Matthew Worley

Matthew Worley is a British academic and author. He is Professor of Modern History at the University of Reading.

Education

Worley was born and grew up in Norwich, where he attended Heartsease Comprehensive School. He completed his BA and PhD studies at the University of Nottingham, and went on to work there and at the University of Essex, before being appointed to the University of Reading.

Research

Worley has two main fields of historical interest: 20th-century British communism and fascism, and punk and post-punk subculture and popular music. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
He is founder and co-editor of the journal Twentieth Century Communism. He is also a founding member of the Subcultures Network, a group of more than 5,000 people who research and are interested in subcultural practices.

CRASH!

Since 1997, Worley has worked with the artist and designer Scott King under the name CRASH!. Together, they have published numerous magazines, held exhibitions, made a film and contributed to art shows. In 1999, they formed part of Malcolm McLaren's project to become Mayor of London.

Books

2002: Class Against Class: The Communist Party in Britain Between the Wars. I.B.Tauris.
2005: Labour Inside the Gate: A History of the British Labour Party Between the Wars. London: IB Tauris..
2010: Oswald Mosley and the New Party. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan..
2017: No Future: Politics, Punk and Society, 1976-84. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2024: Zerox Machine: Punk, Post-punk and fFanzines in Britain, 1976–88. London: Reaktion, pp 360..

Edited collections

2004: In Search of Revolution: International Communist Parties in the Third Period. I.B.Tauris.
2005: Labour's Grass Roots: Essays on the Activities of Local Labour Parties and Members, 1918–45. Ashgate Publishing.
2008: Bolshevism, Stalinism and the Comintern: Perspectives on Stalinization, 1917–53. Palgrave Macmillan.
2009: The Foundations of the British Labour Party: Identities, Cultures and Perspectives. Ashgate.
2014: Against the Grain: The Far Left in Britain from 1956. Manchester University Press.
2015:. Fight Back: Punk, Politics and Resistance. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
2016:. The Aesthetic of our Anger: Anarcho-Punk, Politics and Music. Colchester: Minor Compositions. Open Access.
2017:. Tomorrow Belongs to Us: The British Far Right since 1967. London: Routledge.
2017:. Waiting for the Revolution: The British Far Left from 1956. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
2018: Ripped, Torn and Cut: Pop, Politics and Punk Fanzines from 1976. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
2018:. The Far Left in Australia since 1945. London: Routledge.
2021:. Narratives From Beyond the UK Reggae Bassline: The System is Sound. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
2021:. The British Left and Ireland in the 20th Century. London: Routledge.

Selected articles

2000: "The Communist International, the CPGB and the Third Period", European History Quarterly, 30/2.
2000: "Left Turn: A Reassessment of the Communist Party of Great Britain in the Third Period, 1928–35", Twentieth Century British History, 11/4.
2004: "Rethinking British Communist Party Women in the 1920s", Twentieth Century British History, 15/1.
2007: "What Was the New Party? Sir Oswald Mosley and Associated Responses to the 'Crisis', 1931–32", History, 92/1.
2011: "One Nation Under the Bomb: The Cold War and British Punk to 1984", Journal for the Study of Radicalism, 5/2.
2011: "Why Fascism? Sir Oswald Mosley and the Conception of the British Union of Fascists", History, 96/1, 66–81.
2012: "Shot By Both Sides: Punk, Politics and the End of 'Consensus, Contemporary British History, 26/3, 333–54.
2013: "Oi! Oi! Oi!: Class, Locality and British Punk", Twentieth Century British History, 24/4.
2014: Hey Little Rich Boy, Take a Good Look at Me': Punk, Class and British Oi!", Punk & Post-Punk, 3/1.
2015: "Punk, Politics and British zines, 1976–84: 'While the world was dying, did you wonder why?, History Workshop Journal, 79.
2016: "Marx–Lenin–Rotten–Strummer: British Marxism and Youth Culture in the 1970s", Contemporary British History, 30/4.
2016: "White Youth: The Far Right, Punk and British Youth Culture", Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, 9.
2018: Does it threaten the status quo?' Elite Responses to British Punk, 1976–78", Popular Music, 37/2.
2018: "Bloody Revolutions, Fascist Dreams, Anarchy and Peace: Crass, Rondos and the Politics of Punk, 1977–84", Britain and the World: Historical Journal of the British Scholar Society, 11/1.
2020: If I had more time it could be better, but the new wave's about spontaneity, right?': Finding meaning in Britain's early punk fanzines ", Punk & Post-Punk, 9/2.
2022: "Whip in My Valise: British Punk and the Marquis de Sade, c. 1975–85", Contemporary British History, 36/2.