The sociological context of trade union activity in the East Midland boot and shoe industry in the late Victorian era

The thesis sets out to relate the historical development of the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives in terms of Talcott Parsons’s theory of social systems. The procedure adopted was first, to outline the economic and social background in which the organisation operated and then to analyse the sociological contexts of its development for the latter period of the 19th century. Adopting Talcott Parsons’s framework, the organisation was defined as a social system (a social system is composed of the interaction of members whose relation to each other are mutually orientated through the definition and mediation of a system of structure and shared symbols and expectations) which if it is to survive as an ongoing system must solve four basic problems: (i) goal attainment—ability to satisfy needs of the social system; (ii) adaptation—attainment of necessary resources from environment; (iii) integration—linking of the unit or the system—unify members; (iv) latency—concerned with the functioning of the system. The processes by which the four system categories are solved provide the theme of the study. All organisations are faced with these problems, and the particular structures devised to meet them will vary with the type of organisation under consideration. The problem is thus, how did the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives attempt to solve its tour system problems, how successful was the Union in defining and implementing the mechanisms for the solution of these problems? [Continues.]