Social Democracy and Industrial Militiancy

The Labour Party, the Trade Unions and Incomes Policy, 1945 1947
Erscheinungsjahr 2009
ISBN: 978-0-521-12510-9
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 332 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 540 g

The attempt to establish a 'new social contract' between the Government and the unions, with a view to stabilising the economy and restraining industrial militancy, emerged as a burning issues of contemporary British politics during the 1970s. This study uncovers the roots of this development in the incomes policies of successive post-war Governments, especially of the 1964-70 Labour Government, and traces the way in which wage restraint was secured from the unions, or imposed upon them, in the context of the attempted registration of the unions within the existing economic and political order. Professor Panitch concentrates on the crucial role of the Labour Party and shows how Labour's incomes policies, and industrial relations generally, have derived less from a concern with socialist economic planning than from the Party's 'integrative' ideology, its rejection of the concept of class struggle in favour of affecting a compromise between the different classes in British society.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Panitch, Leo

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder England, UK, Irland: Regional & Stadtgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Gewerkschaften, Industrielle Beziehungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Sozialismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Politische Parteien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; 1. The 1945 Labour Government: the mixed economy and wage restraint; 2. Incomes policy and Labour in opposition; 3. The voluntary incomes policy agreement; 4. The devaluation of voluntarism; 5. The politics of wage freeze; 6. The statutory incomes policy - Labour Government versus labour movement; 7. 'In place of strife'; 8. Industrial militancy and political stagnation; Conclusion; Appendices; Notes; Index.