Capital & Class 87 Autumn 2005: Miners' Strike Special Issue
Contents
Introduction
'The past we inherit, the future we build'
Anne Suddick
In the preface to this special edition, Anne Suddick discusses the issues that came out of the women's forum at last year's Miners' Strike Twenty Years On: Challenges and Changes conference, which was attended by women activists from the Durham area, and by national officials from Women Against Pit Closures.
BEHIND THE NEWS
Like taking coals to Newcastle: A new era for trade unionism in the North East of England?
Ian Fitzgerald
In this issue, Behind the News focuses on the innovative way that union learning reps (s) and the learning and skills agenda have been used to provide an opportunity to renew workplace and governance engagement in the North East.
ARTICLES
An interview with Ian Lavery, president of the National Union ofMineworkers
David Wray
This interview with Ian Lavery, president of the National Union of Mineworkers, was conducted at Ellington Colliery shortly after its closure in January 2005. The interview covers his early introduction to the industry and concludes with his perceptive and optimistic view of the future of the industry to which he and so many others have dedicated their lives.
There's a new world somewhere: The rediscovery of trade unionism
John Stirling
This article reviews the debates about union decline and renewal, and assesses the extent of the adoption of new organising strategies and their potential significance for the future of trade unions.
The legal legacy of the miners' strike
Stephen Cavalier
This article explores the reaction of Parliament and the courts to the miners' strike, and looks at the impact on the law affecting trade unions and workers.
There is no alternative: Exploring the options in the 1984-5 miners' strike
Ralph Darlington
This article examines the potential for alternative courses of action and a different outcome to the 1984-5 miners' strike, suggesting that it was the failure to replicate to the same extent the mass and flying pickets adopted during the 1972 miners' strike, combined with the relative lack of solidarity industrial action from other trade unionists, that was crucial to defeat.
Defeated but defiant: The continued resilience of the National Union of Mineworkers within the Nottinghamshire coalfield
David Allsop
David Allsop discusses the effectiveness of the National Union of Mineworkers' shop steward organisation in a case-study colliery in Nottinghamshire. The article highlights the recent history of the mining industry, putting the issues at the colliery into context. It then provides empirical evidence to show that militant trade unionism is a significant factor in union survival.
Shoulder to shoulder: An analysis of a miners' support group in the 1984-85 strike and the significance of social identity, geography and political leadership
David Beale
Through detailed analysis of a miners' support group in 1984-5, this article suggests an approach to understanding the strike support group movement — and potentially those of other protracted union struggles— that emphasises geography, social identification and political leadership.
Complexities of class and gender relations: Recollections of women active in the 1984-5 miner's strike
Monica Shaw and Mave Mundy
Monica Shaw and Mave Mundy explore women's activism in the 1985-5 miner's strike. They draw on qualitative interviews with women in the North East of England conducted in two periods, 1985-7 and 2002-4, in order to illustrate the ambivalence and complexity of women's experience in contrast to romanticised accounts in the literature.
Emotional regeneration through community action in post-industrial mining communities: The New Herrington Miners Banner Partnership
Carol Stephenson and David Wray
Based on a case study of a post-industrial mining community, the authors offer the concept of 'emotional regeneration' to explain the resurgence in the annual Durham Miners' Gala. Also discussed are issues of occupational identity, social solidarity and cultural heritage.
British anarchisms and the miners' strike
Benjamin Franks
Benjamin Franks distinguishes some of the main currents in British anarchism at the time of the miners' strike. The article explores the effects of these libertarian movements on the conflict in the coalfield, and assesses how the strike influenced the development of British anarchisms.
Available from www.cseweb.org.uk