lancashire, England as a labour leader and civil servant. This volume aims to remedy the ... More

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is the career of David Shackleton of Lancashire, England as a labour leader and civil servant. This volume aims to remedy the neglect of Shackleton's role in the establishment of the Labour Party and argues that though he was unfashionable among labour historians he had qualities that make him more representative of the Edwardian labour movement than those of his contemporaries like Tom Mann and Ben Tillett who have attracted much greater literary attention. It explains that Shackleton cast a towering shadow across the Edwardian labour movement and that he scaled the austere heights of the British civil service.Less

Rigor in Historical Analysis

Michael Goldfield

in The Southern Key: Class, Race, and Radicalism in the 1930s and 1940s

Chapter 1 presents a framework for examining the large-scale historical questions posed by The Southern Key, discussing both issues of philosophy of social science and the main theoretical constructs ... More

Chapter 1 presents a framework for examining the large-scale historical questions posed by The Southern Key, discussing both issues of philosophy of social science and the main theoretical constructs that underpin the work. It argues for the centrality of the economy, in contrast to the currently popular cultural analysis. It also examines what allows workers to have power in capitalist societies, and why some groups of workers have more leverage than others. And it highlights the central role of leadership in determining the successes and failures of labor struggles.Less

The Race of War

Gerald Horne

in Fighting in Paradise: Labor Unions, Racism, and Communists in the Making of Modern Hawaii

This chapter considers the impact of war on the labor movement. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, conservative whites became furiously suspicious that the saloons, taverns, and bars run by those of ... More

This chapter considers the impact of war on the labor movement. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, conservative whites became furiously suspicious that the saloons, taverns, and bars run by those of Japanese origin “knew in advance of the sneak attack” and joined in. Some whites believed that “Japanese plantation workers had defected and fired on American soldiers.” These concerns reflect a guilty fear that the apartheid that had been visited upon those of Japanese origin in particular had backfired. The Pacific War, which ensnared an archipelago with a plurality of residents of Japanese origin, unleashed in response a bitter fusillade of invective against this very same population, which also happened to be heavily represented in the radical and trade union movements then growing. Though the nternational Longshore and Warehousemen's Union generally stood tall against attempts to exact special penalties at the expense of the besieged population of Japanese origin, it is nevertheless likely that the rise in the union leadership of figures like Jack Hall and Robert McElrath was facilitated by their being of non-Japanese origin, amounting to a perverse form of affirmative action. In other words, since Americans of Japanese ancestry were being besieged, it became easier for whites to surge to the leadership of the labor movement.Less