Responding to Globalization? Churchill and Dundee in 1908

This article examines the political implications of the extraordinarily high level of economic globalization in the pre-1914 city of Dundee, a consequence, above all, of the dominance of the city by the jute industry. It focuses on the 1908 by-election, when Winston Churchill won one of the two local seats for the Liberal party. By posing the political issues facing the city in terms of globalization, the aim is not only to provide fresh insights into Dundee's politics, but also to suggest how we might approach the politics of 'globalized Britain' more broadly in this period. It suggests how deeply embedded pro-free-trade policies were in the city, despite the movement of many jute employers towards protectionism. It also emphasizes the obstacles to the development of a distinct Labour policy agenda on economic issues in the pre-First World War years.