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9th march forum: women in the class struggle today
The next of The Commune’s ‘uncaptive minds‘ forums takes place in London the day after International Women’s Day, and is on the subject of women in the class struggle today. Women workers have been...
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are we ready for a winter of discontent?
by Sheila Cohen, NUJ Book Branch Rulers are often more afraid of the political implications of worker activity than workers are aware of them. To take an extreme example, when the police went on strike...
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recession and the rank-and-file
Sheila Cohen explores the relation of capitalist crisis to upturns in working-class struggle Clearly, it’s difficult in the midst of the current “double dip” recession to predict whether further key...
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what ‘went wrong’ with the winter of discontent?
Often portrayed as responsible for bringing down a Labour government and ‘letting in’ Thatcher’s Tories, the 1978-79 ‘Winter of Discontent’ remains a high point in the history of the class struggle in...
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workers’ councils: the red mole of revolution
The latest issue of The Commune featured a supplement with an extended piece on workers’ councils by Sheila Cohen. Click image below to see PDF or read full text below. The red mole may weave...
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‘to act in union…’
… on the changing composition of the working class and the implications for class struggle, by Sheila Cohen The statistics will come later, but in advance of the talk I have been asked to give at The...
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‘some past rank and file movements’… and the future?
by Sheila Cohen Bryan Pearce’s 1959 article ‘Some Past Rank and File Movements’[1] is an intriguing piece, not only because of its date during a period of relative quiescence in the labour movement but...
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a syndicalism for the 21st century?
Sheila Cohen looks at the Great Unrest and the meaning for syndicalism today It seems unlikely that the centenary of the 1910-14 Great Unrest will gain much attention in the media – if, indeed, it gets...
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where does resistance come from?
Sheila Cohen reviews Workplace Conflict: Mobilization and Solidarity in Argentina by Maurizio Atzeni (Palgrave Macmillan 2010). This is a book which should be read by anyone interested in and committed...
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starting all over from scratch? a plea for “radical reform” of our own movement
An essay by Sheila Cohen. It is offered as a response to the question set by the Daniel Singer Foundation: “Given the devastating effects of the present crisis on working people, what proposals for...
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what it says on the tin? memories of the NSSN
In January the National Shop Stewards’ Network fell apart when the Socialist Party declared the foundation of yet another national anti-cuts campaign. Sheila Cohen reflects on the deeper roots of...
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“our time is coming again”
Sheila Cohen reviews New Trade Union Activism: Class Consciousness or Social Identity? Sian Moore, Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Yet another pricey, “academic” book – but one with an interesting message....
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