English middle class and the creation of the working men's club as a form of control over social radicalism

The article analyzes the situation of the English middle class after the 1867 electoral reform. The author emphasizes an important role of the middle class in the creation of the working men's clubs which help one to control the socially radical mood in the working environment. The article notes that the leaders of the middle class who expanded their political rights sympathized with trade unions, supported the social and democratic aspirations of the workers. The author discusses a new generation of liberals, mostly former workers (being the children of the working aristocracy, most of them received secondary and higher education, graduated from oxbridge and often built a career in bureaucracy and public service). Christian socialists, positivists and intellectuals began to replace the Manchester school of liberalism based on economic orthodoxy. This period is characterized by the appearance and development of the so-called “new liberalism” which by the end of the century had become the official ideology of liberal party focused on the social sphere of public life and promoted the idea of “general prosperity” and social society. The author concludes that the working men's clubs guided and developed by the representatives of the middle class became public control authority over radicalization among workers. Through the working aristocracy, these organizations had an impact on the trade unions activities and the political organization of the enterprises.