‘Victims of our History’? Barbara Castle and In Place of Strife.
In: Contemporary British History, Jg. 20 (2006-09-01), Heft 3, S. 461-476
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Zugriff:
In Place of Strife came closer to dividing the labour movement than any event since Ramsey McDonald formed his national government in 1931. Drawing on recently released government papers, political and trade union archives, as well as interviews with many of the key personalities, this article examines three general propositions that have emerged from the historiography of In Place of Strife: that Barbara Castle was unduly influenced by anti-trade union officials; that the contents of the White Paper were an ill-thought-out, knee-jerk reaction to the Conservative proposals contained in Fair Deal at Work; and that neither Castle or Harold Wilson were of, or understood the trade union movement. It concludes that, rather than being unduly influenced by her officials, Castle was the main instigator of the White Paper. Similarly, whilst the White Paper was influenced by the publication of the Conservative proposals, it was grounded in a well-thought-out philosophy of trade union rights and responsibilities. Finally, whilst confirming that Castle and Wilson demonstrated considerable naivety in failing to anticipate the extent of the opposition within the labour movement, the article demonstrates the true extent of trade union intransigence that came close to challenging the government's right to govern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Titel: |
‘Victims of our History’? Barbara Castle and In Place of Strife.
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Tyler, Richard |
Zeitschrift: | Contemporary British History, Jg. 20 (2006-09-01), Heft 3, S. 461-476 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2006 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
ISSN: | 1361-9462 (print) |
DOI: | 10.1080/13619460500407186 |
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