Title: Britain and the Right to Work: 1886–1912

Authors: Victor Quirk

Addresses: Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), Research Cottage, University of Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia

Abstract: Modern opponents of full employment are strategically disinclined to openly defend their position, which creates distortion in the debate over direct methods of establishing full employment, such as the Job Guarantee. This study explores opposition to the full employment policy of the early British Labour Party known as the |Right to Work| (RTW), which proposed that the state directly employ the unemployed in fully paid work of public benefit. Hostility to the RTW prior to and during the first decade of the 20th century is examined, including its abandonment by the Labour Party in 1911 in favour of unemployment insurance for some and labour exchanges. This episode supports the thesis that unemployment is preserved as a repulsive incentive to work and hence as an instrument of social domination.

Keywords: full employment; job guarantee; right to work; RTW history; social domination; unemployment; British Labour Party; UK; United Kingdom.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEWE.2007.019283

International Journal of Environment, Workplace and Employment, 2007 Vol.3 No.3/4, pp.266 - 284

Published online: 06 Jul 2008 *

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