Customs in Common: Studies in Traditional Popular Culture
by E. P. Thompson
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Customs in Common is the remarkable sequel to E.P. Thompson's influential, landmark volume of social history, The Making of the English Working Class. The product of years of research and debate, Customs in Common describes the complex culture from which working class institutions emerged in England?a panoply of traditions and customs that the new working class fought to preserve well into Victorian times. In a text marked by both empathy and erudition, Thompson investigates the gradual show more disappearance of a range of cultural customs against the backdrop of the great upheavals of the eighteenth century. As villagers were subjected to a legal system increasingly hostile to custom, they tried both to resist and to preserve tradition, becoming, as Thompson explains, ?rebellious, but rebellious in defence of custom." Although some historians have written of riotous peasants of England and Wales as if they were mainly a problem for magistrates and governments, for Thompson it is the rulers, landowners, and governments who were a problem for the people, whose exuberant culture preceded the formation of working-class institutions and consciousness. Using a wide range of sources, Thompson shows how careful attention to fragmentary evidence helps to decode the fascinating symbolism of shaming rituals including ?rough music," and practices such as the ritual divorce known as ?wife sale." And in examining the vigorous presence of women in food riots from the sixteenth century onwards, he sheds further light on gender relations of the time. Essential reading for all those intrigued by English history, Customs in Common has a special relevance today, as traditional economies are being replaced by market economies throughout the world. The rich scholarship and depth of insight in Thompson's work offer many clues to understanding contemporary changes around the globe. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Recommendations
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theoldanarchist Thompson's study of 19th century working class life and culture is relevant to Goodway's book.
Member Reviews
This is a worthy companion to The Making of the English Working Class; it's ironic that where the latter is omnipresent as a coursebook and an entry-level work for its subject, this book is now out of print.
This has no single argument to these papers, but taken together they illuminate the actual, rather than ideal, dynamics which affected the "common people" during the 18th Century.
This has no single argument to these papers, but taken together they illuminate the actual, rather than ideal, dynamics which affected the "common people" during the 18th Century.
Excellent, as so many other books by EPT are.
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Labor History
77 works; 5 members
Author Information
61+ Works 4,420 Members
E.P. Thompson (1924-1993) is among the most acclaimed historians of the twentieth century. He is known for his works The Making of the English Working Class, William Morris, and the Poverty of Theory, among others. Cal Winslow is a Fellow in Environmental History in the Geography Department at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director show more of the Mendocino Institute, a more for profit research and educational center. He was trained at Antioch College and Warwick University where he studied under the direction of E.P. Thompson. His most recent book is Labor's Civil War in California. show less
Awards and Honors
Awards
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1991
- Important places
- Great Britain
- Dedication
- to Martin Eve, uncommon customer
- First words
- The studies in this book were intended as a single closely-related argument.
Preface and Acknowledgements.
All the studies in this book are connected by different paths with the theme of custom as it was expressed within the culture of working people in the eighteenth century and into the nineteenth.
Chapter One. Introd... (show all)uction: Custom and Culture. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)This evidence demolishes the supposed statistic of "92.5 per cent".
- Blurbers
- Thomas, Keith; Freeman, Andrew; McLynn, Frank
- Original language
- English
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 306.094209033
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Anthropology
- DDC/MDS
- 306.094209033 — Society, government, & culture Social sciences, sociology & anthropology Social Behavior - Dating, Marriage, Divorce Social history Europe England And Wales
- LCC
- HN398 .E5 .T48 — Social sciences Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Social history and conditions. Social problems. By region or country
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 344
- Popularity
- 92,183
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (4.28)
- Languages
- 8 — English, Finnish, French, Portuguese, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 18
- ASINs
- 3
