UC Berkeley

The Labour Church movement was a leading expression of British ethical socialism. Historians have approached the movement from the perspective of a dominant Marxist or labourist historiography according to which a quasi-religious, ethical socialism represents a primitive rebellion to be replaced by a mature, secular and class-based socialism. Historians have explained the rise of the Labour Church as part of a transfer of religious energy to the political sphere; and they have explained its demise by reference to the continuing process of secularisation. This essay challenges the dominant historiography by taking seriously the religious self-understanding of the Labour Church. First it explains the rise of the movement in terms of the immanentist theology with which many Victorians and Edwardians responded to the crisis of faith. Then it uses the doctrinal basis of the movement to explain its appeal, structure, and activities. Finally it suggests the decline of the movement reflects the weaknesses of its theology as a political theory.