1st Edition

From Corporatism to Workers’ Control The Development and Demise of British Guild Socialism

By Jack Vowles Copyright 2026
196 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

196 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book provides a history and analysis of how the British guild socialist movement was forged in the heat of labour unrest prior to World War I, the experience of the war and subsequent troubled years, including the impact of the Bolshevik Revolution. Guild socialism proposed a model of participatory pluralism combining workers’ control of industry with local democracy and a federal... Read more

1. Common Beliefs and Different Philosophies

2. The Making of an Editor: 1893–1907

3. Politics for Craftsmen: 1900–1914

4. A Paper for Publicists: 1907–1914

5. The Hope of the World: 1907–1914

6. Missionaries of the Guild Idea: 1912–1915

7. The Movement: 1915–1920

8. Doing the Splits: 1919–1926

9. Workers' Control and Beyond

Appendix: A Guild Socialist Programme of Action, 1920

Biography

Jack Vowles is Professor of Comparative Politics at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington. He recently co-edited the book ‘A Team of Five Million? The 2020 “COVID-19” New Zealand General Election (2024)’ and published the article: Authoritarianism and Mass Political Preferences in Times of COVID19: The 2020 New Zealand General Election (2022).