How Labour Governs: A conference to mark 100 years of Labour Governments.
Call for Papers, deadline – Friday, 27 October 2023
Conference: Saturday, 27 January 2024 | Labour History Research Unit, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge Campus
This conference will consider the record of Labour governments from 1924-2010
Keynote Speaker: Professor David Edgerton (Kings College, London) on Harold Wilson and Modernisation
It is now 100 years since Labour first formed a government. This conference explores the statecraft of Labour in power. How have Labour governments adjusted historically to taking over the levers of the British state? To what extent did Labour governments control their own destiny and implement their programmes? In what ways did Labour transform Britain? How might we define and analyse Labour’s political creativity (or lack of creativity)? To what extent did Labour governments prove able to rethink policy and take account of its changing electorate? How might we use our understanding of Labour’s history to interpret the challenges of Labour today?
To what extent can Labour historians make a contribution to the intellectual culture on which future Labour governments might draw? How can we do progressive politics better?
Potential papers can examine aspects of a specific government or reflect thematically on Labour in power. Papers should last 20 minutes.
Proposals for papers must be sent to the conference organiser Rohan McWilliam (rohan.mcwilliam@aru.ac.uk) by 1.00 on Friday 27 October 2023.
Image: Wiki Commons
