The Challenge of Labour

Know about the book -

The Challenge of Labour is written by Keith Burgess and published by Taylor & Francis. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 1000989747 (ISBN 10) and 9781000989748 (ISBN 13).

The Challenge of Labour (1980) explains the changing forms of labour’s relationship with British society during the period of 1850 to 1930 – as the economic and social relations of Britain, the pioneer of modern industrial development, were undergoing a profound transformation due to increasing pressure from foreign competitors. It looks at the importance of the forces of production in determining the character of the relationship, whilst regarding labour as a creative act, identifying man as a social animal. This important period gave rise to a unique symbiosis in terms of a mutually dependent but simultaneously antagonistic relationship, reflected in the growth of trade unionism, associations for working class ‘self-help’, and labourist political movements during the years 1850–70. The book goes on to explain why and how these forms of labour’s relationship with British society as a whole were subsequently to be transformed as they were affected by the changing direction of Britain’s economic development after the 1870s. This resulted in a recognisable ‘modern’ pattern of British social relations, marked by a growing acceptance of ‘corporatist’ solutions to problems of economic and social instability.