The renewal of radicalism – Q&A with Matthew Kidd

Posted by - Monday, 20 Jul 2020

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How would you like someone who has read your book to sum it up in one sentence?

It offers a fresh perspective on long-running debates and speaks directly to contemporary discussions about the Labour Party and progressive politics.

What books in your field have inspired you the most?

Patrick Joyce, Visions of the People: Industrial England and the Question of Class, c.1848–1914 (1991).

Did your research take you to any unexpected places?

No.

Which writing process do you use (computer, longhand, dictate, other)?

Computer and, in the archives, pencil and pad!

Why did you choose to publish with MUP?

It has a reputation for producing innovative literature on the themes of my book.

What are you working on now?

A journal article on centrist politics in interwar Britain. I am also planning a larger project (potentially leading to a second book) on radical networks in the Anglosphere between the 1840s and 1880s.

If you could go back and give yourself once piece of advice when starting out on this project, what would it be?

Keep your footnotes tidy as you go along!

If you could have been the author of any book, what would it be and why?

Gareth Stedman Jones, Languages of Class (1983). Because it was hugely influential and led to a shift in the way (some!) historians study political movements.

What other genres do you enjoy reading?

Apart from history, political biographies.

Which authors (academic and not) would you invite to a dinner party?

A one-to-one with George Orwell would be interesting!

 

 

The renewal of radicalism: Politics, identity and ideology in England, 1867–1924 by Matthew Kidd is available to buy now.

Matthew Kidd is a Researcher at the University of Oxford

 

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