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Rodney Hilton, Marxism and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism
Working Papers No. 94/06 Rodney Hilton, Marxism and the Transition From Feudalism to Capitalism S. R. Epstein Forthcoming in C. Dyer, P. Cross, C. Wickham (eds.) Rodney Hilton’s Middle Ages, 400-1600 Cambridge UP 2007 © S. R. Epstein Department of Economic History London School of Economics September 2006 Department of Economic History London School of Economics Houghton Street London, WC2A 2AE Tel: +44 (0) 20 7955 7860 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7955 7730 Rodney Hilton, Marxism And The Transition From Feudalism To Capitalism* S. R. Epstein Forthcoming in C. Dyer, P. Coss, C. Wickham eds. Rodney Hilton’s Middle Ages 400-1600, Cambridge UP 2007 A founding member of the Historians’ Group of the Communist Party, of the journal Past and Present, and of a distinctive and distinguished School of History at the University of Birmingham, Rodney Hilton was among the most notable medieval historians of the latter half of the twentieth century. He was also the most influential of a small number of Marxist medievalists in Britain and Continental Europe who practised their craft before the renaissance of Marxist and left-wing history after 1968. Surprisingly, therefore, his work’s historiographical and theoretical significance has not attracted much attention.1 Although Hilton was, first and foremost, a ‘historian’s historian’, and made his most lasting contributions to the fields of English social, agrarian, and urban history, his engagement with Marxist historical debates cannot be lightly dismissed.2 Hilton’s Marxism, a central feature of his self-understanding as a historian, reflects both strengths and weaknesses of British Marxist historiography in its heyday, and his interpretation of a locus classicus of Marxist debate, the transition from feudal to capitalist modes of production, still carries considerable weight among like-minded historians. -
Marxist Antony Kalashnikov
British Marxist Historians: An Appraisal Antony Kalashnikov Abstract This paper examines several of the leading British Marxist historians of the twentieth century and the contribution made by these Marxist historians to the field of historiography. The differences and similarities in the arguments presented by key Marxist historians is examined and critically analysed throughout this paper to identify the role these historians within the field. Introduction: In the second half of the twentieth century, Marxism became firmly integrated into the Western academic tradition as a valid and powerful mode of analysis. In 1950’s Great Britain, Marxism became particularly prevalent in the discipline of history. At least superficially, a group of historians was associated by their membership within the British Communist Party. Several critics, however, have argued that the British Marxist historians came to represent a school, of sorts, characterized by much more than paying homage to Marx and his historical materialism. Indeed, sociologist Harvey Kaye, in his book The British Marxist Historians, contends that they constitute a separate “theoretical tradition.” Specifically, he argues, they share a common theoretical problematic, historical problematic, approach to historical study (i.e. a methodology of class struggle analysis), and a contribution to British political culture.1 Social theorist Perry Anderson, for his part, also groups these Marxist Historians together, albeit indirectly, in his more negative critique of them. Particularly, he argues against their theoretical underdevelopment and lack of strategy. This essay will appraise the two scholars’ arguments for British Marxist historians’ commonality, in particular looking at the Marxist historians Edward Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. In doing so, I will explicate Kaye’s and Anderson’s arguments, illustrating their points with examples from Thompson’s and Hobsbawm’s work. -
The Histories of Raphael Samuel a Portrait of a People’S Historian
THE HISTORIES OF RAPHAEL SAMUEL A PORTRAIT OF A PEOPLE’S HISTORIAN THE HISTORIES OF RAPHAEL SAMUEL A PORTRAIT OF A PEOPLE’S HISTORIAN SOPHIE SCOTT-BROWN Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Creator: Scott-Brown, Sophie, author. Title: The histories of Raphael Samuel : a portrait of a people’s historian / Sophie Scott-Brown. ISBN: 9781760460365 (paperback) 9781760460372 (ebook) Series: ANU lives series in biography. Subjects: Samuel, Raphael. Historians--Great Britain--Biography. Marxian historiography. Historical materialism. Social history. Dewey Number: 907.202 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. The ANU.Lives Series in Biography is an initiative of the National Centre of Biography at The Australian National University, ncb.anu.edu.au. Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Portrait of Raphael Samuel by Lucinda Douglas- Menzies. This edition © 2017 ANU Press Contents Acknowledgements . vii Abbreviations . ix Introduction . 1 1 . The Ingrained Activist: Communism as a Way of Life, the Communist Party Historians’ Group and Oxford Student Politics . 17 2 . Reinventing the Organiser: Anti‑authoritarianism, Activist Politics and the First New Left . 55 3 . The Workshop Historian: Ruskin College and the Early Years of the History Workshop . 95 4 . The Secret Life of Headington Quarry: People’s History in the Field . -
Christopher Hill's World Turned Upside Down
Crossley, James G. "Christopher Hill’s World Turned Upside Down." Harnessing Chaos: The Bible in English Political Discourse Since 1968. London: Bloomsbury T & T Clark, 2014. 37–69. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 23 Sep. 2021. <http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9780567659347.ch-002>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 23 September 2021, 17:56 UTC. Copyright © James G. Crossley 2014. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. Chapter 2 CHRISTOPHER HILL’S WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN 1. The Problem of 1968 We have seen why 1968 is regarded as a watershed year in the more contemporary history of western radical thought. However, one of the seemingly curious features of the student-led radicalism of the late 1960s is the problem it posed for some western Marxists, particularly those of an ageing Marxist intellectual establishment. It might be thought that such ¿gures would have been among the most enthusiastic supporters of the uprisings (as plenty of Marxists indeed were), particularly given that the American involvement in Vietnam was the most high pro¿le point of unity across the Left, though even here there were notable exceptions such as Max Horkheimer. On the one hand, 1968 did overtly challenge dominant notions of power but, on the other, might not this radicalism be merely romantic and hopelessly ineffective? Or worse still, was it complicit or even potentially repressive? Arguably the most famous example of Marxist establishment ambiva- lence was Theodor Adorno.1 The ¿nal years and months of Adorno’s life – at this point he was now denounced as a ‘classicist’ – involved some very personal tensions with the West German student movement. -
The Making of the First New Left in Britain
THE MAKING OF THE FIRST NEW LEFT IN BRITAIN Jacob Clark Thurman Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the Department of History, Indiana University December 2011 Accepted by the Faculty of Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. Jason M. Kelly, Ph.D., Chair Kevin Cramer, Ph.D. Master’s Thesis Committee Michael D. Snodgrass, Ph.D. ii Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter 2 ..................................................................................................................................................... 32 Chapter 3 ..................................................................................................................................................... 52 Chapter 4 ..................................................................................................................................................... 82 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 100 References .............................................................................................................................................. -
Obituary / Nécrologie
OBITUARY / NÉCROLOGIE Homage to Edward Thompson, Parti Bryan D. Palmer EDWARD PALMER (E.P.) THOMPSON, described in 1980 as "our finest socialist writer today — certainly in England, possibly in Europe,"1 died at his home, Wick Episcopi, Worcester on 28 August 1993. Born 3 February 1924, he is survived by his wife of 45 years, fellow historian and political comrade, Dorothy, their daughter Kate, sons Mark and Ben, and numerous grandchildren. He left us—whom I define as those interested in and committed to the integrity of the past and the humane possibilities of a socialist future — a most enduring legacy, his example. There are those who would disagree. For as long as I have been an historian there has been an uncomfortable respect for Thompson's histories, a recognition that they occupy a special and influential place. But there has also been a nagging denigration of his accomplishments that runs through an honest and understandable articulation of critique and intellectual difference into less benign realms of malice. Much of this is developed as caricature, but its distortions and disfigurements are fundamentally political, even as they are, at times, trite. From some quarters this is so much to be expected that it can almost be regarded as a phenomenon of political nature; from others it is more disturbingly noteworthy. Seemingly 'naturalistic,' the antagonism to Thompson within elite circles of complacent scholasticism has been longstanding, whatever its softening in recent years. In England it often reached heights difficult to comprehend in North America.2 1 Perry Anderson, Arguments Within English Marxism (London 1980), 1 2In a review of Customs in Common ( 1991 ) in The Independent on Sunday, 5 January 1992, 26, Linda Colley noted that the English tradition of making iconoclasts and dissidents "national possessions" in their old age was almost certainly not going to overtake Thompson, who would continue to draw antagonism precisely because of his commitment to protest and irreverent mockery of established authority, academic and political. -
Isaac's Honors Thesis
Downton Abbey Socialism: Stalin’s Sympathizers in the British Establishment Isaac Stone Honors Thesis submitted to the Department of History, Georgetown University Advisors: Professor Michael David-Fox, Professor James Collins Program Director: Professor Alison Games May 4, 2020 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 2 Glossary 3 Introduction 5 Chapter 1: 11 Conservative Revolutionaries: George Bernard Shaw and the Webbs Chapter 2: 29 The Politician and the Professor: Atlee, Laski, and the Defeat of the Revolutionary Labour Party Chapter 3: 51 Tracing the Progress of the Revolution: The Historians Group of the Communist Party Conclusion 70 Bibliography 73 1 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Alison Games and my peers in the thesis cohort. Their advice and support has been critical for this massive project. I would also like to thank my advisors, Professor Michael David-Fox and Professor James Collins, for supporting this thesis through its ups and downs and giving so much of their time to rereading and commenting on this thesis. This work would not have been possible without the members of Georgetown’s History Faculty who have inspired and encouraged me as a scholar, who in an addition to my mentors and the program chair, include Professor Amy Leonard, Professor JoAnn Moran Cruz, Professor Toshihiro Higuchi, Professor Tommaso Astarita, and Professor Michael Wall. Finally, I would like to recognize my Mom, my Dad, my sister Maiya, and my two dogs Marley and Seger for providing love and stability throughout this taxing endeavor, especially during the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. I give Lauinger Library permission to publish this thesis. -
American Historical Association 1973 San
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION 1973 SAN FRANCISCO NEBS Booth 101 GUARDIANS OF TRADITION: American History: American Schoolbooks of the 19th Century by Ruth Miller Elson Environmenta WASP values in textbooks. Penetrating con tribution to a further understanding of the mak MAN AND NATURE IN AMERICA ing of the American character ‘—Journal of byArthurA. Ekirch, Jr. American History Pa $3.25 Salient viewpoints of thinkers who have deeply A LEGAL HISTORY OF MONEY IN considered the human being and hia environ THE UNITED STATES, 1774-1970 ment —Christian Science Monitor Pa $2.45 by James Willard Hurst NATURE AND THE AMERICAN: Examines the effects of legal interventions on Three Centuries our money system and pursues themes relevant of Changing to the general history of political ideas in the Attitudes by Hans Huth United States. CI $9.50 interesting history of how we have cared for— and not cared enough for—our and water, and air —Publishers Weekly Pa $295 American History: Regiona’ HISTORY OF NEVADA American History: Socia’ by Russell R. Elliott Well documented account covers historical, ETHNIC VOTERS AND THE economic, sociological and cultural aspects” ELECTION OF LINCOLN — English-Speaking Union CI $9.50 edited by Frederick C. Luebke THE SUITCASE FARMING Now available in paper. Very useful for a va FRONTIER: A Study in the riety of classroom purposes —South Dakota Historical Geography of the History. CI$9.75 / Pa$1 .95 Central Great Plains by LeslIe Hewes THE PONCA CHIEFS: An Account Discusses the role of the suitcase farmer and of the Trial of Standing Bear spatial patterns of suitcase farming, compares by Thomas Henry Tibbles. -
RODNEY HILTON Copyright © British Academy 2005 – All Rights Reserved
RODNEY HILTON Copyright © British Academy 2005 – all rights reserved Rodney Howard Hilton 1916–2002 RODNEY HILTON, born on 17 November 1916, was brought up in Middleton, near Manchester, and throughout his life his speech retained traces of his Lancashire origins. His grandfather had lived in Samuel Bamford’s former cottage, and his family believed that their radical her- itage went back to Peterloo. His parents, John James Hilton and Anne Howard Hilton, were active in the Independent Labour Party, and their son followed in their path of political dissent. His father had worked as a manager for the local Co-operative Society, but was killed in a road acci- dent when Rodney Hilton was very young; his mother, who took an active part in local civic life, had an especially strong influence on him. Her fond- ness for her youngest son meant that she much regretted his departure from home, and feared that he would take up ‘foreign ideas’ in Oxford. He nonetheless excelled at Manchester Grammar School and gained a scholarship to Balliol, Oxford. As a history undergraduate between 1935 and 1938 he was attracted to the medieval period by the teaching of two outstanding Balliol scholars, Vivian Galbraith and Richard Southern, and he also came into contact with Maurice Powicke. He began a life-long friendship with Christopher Hill, who encouraged his political and intellectual commitment to the Left.1 His contemporaries as students included Edward Heath, who 1 The information about his early life is based on Rodney Hilton’s and Tim Hilton’s reminis- cences; T. -
1 New Times, New Politics History and Memory During the Final Years Of
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Sussex Research Online This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in British Politics 6:4 (2011), pp. 453-78. The definitive publisher-authenticated version (doi:10.1057/bp.2011.24) is available online at: http://www.palgrave- journals.com/bp/journal/v6/n4/full/bp201124a.html New Times, New Politics History and memory during the final years of the CPGB Dr Emily Robinson, University of Nottingham Abstract This article examines the relationship between collective memory, historical interpretation and political identity. It focuses on the dissolution of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and particularly on the effects of the collapse of the USSR on both the identity of its members, as constructed through collective narrative memory, and on Marxist interpretations of history. The CPGB provides a powerful example of the interplay between history, memory and political identity. Marxism is particularly closely connected with the discipline of academic history: its political analysis being explicitly based on a theory of historical development. Moreover, the small size and intense commitment of the CPGB meant that it developed an unusually strong mnemonic culture. The divisions within both the party itself and the wider Marxist community, which stretched from 1956 right through until 1991, were often framed around questions of historical interpretation. The events of 1989-91 created an historical and mnemonic crisis for CPGB members who struggled to reconcile their past identities with their present situation. Unlike the outward-facing revisionism of other political parties, this was an intensely personal affair. -
Rodney Hilton, Marxism, and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism
Working Papers on the Nature of Evidence: How Well Do “Facts” Travel? No. 15/06 Rodney Hilton, Marxism, and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism Stephan R. Epstein © Stephan R. Epstein Department of Economic History London School of Economics September 2006 how ‘facts’ “The Nature of Evidence: How Well Do ‘Facts’ Travel?” is funded by The Leverhulme Trust and the E.S.R.C. at the Department of Economic History, London School of Economics. For further details about this project and additional copies of this, and other papers in the series, go to: http://www.lse.ac.uk/collection/economichistory/ Series Editor: Dr. Jon Adams Department of Economic History London School of Economics Houghton Street London WC2A 2AE Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 20 7955 6727 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7955 7730 Rodney Hilton, Marxism, and the Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism∗ Stephan R. Epstein Abstract An eminent medievalist and one of the most influential of the small band of Marxist historians working in the UK before 1968, Rodney Hilton’s work on the development of the English feudal system into industrial capitalism was, despite its renown, ultimately mistaken. The problems with Hilton’s account were largely inherited from Maurice Dobb, whose interpretation of Marxist theory led him to exaggerate the role of class struggle to the exclusion of other factors. These assumptions about the importance of class struggle in the transition from feudalism to capitalism were carried over from Dobb’s early work to the work of Hilton and the Marxist historians who followed him. -
Life and Times of the First New Left
stuart hall LIFE AND TIMES OF THE FIRST NEW LEFT he ‘first’ New Left was born in 1956, a conjuncture—not just a year—bounded on one side by the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution by Soviet tanks and on the other by the British and French invasion of the Suez Canal zone.1 These Ttwo events, whose dramatic impact was heightened by the fact that they occurred within days of each other, unmasked the underlying violence and aggression latent in the two systems that dominated political life at the time—Western imperialism and Stalinism—and sent a shock wave through the political world. In a deeper sense, they defined for people of my generation the boundaries and limits of the tolerable in politics. Socialists after ‘Hungary’, it seemed to us, must carry in their hearts the sense of tragedy which the degeneration of the Russian Revolution into Stalinism represented for the left in the twentieth century. ‘Hungary’ brought to an end a certain kind of socialist innocence. On the other hand, ‘Suez’ underlined the enormity of the error in believing that low- ering the Union Jack in a few ex-colonies necessarily signalled the ‘end of imperialism’, or that the real gains of the welfare state and the widen- ing of material affluence meant the end of inequality and exploitation. ‘Hungary’ and ‘Suez’ were thus liminal, boundary-marking experiences. They symbolized the break-up of the political Ice Age. The New Left came into existence in the aftermath of these two events. It attempted to define a third political space somewhere between these two metaphors.