Papers of Allan Flanders

Personal papers and copies of Socialist Vanguard and Socialist Commentary.

Allan Flanders (1910-1973) was a leading academic in industrial relations and one of the 'Oxford School'. In the 1960s he and colleagues such as Hugh Clegg and Alan Fox contributed to government policy on industrial relations issues such as productivity bargaining and income policies. As a young man he joined a small revolutionary group of German socialists (the ISK) and was recruited by Minna Specht. On his return to England he continued as a member of the Militant Socialist International (MSI) which later became the Socialist Vanguard Group. He remained attracted to ethical socialism all his life, writing many articles for Socialist Vanguard. He was an anti-communist. In the 1960s he moved to the centre left and democratic socialism. He was a key part of the Royal Commission on Industrial Relations (the Donovan Commission) and a national authority on labour relations. Clegg and Flanders formed the basis of the Industrial Relations Unit at Warwick Business School from 1967. Among his best known publications are 'The Fawley Productivity Agreements' (1964) and 'The System of Industrial Relations in Great Britain' (co-authored with Clegg).

This collection is available to researchers by appointment at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. See https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/using/

Link to full catalogue: https://mrc-catalogue.warwick.ac.uk/records/AFL