For Freedom and Dignity by Andrew W Metcalfe

For Freedom and Dignity by Andrew W Metcalfe

First published in 1988, For Freedom and Dignity is a highly original and sophisticated study of the social history of the Coalfields of the Hunter Valley, renowned as the heart of Australian political radicalism for much of the twentieth century.

The book evokes without sentimentality a deep feeling for the lives of the Coalfields people and without false heroism it shows the way in which they have continually struggled for freedom and dignity. One major theme is the moral struggle waged by coalminers striving to maintain a sense of dignity in the context of social relations that symbolically denied their humanity; another is the importance of violence and the processes of political organisation in class struggle.

For Freedom and Dignity uses the approach of social historians to challenge some of the common sociological preconceptions about coalminers, proletarians and the ways in which classes struggle. Critically developing the work of writers like E.P. Thompson and Jean-Paul Sartre, the study advances a view of class relations that rejects both the voluntarism of many social historians and the ‘objectivism’ of many students of class structures. The result is a profoundly historical approach to sociological and anthropological theory.

For Freedom and Dignity will be a valuable read for students and researchers of sociology, anthropology, political science, and history. Its clarity of argument and the elegance and passion of its writing will also ensure that it is enjoyed by general readers.

Review of the first publication:

"Metcalfe’s is a work of great empirical thoroughness, of impressive theoretical range and reference, of first-rate intellectual grasp and acuity…and gracefully written"

— Clive Kessler