Famiglietti, Antonio (2000) The theory of social movements and the British labour movement, circa 1790-1920. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The following study aims to apply concepts drawn from the sociology of social movements to the history of the labour movement in Britain, from the late eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. It proceeds from a definition of the social movement as a logic of action, which tends to overcome domination, by envisaging an alternative project for society. The key features of the logic of social movement are its principles of Identity’, ’opposition’ and totality’, which develop co-jointly and coherently. This logic can only be retrieved analytically, since it is argued that collective action is complex, and also contains a different logic, tending towards the pursuit of interests, which as such does not criticise social power in general terms. These concepts are applied to labour action and discussed through a comparison with pluralist and Marxist approaches in the sociology of the labour movement. Both perspectives are criticised for the dichotomy that they impose between social antagonism and institutional action. However, the proposed definition of social movements is indebted to Marx’s insight that social conflict cannot be reabsorbed by collective bargaining procedures and parliamentary politics; and to the pluralist argument that the openness of the political system conditions the debate, within the labour movement, about the possibility of a reformist path of political action. Labour action in Britain is investigated in relation to the development of two popular movements: the first emerged in the late eighteenth century and culminated with Chartism; the second started with the unionisation of the unskilled in the late 1880s and was consolidated in the early decades of the new century. Utilising the material provided by historiography, the inquiry reconstructs the diachronic formation of the different components, developing either in civil society or in the political system, of the two movements. The exposition alternates between narrative and analysis of the links between the logic of the social movement within labour action and processes of selforganisation, the articulation of critical discourses and the integration of popular strata in both movements.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Labor movement -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century, Labor movement -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century, Socialism -- Great Britain
Official Date:	September 2000
Dates:	Date Event September 2000 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Archer, Margaret Scotford
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	ii, 405 leaves
Language:	eng

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