An alter factual methodological approach to labor history

The case of the British miners' strike 1984–1985

Bibliographic Data

ID9956601
AuthorsRalph Darlington (University of Salford, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume55
Issue2
Pages137-150
Publication date2014-03-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLabor History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0023-656X • E-ISSN: 1469-9702
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0023656x.2014.884862
OpenAlexW2118570981
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited9

In recent years, a small number of the so-called ‘counterfactual’ or ‘what-if’ historical books, which ask us to imagine what would have happened if events in the past had turned out differently than they did, have been published. They have stimulated an important, albeit not entirely new, methodological debate about issues and questions which are (or should be) of central relevance to the work of labor historians, and which such labor historians need to engage with and contribute towards. This brief discussion article attempts to do this by presenting one particular Marxist viewpoint, with the hope and expectation that others (hopefully supportive but possibly critical of the argument presented here) will follow. In the process, it examines the past use (and abuse) of the counterfactual within historical analysis, presents an argument for the validity of a refined and renamed ‘alterfactual’ approach and examines the use of such an alterfactual approach to the British miners' strike of 1984–1985

Argument (complex analysis · Counterfactual thinking · Economics · Labor history · Labor relations · Marxist philosophy · Political science · Positive economics · Relevance (law · Sociology · Work (physics · Australian History and Society · Engineering · History · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Political and Economic history of UK and US · Psychology · Social Psychology

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