Abstract

Edward Palmer Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class (1963) continues to hold a significant place as a widely studied and debated classic in labor history. Its influence transcends the specific context of the industrial revolution, touching upon broader implications within historiography and social theory. Thompson’s “empirical Marxismµ, often intertwined with his own socialist activism, led him to pay special attention to the relationship between experience and culture. This article explores various facets of Thompson’s methodology, interpretations, and their enduring legacies and critiques.