E. P. Thompson, a Militant Historian; a Retrospective on The Making of the English Working Class

The dissertation is a retrospective on The Making of the English Working Class, the 1963 classic by E. P. Thompson. His account of the "active process" through which the working class affirmed itself has withstood the test of time and is still fresh and dynamic: the goal was to thoroughly analyse it, as well as contextualising it in a broader spectrum: E. P. Thompson's body of work, as well as his biography. Core historiographical concepts in E. P. Thompson's approach such as agency, moral economy and class are dissected through a careful assessment of his work, to then move into a detailed, yet weighted, account of the contents of The Making. Finally I will analyse the impact on historiography The Making had, as well as discussing some criticisms of the book.