Red Scotland? the Rise and Decline of the Scottish Radical Left, 1880s-1930s
An excellent resource for teaching and learning, this book explores
the rise and decline of left radicalism in Scotland c.1872 to 1932.
A journey through these turbulent times observes the response of
Scottish artisans to legal restrictions on trade-union activities
in the 1870s, trade union formation among the unskilled from the
late 1880s, and the origins and impact of the Scottish socialist
movement.
The Labour movement in Scotland was to face many new challenges by
the twentieth century. During the era of ‘Red Scotland’, 1910 to
1922, we see Scottish workers fully engaged in the labour and
social unrest in the years before the Great War; monitor the
incubation of workers’ grievances during the war; see the growth of
the anti-war movement and the influence of revolutionary politics
from 1918; and witness Scottish Labour on the threshold of an
extraordinary political breakthrough by 1922. The 1920s saw the
rapid rise of Labour, but growing unemployment and a massive
emigration of Scottish workers helped to fragment the left and set
in motion the decline of left radicalism in Scotland. This book
represents a major and up to date survey of the most dramatic years
in the history of Scottish Labour.
Key Features:
- Provides comprehensive coverage of the period introducing new
research sources and plugging gaps in current literature with case
studies
- Case studies provide detailed examination of important topics;
‘new unionism’; strike and political action; quantitative method,
1910-14; new archive sources on ‘revolutionary politics’
- Provides case studies and regional comparative studies approach
towards a better understanding of the main themes in the history of
Scottish Labour
- Two chapters look at the themes and issues concerned with writing
Labour history
Contents Acknowledgements List of Tables List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Radical Scotland c. 1872 to 1914 Writing Labour and Social History - I: Themes and Contested Issues 2. Industrial Radicalism and the New Unionism c.1872 to 1914 3. Left Radicalism, Labour and Socialism 1872 to 1914 4. Red Scotland c. 1910 to 1932 Writing Labour and Social History - II: Themes and Contested Issues 5. Labour Unrest, 1910 to 1914 6. War Resisters and Anti-conscription 7. War and Revolution and the Scottish Working Class 8. Radicalism in Decline c.1920 to 1932 Epilogue: On Radicalism- And Exporting Scottish Left Radicalism Bibliography Index.
