Raymond Challinor
Encyclopedia
Raymond Challinor (1929–31 January 2011) was a distinguished Marxist historian
of the British labour movement, particularly in the North East of England. Initially a member of the Independent Labour Party
, he was an early member of the Revolutionary Communist Party and then the Socialist Review
group and was also a member of the group which succeeded it, the International Socialists
. For a period in the 1960s he was a councillor in Newcastle-under-Lyme on the Labour Party ticket in which party IS was then resident, later writing an article in International Socialism on how the experience was politically dispiriting.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent
, Challinor was educated at Keele and Lancaster Universities and became principal lecturer in History at Newcastle Polytechnic. While a member of the Socialist Workers Party, he wrote his best known work, a classic history of the Socialist Labour Party
, The Origins of British Bolshevism (1977). He served as Chairman of the Society for the Study of Labour History and President of the North East Labour History Society.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of the British labour movement, particularly in the North East of England. Initially a member of the Independent Labour Party
Independent Labour Party
The Independent Labour Party was a socialist political party in Britain established in 1893. The ILP was affiliated to the Labour Party from 1906 to 1932, when it voted to leave...
, he was an early member of the Revolutionary Communist Party and then the Socialist Review
Socialist Review
The Socialist Review is the monthly magazine of the British Socialist Workers Party. As well as being printed it is also published online.-Original publication: 1950-1962:...
group and was also a member of the group which succeeded it, the International Socialists
International Socialists
International Socialists is the name of a number of Trotskyist organizations.Most organisations using this name are in the International Socialist Tendency...
. For a period in the 1960s he was a councillor in Newcastle-under-Lyme on the Labour Party ticket in which party IS was then resident, later writing an article in International Socialism on how the experience was politically dispiriting.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, Challinor was educated at Keele and Lancaster Universities and became principal lecturer in History at Newcastle Polytechnic. While a member of the Socialist Workers Party, he wrote his best known work, a classic history of the Socialist Labour Party
Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903)
The Socialist Labour Party was a socialist political party in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1903 as a splinter from the Social Democratic Federation by James Connolly, Neil Maclean and SDF members impressed with the politics of the American socialist Daniel De Leon, a Marxist...
, The Origins of British Bolshevism (1977). He served as Chairman of the Society for the Study of Labour History and President of the North East Labour History Society.
Selected works/articles
- Alexander MacDonald and the miners (1968)
- The Miners' Association: a trade union in the age of the Chartists / with Brian Ripley (1968)
- The Lancashire and Cheshire miners (1972)
- The Origins of British Bolshevism (1977)
- John S. Clarke: parliamentarian, poet and lion-tamer (1977)
- Working class politics in North East England (co-edited with Maureen Callcott)
- A Radical Lawyer in Victorian England. WP Roberts and the Struggle for Workers Rights (1990)
- A new harmony?: Robert Owen's visit to Newcastle in 1843 (1990)
- The struggle for hearts and minds : essays on the Second World War (1995)
- "Military Discipline and Working Class Resistance in World War II", in What Next? (2000)
- "The Red Mole of History", in Socialist ReviewSocialist ReviewThe Socialist Review is the monthly magazine of the British Socialist Workers Party. As well as being printed it is also published online.-Original publication: 1950-1962:...
(2001)
External links
- Raymond Challinor Internet Archive
- Obituary by Stan Newens in the GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Obituary by John Charlton in Socialist WorkerSocialist WorkerSocialist Worker is the name of several socialist/communist newspapers associated with the International Socialist Tendency...
- Obituary in Newcastle Evening Chronicle.
- "Ray Challinor on Harry McShane", in Revolutionary HistoryRevolutionary HistoryRevolutionary History is a British journal dedicated to the history of the far left. It was founded in 1988 by Sam Bornstein and Al Richardson and has maintained an editorial board representing many strands of British Trotskyism. In its articles, it also covers other anti-Stalinist communist...
- Ray Challinor and the 1965 Courtauld Strike by Ian BirchallIan BirchallIan Birchall is a British Marxist historian and translator, a member of the Socialist Workers Party and author of numerous articles and books, particularly relating to the French Left...