Growing Up Communist in the Netherlands and Britain
Childhood, Political Activism, and Identity Formation
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Amsterdam University Press
Published:25th Oct '21
Should be back in stock very soon
Growing Up Communist in the Netherlands and Britain: Childhood, Political Activism, and Identity Formation documents communists’ attempts, successful and otherwise, to overcome their isolation and to connect with the major social and political movements of the twentieth century. Communist parties in Britain and the Netherlands emerged from the Second World War expecting to play a significant role in post-war society, due to their domestic anti-fascist activities and to the part played by the Soviet Union in defeating fascism. The Cold War shattered these hopes, and isolated communist parties and their members. By analysing the accounts of communist children, Weesjes highlights their struggle to establish communities and define their identities within the specific cultural, social, and political frameworks of their countries.
“Excellent – well researched, convincing in its argument, and a valuable contribution to communist (and wider social) history.”
– Matthew Worley, Professor of Modern History, University of Reading; Co-founder and editor of Twentieth Century Communism
“Elke Weesjes has built on the work of the historians of communism who have charted the study of daily communist lives as they were lived, not as simply an expression of Soviet policies. She skillfully compares the British and Dutch communist movements, specifically the experiences of children growing up in “red” families. Breaking new methodological and historiographical ground, this book captures the subjective experience of mid-twentieth century communist life in these two countries and how this influenced the forms of radicalism that emerged in the 1960s and beyond.”
– Paul C. Mishler, Associate Professor of Labor Studies, Indiana University; author of Raising Reds: Young Pioneers, Radical Summer Camps, and Communist Political Culture in the United States 1922-1956 (Columbia University Press, 1999)
ISBN: 9789463726634
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
294 pages