SOCIAL COMPROMISE AS A TOOL FOR OPPOSING CRIMINOGENICITY IN VICTORIAN BRITAIN

Abstract

The review analyzes Anastasia Shabunina's scientific monograph, Social Compromise in Victorian England (1850-1884), published by Aquilon Press. The author has managed an interesting, original and informative study in line with the modern historiographical genre – the “new social history”. The extensive empirical material and its original interpretation through the use of traditional historical and interdisciplinary methods allow us to speak about the methodological consistency and scientific and practical significance of the reviewed work. The application of the interdisciplinary research model to a serious array of historical sources has made it possible to analyze the evolution of the socio-cultural practice of social compromise. The book provides an in-depth analysis of the formation of methods of social compromise in English society during the period under review. Special attention is focused on the analysis of cultural concepts, value categories of the studied society, taking into account the ideological interpretations by contemporaries. The author of the book examines in detail the forms of communication between the power elite and workers and comes to the conclusion that by the end of the Middle Victorian period in England, a model for resolving social contradictions was formed by expanding social legislation and granting political rights to workers, which made it possible to overcome the protracted economic crisis and, for the first time in the history of European countries, laid down the principles of a “welfare state” that the social policy of the state without destructive revolutionary upheavals, through the practice of social compromise. The scientific depth and foundational nature of the monograph are enhanced by the appendices, which include statistical and illustrative material. The book provides extensive material for further discussion and will be of great help in specialized historical research focused on an interdisciplinary approach.