The Maltese Labour Movement within an anti-colonial Mediterranean context : 1945-1980s

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore the influences from the Mediterranean on the Maltese labour movement through a comparison with other anti-colonial Mediterranean states. This thesis also compares the influences coming into Malta from Italy as Malta’s transition into a democracy in the post-independence period is likely to have created a situation wherein Italian ideas could be applied. Various studies have been conducted on the Maltese Labour Movement from authors such as Godfrey Baldacchino, John Chircop and Dominic Fenech. This thesis aims to build upon this historiographical trend by not only including the Maltese working class as an agent of historical change establishes it as part of a wider Mediterranean history. This study demonstrates a pragmatic Maltese Labour movement which was able to be influenced by ideas and event from the Mediterranean while managing to adapt these ideas to home soil through an adaptation to the local realities.