Category Archives: Socialist Feminism

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 “Hanna Sheehy Skeffington: Suffragette and Sinn Feiner” by Margaret Ward

Posted on October 6, 2017 by lipstick socialist

In the 1980s massive changes were taking place in this country. One event was the arrival of 40,000 Irish people each year looking for work. It was not a new occurrence, but the latest in a series  of waves of … Continue reading →

Posted in Bernadette McAliskey, biography, book review, feminism, human rights, Ireland, Irish second generation, labour history, North of Ireland, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized | 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 “Why We March: Signs of Protest and Hope”.

Posted on August 6, 2017 by lipstick socialist

    On 21 January 2017 several hundred women (and  some men) gathered in Albert Square in Manchester in support of women’s rights,  and in solidarity with similar events taking place in Washington DC on Trump’s first full day as … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, book review, education, feminism, human rights, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, 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

My review of “Winter Hill” by Timberlake Wertenbaker at Bolton Octagon

Posted on May 21, 2017 by lipstick socialist

Winter Hill, towering over Bolton, is an iconic landmark to people in the northwest: one that in 1896   pushed  thousands of activists to march to it to demand the right to roam. In a new play called Winter Hill, playwright … Continue reading →

Posted in anti-cuts, drama, feminism, labour history, NHS, Northern ReSisters Conversations with Radical Women, political women, Socialist Feminism, Uncategorized, women, working class history | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Political Women; Lisa Turnbull: Single Mum, Durham Teaching Assistant, campaigner

Posted on April 26, 2017 by lipstick socialist

Lisa Turnbull did not want to be a political campaigner but in 2015  her employer Labour-controlled Durham County Council told her and  2,700 of her fellow  Teaching Assistants  that their highly skilled work  would be downgraded  and  their  pay  cut … Continue reading →

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

A Better World for Women: British Women Trade Unionists visit the Soviet Union in 1925

Posted on March 8, 2017 by lipstick socialist

In 2017 it feels  like the word hope has left the political vocabulary. Politics today seems to be all  about trying to hang  on to our jobs and our public services. It feels as if we are all in the … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Communism, feminism, human rights, International Women's Day, labour history, Manchester, political women, Socialist Feminism, trade unions, Uncategorized, women, working class history, young people | Tagged , | Leave a comment