Histories of labour: national and international perspectives. Editors' introduction

[Summary of the book containing this chapter:] A survey of the global trajectory of labour history.
Specially commissioned essays by labour historians of international repute consider:
early labour history traditions; new conceptions of class, gender, ethnicity, culture, community and power; whether the 1960s can be regarded as turning point in labour history; the general historiographical climate in the mid-twentieth century; the institutional context (e.g. the evolution of labour history societies, historical associations and journals); links between labour history and the labour movement.
Many authors are connected with the British Society for the Study of Labour History; all are experts in the labour history of particular countries.
They analyse key debates, question dominant paradigms, acknowledge minority critiques and consider future directions.
This book will be of interest to historians of working-class political parties and organisations, to students of trade unionism, industrial conflict and to social scientists interested in social and political protest, the relations between employers and the state and post-structuralism. It should be considered for adoption as a key text for undergraduate and postgraduate modules dealing with historiography generally as well as on courses more specifically concerned with labour and social history.