Communists and British Society, 1920-1991

Communists and British Society, 1920-1991 PDF Author: Kevin Morgan
Publisher: Rivers Oram Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
The revolutionary appeal of Communism in 20th-century Britain is analyzed in this examination of why Communist Party members joined, how they participated in the party's activities, and why, in many cases, they left the party. Archival resources, hundreds of interviews, and sociological analyses document the nature of left-wing activism in Britain from its earliest incarnations to the schisms of the 1980s. The role of Communism in British politics and society is illuminated by discussions of constructions of political authority; the role of gender, generation, and social class; and the significance of political space and mobility in recruitment.

Communists and British Society, 1920-1991

Communists and British Society, 1920-1991 PDF Author: Kevin Morgan
Publisher: Rivers Oram Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
The revolutionary appeal of Communism in 20th-century Britain is analyzed in this examination of why Communist Party members joined, how they participated in the party's activities, and why, in many cases, they left the party. Archival resources, hundreds of interviews, and sociological analyses document the nature of left-wing activism in Britain from its earliest incarnations to the schisms of the 1980s. The role of Communism in British politics and society is illuminated by discussions of constructions of political authority; the role of gender, generation, and social class; and the significance of political space and mobility in recruitment.

The Good Old Cause

The Good Old Cause PDF Author: Willie Thompson
Publisher: Pluto Press (UK)
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Succinct and readable ... A valuable and fair assessment, not only of the general history of the Communist Party of Great Britain but of the factors that led to its undoing.' American Historical Review

The Communist Party of Great Britain and the National Question in Wales, 1920-1991

The Communist Party of Great Britain and the National Question in Wales, 1920-1991 PDF Author: Douglas Jones
Publisher: University of Wales Press
ISBN: 1786831333
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
While electorally weak, the Communist Party of Great Britain and its Welsh Committee was a constant feature of twentieth century Welsh politics, in particular through its influence in the trade union movement. Based on original archival research, the present volume offers the first in-depth study of the Communist Party’s attitude to devolution in Wales, to Welsh nationhood and Welsh identity, as well as examining the party’s relationship with the Labour Party, Plaid Cymru and the labour and nationalist movements in relation to these issues. Placing the party’s engagement of these issues within the context of the rapid changes in twentieth century Welsh society, debates on devolution and identity on the British left, the role of nationalism within the communist movement, and the interplay of international and domestic factors, the volume provides new insight into the development of ideas by the political left on devolution and identity in Wales during the twentieth century. It also offers a broad outline of the party’s policy in relation to Wales during the twentieth century, and an assessment of the role played by leading figures in the Welsh party in developing its policy on Wales and devolution.

The Chronology of Revolution

The Chronology of Revolution PDF Author: Ben Harker
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
ISBN: 148753616X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 504

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Book Description
Based on a decade of research in over twenty archives, The Chronology of Revolution is an accessible and richly detailed work of historical and cultural analysis that fixes its gaze on the legacy of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). Communists anticipated that the party, formed in the world's first industrialized nation, would be in the vanguard of world revolution. Instead, the party never came close to matching the political power of the British Labour Party or continental Communist Parties in France or Italy and dissolved itself in 1991. In this book, Ben Harker draws on the ideas of Antonio Gramsci to argue that the CPGB, despite having great influence over British culture, never fully appreciated the importance of civil society to its political strength. Analysing party members’ efforts in fields such as science, journalism, the arts, broadcasting, and education, The Chronology of Revolution offers an alternative, radical history of Britain between 1920 and 1991 that draws out important lessons for the contemporary Left.

Bolshevism and the British Left: The Webbs and Soviet communism

Bolshevism and the British Left: The Webbs and Soviet communism PDF Author: Kevin Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
This is the second book in Kevin Morgan's series Bolshevism and the British Left. It explores how the veteran Fabian socialists Beatrice and Sidney Webb came to regard Stalin's Russia as a 'new civilisation' and the hope of the world. Through a meticulous reconstruction of the Webbs' thinking, Morgan offers a challenging reassessment of accepted stereotypes. Drawing on their diaries, papers and published writings, he assesses the couple's complex political evolution over some four decades, and 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, and the paradox that emerges is that across the European left it was often precisely those who had previously been most suspicious of state socialism who subsequently proved most susceptible to its Soviet apotheosis. Kevin Morgan is Professor of Politics and Contemporary History at the University of Manchester. He is the author of Harry Pollitt (Manchester University Press, 1993) and co-author of Communists in British Society 1920-1991 (Rivers Oram Press, 2005) The Webbs and Soviet Communism is the Part 2 in a three-volume series, Bolshevism and the British Left, which examines attitudes to Soviet Russia as a way of opening up broader questions about the character of the British left between the 1890s and the 1940s. Part 1 is Labour Legends Russian Gold, Part 3 is due to be published in 2012"

Communism in Britain, 1920 - 39

Communism in Britain, 1920 - 39 PDF Author: Thomas P. Linehan
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 9780719071409
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
The British Communist Party (CPGB) offered a complete identity that could reach into virtually all aspects of life: personal conduct, moral codes, health and diet, personal hygiene, and aesthetic judgments. Communism in Britain, 1920-39 contends that it functioned as a "political religion" for some joiners who opted to enter the congregation of the communist devoted. Based on extensive use of primary evidence, this is the first study of interwar British communism to set the communist experience within the framework of the life cycle. The CPGB sought to address the communist experience at all the principal phases of life--its reach therefore extended to children and youth and control over the various aspects of the adult experience including marital and kinship relations.

The Communist Party of Great Britain Since 1920

The Communist Party of Great Britain Since 1920 PDF Author: J. Eaden
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1403907226
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
A new single volume history of the Communist Party of Great Britain examining the party from its foundations in 1920 to its demise in the early 1990s. Drawing on original research and a reading of specialist texts, the authors analyze the rise and fall of the party and evaluate its role on the left of British politics. Whilst sympathetic to the ideals and commitment of many British communist activists, the book is sharply critical of much of the actual practice of the party.

Communism in Britain, 1920–39

Communism in Britain, 1920–39 PDF Author: Thomas Linehan
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526130440
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Based on extensive use of primary evidence, this is the first study of interwar British communism to set the communist experience within the framework of the life cycle. Communism offered a complete identity that could reach into virtually all aspects of life; the Party sought influence even over members' personal conduct, moral codes, health and diet, personal hygiene, and aesthetic judgements. The British Communist Party (CPGB) sought to address the communist experience through all of the principal phases of the life cycle, and its reach therefore extended to take in children, youth, and the various aspects of the adult experience, including marital and kinship relations. The book also considers the contention that the Communist Party functioned as a ‘political religion’ for some joiners who opted to enter the congregation of the communist devoted.

The British Communist Party

The British Communist Party PDF Author: Thomas Bell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Communism
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description


Communism and Society

Communism and Society PDF Author: William Paul
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Communism
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description