ABSTRACT
The attempts by manufacturers to exploit the benefits of machinery in Birmingham and Sheffield were just one aspect of a multi-faceted process whereby members of middle-class establishments in business and the professions tested and sought to transform their relationships with the local working population. The complicity of the latter was the goal sought in the industrial and political spheres and in the realm of ‘public order and morality’. The terms upon which it was obtained were very different in the two cities. However, a simple model of ‘class conflict’ or ‘class bargaining’ would be inadequate. As will be seen, not only were there deep divisions within middle-class and artisan establishments but the social configurations within which they sought to protect or advance their perceived interests were subject to transformations which were beyond the control of particular groups or social classes.
