CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Thomas, Isabel Grace |
|---|---|
| Title | The Key to Survival? Music Management of Post-Industrial Working Men's Clubs in the South Wales Valleys |
| Summary | Working men’s clubs (WMCs) – otherwise known as social clubs, workmen’s institutes, miners’ welfare halls and political clubs – have played a central role in the cultural life of countless working-class communities in Britain, from their Victorian social reform origins to “Clubland” with its stereotypes of crude comedians, glitzy music acts and calls from the chairman for “best of order!” In the mining towns of the South Wales valleys, they grew alongside the second wave of industrialisation. Likewise, they fell into decline as employment in heavy industry decreased and brought economic difficulties, along with the breakdown of social and cultural structures. Community members within and around those clubs that have survived have varying attitudes towards the heritagisation of industrial history in the region. On the other hand, music programming in a variety of forms has been a vital method for satisfying members and bringing in new, non-member audiences. Over time, this may have created three types of WMC music heritage: official, mainstream, and a third music heritage that I define as based in performance practises, audience practices and programming practices. By taking beneficial aspects of this heritage, WMCs could – and, in some cases, do – adapt to modern needs, contributing to the wellbeing of communities as well as thriving music scenes, in post-industrial areas that feel disillusioned by previous top-down regeneration attempts. This thesis uses extended fieldwork and a case study of WMCs in the post-industrial town of Blackwood in Caerphilly County to examine their place in Wales’ industrial heritage, their music histories and possible music heritage, and the position different types of WMC music management might take in new policy in the UK and Wales. What can clubs learn from their musical pasts that could support their continued existence, revival or reinterpretation further into the 21st century? |
| Supervisor | József Lászlovszky |
| Department | Medieval Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/thomas_isabel.pdf |
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