Labouring Men

by Eric J. Hobsbawm

The topics covered in this book can be divided into four broad studies of labour conditions up to the middle of the nineteenth century; studies in the 'new trade unionism' of 1889 to 1914; studies in the late nineteenth-century revival of Socialism in Britain; and more general topics covering a wider chronological span. The common factor in this wide-ranging work is that, unlike much other work of labour history, it concentrates on the working classes as such, and on the economic and technical conditions which allowed labour movements to be effective or which prevented their effectiveness.This work is notable not only for its clarity and incisiveness, but also for the richness and variety of the material, which ranges from Marx to Methodism and from labour traditions to the machine breakers.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

401 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. His best-known works include his tetralogy about what he called the "long 19th century" (The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848, The Age of Capital: 1848–1875 and The Age of Empire: 1875–1914) and the "short 20th century" (The Age of Extremes), and an edited volume that introduced the influential idea of "invented traditions". A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work.
Hobsbawm was born in Alexandria, Egypt, and spent his childhood mainly in Vienna and Berlin. Following the death of his parents and the rise to power of Adolf Hitler, Hobsbawm moved to London with his adoptive family. After serving in the Second World War, he obtained his PhD in history at the University of Cambridge. In 1998, he was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour. He was president of Birkbeck, University of London, from 2002 until his death. In 2003, he received the Balzan Prize for European History since 1900, "for his brilliant analysis of the troubled history of 20th century Europe and for his ability to combine in-depth historical research with great literary talent."

Reviews

[Edward Lengel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Marxist history at its finest.

[Daniel Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Labour history is interesting as it gives you a perspective of the past that is not based on royalty but a past of normal people. E.J. Hobsbawm’s Labouring Men: Studies in the History of Labour mainly focuses on a period of history based on the Industrial Revolution. There is special attention to the Industrial Revolution within the British Isles. The book looks at how labour developed in Britain over the Industrial Revolution. It is based on multiple essays on the subject written from a Marxist-history perspective.

There are lots of different ideas that give a unique perspective within the book. For starters, the first essay, “The Machine Breakers”, is based on the Luddites. Rather than arguing that Luddism was a rebellion against machinery, Hobsbawm argued that the destruction of machinery was a labour tactic designed to get better negotiated settlements, requiring 12000 soldiers to suppress their rioting. As argued by Hobsbawm, Luddites were, for the most part, sympathised with by society at large. This challenges the usual assumption that they were disliked for their industrial sabotage.

Lots of different ideas are looked at through Labouring Men’s different chapters. In his essay on Methodism, Hobsbawm argued that there was a mixed impact on whether Methodism had an impact on reducing revolution, given that only 25 percent of people attended churches in parts of the UK, particularly in the iron and steel towns. Religion had a negligible impact on the corn riots than otherwise demonstrated. Tramping, a term that became synonymous with homeless people, was a strong tendency of younger men who would travel and was connected with parts of union development.

Hobsbawm challenges the assumptions that early industrialisation led to a rise in living standards. Using consumption metrics of tobacco and sugar, alongside the livestock statistics, Hobsbawm argues that between 1790 and 1850, there was a reduction in living standards for the average person. There is rejection in the assumption that living standards were improved, unlike various economists who argue that this period in time led to improvements in living standards. Hobsbawm also takes the concentrated analysis of different working-class professions, including the gas industry and the dockside industry. The gas industry, Hobsbawm argues, had improvements in living standards in the majority of the UK, except in certain places. Another industry he looked at was the waterside docking industry, which involved many highly specialised jobs. The other intriguing analysis was the idea of the “labour aristocracy” in which certain jobs in the skilled working class were considerably higher paid than other working-class jobs

There was an analysis of the politics of the era. Hyndman’s SDF or Social Democratic Federation was a grouping of socialists made up of atheists and radicals. The Social Democratic Federation was dictatorially led by Hyndman, which echoes that Communists of the 20th century and their desire for power. The Fabian organisation was looked at as an ineffective organisation in changing public minds to socialism. That said, I did find it interesting to see so many clergy in the Fabian organisation. They were the second most common profession among the middle classes in the Fabians.

Labouring Men is a classic on understanding labour history in 20th-century Britain. The research is impressive as it has multiple primary sources used throughout the different essays. Even today, there is a lot of information that can be acquired from this book about industrial labour relations. 4 stars.

[josh x · Rating 5 out of 5]

don’t waste your time with anyone else. it’s hobsbawm or bust