
Issue No 58		16 June 2000

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History

Time and Tide

Extracted from Labour History - the journal of the Australian Society for the Study of

Greg Patmore surveys the themes of Working Lives in Regional Australia in this introduction to the latest issue of 'Labour History'


	Greg Patmore

In 1978 J.W. McCarthy argued that labour historians were preoccupied with `the rise of the labour problematic' - the growth of trade unions and political labour parties. They ignored 'how the great majority of the working classes lived and worked, and what they thought' and showed little interest in functional regional history, which included histories of `a town or city and its hinterland'. McCarthy believed that this form of regional history or local history may challenge `orthodox discussion' of `how class, class consciousness and politics worked in a specific setting'.

As McCarthy recognised at that time there appeared to be the beginnings of broadening of labour history away from the `labour problematic'. From the 1960s the traditional approaches to writing labour history came under challenge in Australia. There was a shift away from labour institutions towards the study of workers and their everyday working lives. The background was social protest and political unrest. There was opposition to the Vietnam war and there were demands for Aboriginal civil rights. The growth of the women's liberation movement in late 1960's and 1970's also challenged the male establishment in Australia. University students were involved in these movements and demanded that courses be developed to deal with power, imperialism, race and gender. Australian labour historians were influenced by the writings of British Marxist labour historians such as E.P. Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. These developments influenced the editorial committee of Labour History. Special issues appeared: Women at Work in 1975 and Who are Our Enemies? Racism and the Working Class in Australia in 1978. The range of articles widened to include convict protest, nineteenth century feminism and the political consciousness of the unemployed. In May 1981 the journal adopted the subtitle, A Journal of Labour and Social History and since then the percentage of articles in the journal dealing with the traditional fare of Australian labour history - the Labor Party, the Communist Party, trade unions, strikes and radical movements - has declined.

Australian labour historians have continued to explore new ideas and broaden the focus of their subject. Some Australian labour historians have shown an interest in the concept of `community' . An important early example was Ellen McEwen's study on the Newcastle coalmining district. Recent examples include a chapter on `community' in a major overview of Australian labour history and studies published on Port Kembla and Broken Hill, Ipswich and Wagga Wagga. Australian interest in the idea of community has centred on `localism' - a sense of place which can influence behaviour. Localism can centre on a particular town or city, region, state or nation and does not deny the importance of class, gender or race.

The concept of community has been relatively underdeveloped in Australian labour history for several reasons. The extent of trade unionism and the electoral success of the Labor Party encouraged institutionalism in Australian labour history. Labour organisations have been willing to fund official histories. Recent examples include histories of the Australian Workers' Union, the Labor Council of New South Wales and the Australian Railways Union. In addition, there have been several histories of the Australian Labor Party at the state and federal level and a major history of the Communist Party.

While Howard Kimeldorf, a US labour historian, has suggested that community study contributes to a removal of unions as the focus of labour history, an examination of `community' or `localism' does not mean that labour historians are no longer interested in labour institutions. As David Montgomery, another US labour historian, notes, `more often than not the climax of community histories has been the mobilisation of workers for struggle, usually through unions'. Likewise, Bradon Ellem and John Shield's study of the Barrier Industrial Council has highlighted that research focussing on particular localities can provide insights into broader institutional issues such as why unions form peak labour bodies.

For Australian labour historians the controversy about the meaning of `community' and its ideological ambiguity in sociology limits its appeal. By the mid-1950s one sociologist noted that there were 94 different definitions. The association of the term `community' with the `good life' and social cohesion have made it suspect from a radical point of view. Some sociologists claim that the town's elite may promote `localism' to service the needs of capital and hide local class inequality. Others, however, note that 'localism' may be a liberating force that promotes change because it highlights the economic and social inequalities between a locality and elsewhere.

The focus on `community' and `localism' has brought labour historians into contact with local historians. Both local history and labour history have strong non-academic traditions, with participants expressing their sense of place in local history and feelings of solidarity and struggle in labour history. For labour historians examining a particular location, local historians provide important `local knowledge' and preserve material culture. The Lithgow and District Historical Society, for example, publishes a series of occasional monographs on issues such as local church history, industrial development, and biographies of local identitiesand the Society runs `Eskbank House', a historic house, which stores an important collection of local artefacts and manuscripts.

Both local historians and labour historians face critics who are sceptical about the value of focusing on particular towns, suburbs and cities. Andrew Metcalfe has argued that studies of communities in industrial capitalist societies have dismembered `their subject matter to allow concentration on "isolable totalities"'. These communities cannot be isolated from developments at the state, national and international level, where important decisions are made. This is not disputed. `Localism' does not prevent locals searching for solutions to problems outside their particular space. The external environment may have a significant impact. Locals may seek state or federal legislation to redress grievances. They will try to find solutions that best meet their local interests during periods of economic crisis or an industrial dispute. Further, some localities such as Broken Hill and Newcastle may be significant in their own right. They may be the centre of key national industries or a centre for radical politics. As Ellem and Shields have shown studies of particular localities provide an arena for generalisations based on national events and theoretical perspectives to be tested. Further, locality studies provide insights at a more detailed level of analysis that may not be picked up at the broader national level.

Labour historians and local historians can also contribute to broader debate by combining several town studies and increasing their explanatory power. Weston Bate, who published a history of the Melbourne suburb of Brighton, noted in 1970 that `the development of a typology of towns and the more systematic treatment of regions can help us achieve wider perspectives'. An example of this can be seen in the work of Shelton Stromquist, a US labour historian. He attempted to show that there were differences in strikes among smaller communities by examining the high level of industrial conflict on the United States railways during the last decades of the nineteenth century. Stromquist distinguished between `market cities' and `railway towns'. He examined Burlington, Iowa, as an example of the former, and Creston, Iowa, as an example of the latter. Burlington proceeded railway development and had a broad economic base. Burlington's elite identified closely with the railway and its prosperity grew as the railway expanded. Railway workers were dispersed within a larger community and received minimal community support in industrial disputes. Creston, the railway town, depended on the railway for its existence. The town's elite were retailers, whose prosperity depended on the railway freight rates. They were concerned with the railway company's monopoly power and sympathised with striking railway workers, who formed a sizeable group in the town and had considerable purchasing power.

The thematic section in this issue increases the explanatory power of concepts such as `community' and `localism' by reviewing these concepts and comparing six regional centres in New South Wales and Queensland over varying time periods. The localities examined are Dungog, Lithgow, Ipswich, Port Kembla, Broken Hill and Wagga Wagga. None of these towns had a population of more than 30,000 during the periods examined and their economic and social development varies, allowing an opportunity to develop typologies. They include the small rural community of Dungog, the major agricultural centre of Wagga Wagga, the mining town of Broken Hill and industrial Lithgow, whose leaders hoped would become the `Birmingham of Australia'.

This thematic section arose from several meetings of the Labour History and Locality Research Group, which was sponsored by the Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training at the University of Sydney. It members are labour historians drawn from the disciplines of industrial relations and history. One member was given the task of developing a theoretical overview to stimulate debate within the group. An earlier draft of this theoretical overview was circulated within the group. While the other members of the group were allowed to pursue a particular theme in their case study, they had to try and address the following issues to provide a basis for comparison:-

(i) What is the economic basis of the particular locality?

(ii) What is the basis of the formal and informal household economy?

(iii) What is the composition of the workforce?

(iv) What is the nature of gender and class relations in these localities?

(v) What form does social and labour mobilisation take?

(vi) How is community and local identity constructed?

Lucy Taksa presents the conceptual overview of `community', highlighting the ideological ambiguity of the concept of `community', which can evoke a sense of belonging and a sense of exclusion. She challenges the traditional assumptions of harmony and equilibrium associated with `community': communities can be fluid and operate at several different levels. In addition, Taksa links the debate over community with the growing interest in the politics of identity, with its notions of multiple identities and conflicting loyalties.

Glenda Strachan, Ellen Jordan and Hilary Carey examine women's work in the rural community of Dungog and its surrounding region during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. They established a computer data base drawn from a wide range of sources, including parish registers and newspapers, to reconstruct family life. The relationship of women to the family economy was largely determined by their relationship to their father and husband. This pre-industrial setting contrasts to the industrialisation of other case studies in this thematic section. The authors document the valuable contribution made by Dungog women to social infrastructure through unpaid voluntary work. Their labour was crucial to raise the necessary funds for the building of the local hospital, schools, School of Arts and Masonic lodge. This voluntary work has been unfortunately dismissed by labour historians as unproductive.

Greg Patmore examines `localism' in Lithgow. Unlike Dungog, Lithgow's origins did not lie in the development of the agricultural and pastoral industries. The arrival of the railway in the Lithgow valley in 1869 led to the opening of the coal mines and rapid industrialisation. The rapid development of the town, and inadequate public infrastructure, led to the formation of local progress associations and eventual municipal incorporation in 1889. However, this economic base was fragile and there were continued efforts to maintain and attract industry. Localism helps explain why business people support workers during industrial disputes and underpin the formation of labour-community coalitions. Localism provides insights into the fragmentation of labour organisation. Workers organise on a local rather than a national basis and support independent local candidates rather than Labor Party candidates. The local labour market is influenced by localism because it fosters local preference in employment practices and denies jobs to `outsiders' during periods of unemployment.

Bradley Bowden in his study of Ipswich highlights how relationships within a community can be fluid and in disequilibrium. While Ipswich developed a broad industrial base like Lithgow, unlike Lithgow its origins lay in the development of agriculture and pastoralism. Tensions between a growing industrial workforce and the established elite, which centred on two families and derived its wealth from retailing, erupted in the 1912 general strike and ultimately led Ipswich to increasingly take on the appearance of a `labour town'. Within this `labour town', however, tensions remained between a number of distinct working class communities.

Erik Eklund focuses on the town of Port Kembla, where industrialisation was assisted by the construction of a harbour by the state government during the early decades of this century. Eklund notes the development of two types of politics in Port Kembla - local politics and class politics. Local politics is based on calls for unity and emphasises progress and development through town-based organisations such as progress associations. An important site for local politics was the main street, where women especially were involved by shopping and socialising. Eklund argues that class politics arises from the tensions between organised local labour and management. Class politics are most evident in the workplace, particularly during industrial disputes.

Bradon Ellem and John Shields examine the isolated mining community of Broken Hill during the interwar period. They challenge the neglect of the town's history during the two decades following the 18 month long strike of 1919-20, when Broken Hill became truly a `union town'. The Barrier Industrial Council, the union peak body in the town, conducted successful campaigns to unionise town employees and extend control over local commodity supplies and production. In Broken Hill the union movement emphasised class affiliation rather than a sense of community, directly challenging the petit-bourgeoisie. While the unions were successful in class terms, their victory was deeply gendered. Local unions organised single women in the paid workforce, but forced married women out of paid employment. While women supported union membership campaigns, they successfully resisted union-sponsored efforts to establish co-operatives as this challenged women's autonomy in household spending and consumption.

Warwick Eather examines Wagga Wagga in the period from 1940 to 1975. He argues that Wagga Wagga, which had little manufacturing activity and derived its wealth from the agricultural and pastoral industries of the surrounding Riverina, was a very conservative city. Entrepreneurs, graziers, farmers and professionals formed an elite, which dominated municipal politics and was generally hostile to the labour movement. During the period under examination Eather argues that the labour movement struggled to maintain a presence in the city. Particularly in the climate of the cold war, communists and militant trade unionists were isolated and ostracised. Eather reinforces the idea that communities may embrace and support some individuals or groups but exclude others who do not fit into the local `way of life'.

Elizabeth Faue notes in her postscript that since the 1960s, both Australian and US labour historiographies have shifted their focus towards a broader history of the working class. However, both have neglected spatial analysis. Faue draws upon US labour historiography to bring together the major issues examined in this collection of essays.

Overall, this thematic section strengthens our understanding of town and city life in regional Australia by bringing together six different case studies that span over 100 years of Australian history. In contrast to single authored studies, which may at best give insights into two or three communities, this collection allows a greater coverage and recognition of the diversity of experience in regional Australia. Moreover, these essays highlight the vitality of Australian labour history, which has broadened its focus away from the `labour problematic'. The interest in `community' is pushing labour historians to further examine workers' lives beyond the workplace and to establish a dialogue with local historians. It is hoped that the papers in this thematic section will stimulate further research and encourage more manuscripts on these issues to be submitted to Labour History.

Greg patmore is the editor of Labour History and teaches industrial relations and labour history at Sydney University. He is currently undertaking research into the history of Lithgow and also a comparative study of the steel industry in this town and Sydney, Nova Scotia during the period 1899-1932. He and Mark Hearn are joint convenors of the Federation and Working Life Project, which has been funded by the National Council for the Centenary of federation.

   Contact History Editor Dr Lucy Taksa

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  Issue 58 contents

Interview: After the Gold Rush
NSW building union leader Andrew Ferguson on life after the Olympics and why Che Guevara is his political hero.

Unions: MUA Women's Policy Back on Course
A hard hitting report by the Maritime Union's women's delegate Sue Gajdos prompts the union to, once again, promote its female members.

Politics: Raising the Rafters
Opposition leader Kim Beazley delivered a stirring address to last weekend's NSW ALP State Conference. Here's every word of it.

History: Time and Tide
Greg Patmore surveys the themes of Working Lives in Regional Australia in this introduction to the latest issue of 'Labour History'

International: Fair in the Land of the Free
More than 20,000 immigrant workers, union members and community and religious leaders packed a Los Angeles Sports Arena on June 10 in support of immigrant workers' rights.

Environment: Life's a Beach
Workers are invited to join an environmental campaign to protect the coastal communities and coastline from exploitation by multinationals.

Satire: More Pacific Coups Forecast
The popular holiday resort of Great Keppel Island is bracing itself for a bloody coup, following the rash of rebel uprisings in other parts of the Pacific.

Review: At the Barricades
Denis Evans' photo essay on the Patrick dispute captures the camaraderie on the Melbourne picket lines - solidarity that, like solder, welded workers and their communities together into a human barricade.

Crackdown on Fiji Workers Intensifies
Building Industry Braces for Post-Games Slump
Call Centre Battle Hots Up
More Sackings Spark Entitlements Showdown
Carr Establishes Labor Hire Inquiry
High Court Puts Workers At Reith's Mercy
Miners Hit the Streets Over Death Threats
Unions Urged to Reignite Republic Debate
Tips Rip-Off Sparks Hotel Picket
Community Workers to Lay Siege to Parliament
Water Workers Accept 14% Pay Rise
Counselling for Workplace Accidents
Korean Food Festival is Union Business
Che Helps Doctors Save Lives
Maude Barlow Public Lecture - Sydney June 27