^#smrgSAHAF People's History and Socialist Theory -

Britain's most distinct contribution to Marxist and socialist thought is arguably in the field of history, and recent years have seen a very large expansion of work in this field. It is both a strength and a weakness that the work being produced is fragmented into entirely separate discourses. Feminist history groups, community-based publishing projects, local history workshops, regional labour history societies, oral history groups, independent writers and specialist scholars each pursue their particular projects, sometimes with outstanding results but with little reference to each other. In a separate sphere, a ferocious discussion is going on among socialists about the philosophical basis of historical representation.

People's History and Socialist Theory brings these different types of work into dialogue with one another. It takes stock of recent work, explores some of the main new lines which an oppositional history needs to pursue, and looks at the political and ideological circumstances shaping the direction of historical work, past and present. A feature of the book is its internationally, as can be seen from the strong contributions on African history, the grouping of pieces on fascism and anti-fascism, the contributions on French labour history and the articles on the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Another feature is the section on feminism and its attention to some of the leading questions raised, for socialist historians, by the women's movement.

The articles in this book are drawn from a History Workshop held at Ruskin College, Oxford in December 1979, where many of the issues discused in this book were rehearsed. The papers have been extended in the light of the discussion and criticism directed at them, and bibliographies have been added to make the book helpful to those who will use it as an introduction to the work of socialist historians in Britain. (From back cover)