>
>
> From: "David Renton" <[log in to unmask]>
>
> Call for Papers
>
> The Labour Movement and Fascism
>
> Conference: 8 November 2003, School of Continuing Education,
> University of Leeds
>
> Plenary Speakers: Roger Griffin, Ken Lunn
>
> The past thirty years have seen an extraordinary growth in the
> literature on fascism. Philosophers have attempted to define a
> 'fascist minimum', a common set of ideas that was shared by all
> fascist movements. Attention has been given to the factors
> explaining the failure of British fascism, and the cultural values of
> interwar fascism. Meanwhile, the contemporary far-right has hardly
> gone away, but has instead achieved electoral success, in continental
> Europe and in Britain. In seeking to understand fascism, the
> attention has so far tended to focus on the leaders of the fascist
> parties, or on the character of fascist ideas. Less attention has
> been given to the historical context in which the inter-war parties
> operated. By the time that fascism came to Britain, the Italian left
> had already been destroyed. The left and the right therefore
> responded to each other as antagonists. Fascism appeared in the press
> as a party that clashed with its anti-fascist adversaries.
>
> The focus of this conference is on the relationship between the
> labour movement and fascism. Papers are invited on the following
> themes:
>
> Some fascist leaders, including Oswald Mosley, John Beckett and
> Alexander Raven Thomson, had previously been members of the Labour or
> Communist Parties. How well developed was their 'socialism', and how
> much of it lasted beyond 1931? A few local fascists also possessed
> backgrounds in the labour movement or suffrage campaigns. Is it
> useful, therefore. to speak of a 'left-wing strand' within British
> fascism? How long did these former left-wing activists last within
> fascist parties? How easy was the relationship between them and
> their party?
>
> Where have different anti-fascist traditions come from? Throughout
> its history, British fascism has experienced waves of growth.
> Sometimes these have coincided with periods of national or local
> Labour government. But how have Labour Party-controlled institutions
> responded to the rise of fascism? Was there a difference between
> police and Home Office policies towards fascism in 1936 and 1948, or
> indeed in 1958 and 1977? What also has been the relationship between
> local Labour cultures and fascism? Is it true, say, that the working-
> class cultures of Northern England provided an impenetrable barrier
> to fascism?
>
> Alternatively, did the far-right parties develop strategies to relate
> to areas of trade union and labour strength? Have their been times
> when labour supporters were sympathetic to specific demands put
> forward by far- right groups? What has been the role of women or
> ethnic minorities who identified with the Labour Party: has their
> activity led to the adoption of distinct anti-fascist strategies?
> What about labour movement traditions outside the Labour Party? What
> tensions have their been in local and national labour movement
> responses to fascism or the far-right? The organisers of the
> conference also invite papers with a strong historical grounding that
> address post-war or contemporary fascism and anti-fascism; as well as
> studies that compare fascism or anti-fascist movements in more than
> one country.
>
> The conference is organised by the Society for the Study of Labour
> History.
>
> Proposals (200 words) should be sent to the organisers, care of Dr.
> Malcolm Chase, Reader in Labour History, School of Continuing
> Education, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT or email
> [log in to unmask]
>
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