Tag: 1970s

Commentary

Coney Street, York: a place in labour history

Continuing our series on places of significance in labour history, Kathy Davies introduces Coney Street in York. As a resident of York, I frequently walk down Coney Street, one of the city’s oldest and most familiar commercial thoroughfares. Now bustling with ‘brunchers’ heading to The Ivy and tourists searching for Betty’s Tea Room, this street was once the home of the Yorkshire Evening Press and … Continue reading Coney Street, York: a place in labour history

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Bursary reports, Research bursaries

Gavin McCann on the libraries of the South Wales miners

Gavin McCann is researching a book on trade unions and education. Here he writes about his visit to the South Wales Miners’ Library in search of a lost culture of socialist education. ‘I was in a second-hand bookshop in Cambridge — it would have been 73-74 — and came across two volumes of the history of the mining industry. I thought, bloody hell, where has … Continue reading Gavin McCann on the libraries of the South Wales miners

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Research bursaries

Harry Griffiths (Bangor) on anti-fascism in South Wales and the North West of England

My PhD research examines the development of anti-fascist activism within industrial communities in twentieth-century Britain. It explores localised anti-fascist movements and how factors such as class, employment, and education influenced political engagement. Focusing on two case studies, South Wales and North West England, the project examines the shared characteristics and distinctive experiences of anti-fascist activism across different industrial regions. While anti-fascism in Britain has received … Continue reading Harry Griffiths (Bangor) on anti-fascism in South Wales and the North West of England

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Steven Cox (Liverpool John Moores) on the legacy of Labour Party Young Socialists

My dissertation focuses on the individual and political legacy of the Labour Party Young Socialists (LPYS) with particular emphasis on the period 1979 – 1991. This period covers the ideological polarisation of Britain under Thatcher’s premiership. It was also a time when the LPYS grew dramatically to nearly 600 branches by 1985, only to contract and ultimately be closed down by the Labour Party in … Continue reading Steven Cox (Liverpool John Moores) on the legacy of Labour Party Young Socialists

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Labour History Review

Domestic Service and the Labour Movement in Franco-Era Spain: The Young Christian Workers and the Struggles of Domestic Workers (1960–1976)

Author: Diego LatorreThis is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2025), 90, (2). Read this article. The 1960s and 1970s in Spain were a period of intense social mobilization against Franco’s dictatorship. The clandestine and democratic labour movement was the main political agent behind efforts to improve working conditions and to achieve a political transition towards democracy in Spain. However, within this context, domestic … Continue reading Domestic Service and the Labour Movement in Franco-Era Spain: The Young Christian Workers and the Struggles of Domestic Workers (1960–1976)

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Bursary reports, MA & BA bursaries

Jamila Squire (Westminster) on international solidarity with Italian political prisoners: 1979-84

My MA dissertation research focuses on a wave of state repression of Italian militants from the late 1970s to mid-1980s. On 7 April 1979 several Italian militants and intellectuals of Potere Operaio (workers’ power), Autonomia Operaia (workers’ autonomy), and unaffiliated activists critical of the Italian Communist Party, were arrested for participation in the armed group ‘The Red Brigades’ and the suspected kidnapping and killing of … Continue reading Jamila Squire (Westminster) on international solidarity with Italian political prisoners: 1979-84

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Events, Grants

Beyond the Fragments: 45 Years On

Earlier this year, a one-day conference was held to mark 45 years since the publication of the seminal socialist-feminist text, Beyond the Fragments: Feminism and the Making of Socialism. Co-authored by Sheila Rowbotham, Lynne Segal and Hilary Wainwright, the book argued that the Women’s Liberation Movement offered a unique insight for socialist organising at the end of the 1970s, found not just in theory, but … Continue reading Beyond the Fragments: 45 Years On

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Labour History Review

From Old Labour to the Third Way: The UK Labour Party’s Social and Welfare Policy Evolution between 1975 and 1997

Author: Ben Williams This is the abstract of an article published in Labour History Review (2024), 89, (3). Read more. In parallel to the emergence and subsequent dominance of Thatcherite ideology across the realm of British politics from the mid-1970s, the UK Labour Party’s social and welfare policy agenda reacted and evolved for over two decades, a simultaneous and often futile process that occurred largely during a sustained and … Continue reading From Old Labour to the Third Way: The UK Labour Party’s Social and Welfare Policy Evolution between 1975 and 1997

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Labour History Review

Book reviews in Labour History Review volume 89 (2024), Issue 3

The books listed below are reviewed in Labour History Review (2024), 89, (3). Read more. Siân Davies reviews Randy M. Browne, The Driver’s Story: Labor and Power in the World of Atlantic Slavery, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2024, pp. 224, h/b, £36, ISBN 978 15128 25862 Andrew Frow-Jones reviews Vic Gatrell, Conspiracy on Cato Street: A Tale of Liberty and Revolution in Regency London, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022, … Continue reading Book reviews in Labour History Review volume 89 (2024), Issue 3

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Commentary

Britain celebrates its first May Day bank holiday, 1978

May Day 1978 dawned cold and wet. In terms of the weather at least, and in typical bank holiday style, it then went downhill from there, as meteorologists reported the rainiest 1 May since records began, while temperatures struggled to rise above 6C. Scotland had enjoyed (if that is the word) a public holiday at the start of May since 1871, but it was not … Continue reading Britain celebrates its first May Day bank holiday, 1978

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