accounts
Archive of accounts with radicals and working class activists on libcom.org.
1981: The Brixton riots
The following article is a personal account of the run-up to the anti-police riots in Brixton, South London, and the riots themselves.
By now the social and economic background to the Brixton riots will be familiar to most people.
Anarchism in North China, 1910-1934
Some personal recollections of the anarchist movement in Northern China.
In the village where I was born there is a monument in a square erected by the trades unions where fifteen Anarchists were executed as common criminals engaged in a conspiracy against the Empress in her last terror-stricken days. They were buried in a common grave which became a place of honour to the common people, who preserved it carefully.
McGuckin, Henry - Memoirs of a Wobbly
An important contribution to the history of the Industrial Workers of the World. A superb account by a rank'n'file Wobbly organiser; on the road, on the job, on strike, in jail, on the run, coast to coast...
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Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company Established 1886 P,O.BOX 914 Chicago, Illinois 60690
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Sabotage and striking on the job - Louis Adamic, 1931
Louis Adamic immigrated to the United States from Yugoslavia at age 14 and was naturalized in 1918. This essay describes his experiences as a casual labourer in a variety of jobs during the 1920s, including his meetings with fellow workers who were members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the 'Wobblies'.
(This text is Chapter 32 of the Rebel Press reprint of Louis Adamic's classic book 'Dynamite! A Century of Class Violence In America 1830-1930'.)
Two weeks spent in Rennes
A first-hand and in-depth account of events in Rennes - one of the most militant towns - by a participant in the anti-CPE movement.
Behind the blockades
Visiting workers and students in France immediately following the government's withdrawal of the deeply unpopular CPE employment law, Ed Goddard looks at the potential for building a better society the struggle showed.
When analysing the state of the working class, it is up to those looking at it to observe and evaluate the tendencies working within it. By this we don’t mean, “how many people have joined the Marxist-Leninist Workers’ League?” or “how many people self-identify as anarchists?” but something a little more subtle than that.
Montpellier - reaction to the withdrawal, and events this week
Our correspondent in Montpellier reacts to the withdrawal of the CPE and gives a run down of events there this past week.
So Chirac's withdrawn the CPE?
More UMP party offices vandalised while Bishops declare support
An update from one of our correspondent about vandalism in Montpellier and bishops acknowledging the suffering of French youth.
Around sixty students and high-school pupils vandalized the premises of UMP at Montpellier on Wednesday the 5th April. Furniture, posters and the post mail were thrown on the pavement at Assas avenue. The police noticed several inscriptions in the UMP premises relating to the anti-CPE movement : “Sarko tyrant” “the youth has spoken, listen to it”.
Today's demonstrations in Bordeaux
An eyewitness report of another anti-CPE demonstration from our correspondent in Bordeaux, Jay Taylor.
Today’s demonstration in Bordeaux was bigger than last Tuesday’s.
It was a fine spring day and the demo again gathered at the Place Tourny, with the cortege stretching along the Allees Tourny back to the Grand Theatre. Before the start of the march the mood was festive and more militant in the aftermath of Chirac’s speech on Friday night.
Account of a General Assembly in Redon
An account of the decisions made by the students at the occupied university in Redon.
In French Schools and universities a General Assembly (AG) is called when students are dissatisfied. The attendance is usually high. The students will be asked to vote upon potential action to be taken. The date of the next AG is usually decided upon at an AG. This is a translation of the report issued by the students in Redon folowing their most recent AG.
Thursday 30 March
