Social-Imperialism in Britain.

• Superior document: Historical materialism book series ; Volume 171
• Author: Neil Redfern
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, , Boston: : Brill, , 2019.
• Year of Publication: 2019
• Language: English
• Series: Historical Materialism Book Series 171.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (279 pages).

In Social-Imperialism in Britain Neil Redfern examines the relationship between British labour and British capital in the two world wars of the twentieth century. He argues that the Second World War, the so-called ‘People’s War’, no less than the First World War, was an imperialist war. He further argues that in both wars labour and capital entered into a social-imperialist contract in which labour would be rewarded for its support for war with such social and political reforms as votes for women and a health service, culminating in the ‘welfare state’ constructed after the Second World War. Concentrating on Lancashire, he examines the complex interaction between military successes and reverses, elite war aims, labour unrest and popular demands for reform.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Rallying Round the Flag -- Labour’s Unrest and Capital’s Promises -- 1919: a ‘Red Year’? -- Rallying Round the Flag Again -- Building the Social-Imperialist Settlement -- Conclusion and Postscript -- Back Matter -- Bibliography -- Index.