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SUMMARY:Catholicism and the Labour Party - Dr Jon Cruddas (former MP for D
 agenham and Rainham)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260210T160000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260210T170000Z
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/fc444357-90ec-483c-9007-ee1f0bf553b6/
DESCRIPTION:The lecture will seek to address a major omission in the histo
 ry of the Labour Party: the lack of substantial work on the Roman Catholic
  contribution to it. Within the study of the origins of the Labour Party\,
  this omission is often accounted for by factors such as the politics of I
 rish nationalism and home rule\, prior to 1922 and the achievement of Iris
 h self-government\, the instruction of the clergy and traditional clerical
  suspicion of socialism\, opposition to Labour Party policy over issues su
 ch as Catholic schooling prior to the 1918 Education Act\, and the product
  of a restricted franchise and limited Roman Catholic participation at ele
 ctions. Consequently\, the Catholic contribution is a neglected area of st
 udy\, often replaced either by a deterministic secularised Labour history\
 , or one that emphasises the role of dissenting Protestant traditions in h
 elping shape this history. \n\nThis neglect also extends to the pre-histor
 y of Labour\, the period the historian Stephen Yeo has described as the er
 a of the ‘religion of socialism’ – the 1880s and 1890s. Yet this is 
 when Catholic Social Teaching truly developed\, particularly with the 1891
  Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII\, Rerum Novarum. There were also numerous Rom
 an Catholic leaders within the late-nineteenth-century labour movement suc
 h as Pete Curran\, Tom McCarthy and James Sexton. \n\nThe lecture is part 
 of a wider project to reinsert the Roman Catholic contribution within Labo
 ur’s history. It will examine debates over Catholic marginalisation\, al
 ongside theological developments within Catholic Social Teaching and its l
 inks to questions of ideological renewal throughout labour history\, from 
 the era of the ‘religion of socialism’ to the  present day significanc
 e of the so-called ‘Blue Labour’ movement. It will acknowledge key Cat
 holic figures within Labour history\, such as its forgotten leader J.L Cly
 nes\; the great Red Clydeside leader and founder of the Catholic Socialist
  Society\, John Wheatley\; TUC General Secretary\, George Woodcock\; the f
 ormer Education Secretary\, Shirley Williams\; and Labour Prime Minister T
 ony Blair. It will also address the role of Catholics and wider questions 
 of public policy and social reform integral to the history of the British 
 welfare state.\nSpeakers:\nDr Jon Cruddas (former MP for Dagenham and Rain
 ham)
LOCATION:Pusey House (Ursell Room)
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/fc444357-90ec-483c-9007-ee1f0bf553b6/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:Catholicism and the Labour Party - Dr Jon Cruddas (former
  MP for Dagenham and Rainham)
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