The Growth of Working Class Reformism in Mid-Victorian England

The post-Chartist period saw an easing of class tensions and the growth of a reformist working class. Using evidence based upon the cotton districts of north-west England, the author shows that enhanced socio-political stability owed much to economic restabilisation in his book The Growth of Working Class Reformism in Mid-Victorian England (originally published in 1985).

This book examines new and neglected areas of investigation, including the interplay between class and ethnicity and the institutional and sociological roots of reformism, and brings fresh evidence to bear upon more familiar areas of debate, such as trends in living standards.

A materialist explanation of reformism and stability is propounded. Central importance is attached to the notion of an increasingly fragmented working class operating in a secure economic system which offered enhanced scope for class manoeuvre and labour’s advancement. The working class did not become incorporated, collaborationist, or deferential. The frequency of class struggle and continued working class independence could not, however, conceal the fact that the broad features of the system had been accepted. Piecemeal advancement became the order of the day.

Neville Kirk is Emeritus Professor of Social and Labour History at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. He is an acknowledged expert in the field of labour history.