Direct-Action and Autonomous Organizing across the United Kingdom
London Solidarity

By (author) Chris Spannos

ISBN13: 9781350274723

Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Format: Hardback

Published: 18/09/2025

Availability: Not yet available

Description
No history of post-war British left-wing activism would be complete without mention of the iconoclastic London Solidarity group. Direct-Action and Autonomous Organizing across the United Kingdom: London Solidarity is the first book dedicated to examining this group’s surreptitious origins, influences and legacy. Part of an international and mostly informal movement breaking away from traditional left-wing politics at the height of Cold War tensions, the London Solidarity group contributed to the re-emergence of direct-action and autonomous working-class struggle in the UK. The group rigorously critiqued authoritarian exploitation in the East and West, championed sexual liberation, wildcat strikes, housing struggles and played a historic role in the 1963 “Spies for Peace” scandal which rocked the British government by revealing its secret preparations for elite rule after nuclear war. Direct-Action and Autonomous Organizing across the United Kingdom uses both first-hand participant accounts, personal correspondence, previously unpublished archival material and the latest historical research on left-wing radical politics to tell the story of this radical left group and its activities while locating it in various activist networks in Britain and abroad.
Introduction: Why Solidarity? Part 1: The Social Historical Context of Solidarity Chapter 1. Modern Capitalism & Revolution Chapter 2. The Failure of the Marxist Imaginary Chapter 3. Cold War Heteronomies Chapter 4. London – fertile revolutionary ground to grow on Chapter 5. Progenitor of ideas: Socialisme ou Barbarie Chapter 6. Socialism Reaffirmed: Towards a new International? Part 2: A contribution to direct-action in Britain 1961-1967 Chapter 7. Industrial Action Chapter 8. Spies for Peace Chapter 9. Housing Struggles Part 3: Reinventing the Revolutionary Project 1967 - 1973 Chapter 10. As we see it Chapter 11. As We (Don’t) see it Chapter 12. The case for ‘Sexual Revolution’ Chapter 13. Workers' Control: The Historical and Theoretical Sources Part 4: Solidarity & the ‘Malaise on the Left’, 1973-1978 Chapter 14. Solidarity spreads Chapter 15. Re-emergence of the Traditional Left Chapter 16. Revolutionary Organisation: Problems and Possibilities Part 5: Solidarity – For Social Revolution, 1978-1992 Chapter 17. The Dissolution of Solidarity? Conclusion: In the Wake
  • History: specific events & topics
  • British & Irish history
  • Tertiary Education (US: College)
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List Price: £85.00