Blind Workers against Charity The National League of the Blind of Great Britain and Ireland, 1893-1970

The National League of the Blind was the first radical self-represented group of visually impaired people in Britain, with branches in every part of the United Kingdom. Founded in 1893, it registered as a trade union in 1899 and still exists today as part of the trade union 'community'. From the very beginning, the League campaigned vehemently to make the state solely responsible for providing training, employment and assistance for the visually impaired as a right. It also fought for the abolition of all charitable aid for blind people and better wages and working conditions in workshops, as well as other issues such as travel or tax concessions. This book is the first critical study on this unique social movement organisation. It explores the League's multifaceted character, its campaign for 'direct state aid,' its relationship with the trade union movement and the Labour Party, and its impact on the British welfare state.

Matthias Reiss is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Exeter, UK. He has published widely on the experience of marginalised groups in history, such as the unemployed, prisoners of war and African Americans. His current research focuses on street protest and social movements from the nineteenth century to the present.

1. New Union or Poor People's Movement? Building the National League of the Blind
2. 'Justice not Charity': Framing the Message
3. Mutually Exclusive Principles? Trade Unionism and Charity
4. The Limits of Radicalism: Politics and Protest in the 1920s and 30s
5. Success at Last? The League and the Consolidation of the Welfare State
6. A Changing Relationship: The League and Charity in the Post-War Era