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Tribute for Ben Roberts (1918–2011)

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Date01 September 2011
AuthorDavid Metcalf
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2011.00874.x
Published date01 September 2011
Tribute for Ben Roberts
(1918–2011)bjir_874600
Ben Roberts, who started his working life as a milkman, founded the LSE
Industrial Relations Department in 1962. A year later, Professor Roberts
became the Founding Editor of the British Journal of Industrial Relations.
Ben was an expert on the British scene, but he was also hugely knowledgeable
about the United States and Europe. He had excellent links with firms,
unions and policy makers. His Monday evening seminars — jointly with
Henry Phelps Brown — were legendary: always heavyweight speakers and
robust discussion. Ben was not part of the Oxford-Warwick-Donovan
Report consensus. He believed strongly that the law has an important role to
play in regulating employee relations, and he promoted his view tirelessly via
his activity with the Institute for Economic Affairs. He was also an early critic
of the 1970s’ toxic mix of enhanced union power and lax monetary policy. He
was right on both these major issues. Finally, Ben Roberts played an impor-
tant role in the governance of the LSE. He was a safe pair of hands that
helped LSE navigate the turmoil in 1968.
David Metcalf
June 2011
British Journal of Industrial Relations doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2011.00874.x
49:3 September 2011 0007–1080 p. 600
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2011. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd,
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

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