Labour, Society and the Drink Question in Britain, 1918–1939

Abstract

The historiography of leisure has made considerable advances since the pioneering years of the early 1970s. Research into Victorian leisure has shown that some of the ruling elite attempted to fashion the life-style of working people in order to create a disciplined and reliable labour force which suited the needs of a maturing industrial and urban society, although it must be added that sections of the British public remained immune to attempts at moral reform and improvement. Professional labour leaders were also eager to control and regulate the amusements of the poor. According to trade union bosses like John Doherty, only a sober, industrious and thrifty working class could hope to achieve progressive reforms and some form of political and economic emancipation: workers who were intemperate would apparently stifle the opportunities and aspirations of the emerging Labour movement. Nowhere is this more true than in the Labour leadership's perception of and policy towards working-class drinking.

The place of drink: Geographical contributions to alcohol studies

“…For example, an indicative (and non-exhaustive) list includes; studies of consumption, identity, lifestyle and forms of sociability that have considered gender differences and drinking patterns (Ettore, 1997;Harnett, Thom, Herring, & Kelly, 2000;Hunt & Satterlee, 1981;Plant, 1997;Robbins & Martin, 1993;Waterson, 2000), gender, age, sexuality (Bloomfield, 1993;Gough & Edwards, 1998) and the relationship between class and temperance (Jones, 1987). Studies have also looked at masculinity, femininity and ethnicity (Cochrane & Bal, 1990;Heim et al, 2004;McKeigue & Karmi, 1993;Shaikh & Nax, 2000), women who drink and expose themselves or fight (Day et al, 2004;Hugh-Jones, Gough, & Littlewood, 2005), men and violence (Benson & Archer, 2002), drinking amongst various black and minority ethnic groups (Share, 2003;Stivers, 2000), rural identities and drinking in the USA (Rooney & Butt, 1985) and alcohol culture in the Scottish Hebrides from the sixteenth to the twentieth century (Dean, 1995).…”

“…This has ensured that theoretical arguments fail to translate beyond specific people and spaces and places, other than dialectical approaches of alcohol as a social/medical problem or as a social or cultural practice (Jayne, Valentine, & Holloway, 2008b). Moreover, while there have been attempts to conjoin these issues in studies at transnational, national and local levels (for example, Harrison, 1996;Holder, 2000;Jones, 1987) perspectives have not been developed that translate beyond the empirical evidence relating to particular spatial scales (see Jayne et al, 2008b).…”

What is the problem?: Evidence, politics and alcohol policy in England and Wales, 2010–2014

“…The early Labour Party also drew from Victorian temperance (Jones, 1987). Socialist temperance was influential within the early union movement, condemning ''The Trade'' as a capitalist interest that exploited workers while weakening their capacity to organise (Burns, 1914;Snowden, 1908).…”

Entre sindicatos, clubes e botequins

“…Possuía quatro categorias de sócios: 1905 o clube possuía 128 sócios, número que cairia para 57 em 1914. 82 Assim como nos sindicatos, os associados tinham o direito de votar e de serem votados para os cargos administrativos. Também possuía uma comissão de sindicância, que tinha "por fim sindicar sobre pessoas propostas para sócios e auxiliar o secretário na confecção do quadro dos membros do clube", o que, como mencionamos acima, significava investigar, em caso de dúvida, se o indivíduo proposto tinha honestidade reconhecida.…”

“…81 No caso britânico, os socialistas também enxergavam o álcool como uma droga que levaria ao enfraquecimento da autoconsciência e da perda do senso de responsabilidade necessários à civilidade. 82 Na Itália, o Partido Socialista Italiano e as organizações sindicais viam o alcoolismo como fator de desagregação moral e de desmobilização da classe trabalhadora, devendo, por isso, combatê-lo. 83 Como observou Liane Bertucci, ao combater o alcoolismo "jornais de diferentes matizes ideológicos acabarão, entretanto, por evidenciar que o uso de bebidas alcoólicas era prática social disseminada, inclusive entre aqueles diretamente ligados a associações operárias."…”