E. P. Thompson: The Making of the English Working Class and its influence on Australian Historiography.

Edward Palmer Thompson changed the study of history with his 1963 book The Making of the English Working Class.

Edward Palmer Thompson (1924-1993) was an English social historian who changed the way history was practiced. Prior to Thompson's ground-breaking book The Making of the English Working Class, history was looked at from the perspective of those who ruled, or had command over people: kings, queens, prime ministers and presidents, generals and religious leaders. After its publication in 1963 the study of history was literally turned upside down, with people, who once looked at history from the top, now studying the past from the bottom up, and the perspective of those in the majority: the working class. Thompson's work propelled him into the upper echelons of historians, with his writings having an enormous impact in the United Kingdom, and eventually the world, but did it have the same impact in Australia, and if so, how?

The Making of the English Working Class changed how history was studied. The book made him famous, but as far-reaching as Thompson's work was, the use of the term 'working class' was never meant to be all encompassing description of the working people in England, let alone the rest of the world

The impact of Thompson’s work stems from the change he brought to historical practice and inquiry, not whether “The Making” was a complete and comprehensive study of every facet of ‘working class’ life. Thompson himself had said that the working class was too hard to define. Even after all of the adulation that The Making has received, it is widely acknowledged that many aspects of working-class society in England were not mentioned, along with those nations, such as Australia and Canada, that were considered to have their roots in English traditions.

Ann Curthoys is an Australian historian who is of the opinion that Thompson’s work “came to influence…” how Australians studied history. The impact of The Making was not as immediate in Australia, as it was in England, but the reprinting of the book in paperback in 1968 saw a more rapid influence on Australian historiography.

Thompson's Early Life

E. P. Thompson attended Corpus Christi College at Cambridge. He joined the British Communist Party at this time, before joining the 17/21st Lancers to fight in the North African and Italian Campaigns. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Historian Eric Hobsbawm writes that E. J. Thompson was born into a high-minded and liberal household. Raised at Boars Hill, Oxford, and educated at Kingswood School, Bath, he would be greatly influenced by the politics of India, after his father (Edward John Thompson) had spent many years teaching there before Edward Palmer was born. Edward John Thompson was known as an advocate for independence in India.

The death of his older brother, Frank, in 1939, while fighting in support of Bulgarian partisans, also had a huge impact on his life.

Following in his brothers footsteps, E. P. Thompson would eventually take the left-leaning position of his family towards communism, when he joined the British Communist Party while at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

The Second World War raged across the globe, and Thompson would join the army to lead a tank squadron as part of the 17/21^st Lancers. He was involved in the North African and Italian campaigns.

In 1948, Thompson married Dorothy Towers and would soon be on his way to begin a position at Leeds University. It would be in the area of West Riding, Yorkshire, that would be the inspiration for The Making of the English Working Class.

In 1956, Thompson would abruptly leave the British Communist Party after Stalin’s violent crushing of the Hungarian rebellion in the same year. After leaving the communist party, Thompson became involved with the British New Left, a group that advocated for civil rights and social justice, focusing on grassroots activism.

Influence In Australia

By the 1980-90s in Australia, it could be said that the influence of E. P. Thompson’s work could be seen in the new methodology of understanding Indigenous history, including works by Bain Attwood. Australian labour journals and academic essays also displayed signs of Thompson’s work, with ‘The Making’ often appearing as part of the title.

Another area of Australian European history where Thomson’s influence could be witnessed, is in convict history. In the late nineteenth century, and well into the twentieth century the issue of being related to a convict was seen as negative or undesirable. Social advancement, marriage and employment opportunities could be impacted by what was known as the ‘convict stain’. As a result of this, people did not speak of their ties to convict ancestors, and they certainly did not go searching for any links.

After Thompson’s history from 'the ground-up' became more accepted, and taboos like the ‘convict stain’ discarded, his methodology found its way into so-called ‘popular history’ books, which in-turn led the general public becoming interested in their convict past. Thompson’s ground-breaking methodology of examining history from the bottom-up, can also be seen if other aspects of Australian historiography.

The Australian Legend by Russel Ward was praised by historian David Kent as being an example of "...history from below..."

Urban history had become popular in the late twentieth century, and places like The Rocks on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour became places of interest for professional and amateur historians, alike. Through uncovered artifacts and the use of quantitative data, areas like The Rocks became a rich source of working-class history, revealing stories about individuals and the city they lived in, that would not have been told under the traditional historical method.

As was the case the world over, the influence of Thompson’s work can also be seen in military history. While the recounting of major battles and political intrigue is still a part of modern-day military history, the study of individual soldiers through personal letters, diary entries and post-conflict interviews, reveals the experiences of the front lines that had not been widely told.

Interestingly, the Australian historian, Russell Ward, wrote a 700-page PhD thesis in 1956 while at the Australian National University that would become the book: The Australian Legend. Ward used folk ballads and other rural sources in his work, leading the British historian, David Kent, to describe it as an example of “…history from below…”.

In regards to Ward’s work, and that of many others, there is a quote of interest attributed to Thompson’s wife, Dorothy, that while not directly aimed at Ward, spoke of the many like-minded social educators dedicated to change. She said:

“Edward didn’t invent history from below; he was just one of the best practitioners of it.”

From an Australian perspective, there are many publications and websites that devote their time to the telling of military history from the perspective of the bottom-up; the Anzac Portal is one example.

In writing The Making of the English Working Class, E. P. Thompson said:

“I am seeking to rescue the poor stockinger, the Luddite cropper, the ‘obsolete’ hand-loom weaver…”,

he achieved his goal, and further afield than he may have imagined.

Further Reading

Batzell Rudi, Berkert Sven, Gordon Andrew and Winant Gabriel ‘E. P. Thompsons, Politics and History Writing Social History Fifty Years after The Making of the English Working Class’, Journal of Social History, vol. 48, iss. 4, 2015, pp. 753-758.

Curthoys, Ann, “E. P. Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class and Australia”, Historical Reflections, vol. 41, iss 1, 2015.

Ferguson, Christopher, ‘Why I Still Assign E. P. Thompsen’, The History Teacher, vol. 48, iss. 3, 2015, pp. 573-580, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24810532, accessed 4 September 2020.

Gregory, Jenny ‘Peopling History: Tom Stannage and Social History, Studies in Western Australian History, vol. 29, 2015, pp. 99-120.

Hobsbowm E. J., Edward Palmer Thompsen (1924-1993), The British Academy, 1996.

Thompson, Edward P., The Making of the English Working Class, Harmoundsworth, England: Penguin, 1968.

Thompson, E. P. and Winslow, C. ‘Introduction: Edward P. Thompson and the making of the new left’. In. Winslow, C. (ed.), E. P. Thompson and the making of the new left: Essays and Polemics, Monthly Review Press, New York, 2014, pp. 9-35.