Trade Unions and the British Industrial Relations Crisis: An Intellectual Biography of Hugh Clegg, by Peter Ackers, New York / London, Routledge, 2024, 231p.

Where to begin? This is a fascinating book, a more than complete biography of Hugh Clegg. Or then is it an analysis of a period and its challenges, or indeed both at the same time? In view of its dual title, it could also be called: “The Life and Times of …”, “The Rise and Fall of …”, or even perhaps “The Lasting Contribution of …”. The author, who lived through a good part of the years and developments in question, exposes in great detail Clegg’s professional and personal life during its various stages against the backdrop of the development of, and challenges facing, the world of industrial relations in Great Britain. Clegg’s experience during the Oxford and Warwick years is treated in full and pertinent detail (Ch. 8 and 10). His involvement in official government committees and commissions is well examined (for example, Ch. 9). In addition, the author has a chapter comparing the merits of Thompson and Clegg (Ch. 12, Parallel Lives: Hugh Clegg and Edward Thompson). In a spirit of “full disclosure,” the author also has a section on the value and pertinence of his own role in writing this book (Ch. 12, section “Clegg and me: Biography as Autobiography”). There is an intriguing aspect of this biography in its insistence on labour history and its fundamental role in both Clegg’s (and Thompson’s) approach and specifically the study of trade unionism and its development. This has also been a major part of approaches in other countries as well. In Canada, for example, this was very present during the days of the Regroupement des chercheurs en histoire des travailleurs québécois, the Committee on Canadian Labour History, and the combined effort to found the journal Labour/Letravail. (I should mention that, coming from a French perspective, this insistence on “trade” unionism in English has always intrigued me. In French circles, and my own writing, there has generally been an effort to differentiate between “trade” and “industrial” unionism, which to me is significant. Perhaps we will have to rethink our terminology in this regard.) Very likely, the most important theme explored by the author is the juxtaposition of Clegg’s “pluralist” approach with the doctrinaire, or at least more doctrinaire, approach of some of his contemporaries and indeed of some of those he encouraged to persist and go on to contribute to the field. This theme appears here and there throughout the book and plays a very important role in the final chapter “The Legacy of Hugh Clegg.” Indeed, the last chapter is so important that, for people in a rush or otherwise short of time, it could provide a focal point, thus helping bring the entire book together into a striking final overview. My only critique of this important and useful book is reserved for the chapter on Clegg’s personal—at times very personal—life. Perhaps some things are best left to the imagination. In short, this is a fascinating, and very useful, 200-page read. It is well documented, including numerous quotes from Clegg himself as well as from his various colleagues and even his students. It helps us better understand the British context of the period and the importance of its shifts. Perhaps this fine piece of work will encourage and inspire similar efforts on the role of other key researchers and contributors in other countries and on other continents in this important area of concern. As a final note, in reading it, I was reminded of a week-long roundtable meeting of minds in Konstanz shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall, which brought …