Class Structure in Australian History
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox book|
| name = Class Structure in Australian History
| image = File:Class_Structure_in_Australian_History_book_cover.png
| caption =
| alt =
| author = Terry Irving & Raewyn Connell
| country = Australia
| language = English
| genre = History
| subject = Labour history
Social history
| published = 1979
| publisher = Longman Cheshire
| pages = 378
}}
Class Structure in Australian HistoryIrving, T & Connell, R 1979, Class Structure in Australian History, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne. is a work of Australian social history, written by Terry Irving and Raewyn Connell.{{Citation|last=Paternoster|first=Henry|title=Connell and Irving's Class Structure in Australian History|date=2017|work=Reimagining Class in Australia|pages=97–139|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-55450-1_4|isbn=978-3-319-55449-5}}{{Cite journal|last1=Horvath|first1=Ronald J.|author-link=Ronald Horvath|last2=Rogers|first2=Peter|date=April 1981|title=Class Structure in Australian History: A Review Article|journal=Antipode|language=en|volume=13|issue=1|pages=45–49|doi=10.1111/j.1467-8330.1981.tb00006.x|issn=0066-4812}}{{Cite journal|last=Macintyre|first=Stuart|author-link=Stuart Macintyre|date=1981|title=Connell and Irving I|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27508470|journal=Labour History|language=en|volume=40|issue=40|pages=107–115|doi=10.2307/27508470|jstor=27508470|url-access=subscription}} Published in 1979 by Longman Cheshire, It is considered a definitive work of the Australian New Left.Williams-Brooks, Llewellyn (2016). "Radical Theories of Capitalism in Australia", Honours Thesis, University of Sydney, viewed 20 April 2017, http://hdl.handle.net/2123/16655 It studies the development of social classes, periodising the political economy of capitalism in Australia.
Overview
Terry Irving and Raewyn Connell collaborated in the Radical Free University project in Sydney,Irving, T & Connell, R 2015, "Scholars and Radicals: Writing and Re-thinking Class Structure in Australian History", Journal of Australian Studies, Vol. 40, No. 1, pp. 3–15. and shared a concern with class methodology and the portrayal of resistance in social history. The aim of the project was the pursuit of socialist strategy, as they remarked: "Our intention is political —to help people gain a clear understanding of the patterns of class relations they live in and have to act on here and now".Irving, T & Connell, R 1979, Class Structure in Australian History, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, p.x Furthermore, taking inspiration from E.P. Thompson, they rejected a moralisation of the working class:
{{quote
|text =That the working class is essentially conservative, or naturally revolutionary, or invincibly racist—are all equally wrong. The working class are simply people, who improvise their lives in certain situations, which may or may not be changed by their responsesIrving, T & Connell, R 1979, Class Structure in Australian History, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, pp.357-358}}