North America

State of the Unions: Recent US Labour Struggles in Perspective

In the USA, the recent resurgence of workplace struggles and their mediation through unions indicate a possible future for the UK and Europe: will social democracy be reborn from its ashes, perhaps in a more radical form, through the initiative of rank-and-file militants?

Review: Bad: The Autobiography of James Carr

Carr, a gang-member and jail-bird in 1960's California, became deeply politicized while inside but also developed a powerful critique of the nature of prisoners' struggles.

"I've been struggling all my life to get beyond the choice of living on my knees or dying on my feet. It's time we lived on our feet."

Wildcats In The Appalachian Coal Fields -William Cleaver

A little blow-out don't hurt nothin'.
A coal miner ain't nobody until he goes on strike,
then everybody's looking at him.

Wildcats In The Appalachian Coal Fields
William Cleaver

Levine, Philip, 1928-today

A short biography and information about the politics of American anarchist poet, Philip Levine.

Philip Levine was born in the industrial city of Detroit to parents of Russian Jewish origin in 1928. Detroit was the home of Father Coughlin, a notorious anti-Semitic Catholic priest who broadcast on the radio every Sunday. He spent most of his childhood and adolescence fighting people who wanted to beat him up because he was Jewish.

Dolgoff, Sam, 1902-1990

An obituary and short biography of Russian-American labour organiser and anarcho-syndicalist Sam Dolgoff.

Sam Dolgoff, my old friend who died last week, spoke from sidewalk soapboxes and in union meeting halls for more than 60 years, and during all that time, what caught everyone's attention was his tough cocky style, half New York, half Joe Hill. Flames of mockery and indignation danced above his head.