Overview

The horrors of 20th century capitalism threw up numerous challenges by workers and peasants, who rose up in their millions to fight the system. Inspired by the successful 1917 Russian Revolution, they repeatedly created their own institutions of collective power and in doing so demonstrated not just how to organise their struggles in the present but also how to build a world free of capitalists, landlords and generals. But these revolutionary movements quickly confronted counter-revolutionary forces, both in the repressive machinery of the state and in the workers' movement itself - trade union and political leaders with no interest in seeing workers take power. Defeating such forces required that at least the leading militants be organised in revolutionary parties dedicated to seeing the struggle through. The victorious Russian revolution brought hundreds of thousands of working class militants together in new Communist parties dedicated to working class emancipation, but tragically the revolution's defeat at the hands of the dictator Joseph Stalin turned these parties into vehicles for betrayal. From Britain to China, from Hungary to Australia, this book tells the story of these inspiring working class struggles and uprisings and recounts the fights within the workers movement over strategies and tactics to take the struggles forward.

Full Product Details

9780648760351

Table of Contents

Reviews

'This work ....is vast in scope but judiciously focusses on key moments of workers' struggle between 1917 and 1956. .... a guide to activists today, both in terms of theory and practice. .... the authors steer clear of the traps of Stalinism and reformism, remaining true to the essence of revolutionary socialism.' Donny Gluckstein, Lecturer in history in Edinburgh and a member of the Socialist Workers' Party (UK) and author of A people's history of the second world war (Pluto Press 2012) and The Nazis, Capitalism and the Working Class (Haymarket 2012). 'We are seeing a global revival of interest in socialism. Like their predecessors, this generation of socialists will try to draw lesson from the history of the struggle against capitalism. Bramble and Armstrong's The Fight for Workers' Power is an invaluable resource for the education of socialists today.' Charlie Post, Member of the editorial board of Spectre: A Marxist Journal and Tempest a US based revolutionary socialist collective. 'These stories of past revolutions are not only exciting and inspiring. They also point the way to successful socialist revolution in our time.' Rick Kuhn, Australian Marxist scholar, activist and Deutscher Prize winner.

'This work ....is vast in scope but judiciously focusses on key moments of workers' struggle between 1917 and 1956. .... a guide to activists today, both in terms of theory and practice. .... the authors steer clear of the traps of Stalinism and reformism, remaining true to the essence of revolutionary socialism.' Donny Gluckstein, Lecturer in history in Edinburgh and a member of the Socialist Workers' Party (UK) and author of A people's history of the second world war (Pluto Press 2012) and The Nazis, Capitalism and the Working Class (Haymarket 2012). 'We are seeing a global revival of interest in socialism. Like their predecessors, this generation of socialists will try to draw lesson from the history of the struggle against capitalism. Bramble and Armstrong's The Fight for Workers' Power is an invaluable resource for the education of socialists today.' Charlie Post, Member of the editorial board of Spectre: A Marxist Journal and Tempest a US based revolutionary socialist collective. 'These stories of past revolutions are not only exciting and inspiring. They also point the way to successful socialist revolution in our time.' Rick Kuhn, Australian Marxist scholar, activist and Deutscher Prize winner.

Author Information

Tom Bramble has written extensively on the politics of the workers' movement in Australia and internationally. His books include Introducing Marxism: A Theory of Social Change (2015) and Trade Unionism in Australia: A History from Flood to Ebb Tide (2008). He is a founder member of Socialist Alternative, a life member of the Australian university staff union and has been active in a wide range of social and political movements in Britain and Australia since the 1970s. Mick Armstrong has been a socialist political activist and organiser in Australia since the early 1970s. He writes regularly for the Marxist Left Review and Red Flag newspaper and is author of a range of books and pamphlets, including From Little Things Big Things Grow: Strategies for Building Revolutionary Socialist Organisations (2007). Mick is a founder member of Socialist Alternative.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available