Webbs on Industrial Democracy

SIDNEY WEBB (1859-1947) and BEATRICE POTTER WEBB (1858-1943) researched independently before their marriage in 1892, and for the next fifty years worked together in a remarkable partnership. They were extraordinarily careful social researchers, and formidable social analysts. Though they formed a misguided attachment to the 'new civilization' of Stalin's Soviet Union in the 1930s, their earlier historical and political work was original and substantial, and their brand of Fabian socialism humane and practical. Their many publications included the works in this collection on industrial organization and history, and a 'magisterial' 11-volume History of English Local Government, as well as many short books, reports and essays. They served on numerous boards and special commissions of government: Beatrice served on the Royal Commission on the Poor Law in 1905, with whose conclusions both Webbs disagreed to the point of issuing a two- volume minority report, and Sidney was an MP in the 1920s. They founded the London School of Economics in 1895, 'the biggest single enterprise of Our Partnership'. - DAVID MARTIN teaches Social History at the University of Sheffield and is an expert on the history of labour. His recent books include Labour in British Society, and he was a contributor to The Dictionary of Labour Biography.