The latest in our Radical Reads series, we discuss Beverly Silver’s pioneering work, Forces of Labour: Workers’ Movements and Globalisation Since 1870, a book which was hugely influential on many of us at Working Class History.
Radical Reads is one of our Patreon-only exclusive series, where we discuss texts – both old and new – that have either influenced the WCH project, or texts that we generally think that people involved in radical and working-class movements should be engaging with, discussing, and using to inform their activism.
As discussions continue around the world about working-class organisation in the face of a global far-right authoritarian agenda, we thought we’d discuss a text that was hugely influential on us in terms of how we thought about workers’ movements, organising, and international solidarity.
Beverly Silver’s Forces of Labour: Workers’ Movements and Globalisation Since 1870 is epic in its breadth (looking at labour unrest around the world and across a long period of time), but also firmly committed to viewing class struggle from the bottom up.
But most important about the book is how deeply materialist and methodical it is in how it outlines the concrete conditions that gave space for working-class struggle, and how those struggles forced capital to think of new strategies in order to deal with it. Moreover, in doing so, her book also helps us to think and to strategise about working-class organising today.
Episode
- E113: Radical Reads – Forces of Labour – available exclusively for our supporters on Patreon
- Listen to an 18-minute preview of the episode here:
E113: [TEASER] Radical Reads – Forces of Labour – Working Class History
More information
- Buy Forces of Labour from an independent bookshop (or read it online here)
- Check out our collection of books about labour movement history in our online shop
Acknowledgements
- Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands.
- Episode graphic consists of two photos: textile strikers in Paterson, in the US, 1913, courtesy National Parks Gallery, and textile strikers in Egypt, 2007, courtesy Hossam el-Hamalawy https://www.flickr.com/photos/elhamalawy
- Edited by Jesse French
- Our theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube
