On Monday 13th September 2021, the History & Policy Trade Union & Employment Forum(Opens in new window) hosted an online seminar on instances of TUC and union promotion of dignity at work seen through the lens of Walter Citrine’s career as General Secretary and President of the International Federation of Trade Unions from the 1920s to the 1950s.   

Speakers:

Jim Moher (Author-Walter Citrine, Forgotten Statesman of the Trades Union Congress)
Mary Bousted (Joint General Secretary National Education Union and TUC General Council member )
Tom Wilson (Former Senior TUC Officer)
Philip Carter (Director, History & Policy)
Gail Cartmail (President TUC & Assistant General Secretary, Unite)
Paul Nowak (Deputy General Secretary, TUC)

A Champion of dignity at work: the TUC in the Citrine era

History & Policy at the Institute of Historical Research was delighted to host a webinar to mark the launch of the new book,  After the Virus: Lessons from the Past for a Better Future, by Hilary Cooper(former government economist and senior policy maker), and Simon Szreter(Professor of History and Public Policy at Cambridge University and co-founder and editor of History & Policy). 


Why was the UK so unprepared for the pandemic, suffering one of the highest death rates and worst economic contractions of the major world economies in 2020? Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter reveal the deep roots of our vulnerability and set out a powerful manifesto for change post-COVID-19. They argue that our commitment to a flawed neoliberal model and the associated disinvestment in our social fabric left the UK dangerously exposed and unable to mount an effective response, with particularly devastating consequences for deprived communities and elderly patients in care homes.

In the face of the coming century’s urgent problems, from climate change to biodiversity collapse and global inequality, the authors put the case for the vital role that history should play in enabling us to think differently – about the future economy, our future society, how we govern ourselves and who we want to be. Drawing on the history of British collectivist individualism, beginning with the Elizabethan Poor Laws, they argue that a strong and nurturing welfare state has facilitated the most successful periods of economic and social flourishing in our history; and a revival and adaptation of its principles can help us again in the twenty-first century. 

At this virtual event Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter discuss the ideas in their book, which was followed by a Q&A facilitated by Professor Philip Murphy.

After the Virus: Lessons from the Past for a Better Future is published by Cambridge University Press in paperback and as an e-book. 

Get 20% off when you purchase this book – visit www.cambridge.org/afterthevirus and enter discount code ‘COOPER21’ at the checkout. Discount expires 30th July 2022.
 

Hilary Cooper is a former government economist and senior policy maker with expertise in labour markets, children’s services and local development. Her current freelance work examines the challenges of ageing. She was the joint winner of the 2019 IPPR Economics prize for the essay Incentivising an Ethical Economics, with Simon Szreter and Ben Szreter.

Simon Szreter is Professor of History and Public Policy at the University of Cambridge, researching economic, social and public health history. His publications include Health and Wealth, which won the American Public Health Association’s Viseltear Prize, and Sex before the Sexual Revolution, longlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize. He is co-founder and editor of History & Policy.

After the Virus: Lessons from the Past for a Better Future

The Lloyds Register Foundation's Heritage Education Centre (HEC) has a rich archive covering 260 years of Lloyd's Register history. Alix Mortimer at History & Policy spoke to Dr Louise Sanger, Applied Research and Heritage Manager at HEC about what researchers on the Hindsight Perspectives project (and others) could expect to find, how the archive has changed over the years, and a couple of her personal highlights - probably relatively few archives carefully preserve an envelope of rust.

What’s in the Lloyds Register Foundation archive?

From sail to steam... to zero carbon. Dr Elin Jones on shipping technology innovation.

Alix Mortimer, Research Engagement Manager at the Hindsight Perspectives for a Safer World project, interviews the authors of the third Hindsight Report, Louis Halewood (Plymouth) and Rory Hopcraft (Plymouth). We sweep from international order making in the nineteenth century through to IMO governance and the challenges of cyber security in the twenty-first, and the report proposes that, given this complex governance history, the "maritime cyber commons" is a critical lens for maritime policy makers and industry thought leaders considering these challenges today.

Sea power, cyberspace and the governance of the global commons

27 April 2019 - 11:00 am - 16:00 pm
Modern Records Centre, Warwick University

50 years ago, the conflict between the Harold Wilson Labour Government & the trade unions over the Barbara Castle White Paper ‘In Place of Strife’ was one of the pivotal moments of post-war British Industrial Relations. It pitched voluntarist ideas of ‘free collective bargaining’ against ideas of economic planning & public policy concerns about strikes, inflation and restrictive practices. The white paper followed the 1968 Donovan Report & preceded Heath’s Conservative 1971 Industrial Relations Act. In response to Peter Dorey’s new book on In Place of Strife, this seminar has two parts. In the morning there is a historical reassessment of the political episode. In the afternoon, we consider the implications for current Labour Party policy on trade unions, as the Manifesto promises to ‘roll out sectoral bargaining’. The seminar is held at the Modern Records Centre, the largest UK trade union & industrial relations collection, which will be introduced to us.

Roger Jeary - In Place of Strife (1969): Trade Union legal rights & responsibilities revisited

9 September 2019 - 18:00 pm - 19:30 pm
Anatomy Museum, King's College London, 6th floor, King's Building, Strand, London WC2R 2LS

Shurlee Swain is Emeritus Professor in History at Australian Catholic University. Her research has focused particularly on children’s and women’s history, and her historical research has contributed to national inquiries in Australia on child migration, child sexual abuse, children in residential institutions and forced adoption. She was one of the lead investigators for the Australian Find and Connect project which was created to provide historical information about residential institutions and the care system in Australia.

Historic Child Abuse Inquiries - Professor Shurlee Swain

9 September 2019 - 18:00 pm - 19:30 pm
Anatomy Museum, King's College London, 6th floor, King's Building, Strand, London WC2R 2LS

Pirjo Markkola is Professor of History at Tampere University was Director of the Finnish national child abuse inquiry – an inquiry process led by academic researchers. Her research focuses particularly on the history of welfare and childcare, and she is the project team leader for the ‘Lived Welfare State’ strand of a major new Centre of Excellence in the History of Experiences funded by the Academy of Finland.

Historic Child Abuse Inquiries - Professor Pirjo Markkola

9 September 2019 - 18:00 pm - 19:30 pm
Anatomy Museum, King's College London, 6th floor, King's Building, Strand, London WC2R 2LS

Eoin O’Sullivan is Professor in Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin. His research focuses on the history of social policy in Ireland, including institutions of containment. His collaborative work with the journalist Mary Raftery on the history of the Irish industrial school system played a key role in the creation of the Commission into Child Abuse (Ryan Commission) and he also undertook policy research which informed the Commission’s findings.

Historic Child Abuse Inquiries - Professor Eoin O-sullivan

Brexit and workers’ rights
1 October 2019 - 18:30 pm - 20:30 pm

Keating Chambers, 15 Essex St, Temple, London WC2R 3AA

Chaired by Sarah Veale

Professor Michael Gold and Professor Simon Deakin talk on ‘What the UK's membership of the EU has entailed for workers’ rights and how the UK might achieve dynamic alignment of these rights after Brexit.’

Brexit and workers’ rights - Professor Simon Deakin

ONLINE SEMINAR
Trade Unions and Employment in a Market Economy

Thursday 21 May 2020, 6pm-8pm

Andrew Brady will introduce his recent book:

Unions and Employment in a Market Economy, Strategy, Influence and Power in Contemporary Britain (Routledge 2019)

Other speakers include Sir Ian McCartney and Tom Wilson.

The Seminar was chaired by Helen Hague

Andrew Brady was awarded his PhD from the University of Strathclyde in 2017. He has held various positions within Unite the Union and is currently based in Scotland in the union’s Political, Research & Campaigns Unit.

Sir Ian McCartney was Shadow Minister, Minister of State, and Cabinet Minister 1992–2007 and led the Labour Government’s work on employment and employment rights.

Tom Wilson was Director of Unionlearn at the TUC until 2017. He has also  worked for the GMB, the Labour Party as Trade Union Liaison Officer, the AUT and Natfhe (now UCU).

Helen Hague is a journalist and has recently worked on a history of the Fire Brigades Union.

Trade Unions and Employment in a Market Economy

We are the only project in the UK providing access to an international network of more than 500 historians with a broad range of expertise. H&P offers a range of resources for historians, policy makers and journalists.

Historic Child Abuse Inquiries - Professor Shurlee Swain

History & Policy

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