"Parish-fed bastards" : a history of the politics of the unemployed in Britain, 1884-1939
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
"Parish-fed bastards" : a history of the politics of the unemployed in Britain, 1884-1939
(Contributions in labor studies, no. 37)
Greenwood Press, 1991
Available at 23 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [229]-271) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This volume breaks tradition with previous studies of the unemployed in Britain. It offers a history highlighting the active political nature of the unemployed, rather than a depiction of them as passive victims of the system whose existence signals economic decline and social injustice. Beginning with the first appearance of the jobless as a political group in 1884, Richard Flanagan reduces large amounts of available information on their activities-- outlining the major points that define the nature of the politics of the unemployed, discussing their troubled leadership, and documenting the government's response to their efforts through the end of the National Unemployment Workers' Movement in 1939.
Curious as to why much of the information about Britain's unemployed has been overlooked, Flanagan lifts the literature on the subject out of what he considers to be a largely fictionalized view by presenting a factual, historically relevant account examining the unemployed in relation to their society, past and present, and how they were able to overcome their diversity at certain times of crisis to form a single political voice and gain some control over their lives. The study reaches beyond the immediate subject, as its conclusions reflect upon the connection between unemployment and any industrialized society, the viability of certain solutions to the conflicts between classes, and most importantly, the political influence that even the most disadvantaged can exert if encouraged to take an active role in their future.
Table of Contents
Introduction
A Procession of a Most Grotesque Character: The Origins of the Unemployed
Black Banners to Red Flags: The Unemployed and the Socialists, 1884-1904
The Right to Work: The Unemployed and Labour, 1904-1910
My Comrades Are Extremists: The Politics of the Unemployed Ex-Service Men, 1919-1920
One Big Union? The National Unemployed Workers' Committee Movement, 1920-1929
Are We Red? The National Unemployed Workers Movement, 1929-1939
The Free Hand of the State Machine: The National Council of Social Service and the Unemployed Club Movement, 1932-1939
Conclusion
Index
by "Nielsen BookData"