Category Archives: Communism

Following in Sylvia’s footsteps; from 1918 to 2018. Meet Charlotte, Josephine, Eden and Lauren.

Posted on March 1, 2018 by lipstick socialist

Sylvia Pankhurst’s  response to the 1918 Representation of the People Act reflected her politics. She had opposed the First World War from the start and  spent the war years defending the rights of poor women and children in the East … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, International Women's Day, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, Tameside, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

My review of “Revolutionary Women”

Posted on December 9, 2017 by lipstick socialist

  I love this pamphlet. It is a fascinating subject; 13 unknown revolutionary women, their story of how they not only fought for their own emancipation but led other revolutionary struggles. Revolutionary Women was produced by the Anarchist Federation who … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

My review of “The Woman Worker” by N. K. Krupskaya

Posted on November 26, 2017 by lipstick socialist

Reading this pamphlet reminded me of the report written by Mary Quaile following the TUC Women’s Delegation to the Soviet Union in 1925.  Commenting on the welcome they received Mary said; “Women were there in hundreds, many of them with … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, feminism, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

“…the point is to change it”: Remembering Ruth and Eddie Frow and the WCML

Posted on November 13, 2017 by lipstick socialist

  Last Saturday’s event commemorated the lives of the  Frows,  showing  how their belief in communism was about grassroots activity which included the creation of the Working Class Movement Library in the 1950s. They wanted  to encourage  future generations to … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, Communism, drama, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, music, political women, Salford, Socialism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

My review of “Workers’ Playtime”, edited by Doug Nicholls

Posted on October 12, 2017 by lipstick socialist

In this new book Workers’ Play Time  seven scripts written about the struggle for workers and trade union rights are published.  The editor Doug Nicholls reminds us of the importance of culture to the struggle for trade union freedom. “Cultural … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, drama, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women | Tagged , | 2 Comments

My review of Women Who Blow on Knots by Ece Temelkuran

Posted on September 20, 2017 by lipstick socialist

  Ece Temelkuran is a Turkish journalist and writer. Her books and writings have taken up issues at the heart of the state of Turkey,  exposing human rights abuses against Kurdish people, the Armenian dispute and, closer to home, the … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, feminism, human rights, Middle East, novels, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women | Tagged , | 2 Comments

My review of Milosz: A Biography by Andrzej Franaszek. (Edited and Translated by Aleksandra Parker Michael Parker)

Posted on August 2, 2017 by lipstick socialist

  Andrzej Franaszek’s biography of  the great Polish poet Czeslaw  Milosz is more than the story of one man’s life: it is a compelling history of Eastern Europe in the  twentieth century.  Milosz was born in 1911 in Lithuania but … Continue reading →

Posted in biography, book review, Catholicism, Communism, human rights, labour history, poetry, trade unions, Uncategorized, working class history | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Days of Hope: an article by Mary Quaile on her visit to the Soviet Union in 1925

Posted on July 26, 2017 by lipstick socialist

2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and it is difficult today to understand the hope that the revolution gave to ordinary women and men across the world. One of those women was Mary Quaile. An Irish immigrant … Continue reading →

Posted in Communism, feminism, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , | Leave a comment

My Review of The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich

Posted on July 21, 2017 by lipstick socialist

  It is only recently that women in the UK have been able to take up frontline roles in the armed forces but in liberation struggles across the world from Northern Ireland to present day Northern Iraq there are plenty … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, education, feminism, labour history, political women, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Political Women: Sandy Rose, Socialist, Feminist, Trade Unionist

Posted on July 2, 2017 by lipstick socialist

  In this occasional series I ask the question; why do some women become political activists?  Sandy Rose was part of the post war generation that lived at a time of great hope, this is her story……….. “I was born … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, biography, Communism, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, Manchester, NHS, political women, Salford, Socialism, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments