Introduction: Themes and Historical Backdrop

Abstract

The business and labour history case studies presented in this edited collection provide valuable insights into the field of work organization, the social relations of production, and the detailed division of labour in some key British industries and workplaces between the 1830s and the 1990s. These studies reveal the constant ebb and flow of power and influence between capital and labour, and the initiatives both sides took to defend their interests. Over this extended span of history such cases identify a series of constants that have come to reflect the unique qualities of the relationship between British capital and labour, and the sectors and industries that have given Britain such a distinctive and, as some might argue, skewed economic structure. Through the assemblage of key historic data, and the exploration of significant dynamics of change, each case contributes to the continuing debates about factors related to control over the labour process.