callaghan cvr 9/3/03 3:01 PM Page 1 Interpreting the Labour Party consists of twelve essays on the principal theLabourParty Interpreting Interpreting thinkers and schools of thought concerned with the political and historical development of the Labour Party and Labour movement. It is an examination of the major methodologies and approaches in Labour studies the Labour Party and a critical evaluation and appreciation of much of the most interesting scholarship in this area of study. The essays are written by contributors who have devoted many years to the study of the Labour Party, the trade union movement and the various ideologies associated with them. The book begins with an in-depth analysis of how to study the Labour Party, and goes on to examine key periods in the development of the ideologies to which the party has subscribed. This includes the ideology of inter-war Labourism, the rival post-war perspectives on Labourism, the New Left, and the ‘contentious alliance’ of unions with Labour. Key thinkers analysed include Henry Pelling, Ross McKibbin, Ralph Miliband, Lewis Minkin, David Marquand, Perry Anderson and Tom Nairn. Each chapter situates its subject matter in the context of a broader intellectual legacy, including the works of, among others, Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Theodore Rothstein, Stuart Hall and Samuel Beer. The book will be of interest to undergraduate students of British politics and political theory, and to academics concerned with Labour politics and history, trade union history and politics, research methodology and political analysis. John Callaghan is Professor of Politics at the University of Wolverhampton. Steven Fielding is Professor of Contemporary Political History in the School of English, Sociology, Politics and Contemporary History and Associate Director of the European Studies Research Institute at the University of Salford. Steve Ludlam is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield. and Callaghan, Fielding Ludlam eds Approaches to Labour politics and history Edited by John Callaghan, Steven Fielding and Steve Ludlam ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page i Interpreting the Labour Party ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page ii Critical Labour Movement Studies Series Series editors John Callaghan Steven Fielding Steve Ludlam ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page iii Interpreting the Labour Party Approaches to Labour politics and history edited by John Callaghan Steven Fielding Steve Ludlam Manchester University Press Manchester and New York distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page iv Copyright © Manchester University Press 2003 While copyright in the volume as a whole is vested in Manchester University Press, copyright in individual chapters belongs to their respective authors, and no chapter may be reproduced wholly or in part without the express permission in writing of both author and publisher. Published by Manchester University Press Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9NR, UK and Room 400, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk Distributed exclusively in the USA by Palgrave, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA Distributed exclusively in Canada by UBC Press, University of British Columbia, 2029 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z2 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for ISBN 0 7190 6718 9 hardback 0 7190 6719 7 paperback First published 2003 111009080706050403 10987654321 Typeset by Northern Phototypesetting Co. Ltd., Bolton, Lancs. Printed in Great Britain by CPI, Bath ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page v 2 Contents John Callaghan, Steven Fielding and Steve Ludlam Series editors’ foreword page vi Acknowledgements vii Contributors ix Introduction John Callaghan, Steven Fielding and Steve Ludlam 1 1 Understanding Labour’s ideological trajectory Nick Randall 8 2 ‘What kind of people are you?’ Labour, the people and the ‘new political history’ Lawrence Black 23 3 ‘Labourism’ and the New Left Madeleine Davis 39 4 Ralph Miliband and the Labour Party: from Parliamentary Socialism to ‘Bennism’ Michael Newman 57 5 The continuing relevance of the Milibandian perspective David Coates and Leo Panitch 71 6 An exceptional comrade? The Nairn–Anderson interpretation Mark Wickham-Jones 86 7 Class and politics in the work of Henry Pelling Alastair J. Reid 101 8 Ross McKibbin: class cultures, the trade unions and the Labour Party John Callaghan 116 9 The Progressive Dilemma and the social democratic perspective Steven Fielding and Declan McHugh 134 10 Too much pluralism, not enough socialism: interpreting the unions–party link Steve Ludlam 150 11 Lewis Minkin and the party–unions link Eric Shaw 166 12 How to study the Labour Party: contextual, analytical and theoretical issues Colin Hay 182 Guide to further reading 197 Index 203 ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page vi 2 Series editors’ foreword John Callaghan, Steven Fielding and Steve Ludlam The start of the twenty-first century is superficially an inauspicious time to study labour movements. Political parties once associated with the working class have seemingly embraced capitalism. The trade unions with which these parties were once linked have suffered near-fatal reverses. The industrial proletariat looks both divided and in rapid decline. The development of multi-level governance, prompted by ‘globalisation’ has furthermore apparently destroyed the institutional context for advancing the labour ‘interest’.Many consequently now look on terms such as the ‘working class’,‘socialism’ and the ‘labour movement’ as politically and historically redundant. The purpose of this series is to give a platform to those students of labour movements who challenge, or develop, established ways of thinking and so demonstrate the continued vitality of the subject and the work of those interested in it. For despite appearances many social democratic parties remain important competitors for national office and proffer distinctive programmes. Unions still impede the free flow of ‘market forces’. If workers are a more diverse body and have exchanged blue collars for white, insecurity remains an everyday problem. The new institutional and global context is moreover as much of an opportunity as a threat. Yet, it cannot be doubted that compared to the immediate post- 1945 period, at the beginning of the new millennium what many still refer to as the ‘labour movement’ is much less influential. Whether this should be considered a time of retreat or reconfiguration is unclear – and a question the series aims to clarify The series will not only give a voice to studies of particular national bodies but will also promote comparative works that contrast experiences across time and geography. This entails taking due account of the political, economic and cultural settings in which labour movements have operated. In particular this involves taking the past seriously as a way of understanding the present as well as utilising sympathetic approaches drawn from sociology, economics and elsewhere. ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page vii 2 Acknowledgements John Callaghan, Steven Fielding and Steve Ludlam Nick Randall wishes to acknowledge an ESRC Postgraduate Training Award (R00429634225), which allowed him to conduct the doctoral research on Labour’s ideological dynamics on which his chapter is based. In addition he would like to thank Martin Burch, David Coates, Colin Hay, Steve Ludlam and members of the PSA Labour Movements Group for their comments on earlier drafts of chapter 1. Lawrence Black wishes to thank John Callaghan, James Thompson, Nick Tiratsoo and Leo Zeilig, and the audience at a seminar held at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, for their comments and advice about sources. Michael Newman is grateful to Tony Benn for permission to quote from the unpublished version of his diary. Steven Fielding and Declan McHugh wish to thank Peter Clarke, Kevin Hickson, Steve Ludlam, John McHugh and David Marquand for their insights. Steve Ludlam thanks his co-editors for their comments on chapter 10. Colin Hay expresses his thanks to Steven Fielding, Dave Marsh and Dan Wincott for helpful comments on an earlier version of chapter 12 and acknowledges the support of the ESRC ‘One Europe or Several?’ programme for research on ‘Globalisation, European Integration and the European Social Model’ (L213252043). The editors express their appreciation to all those who, as either paper-givers or audience, participated in the Labour Movement Studies’ conference ‘Understanding the Labour Party’ which was held in Manchester in July 2001 and on which this collection is based; in addition, they thank the UK Political Studies Association for financial support and Starbucks for the hosting of their numerous editorial conferences. ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page viii ITLP_A01.QXD 18/8/03 9:52 am Page ix 2 Contributors John Callaghan, Steven Fielding and Steve Ludlam Lawrence Black is Fulbright-Robertson Visiting Professor of British History at Westminster College, Missouri, USA during 2002–3. He is the author of The Political Culture of the Left in Affluent Britain, 1951-64: Old Labour, New Britain? (2003). A volume co-edited with Hugh Pemberton, An Affluent Society? Britain’s Post-War ‘Golden Age’ Revisited is forthcoming. He is currently researching British political culture and post-war affluence. John Callaghan is Professor of Politics at the University of Wolverhampton and the author of Socialism in Britain (1990), The Retreat of Social Democracy (2000) and Crisis, Cold War and Conflict: the Communist Party 1951–68 (2003). David Coates is the Worrell Professor of Anglo-American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, USA. He has recently edited (with Peter Lawler) New Labour into Power (2000), and Paving the Way: The Critique of ‘Parliamentary Socialism’ (2003), the latter being a collection of essays on the Labour Party drawn largely from The Socialist Register and written by scholars sympathetic to the perspective discussed in his chapter.