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  3. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of EP Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class, which revolut

This year marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of EP Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class, which revolut

admin2022-09-18  34
问题     This year marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of EP Thompson’s The Making of the English Working Class, which revolutionized the study of history. Until then, history had been mainly about the powerful—the ruling order of kings and queens, aristocrats, industrialists, soldiers, politicians and landowners—and the interpretation of the world through their culture and belief systems.
    With Thompson’s book, this was turned upside down—"history from below" was a new way of seeing the world through the eyes of the new rising working class of the early 19th century and the movements and ideas that it and its allies created. He sought "to rescue the poor stockinger, the Luddite cropper, the ’obsolete’ (被淘汰的) hand-loom weaver, the ’Utopian’ artisan, and even the easy-cheated follower of Joanna Southcott, from the enormous arrogance of offspring".
    This approach to history is now under attack from the theorist of the new right and from coalition education ministers. But why does this matter? There are at least two reasons why this issue has direct relevance.
    First, the current dominance of neoliberal (新自由主义者) , elitist ideology threatens to create a culturally totalitatian (极乐主义) Orwellian society with no space for alternative conceptions. The gap between the rich and powerful and the rest is accompanied by a similar gulf in political perceptions. The result is that the political process becomes more and more discredited. This closing down of the discussion of alternative analyses is exemplified by the revolt of economics students against being taught exclusively the neoclassical orthodoxies, and their demands that alternative theories—those of Marx, Adam Smith and Keynes—should be included in their curriculums.
    Second, Thompson showed how fundamental social and political change came from movements of the "common people". He had little time for political parties and their bureaucratized processes, still less for the belief that history was predetermined: he believed in the human agency of ordinary people making their own history. As he put it, "The working class did not rise like the sun at an appointed time. It was present at its own making." In this sense, his position prefigures the non-aligned progressive left of the early 21st century—exemplified by the Greens, the Occupy movement, UK Uncut, and the opposition to the renewal of Trident.
    The consequences of forgetting these lessons would be profound. Political disillusionment and alienation may increase. A vacuum in democratic politics is likely to lead to the rise of the populist, xenophobic (恐惧外国人的) right, as can be seen in the current politics of both the UK and other European societies. The stakes could hardly be higher.
Which of the following opinions is right according to the author?
选项 A、History should be predominated by the rich and powerful.
B、The working class created history and they should not be forgotten.
C、The current social movements are led by neoclassic theorists.
D、The next generation should be taught orthodoxies.
答案B
解析 细节题。根据第二段第一句this was turned upside down可知作者不赞成“历史应该由权势人物霸占”，故排除A；C项内容原文未提到；由第四段最后一句可知学生们应学习各种经济学理论，D选项错误；由第五段第二句和第二段第二句可知大众创造了历史，人们不应该忘记，B选项符合，故选B。
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