Love, laughter and solidarity on the docks in Liverpool, c.1950s–1990s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10564809 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Emma Copestake (University of Liverpool, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 71 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 441-457 |
| Publication date | 2023-03-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Sociological Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00380261221150340 |
| OpenAlex | W4327954184 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 28 |
By focusing on love and humour, this article examines the role of positive emotions in the making and remaking of solidarity on the docks in Liverpool to demonstrate that solidarity was, and still is, embedded within power dynamics that shaped daily life. After outlining the persistent insecurities dock workers and their families faced due to the casual system of employment in place until 1967, the dangerous nature of work and the impact of containerisation, I assess how experiences during this period were remembered. A combination of oral history interviews and archival records of the National Dock Labour Board and the Mersey Docks and Harbour Company are used to highlight the significance of family support, the dockers’ bucket and nicknames to understanding the emotional dimensions of class. Ultimately, I outline that solidarity action should not be understood as overt moments of political struggle alone as it was sustained by creating moments of happiness and joy
Casual · Happiness · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Solidarity · Canadian Identity and History · Gender Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US
Port Cities and Global Legacies
Solidarity
The Managed Heart
Learning to Labour
Moving Politics
Constructing Indignation
Worrying about Emotions in History
Searching for injustice and finding solidarity? A contribution to the mobilisation theory debate
Happy Objects
Racism, Class and the Racialized Outsider
Europe and the Maritime World
Black Culture and Black Consciousness
Emotions and gender in oral history
Work, Culture and Gender
Class and Industrial Relations in Britain
Engineering Humour
Are Emotions a Kind of Practice (And Is That What Makes Them Have a History)? A Bourdieuian Approach to Understanding Emotion
The Peculiarities of Oral History
Norbert Elias's Lost Research
Class, affective labour and exploitation
Laughter, the Best Mediation
The emotional trade-off between meaningful and precarious work in new economies
The Greatest Game no More - Redundant Dockers and the Demise of 'Dock Work
A Sociologist Walks into a Bar (and Other Academic Challenges)
Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |