Continuing our series of songs in labour history, Keith Laybourn discusses a protest ballad performed throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first by some of the biggest names in American music. ‘I Dreamed, I Saw Joe Hill Last Night’ is often known as ‘The Ballad of Joe Hill’. I first came across this ballad in the 1960s through a combination of events. From the … Continue reading In tune: The Ballad of Joe Hill
Call for papers: Beyond the Fragments: 45 Years On Friday 28 June 2024People’s History Museum, ManchesterKeynote speakers: Sheila Rowbotham, Lynne Segal, and Hilary Wainwright 2024 marks the forty-fifth anniversary of the publication of the seminal socialist-feminist text Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making of Socialism. Within its pages, activists Sheila Rowbotham, Lynne Segal and Hilary Wainwright wove sharp political analysis and personal reflections in … Continue reading CfP: Beyond the Fragments: 45 Years On
Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs provides a lesson in the origins of capitalism, writes Quentin Outram. Heigh-Ho*Dwarfs Chorus (Larry Morey and Frank Churchill, 1937) ‘Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s home from work we go’ sing the seven dwarfs as they walk over a fallen log on their way home, tired but cheerful. But there is something odd; in fact several things are a bit … Continue reading In tune: Heigh-Ho
There could hardly be a series on songs in labour history without reference to the Strawbs. But, asks Mark Crail, was this a celebration or a condemnation of trade unions? Part of the Union The Strawbs (Richard Hudson and John Ford, 1973) There is nothing subtle about Part of the Union. From it’s opening ‘Now I’m a union man / Amazed at what I am’ … Continue reading In tune: Part of the Union
This year sees the sixtieth anniversary of the publication of E.P. Thompson’s influential and much admired The Making of the English Working Class (Victor Gollancz, 1963). BBC Radio Three’s The Essay this week marks the event with a series of five programmes under the title ‘The Enormous Condescension of Posterity’ – a phrase taken from Thompson’s preface. The series runs nightly at 22:45 for 15 minutes from Monday … Continue reading The Making of the English Working Class: sixtieth anniversary broadcasts
A song commemorating the Luddite attack on Foster’s Mill survives only in fragments but helps provide an insight into community solidarity in this early period of labour history, writes Joe Stanley. Foster’s MillBill Price (traditional) Most labour historians will be familiar with West Riding Luddism in 1812. E.P. Thompson paid particular attention to the movement, and stressed its political undertones, in chapter 14 of The … Continue reading In tune: Foster’s Mill
In the third of our continuing series on labour history in song, Constance Bantman shares Massilia Sound System’s take on deindustrialization and gentrification in Marseille. Des MétallosMassilia Sound System (Massilia Sound System, 1995) Trust the famously political Marseillais reggae band Massilia Sound System to write a song dissecting the deindustrialization and gentrification of France’s second largest city and make a joyful banger out of it. … Continue reading In tune: Des Métallos
Submissions are now open for the Labour History Review essay prize 2024. The competition is open to anyone currently registered for a higher research degree, in Britain or abroad, or to anyone who completed such a degree within the timeframe set out in the rules. 👉 Download the entry form and rules. The cash prize for this year’s winner has been substantially increased by the … Continue reading LHR postgraduate essay prize 2024
In the second of our ‘In tune’ series on music and labour history, ballad singer Jennifer Reid introduces a song about a travelling loom engineer – and a young woman in need of his services – that is guaranteed to make you smile. The Bury New LoomJennifer Reid (traditional) I once sang The Bury New Loom for an event at Manchester International Festival in collaboration … Continue reading In tune: The Bury New Loom
Opening a website series on songs associated with labour history, John McIlroy looks at ‘The Working Class in Twentieth-Century Song: A Fan’s Notes[1]’ arguing that researching the genealogy of songs, finding new ones, rediscovering old ones, exploring the cultural ambience in which they were created and performed is part of the folklorist’s mission and the historian’s brief. Find out more about this series. IntroductionThe Great … Continue reading The Working Class in Twentieth-Century Song: A Fan’s Notes
Society for the Study of Labour History 