The book The Making of the English Working Class by Edward Palmer Thompson, published in 1963, is a classic of social and cultural history. It redefined the study of the working class with a focus on the role of individuals, the life experiences of workers, and their agency.
Thompson argues that the working class is not a passive product of economic forces but the result of an active process of socialization, awareness, and resistance throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries. He rejects the structuralist Marxism of Althusser, which described society as a network of levels (economic, political, ideological) that determined social life with little room for individual agency—an aspect Thompson would later critique in a theoretical work.
Thompson incorporated cultural perspectives (values, traditions, and customs) and ideological ones (political and religious) while making extensive use of primary sources such as pamphlets, newspapers, sermons, letters, and court records. He explains the key role of Protestantism, especially Methodism, in disciplining workers’ lives through morality and a work ethic, providing spiritual and communal support. This was paradoxical because while it curbed social revolt in some contexts, in others, it acted as a catalyst for resistance and collective solidarity.
He emphasized the importance of education in early workers’ societies, developing shared learning practices to create new spaces for socialization and solidarity through culture, empowering the working class. This had a snowball effect that influenced future generations. Thompson highlights a practice of the London Corresponding Society, showcasing gatherings and dialogue through reading as a driver of social change:
“We had Sunday evening parties… readings, conversations, and discussions. The usual mode of proceeding at these weekly meetings was this. The chairman (each man was chairman in rotation) read from some book… and the persons present were invited to make remarks thereon, as many as chose did so, but without rising. Then another portion was read and a second invitation given. Then the remainder was read and a third invitation was given when they who had not before spoken were expected to say something. Then there was a general discussion. The moral effects of the Society were very great indeed. It induced men to read books instead of spending their time at public houses. It taught them to think, to respect themselves, and to desire to educate their children. It elevated them in their own opinions.” (Thompson, 1966: 154-155)
For Thompson, research and social and political commitment were inseparable. He volunteered in the British army during World War II to fight against fascism, a conflict in which his brother died. As an adult educator, he was inspired to study the history of the working classes, later developing the academic movement of “history from below.” A Marxist critical of Stalinism and a pacifist activist, Thompson’s work revolutionized historiography, having a significant impact on anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies.
References
- Thompson, E. P. (1966). The making of the English working class. New York: Vintage Books.
- Thompson, E. P. (1978). The poverty of theory and other essays. London: Merlin Press.
(Photo: E P Thompson, photographed in 1983. Photo by Hulton/Getty)
Historian. Educator at the Verneda Sant Martí Learning Community and member of Tot Història Cultural Association.