E.P. Thompson and the Making of the English Working Class
E.P. Thompson and the Working Class
E.P. Thompson, a prominent Marxist historian, significantly impacted cultural studies with his book, The Making of the English Working Class (1963). He traced the formation of the working class between 1780 and 1832, exploring their common interests, experiences, and struggles.
Defining the Working Class: A Struggle for Identity
Thompson, like Hoggart, addressed the definition of the working class. He argued that the working class is the product of active struggle, articulating their identity in conflict with the ideals and interests of other classes. He conceived of the working class as a creation in motion, not a static condition, and as a historical force. Class is connected to common experience and consciousness and identified with the dominant relations of production.
Historical Range: Patterns and Formation
Between 1780 and 1832, Thompson observed patterns in relationships, ideas, and institutions that indicated the formation of the working class. This included:
- The establishment of popular movements to protect or improve wages and traditional ways of life.
- Demands for social and political rights.
- Complaints about increasing exploitation, rising food prices, and taxes.
- The organization of meetings.
- The printing of radical newspapers and journals.
These activities were often repressed and made illegal. However, by 1832, Thompson argued that the working class presence was “the most significant factor in British political life.” Radical working groups were seen as active agents of change.
Corresponding Societies and Working-Class Radicalism
Thompson described the Corresponding Societies, which helped give historical substance to the rise of working-class radicalism. One of the most important was The London Corresponding Society, founded in 1792. These societies sought social and political reform. By the end of the eighteenth century, radical ideas were being channeled through organizations and institutions. However, movements like Chartism suggested that much remained to be achieved.
The People’s Charter of 1838
In 1838, Frances Place drafted the People’s Charter, which demanded:
- The universal right for men to vote in elections.
- Voting by secret ballot, addressing the coercion caused by public voting.
- Annual parliaments to force politicians to respond quickly and effectively to voters’ interests.
- Equal electoral districts to counter corruption.
- Payment of MPs.
- Abolition of the property qualifications for MPs.
This context of lacking political rights and the developing economy associated with the industrial revolution helps us understand working-class radicalism.
Thomas Paine and the Rights of Man
In the early 1790s, Thomas Paine published his Rights of Man, a pivotal book in the political radicalism of the working classes.