Social Reform and the Pressure of ‘Progress’ on Parliament, 1660-1914: Social Reform and the Pressure of ‘Progress’ on Parliament, 1660-1914

In modern Britain, pressure on parliament for social reform has been transmitted not only by mass movements of the people, but by well‐organised pressure groups and small coteries of experts. Driven by intellectual imperatives and by differing ideas of ‘progress’, these experts and activists have directed the impetus for measures to tackle poverty, working conditions, or inequality, mediating a broader sense of pressure from without. In contrast to political histories of social reform, this essay offers a history of ideas for social reform and the methods by which reformers shaped parliament's agenda.