1 Colonising the land
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John Field
Abstract
This chapter explores the early idea of the labour colony, and places it in a wider context of concern with unemployment and struggle over access to the land. Debates over the labour colony arose partly out of frustration at the shortcomings of the poor law system in general and the workhouse in particular. Radical thinkers such as George Lansbury and Herbert Mills proposed labour colonies as a way of simultaneously removing the unemployed and settling the land. Others took a more conservative view, seeing the labour colony as a way of restoring the body physically and preventing the moral and physical degeneration that had arisen from urbanisation. Yet others, including Sydney and Beatrice Webb, took a largely punitive approach, seeing colonies as reformatories for the idle. There was also a strong international dimension to the debate, with many looking to German social policy for an example.
Abstract
This chapter explores the early idea of the labour colony, and places it in a wider context of concern with unemployment and struggle over access to the land. Debates over the labour colony arose partly out of frustration at the shortcomings of the poor law system in general and the workhouse in particular. Radical thinkers such as George Lansbury and Herbert Mills proposed labour colonies as a way of simultaneously removing the unemployed and settling the land. Others took a more conservative view, seeing the labour colony as a way of restoring the body physically and preventing the moral and physical degeneration that had arisen from urbanisation. Yet others, including Sydney and Beatrice Webb, took a largely punitive approach, seeing colonies as reformatories for the idle. There was also a strong international dimension to the debate, with many looking to German social policy for an example.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Abbreviations ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Colonising the land 9
- 2 ‘We work amongst the lowest stratum of life’ 32
- 3 Labour colonies and public health 57
- 4 Alternative living in the English countryside 77
- 5 ‘The landless man to the manless land’ 99
- 6 Transference and the Labour government, 1929–31 125
- 7 Incremental growth 148
- 8 ‘Light green uniforms, white aprons and caps’ 173
- 9 Camps as social service and social movement 195
- 10 ‘Down with the concentration camps!’ 222
- Conclusion – Understanding work camps 245
- Select bibliography 264
- Index 271
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication v
- Contents vii
- Abbreviations ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 Colonising the land 9
- 2 ‘We work amongst the lowest stratum of life’ 32
- 3 Labour colonies and public health 57
- 4 Alternative living in the English countryside 77
- 5 ‘The landless man to the manless land’ 99
- 6 Transference and the Labour government, 1929–31 125
- 7 Incremental growth 148
- 8 ‘Light green uniforms, white aprons and caps’ 173
- 9 Camps as social service and social movement 195
- 10 ‘Down with the concentration camps!’ 222
- Conclusion – Understanding work camps 245
- Select bibliography 264
- Index 271
