Sources of Variation in Working-Class Movements in Twentieth-Century Europe

In: New left review: NLR, Heft 212, S. 14-54

Abstract

Informed by David Lockwood's (1966) study of the source of variation among working-class mobilizations in the early & mid-20th century UK, the influence of various political ideological perspectives upon working-class movements across Europe throughout the 20th century is studied. Overviews of the various circumstances that engendered socialist & anarcho-syndicalist movements throughout early 20th century Europe are provided; in addition, the disparate effects that WWI had upon socialist & anarcho-syndicalist mobilizations immediately following the war are highlighted. Attention is subsequently dedicated to analyzing how conservative & liberal political perspectives addresses socialism's prosperity during the interwar period; for example, it is demonstrated that conservative political groups utilized nationalism, religion, & technocratic thought to attack the perseverance of socialism. After discussing factors that contributed to the surfacing of authoritarianism & fascism throughout interwar Europe, socialist political groups' responses to these sundry competing approaches are reviewed. Furthermore, multiple data sources are scrutinized to measure the influence of socialism, liberalism, conservatism, & fascism upon European working-class images of society during this period. Several conclusions regarding the relevance of Lockwood's various working-class images of society & the success of the different ideological perspectives in affecting working-class movements are offered. J. W. Parker