Proletarians and Protest: The Roots of Class Formation in an Industrializing World (Contributions in Labor Studies, Number 17)

In this collection of essays a number of distinguished scholars examine the proletarianization process and its relation to social protest and class formation. The authors consider how the social origins of the industrial work force and the migration patterns that brought workers to industrial areas shaped the workers' developing identity and led them to participate in mass protests. The essays provide an overview of proletarianization in industrializing regions and in several different countries. Although the authors of these articles employ a variety of disciplines--anthropology, history, and sociology--all the essays deal with historical aspects of the process of class formation and the forging of a modern working class. The essays span three continents and two centuries, and the volume includes a comprehensive annotated bibliography of relevant works drawn from the suggestions of the contributors.

Charles Stephenson has been described as 'one of the world's leading maritime historians' (Edward M. Furgol, The Navy Museum, Washington DC, writing in the International Journal of Maritime History, Volume XV, Number 1 (June 2003)). His books include The Secret War Plans of Lord Dundonald: Conceiving Weapons of Mass Destruction 1811–1914. Originally from North Wales, he is now based in Cheshire, UK.