La tradición democrática en el comunismo británico. E. P. Thompson a la luz de los archivos del MI5

Julio Martínez-Cava Aguilar

doi:10.70794/hs.113829

Authors

Julio Martínez-Cava Aguilar Universidad de Barcelona https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8971-4629

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.70794/hs.113829

Keywords:

E. P. Thompson, Communism, Stalinism, McCarthyism, Libertarian Tradition

Abstract

This article offers an analysis of the files released by the MI5 in September 2016 that contain the documentation about espionage carried out on the socialist historian E. P. Thompson. our aim is shedding
light on his commitment to Stalinism before 1956. The historical context of British communism and
McCarthyism in the early years of the Cold War is reconstructed. Finally, we assess the weight of the libertarian tradition as a causal factor in Thompson’s break with the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Author Biography

Julio Martínez-Cava Aguilar, Universidad de Barcelona

Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Barcelona. His research interests are the history of political thought and republican political philosophy, the history of socialism, British Marxism and theories of social classes. His recent publications include ‘Enemy at the gates. Political freedom and fiduciary principles in British socialism’ (Daimon. Revista Internacional de Filosofía, 81, 2020: 161-177); and the “Introduction” to E. P. Thompson, Costumbres en común. Estudios sobre la cultura popular (2019).