Social Democracy as a Way of Life: Fellowship and the Socialist Union, 1951-9

This articles considers the political cultural of the SocialistUnion (1951–9), and influential ethical socialist groupin the 1950s' Labour Party. Specifically, it discusses its uniqueintellectual influences and the legacy of its (somewhat different)previous manifestation as the Socialist Vanguard Group (1929–50).Emphasis is placed on the importance of the notion of fellowshipto the politics of this tradition and how this shaped a distinctpolitical and moral identity. Whilst it has been largely overlookedby historians, the Union had a considerable impact on Britishsocialism in the 1950s, through its journal, Socialist Commentary,and through leading members like Allan Flanders and Rita Hinden. ^* Special thanks are due to those former Unionists who sharedtheir experiences with me: Jay Blumler, Annemarie Flanders,and especially, Rene Saran. Thanks also to Peter Alexander,Nina Fishman, John Kelly, Peter Mandler, Mark Minion, Nick Tiratsoo,Hugh Wilford, and Leo Zeilig who read previous drafts of thispiece and to those participants in seminars at the Instituteof Historical Research who have commented on it. I am gratefulto George Bain for allowing me access to his papers at Warwick.     

The Tax Policy Regime in American Politics, 1941-1951

This article analyzes the inception of the mass income tax during the Second World War as a decisive moment when relations among state, market, and citizens were reconfigured in a durable way. The state institutionalized the means to devise tax reform–a policy regime–during this formative period of partisan conflict over macroeconomic management strategies. The approach to policy analysis presented here illuminates the process by which political choices are made among competing policy visions embedded in state agencies. This study demonstrates that a policy regime perspective, when applied in a complementary way with interest-driven or institutionalist accounts, is best equipped to bring important but tacit constraints into clear analytical focus.     

Playing Both Sides Against the Middle: The Labour Party and the Wholesaling Industry 1919 1951

This article examines the Labour party's attitude towards thewholesaling industry. During the inter-war period wholesalers,‘middlemen’ as they were commonly called, occupiedthe position of bogeyman in much Labour party thinking and literature.As a result the Labour governments of the 1920s took actionsdesigned to achieve two ends: to improve the efficiency of fooddistribution, and to limit the power of middlemen to exploitboth ends of the food production chain, farmers and consumersalike. This ideological positioning of the middleman by Labour,and the reforms introduced under the MacDonald governments,stressed the need to establish farmers’ co-operativesand consumers’ protection agencies, and also emphasizedthe importance of other measures designed to boost efficiency.However, by the time of the Attlee governments the cornerstoneof the inter-war policy, the producer co-operative, had beenabandoned and the focus of debate shifted to various forms ofnationalization. This change of policy is examined in this article.Though post-war Labour manifestos pledged to nationalize sectionsof the wholesaling industry, and despite the fact that the partyunder Attlee discussed the nationalization of wholesaling atlength, the industry remained in private hands. An attempt tounderstand how and why the nationalization of wholesaling wasopposed within the party and shelved by the Attlee governmentsis central to this study.     

Civic Culture and Housing Policy in Manchester, 1945-79

This article develops three themes. First, we have shown that,whilst local housing policy was channelled by government initiatives,funding patterns and local expert opinion, local political andcivic values gave rise to a policy orientation that had a significantinfluence on the lives and perceptions of public sector tenants.Secondly, we demonstrate that the tenacious hold of civic andpolitical values contributed to the Labour Party’s politicaldifficulties by making it resistant to change in the 1960s and1970s, when a shift in approach was necessary to manage changingcircumstances. Finally, by exploring the impact of a constantlyreformulated local discursive and cultural tradition, we illustratethe explanatory value of a developing but still largely suggestiveconceptual approach. Studying the urban politics of post-warBritain can add to our understanding of the policy process,provide significant insights into the world of the Labour Party,and focus attention on the role of the consumer in post-warpolitics.     

'Minorities with a Message': The Beveridge Report on Broadcasting (1949-1951) and Wales

This article explores the significance of the report of theBeveridge Committee on Broadcasting (1949–1951)—whichwas charged with considering all aspects of post-war broadcastingin Britain at a time of political, social, economic and culturalchange—in relation to Wales. It argues that the interactionbetween the committee and the Welsh political and cultural andgroups that submitted evidence to the committee allows for aninsight into the cultural politics of Wales during the earlypost-war period. It also argues that a study of the report throwslight onto issues of broadcasting and nationhood, the significanceof the Welsh language in defining nationhood and a nationalconsciousness and the relationship between a minority languageand the state, at a time of political and cultural change. Astudy of the Welsh dimension of the committee's report alsoprovides a framework for an understanding of the broadcastingpolitics of Wales in the 1950s and 1960s. Finally, the articleexemplifies the tensions that existed between what media historianJames Curran calls the ‘newness and modernity’ ofthe broadcast media and a political and cultural elite whichsought to preserve a ‘traditional’ way of life inthe face of the perceived impact of those media.     

Tibetan Middle School - The Snow Land in Beijing

The Tibetan middle school is like a small snow land in Beijing. In the school compound these Tibetan students are fully experiencing both their happiness and the stress of study.     

台湾法律地位的扭曲——英国有关政策的演变及与美国的分歧（1949-1951）。

日本战败后,台湾回归中国。在相当一段时期内,英美政府对台湾地位的变更并没有提出任何疑问。但是,随着中国共产党取胜的前景越来越明朗,英美对台政策开始发生变化。为了防止中共占领台湾,英美都提出了在对日和约缔结之前,台湾在法律上还是日本领土的说法。中华人民共和国成立后,英美态度一度出现转变,明确承认台湾是中国的一部分,准备接受中共占领台湾的现实可能。朝战爆发后,美国对台政策再次发生转变。英国尽管仍表示要遵守开罗宣言的承诺,将台湾交还中国,但最终不得不把它与朝鲜问题挂钩,而暂时回避了履行开罗宣言的责任。在缔结对日和约的过程中,英国曾坚持应邀请中华人民共和国的代表参加,并在和约中规定日本将台湾交还中国。但在美国的反对下,英国最终退让,英美达成国共双方均不参与和约签署、和约只言日本放弃台湾主权而不明文交给中国的妥协。50年代初英美围绕台湾地位的讨论充分表明,台湾地位问题的提出是冷战背景下人为的产物。     

Churchill's Cold War: The Search for a Summit Meeting

Klaus Larres , Churchill's Cold War: The Politics of Personal Diplomacy . Yale University Press : New Haven and London , 2002 . 608 pp. $ .