The Radical Tradition: Twelve Essays on Politics, Education, and Literature

by R.H. Tawney, Rita Hinden (Editor)

The particular quality of Tawney’s greatness was well described by Hugh Gaitskell as a combination of ‘learning with passion’.

The knowledge of social history on which he based Religion and the Rise of Capitalism goes hand in hand here with the feelings which prompted The Acquisitive Society. In his essays on three prominent radicals – Lovett, Owen, and Ruskin – as in his discussions of secondary education, the W.E.A., economic liberty, or the nationalization of the coal mines, Tawney’s cause is always the fair treatment of the working classes and the shaping of a truly democratic socialism.

Some of the social injustices noted by him in his early essays are still with us: some have gone. But the humanitarian inspiration of The Radical Tradition is as valid as ever.

Genres: Politics

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Richard Henry Tawney was an English economic historian, social critic, and Christian socialist whose work helped shape twentieth century debates about equality, ethics, and the moral foundations of economic life. Educated at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford, he served as an officer in the First World War and was severely wounded at the Somme, an experience that deeply influenced his views. Tawney became an influential voice in both academia and public policy, known especially for The Acquisitive Society (1921) and Religion and the Rise of Capitalism (1926).

Tawney’s scholarship combined rigorous historical analysis with a concern for social justice and the common good, and he played an important role in the early development of the British Labour Party’s intellectual tradition. A long-time professor at the London School of Economics, he was widely respected for his careful research, moral seriousness, and deep engagement with questions of economic organisation and human flourishing.