From Repertoires to Recipes: rethinking political organisation in the long nineteenth century

This article examines approaches to the history of 19th-century politics in Britain and Ireland in order to propose fruitful directions for further debate. It argues that historians should return to a more holistic view of the practices of political action and democratisation, reframing the divide between social movements, parties and popular politics through a focus on organising. We propose a shift from foregrounding franchise extension as the principal narrative of the 19thcentury and to focus instead on forms of organising political participation as means of assert-ing and developing practices of popular sovereignty throughout the period. Recipes – rather than repertoires – offer a metaphor for variety and change in the ingredients and environments for organising. This article emphasises a comparative and global framework for understanding practices of politics, including organising, in the British Isles