Historical Research· 2026Q2
The rise and fall of ‘trust’ in Victorian trade union movement 1870–8
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- Q2SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Victorian trade unions experienced a decline in 'trust' between 1870-1888, influenced by the Liberal party's policy shifts and a resurgence of utilitarian economic discourse.
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Key points
- Victorian trade unions initially received a voluntary right of 'trust' from Gladstone's first ministry.
- Victorian newspapers documented public opinion dilemmas concerning the decline of 'trust' in unions.
- The Liberal party's progressive policy shifted towards utilitarian economic discourse after John Stuart Mill's wage-fund theory recantation.
- The role of positivist moral philosophy in trade union law reforms has been historically understated.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Abstract Gladstone’s first ministry endowed trade unions with the voluntary right of ‘trust’ and encouraged Victorians to demonstrate altruistic and humanitarian virtues on the ‘voluntary’ boards of conciliation and arbitration. Victorian newspapers and journals disclosed the dilemmas of public opinion in the face of the decline of ‘trust’. This article aims to delineate the transformation of the Liberal party’s progressive policy, which restored the utilitarian discourse of political economy after John Stuart Mill’s recantation of the wage-fund theory, and to question conventional historiography, which tended to understate the role of positivist moral philosophy in the course of trade union law reforms.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Historical Research, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Public Administration
Public AdministrationSocial Sciences