Research On E.P. Thompson’s Working Class Theory

The contemporary development of British Marxism began with the reflection and criticism of Stalinism by the British "New Left Movement" in the late 1950 s.Edward Thompson,as the first generation leader of the British New Left,in the process of opposing dogmatic Marxism,consciously rebuilt the new paradigm of understanding historical materialism through specific social and historical research,realized the theoretical innovation of Marxist historical materialism in the aspects of class experience(experience),culture and level consciousness,and the formation of the working class,and enriched Marxist class theory,It has made outstanding contributions to the contemporary development of British Marxism.The theory of the working class is a relatively basic part of Thompson’s theoretical system.His social history and cultural theory are elaborated by elaborating the dynamic formation process of the British working class.From a "bottom-up" perspective,he explored the historical creativity of the lower class,expounded the subjective initiative of the British working class,and completed the construction of his own class theory.This paper mainly studies Thompson’s working class theory from four aspects: its formation background,ideological connotation,theoretical contention,and contemporary examination.First of all,from the perspective of formation background,Thompson,on the basis of inheriting the classical Marxist class view,drew on and absorbed the British empiricism tradition and the class theory in the perspective of Western Marxism,which together constitute its solid theoretical foundation;At the same time,the domestic and international environment before and after World War II also had an important impact on the formation of his thoughts and theories.Secondly,from the perspective of ideological connotation,Thompson established the inevitable link between class experience and class consciousness through experience,and fully explored the important role of culture in the formation of class consciousness;Through specific historical research,the dynamic formation process of the British working class in the historical process and social relations is clarified;Then it reshapes the main body of the working class,and discusses the feasible narration of the working class moving towards liberation.Thirdly,it analyzes the various controversies within British Marxism about Thompson’s working class theory.Thompson further highlights the struggle of culture and establishes the research paradigm of cultural materialism on the basis of Williams’ common culture;At the same time,he responded to the question of structuralism with the "bottom-up" historical tradition of British empiricism;He and Hobsbaum,who belong to the same group of historians,have paid close attention to the history of the formation of the British working class,but there are obvious differences in methodology.Finally,examine Thompson’s working class theory from a contemporary perspective,reasonably position its position in the history of thought,and examine its contemporary significance from the perspective of reality,with a view to providing positive reference value for the development of socialism with Chinese characteristics.