GB 0101 PP.MM - Malta: Political Parties, Trades Unions and Pressure Groups Material

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0101 PP.MM

Title

Malta: Political Parties, Trades Unions and Pressure Groups Material

Date(s)

  • 1955- (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

2 boxes

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

A large proportion of the material held here dates from the 1950s and 1960s, encompassing the build-up to and eventual realisation of Malta's independence in 1964. Amongst the significant debates of this period were the question of the consequences for Malta's economy of any reduction in the British military presence on the island and the merits of the various options of integration, interdependence and independence. The collection also covers the post-independence electoral struggle between the two main parties, the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party, led for a long time by Dom Mintoff, whose writings and speeches feature prominently here. The antipathy of the Catholic Church to Mintoff's Labour Party led to the formation of alternatives, such as the Christian Workers Party, and there are holdings for these alongside those of other minority parties, trades unions and pressure groups.

Archival history

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.
GB 0101 PP.MM 1955- Collection (Fonds) 2 boxes Institute of Commonwealth Studies

A large proportion of the material held here dates from the 1950s and 1960s, encompassing the build-up to and eventual realisation of Malta's independence in 1964. Amongst the significant debates of this period were the question of the consequences for Malta's economy of any reduction in the British military presence on the island and the merits of the various options of integration, interdependence and independence. The collection also covers the post-independence electoral struggle between the two main parties, the Nationalist Party and the Malta Labour Party, led for a long time by Dom Mintoff, whose writings and speeches feature prominently here. The antipathy of the Catholic Church to Mintoff's Labour Party led to the formation of alternatives, such as the Christian Workers Party, and there are holdings for these alongside those of other minority parties, trades unions and pressure groups.

The ICS political parties collection was begun in 1960-1961, with special emphasis being placed on primary material such as party constitutions, policy statements, convention reports and election manifestos. Since then, the main method of gathering material has been to appeal directly to political parties throughout the Commonwealth, though contributions from Institute members and staff following visits to relevant countries have been significant. More recently material has been collected by means of downloading documents from the websites of the major parties.

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Newspapers, journals, pamphlets, speeches, press releases, policy declarations, reports, press excerpts and other miscellaneous materials, from 1955 onwards, issued by the Christian Workers Party (Malta), the Democratic Christian Party (Malta), the Democratic Nationalist Party (Malta), the General Workers' Union of Malta, the Malta Labour Party, the Maltese Labour Movement (U.K.), the Nationalist Party (Malta), and the Progressive Constitutional Party (Malta).

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

Alphabetically by group, and then in rough chronological order.

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
English and Maltese

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT).

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institutes of Commonwealth and Latin American Studies. Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. Created 21/05/2003 AIM25 Christian Workers Party (Malta) Colonial countries Decolonization Democratic Christian Party (Malta) Democratic Nationalist Party (Malta) Elections Electoral systems Europe General Workers' Union of Malta Groups Interest groups Internal politics Labour relations Malta Malta Labour Party Maltese Labour Movement (U.K.) Marine engineering Nationalist Party (Malta) Parliamentary elections Political parties Political science Political systems Politics Progressive Constitutional Party (Malta) Shipbuilding Trade unions Transport engineering Western Europe

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Newspapers, journals, pamphlets, speeches, press releases, policy declarations, reports, press excerpts and other miscellaneous materials, from 1955 onwards, issued by the Christian Workers Party (Malta), the Democratic Christian Party (Malta), the Democratic Nationalist Party (Malta), the General Workers' Union of Malta, the Malta Labour Party, the Maltese Labour Movement (U.K.), the Nationalist Party (Malta), and the Progressive Constitutional Party (Malta).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.

System of arrangement

Alphabetically by group, and then in rough chronological order.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open to all for research purposes; access is free for anyone in higher education.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English and Maltese

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

See also Political Party, Trades Unions and Pressure Group Materials for other Commonwealth countries and related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held at the ICS.

Finding aids

Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT).

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Notes area

Note

The Political Archives Project was a 2.5 year project to catalogue political archive material held in the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas to the University and present it as a cohesive virtual collection. The project was successfully completed in July 2005. Descriptions of all the documents may be found by searching the library catalogue at http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/, or via the Political Archives website: http://polarch.sas.ac.uk

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area