The Labour Church


Book Description

This book aims to unpack the core message of the Labour Church and question the accepted views of the movement by pursuing an alternative way of analysing its history, significance and meaning. The religious influences on late-nineteenth/early-twentieth-century British Socialism are examined and placed within a wider context, highlighting a continuing theological imperative for the British Labour movement. The book argues that the most distinctive feature of the Labour Church was Theological Socialism. For its founder, John Trevor, Theological Socialism was the literal Religion of Socialism, a post-Christian prophecy announcing the dawn of a new utopian era explained in terms of the Kingdom of God on earth; for members of the Labour Church, who are referred to as Theological Socialists, Theological Socialism was an inclusive message about God working through the Labour movement. Challenging the historiography and reappraising the political significance of the Labour Church, this book will be of interest to students and scholars researching the intersection between religion and politics, as well as radical left history and politics more generally.




The Labour Church


Book Description

The Labour Church was an organisation fundamental to the British socialist movement during the formative years of the Independent Labour Party (ILP) and Labour Party between 1891 and 1914. It was founded by the Unitarian Minister John Trevor in Manchester in 1891 and grew rapidly thereafter. Its political credentials were on display at the inaugural conference of the ILP in 1893, and the Labour Church proved a formative influence on many pioneers of British socialism. This book provides an analysis of the Labour Church, its religious doctrine, its socio-political function and its role in the cultural development of the early socialist arm of the labour movement. It includes a detailed examination of the Victorian morality and spirituality upon which the life of the Labour Church was built. Jacqui Turner challenges previously held assumptions that the Labour Church was irreligious and merely a political tool. She provides a new cultural picture of a diverse and inclusive organisation, committed to individualism and an individual relationship with God. As such, this book brings together two major controversies of late-Victorian Britain: the emergence of independent working-class politics and the decline of traditional religion in a work which will be essential reading for all those interested in the history of the labour movement.




The Making of British Socialism


Book Description

A compelling look at the origins of British socialism The Making of British Socialism provides a new interpretation of the emergence of British socialism in the late nineteenth century, demonstrating that it was not a working-class movement demanding state action, but a creative campaign of political hope promoting social justice, personal transformation, and radical democracy. Mark Bevir shows that British socialists responded to the dilemmas of economics and faith against a background of diverse traditions, melding new economic theories opposed to capitalism with new theologies which argued that people were bound in divine fellowship. Bevir utilizes an impressive range of sources to illuminate a number of historical questions: Why did the British Marxists follow a Tory aristocrat who dressed in a frock coat and top hat? Did the Fabians develop a new economic theory? What was the role of Christian theology and idealist philosophy in shaping socialist ideas? He explores debates about capitalism, revolution, the simple life, sexual relations, and utopian communities. He gives detailed accounts of the Marxists, Fabians, and ethical socialists, including famous authors such as William Morris and George Bernard Shaw. And he locates these socialists among a wide cast of colorful characters, including Karl Marx, Henry Thoreau, Leo Tolstoy, and Oscar Wilde. By showing how socialism combined established traditions and new ideas in order to respond to the changing world of the late nineteenth century, The Making of British Socialism turns aside long-held assumptions about the origins of a major movement.







Critiques of Capital in Modern Britain and America


Book Description

This book is an innovative collection of essays by a new generation of British and American historians and political theorists. Moving beyond a conventional action/reaction view of capitalism and its critics, the volume explores how critical traditions and beliefs have helped to shape capitalism. Chapters follow diverse critiques in Britain and America and explore their Atlantic and imperial exchanges. The volume includes chapters on questions of law and property in the Victorian empire; traditions of land reform in nineteenth century America and Britain; the influence of American romanticism on British socialism; the role of Britain in American progressivism; American and British consumer protection; the evolution of trusteeship and ideas of cosmopolitan democracy; the 'third way' and narratives of globalization. The editors' introduction offers a critical historiographical survey and, by stepping beyond the dogmatic opposition between post-modernists and empiricists, provides a new research agenda for an integrated study of capitalism and its critics.




The Foundations of the British Labour Party


Book Description

Interest in the Labour Party remains high, particularly following the unprecedented election of a third successive Labour government and amidst the on-going controversies that surround the New Labour project. Increasingly, the ideological basis of the Labour Party has come under scrutiny, with some commentators and party members emphasizing progressive traditions within the party, whilst others refer back to the trade union foundation of Labour. This volume brings together a group of scholars working within the field of labour history to consider the various elements that influenced the early Labour Party from its formation into the 1930s. The party's association with the trade union movement is explored through the railwaymen and mineworkers' unions, while further contributions assess the different ways in which the Independent Labour Party, the co-operative movement, liberalism, Christianity and the local party branches helped lay the foundations for Labour's growth from a parliamentary pressure group to a party of government.




Tracts


Book Description




Christian Socialist Revival, 1877-1914


Book Description

This book examines the response of several British churches to the problems of industrialism during the period of the socialist revival, a period that also saw the rise of the Labour Party and other workingmen's associations. Here is a comprehensive survey of the personalities and organizations responsible for the Christian socialist revival. The author presents a history of the Labour Party and an analysis of the theological and economic ideas of the Christian Socialists, comparing them with those of the earlier and better-known men of the 1850’s, and with their French originals. Originally published in 1968. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.




Modernism and British Socialism


Book Description

Thomas Linehan offers a fresh perspective on late Victorian and Edwardian socialism by examining the socialist revival of these years from the standpoint of modernism. In so doing, he explores the modernist mission as extending beyond the concerns of the literary and artistic avant-garde to incorporate political and social movements.