New issue of the Socialist History Journal
Socialist History 37: Syndicalism and Radical Unionism
During the first two decades of the twentieth century, the ideas of revolutionary syndicalism connected with, and helped to produce, mass workers’ movements in a number of different countries across the world. Socialist History 37 explores the issues which this raises from a number of different perspectives.
Alex Gordon’s glimpse into the syndicalist railwayman Charles Watkins adds a much needed rank-and-file dimension to the biographical literature on British syndicalism. Paul Buhle offers a panoramic overview of syndicalism in the United States. Wayne Thorpe documents in graphic and detailed fashion the way in which European syndicalists in the First World War raised their voice against the discourse of national defence. Moving into the 1920s, Reiner Tosstorff examines the conflictual nature of the relationship between revolutionary synidcalist organisations and the Bolsheviks and the Comintern. Finally Gregor Gall’s focus broadens out from syndicalism per se to the wider historical experience of ‘radical’ labour unionism in Britain, from the 1880s to the 1970s. Like the issue as a whole, the article brings out both the limits and potential of radical unionism. A wide-ranging introduction is contributed by the editor of the issue, Ralph Darlington.
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