Preliminary Programme

Tue 13 April
    8.30
    10.45
    14.15
    16.30

Wed 14 April
    8.30
    10.45
    14.15
    16.30

Thu 15 April
    8.30
    10.45
    14.15
    16.30

Fri 16 April
    8.30
    10.45
    14.15
    16.30

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Tuesday 13 April 2010 10.45
Z-2 LAB12 Whither Labour History? New perspective and approaches
M204, Marissal
Network: Labour Chair: Marcel van der Linden
Organizer: James Jaffe Discussant: David Lyddon
James Jaffe : Honor, Respect, and Reputation: What Labour Historians Can Learn from Economists
Labour historiography traditionally has been less than eager to incorporate modern economic theory into its works preferring instead to look toward sociology, anthropology, and, more recently, literary theory for both inspiration and analytical perspective. Given the facts that most labour historians lack advanced training in economics and that they often ... (Show more)
Labour historiography traditionally has been less than eager to incorporate modern economic theory into its works preferring instead to look toward sociology, anthropology, and, more recently, literary theory for both inspiration and analytical perspective. Given the facts that most labour historians lack advanced training in economics and that they often find a more sympathetic environment within the other social sciences, this reluctance is understandable.
This paper will discuss two areas of contemporary economic research that may be usefully employed by labour historians, especially those working on shop floor industrial relations, to broaden the scope and breadth of their work. The first is that of the contribution of game theory to the analysis of collective bargaining. In particular, this paper will suggest that the current study of “reputational effects” in bargaining theory potentially provides significant insights into the social foundations of industrial relations. Second, this paper will discuss what labour historians may learn from the work of George Akerlof, the Nobel prize-winning economist, whose “efficiency wage hypothesis” not only overturns much traditional neoclassical thinking, but also incorporates notions of honor, respect, and reputation as important analytical elements of shop floor relations.
In conclusion, while economic theory often has lost its influence among labour historians, who themselves have sought inspiration in other social sciences, this paper suggests that there are several areas of current economic research that bear directly upon out work and can usefully be employed to further our understanding of the social history of labour. (Show less)

Quentin Outram : Labour History and the History of the Emotions
The Rudé / Hobsbawm perspective on 'rational riots', and 'collective bargaining by riot', has excised the consideration of feeling and emotion from labour historiography for the last 50 years. This paper argues that this deletion was based on an understanding of the emotions which tended to oppose emotion to reason, ... (Show more)
The Rudé / Hobsbawm perspective on 'rational riots', and 'collective bargaining by riot', has excised the consideration of feeling and emotion from labour historiography for the last 50 years. This paper argues that this deletion was based on an understanding of the emotions which tended to oppose emotion to reason, itself reflecting the post-Victorian world-view of Rudé (b. 1910) and Hobsbawm (b. 1917). I argue that the time has come to reintroduce the history of the emotions into labour history. I take the 'Featherstone Disturbances' of 1893 as my text. These disturbances occurred during a widespread and lengthy strike among British coalminers. At Featherstone two men were shot dead by soldiers called in to quell a disturbance. The episode was marked by attempts to negotiate and to reason, and also by expressions of anger and grief. I argue that it is more illuminating to view such events as both rational and emotional, not least in understanding how the anger precipitated by such events can crystallize into a class hatred. I conclude by referring to classical conceptions of anger and reason in which the two are understood to be compatible and suggest that this provides a more fruitful basis for understanding. (Show less)



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