Verborgen motieven en uitgesproken persoonlijkheden. Eer en reputatie in de vroege socialistische arbeidersbeweging van Amsterdam

Abstract

Hidden motives and outspoken personalities. Honour and reputation in the early socialist labour movement in Amsterdam

This article analyses the role of personal reputations and honour codes among the first generations of socialist working-class activists in Amsterdam, in the thirty-year period that preceded the rise of the 'modern' Social Democratic Workers Party (SDAP). The 'old movement' as it became known, did not possess a strictly defined ideology or a very solid organisational structure, but was able to compensate for this by placing a strong emphasis on questions of honour and personal reputation. In doing so, the early socialists successfully appealed to existing mentalities within their class.