if anyone goes could they report about it on the site?
edit: geeze they have a discount for labor party members?
One Day Conference: Syndicalism and Revolutionary Trade Unionism in Wales and the Wider World.
After a google.
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SYNDICALISM AND REVOLUTIONARY TRADE UNIONISM: The seminar, to be held at the University of Glamorgan on Saturday 22 September 2007, is the second in a series of three one-day seminars at the universities of Manchester, Glamorgan and Leicester. The theme of the seminar series is 'Identity and Self-Representation in European Communist Life Histories'. The seminars aim to reflect on the growing body of research on communist life history and collective memory. While this seminar gives due attention to Wales, the series offers a comparative approach across both national and political dividing lines. The speakers include Alex Gordon (Council of Executives, RMT Union), 'Charles Watkins and Syndicalist Railwaymen'; Kevin Morgan (University of Manchester), 'A A Purcell and Syndicalist Internationalism'; Ralph Darlington (University of Salford), 'The Origins of Syndicalism: An International Comparative Analysis'; Sharif Gemie (University of Glamorgan), 'Heartland of Syndicalism: Spain'; John Manley (University of Central Lancashire), 'The Canadian Communist Party and the Industrial Working Class during WW2'. The organisers, in collaboration with a number of other researchers in the field, aim to turn this initial series of seminars into a regular event. The focus of these seminars - and potentially annual conferences - will be the left; but other related topics will be considered, particularly if offering comparative insight into the left or methodological innovation. The event will cost £10.00 per person, including a buffet lunch and morning and afternoon coffee/tea. More information from Norman La Porte, email: nlaporte@glam.ac.uk.
Here's the full programme
Quote:
Syndicalism and Revolutionary Communist Trade UnionismPart 1: Syndicalism and Revolutionary Trade Unionism in Wales
Welcome: 10.1510.30–11.45: Emma Goldman and Wales
Kevin Morgan (Manchester), Emma Goldman
Colin Thomas (Film Maker), ‘“MY DEAR, DEAR EMMA: Emma Goldman and the forgotten Welsh Anarchists’
Chair: Ursula Masson (Glamorgan)11.45–12.00: Coffee/Tea
12.00–13.15: Radicals and Radicalism: Miners and Railwaymen in Wales
Steffan Morgan (Swansea), ‘Adding a Gendered Perspective to the Old Traditions: The Miners’ Strike of 1984 in Wales’
Alex Gordon (Council of Executives, RMT Union), ‘Charles Watkins and Syndicalist Railwaymen’13.15–14.00: Lunch
Part 2: Syndicalism and Revolutionary Trade Unionism
14.00–15.15: Origins and Heartland of European Syndicalism
Ralph Darlington (Salford), Origins of Syndicalism
Sharif Gemie (Glamorgan), ‘Spanish Anarcho-Syndicalism’15.15–15.30: Coffee/Tea
15.30–16.45: Syndicalism and the Americas
John Manley (University of Central Lancashire), ‘The Canadian Communist Party and the Industrial Working Class during WW2’
Edward P. Johanningsmeier (University of Delaware), ‘The Profintern and the “Syndicalist Current” in the American Communist Party’
Chair: Nina Fishman (Swansea)
Certainly seems that way. Manley however might just be contrasting the two by pointing out tensions between the party and the industrial working class. For example, while the Communist Party in Northern Ireland was of course pro-WWII and opposed to industrial action particularly in war industries Belfast saw unprecedented levels of illegal industrial action by its industrial working class. Thats the approach I'd go for but of course for all I know this particular intellectual may be a tankie apologist. Actually there may be something on the tensions between the American Communist Party and its more syndicalist members in the other presentation, who knows? They may both even look at attitudes to the IWW.
But yeah, the focus seems balls, probably more to do with the politics and familiarity of the people giving the talks rather than them actually doing a bit more work and making their presentations more relevant to the overall theme.
Still this sorta mix is what you get relying on academices to talk about working class history, particularly lazy ones. Then again they could both just be pro-syndicalist and antagonistic of the relationship of the CP to syndicalism. We'll not know unless anyone goes. Unfortunately I can't, though I'd love to.
Anyone know if there'd be any posibility of getting copies of the 'papers'/talks being presented.
nastyned wrote:
'Syndicalism and the Americas' is focussing on communists parties not the IWW
Well, the IWWand anarchosyndicalism were not the mainstream of the Syndicalist movement. The mainstream syndicalists - like Tom Mann in the British Empire, the CGT and their followers such as Wm. foster in North america, went completely CP. In the US, Foster's Trade union Education League became the CPUSA's trade union apparat. Combine with dissident IWW's (eg James Cannon, Harrison George, etc) and you get a syndicalist current within the CPUSA.
Quote:
Wm. foster in North america, went completely CP. In the US, Foster's Trade union Education League became the CPUSA's trade union apparat. Combine with dissident IWW's (eg James Cannon, Harrison George, etc) and you get a syndicalist current within the CPUSA.
There is a truism to this. While I absolutely disagree with the aim of the former Syndicalist League of North America (Foster's preITUEL/TUEL), and those who went bolshevik, there was a left socialist (marxian) tendency within the IWW and the Foster broing-from-within wing that went CP.
I recall reading that both the Communist Labor Party and the Proletarian Party in the US (late Nineteens) of having one foot in the syndicalist camp and one foot in the bolshevik camp.
Interesting histories of the CLP & PP can be found at
http://www.marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/proletarianparty.html
http://www.marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/communistparty.html
Salvatore Salerno argues in " Red November/Black November: Culture and Community in the Industrial Workers of the World" that anarchism and anarcho-syndicalist influence was pretty pervasive in the IWW. He argues this through his contention that the "Chicago Idea" (of the Haymarket anarchists) was readily and often refered in the formation and guiding principles of the IWW.
I haven't really seen a studies of the US anarchist press of the time to indicate what the general opinion of the IWW was amongst concious anarchists. What I have seen has been, overall, favorable.
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Boulcolonialboy: They should also have simply said 'North America' given the lack of any mention of the likes of the FORA.
As the FORA is in South America (Argentina).... well, anyway.... a good booklet on the FORA is by P. Yerril & L. Rosser "Revolutionary unionism in Latin America: the FORA in Argentina"
http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/bulletin/issues/kslb28.htm
The FORA was never considered itself a syndicalits union. It early o declared itself an anarchist comminst workers organization. The reality is the FORA has always been close to and affilated with anarcho-syndicalists.
The conference only goes to show the diversity of what consituted the pre-WWI syndicalist movement and, ultimately, some of the problems faced in keeping the movement on a direct action, non-parlimentarian and libertarian course on an international level. And whether or not all of those movements branded syndicalist could actually be considered revolutionary syndicalist as we might define it (like in Britain. See Bob Holton. "British Syndicalism. 1900 - 1914", PLuto Press)
Not to mention the battle of diverse views within the US context .
We can even catch a contemporary glimpse of this in the "New Politics" article Revolutionary Unionism: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow by Dan Jakopovich
http://www.wpunj.edu/newpol/issue43/Jakopovic43.htm
Both of these biographies of Foster are of interest in terms of the US (and to an extent) the international context. .James R., Barrett, William Z. Foster and the Tragedy of American Radicalism, University of Illinois Press, 1999 and Edward P.
Johanningsmeier, Forging American Communism: The Life of William Z. Foster Princeton University Press, 1994.
An interesting snipet on some of the former syndicalists gone bolshevik can be found in Emma Goldman's Living My Life: http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/goldman/living/living2_52d.html
Gotta catch some shut-eye.
OliverTwister wrote:
Come on Brill, the CPUSA was not the 'mainstream' of syndicalism. Foster had a group of maybe 50 people starting from 1913 on, James Cannon's name does not pop up anywhere until he was a trotskyist, etc.They are more like the refuse of the syndicalist movement.
In North America, yes. But Foster's positions were in the mainstream in the world-wide syndicalist movement. Read about the 1912 Syndicalist Congress and the IWW was seen as marginal and essentially denounced as "dual-unionist" by the folks in the CGT and Tom Mann. Foster was a IWW delegate at the congress and went over to the other side.
Foster's SLNA was never large, but had more members than 50 and had more influence than it's membership. Cannon was well known to IWWs and Socialists, Chaplin talks to him well before the trotskyist split.
BTW I never said/meant the CPs represented the mainstream of syndicalism, just that the mainstream of syndicalism - CGT, Tom Mann's organizations - joined the CPs en masse.
One Day Conference: Syndicalism and Revolutionary Trade Unionism in Wales and the Wider World.
10.15 am Saturday September 22nd. 2007 at theUniversity of Glamorgan. Taf Building.
£15 waged. Llafur members £10. Unwaged £5. includes coffee etc.
contact Dr Norry LaPorte - nlaporte@glam.ac.uk 01443 482815
One of the subjects is "Emma Goldman and the forgotten Welsh Anarchists".
and I'm gonna be at the No Border camp! shite!!
Anyone else fancy it?