English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit, 1850–1980

Abstract

England was the world's first great industrial nation. Yet the English have never been comfortable with industrialism. Drawing upon a wide array of sources, Martin Wiener explores the English ambivalence to modern industrial society. His work reveals a pervasive middle- and upper-class frame of mind hostile to industrialism and economic growth. From the middle of the nineteenth century to the present, this frame of mind shaped a broad spectrum of cultural expression, including literature, journalism, and architecture, as well as social, historical, and economic thought. In this edition, Wiener reflects on the original debate surrounding the work and examines the historiography of the last few decades. Written in a graceful and accessible style, with reference to a broad range of people and ideas, this book will be of interest to all readers who wish to understand the development - and predicament - of modern England.

Unveiling Hidden Social Design: New Roles for Sociologists

“…A number of intellectuals became concerned with the pace and scale of change and its psychological and moral effects on the general population's state of mind. There were predictions about increased levels of mental health problems and social deviance as people lost their meaning of life, self-esteem, and hope in a better future (Holdsworth, 2011, p. 210;Mathews, 2007a, p. 12, p. 69, p. 197;Wiener, 1981).…”

Sport and the British Upper Classesc.1500–2000: A Historiographic Overview

“…Thompson and Martin Wiener have wondered why Britain's early economic dominance, stimulated by entrepreneurial striving for landed wealth and status, eventually faltered, and have tried to assess the extent to which a resultant gentry culture based on hierarchy and patriarchy undermined the previously vibrant enterprise ethic. [68] It is therefore possible that amateurism helped make Britain a less egalitarian, competitive, entrepreneurial and achievementoriented society by drawing the time and energy of the elite, though if it did, then, as Holt points out, 'the nature of the conjuncture of the competitive principle and play among the British elite remains unclear'. [69] Through what cultural processes such ideologies might have impacted more broadly, we have yet to flesh out.…”

In Defence of British Politics: The Past, Present and Future of the Discipline

“…Ingham, 1984;Fine and Harris, 1985), the enduring dominance of its political elite (e.g. Sampson, 1982Sampson, , 2004Scott, 1991), the nature of its political and economic decline (see, e.g., Gamble, 1981Gamble, , 1994Wiener, 1981;Collins and Robbins, 1990;and later, Coates, 1994; and also English and Kenny, 2000), as well as the ever-present analysis of its institutional mechanics (e.g. King, 1985;Robins, 1987;Kavanagh, 1990), new developments also now began to take root and flourish.…”