Victorian Periodicals Review

Abstract:

This article examines the early production history of the National Asylum Workers' Union Magazine to assess the impact of periodical culture on trade union politics. Under its inaugural editor, Hubert Bankart, the magazinequickly distinguished itself through brash editorials and eye-catching design elements. However, while British mental health workers praised the periodical as both a powerful propaganda tool and an engaging literary work, pragmatic union officials were alarmed at its expense and the political backlash it attracted. Subsequent disputes over Bankart's editorial independence reveal the journal as a site where organizational and ideological differences were negotiated and debated.