Tag Archives: History
Zomia and the history of state-making
As children, we all studied ‘history’ in school. Initially we studied national ‘history’, and later on as we moved up the intellectual ladder we studied international ‘history’. When we weren’t studying the glories and achievements, and the development of our particular nations, we were studying ‘ancient history’. Things were made to appear quite cut-and-dry. At [...]
Inquilab Zindabad!
“Revolution necessarily implies the programme of systematic reconstruction of society on a new and better adopted basis, often necessitating complete destruction of the existing state of affairs. It was one of the illusions of each generation that the social institutions in which it lived were natural and permanent. Yet for countless years social institutions had [...]
‘Bloody Thursday’: An account of the 1934 West Coast Waterfront Strike
Two black draped trucks, bearing a coffin each, headed the 1,000 strong funeral procession as it made its way slowly through the San Francisco streets lined with 50,000 people who stood in silence out of respect for the two strikers killed by police just four days before on 5th July 1934, a day forever recognised [...]
Direct Action for Houses
The original article appeared in War Commentary 28th July 1945, written by Colin Ward. A little while ago War Commentary reported the arrest of seven families who had settled in an empty 20-room mansion and a cottage at Blantyre. However the case ended it was, as this paper pointed out, “an indication of the kind [...]