Elitism and the revolt of the masses: reactions to the 'great labour unrest' in the New Age and New Witness circles

This paper examines the reactions to the British labour unrest of 1910-1914 among the writers associated with two Edwardian periodicals, the Catholic Distributivist New Witness, and the advanced socialist New Age. Both papers were thrown into sympathy with the strikes whether through libertarianism, hatred of capitalism or the glorification of violence and struggle. This prompted theoretical discussions on the future organisation of labour in which liberty and consensus were precariously balanced, and mediated through elitism. By examining the contested and ambiguous origins of guild socialism, the paper draws tentative conclusions about its troubled legacy.