The first generation of postwar British labor historians tended to be preoccupied with working class activism. The history of the working class concentrated on trade unions, left-wing politics, parties, and activists. This book attempts to chart not only this struggle, but to describe and analyze the rich and varied tapestry of working class history as a whole. John Benson examines work, wages, incomes, and the cost of living; family, kinship, and community relations; the individual in the context of nation and class; and the labor movement in all its aspects.
| List of tables | ||
| Acknowledgements | ||
| Introduction | 1 | |
| Pt. 1 | Material Conditions | 7 |
| 1 | Work | 9 |
| 2 | Wages, incomes and the cost of living | 39 |
| 3 | Housing | 72 |
| Pt. 2 | Family and Community | 93 |
| 4 | Family | 95 |
| 5 | Kinship, neighborhood and community | 117 |
| Pt. 3 | Responses | 139 |
| 6 | Individual, nation and class | 141 |
| 7 | The labour movement | 174 |
| Conclusion | 207 | |
| Select bibliography | 209 | |
| Index | 214 |
Overview
The first generation of postwar British labor historians tended to be preoccupied with working class activism. The history of the working class concentrated on trade unions, left-wing politics, parties, and activists. This book attempts to chart not only this struggle, but to describe and analyze the rich and varied tapestry of working class history as a whole. John Benson examines work, wages, incomes, and the cost of living; family, kinship, and community relations; the individual in the context of nation and ...