Revisiting the General Strike of 1926: When Workers Were Ready to DareBy: Charlie KimberJudy Cox

Can the centenary of the 1926 General Strike speak to a new generation of activists? Charlie Kimber and Judy Cox show there are compelling reasons to revisit the events of 1926 in a way which highlights its continuing relevance for those resisting inequality, war and imperialism today.

In Revisiting the General Strike of 1926, it's shown that 1926 saw much greater radicalism – and repression – than often portrayed. The historic role of the General Strike as part of wider revolts against the British Empire in India, Hong Kong and elsewhere and how links of solidarity between these struggles were created is also explored, linking in with the role of other general strikes from Chartism to the Russian Revolution, to more recently the Arab Spring of 2011 12, in the revolt over pensions in France in 2022-3; and what role it has in the fight for Palestinian liberation today.

Featuring a chapter analysing the role played by women in the General Strike and the miners’ lockout that followed and also examining the impact the strike had on literature – from A Scots Quair to Ellen Wilkinson’s Clash and even D.H. Lawrence - Revisiting the General Strike "highlights the exciting vibrancy and potential of workers’ militancy. [It] analyses the past with the object of arming today’s generation of trade union and social justice movement activists with the ideological, political, strategic and tactical tools that can shape present and future struggles.”