Capital & Class articles from September 2005

Capital & Class archives from September 2005

Introduction.(labor strikes, United Kingdom)(Editorial)
September 22, 2005... Without doubt, the series of miners' strikes in the 1970s that culminated in the strike of 1984-5 were the most dramatic industrial disputes in post-war Britain. As the 'winter of discontent' became the defining catchphrase for an era of...

'The past we inherit, the future we build' (1).(Preface)
September 22, 2005... Twenty Years On: Challenges and Changes, voiced the feelings of many of the women reunited by their participation in the forum. It was the kind of politicisation that comes only once in a lifetime, and as the result of struggle. The miners'...

Like taking coals to Newcastle: a new era for trade unionism in the North East of England?(BEHIND THE NEWS)
September 22, 2005... The recent closure of Ellington Colliery, Northumberland, the last deep coalmine in the North East of England, is the final chapter in the story of a particular workplace trade unionism. As the TUC regional secretary stated, 'the closure of...

An interview with Ian Lavery, president of the National Union of Mineworkers.(Interview)(Biography)
September 22, 2005... This interview with Ian Lavery, president of the National Union of Mineworkers, was conducted at Ellington Colliery shortly after its closure in January 2005. The interview covers his early introduction to the industry and concludes with his...

There's a new world somewhere: the rediscovery of trade unionism.
September 22, 2005... Introduction The decline in British trade union membership did not begin with the miners strike in x984-5, although that symbolic defeat contributed to the myopic shambles that characterised the movement for so long afterwards. Nor was...

The legal legacy of the miners' strike.
September 22, 2005... This article explores the reaction of Parliament and the courts to the miners' strike, and looks at the impact on the laws affecting trade unions and workers. The legal context This short piece presents a commentary on UK employment...

There is no alternative: exploring the options in the 1984-5 miners' strike.
September 22, 2005... Introduction In the early 1970s, Britain was swept by a wave of militant industrial struggle, the depth and political character of which had been unprecedented since the 1920s, both in terms of the sheer scale of strike activity involved,...

Defeated but defiant: the continued resilience of the National Union of Mineworkers within the Nottinghamshire coalfield.
September 22, 2005... Introduction The coal industry in Britain has, since the miners' strike of 1984-85, undergone enormous change. It has seen the implementation of production cost ceilings in response to commercial pressures; the continued use and...

Shoulder to shoulder: an analysis of a miners' support group during the 1984-85 strike and the significance of social identity, geography and political leadership.
September 22, 2005... Introduction While the 1984-5 miners' strike differed from most other industrial disputes in several important respects, one of its particularly unusual and significant features was the extensive and diverse network of community-based...

Complexities of class and gender relations: recollections of women active in the 1984-5 miner's strike.
September 22, 2005... Introduction This fight does not just belong to the men, it belongs to us all... In this country we aren't just separated as a class. We are separated as men and women. We, as women, have not often been encouraged to be involved actively...

Emotional regeneration through community action in post-industrial mining communities: the new Herrington Miners' banner partnership.
September 22, 2005... The essential is not what life has done to people, but what people do with what life has done to them. Jean-Paul Sartre Introduction The failure of the miners' strike in 1984-5, which was a strike over the preservation of jobs and...

'With a little help from our friends': the role of new solidarities and alliances in the remaking of Warsop Vale.
September 22, 2005... Introduction Industrial and political developments since the 1984-5 miners' strike have resoundingly vindicated the sobering prognoses of academic commentators who forecast the decimation of the mining industry and its related community...

British anarchisms and the miners' strike.
September 22, 2005... Introduction If that much disputed of terms, 'ideology', is defined in terms of the analyses of power, programmes for change and identification of agents capable of transforming social relations, as Marc Stears suggests (Stears, 1998:...

Andy Danford, Mike Richardson and Martin Upchurch, New Unions, New Workplaces: A Study of Union Resilience in the Restructured Workplace.(Book Review)
September 22, 2005... Andy Danford, Mike Richardson and Martin Upchurch New Unions, New Workplaces: A study of union resilience in the restructured workplace Routledge, London, 2003, 194 pp. ISBN 0-415-26061-2 (hbk) 60 [pounds sterling] This is an...

Gregor Gall (ed.), Union Organizing: Campaigning for Trade Union Recognition.(Book Review)
September 22, 2005... Gregor Gall (ed.) Union Organizing: Campaigning for Trade Union Recognition Routledge, London, 2003, 270 pp. ISBN 0-415-26782-X (pbk) 23.99 [pounds sterling] The debate about trade unionism in contemporary capitalist society...

Noel Thompson, Left in the Wilderness: The Political Economy of British Democratic Socialism Since 1979.(Book Review)
September 22, 2005... Noel Thompson Left in the Wilderness: The Political Economy of British Democratic Socialism Since 1979 Acumen Publishing, Chesham, 2002, 320 pp. ISBN 1-902683-53-6 (hbk) 45 [pounds sterling] ISBN 1-902-68354-4 (pbk) 16.99...