The Industrial Workers of the World, IWW, or 'Wobblies', organized the first sit-down strike (General Electric, 1906), the first major car workers' strike (Detroit, 1911), and the first "no-fare" transit-workers' job-action (Cleveland, 1944). With imagination, flair and pluck, the IWW wrote many bright pages in the annals of working class emancipation. And they spread all over. An IWW chapter organised a massive though unsuccessful strike at the Glasgow Singer factory in 1911, spreading radicalism across Clydeside. Wobblies made invaluable contributions to workers' culture. Many popular labour songs came from them, and their cartoons are of the funniest. An important influence on the 1960s New Left, the Wobbly theory and practice of direct action, solidarity, and "class-war" humour inspired several generations of civil rights and anti-war activists, and are a major source of ideas and inspiration for today. They were also among the first seeking to "make this planet a good place to live" (to quote an old Wobbly slogan).

This book contains specially commissioned essays by labour historians of international repute. The authors analyse key debates, question dominant paradigms, acknowledge minority critiques and consider future directions. This book will be of interest to historians of working-class political parties and organisations, to students of trade unionism, industrial conflict and to social scientists interested in social and political protest, the relations between employers and the state and post-structuralism. It should be considered for adoption as a key text for undergraduate and postgraduate modules dealing with historiography generally as well as on courses more specifically concerned with labour and social history.

This work approaches the phenomenon of guild socialism from a new perspective, focusing on the Douglas Social Credit movement. It explores the key ideas, gives an overview of the main theories and traces their subsequent history. Thoroughly researched, it provides original material relevant to the field of political economy. This early approach to non-equilibrium economics reveals the extent of the incompatibility between capitalist growth economics and social and environmental sustainability.

Global Unions, Global Business looks at a little understood aspect of globalization: the role of the Global Union Federations. The book outlines the way that they relate to multinational companies through agreements and structured collaboration, and uses detailed examples of their activities including an in-depth case study of one of the GUF’s dealings with a major multinational company. Throughout the book the authors explore the previously unknown internal lives of the Global Union Federations and propose ideas about how they can strengthen their position internationally, including their resource base. Global Unions, Global Business is a unique contribution to existing literature on globalization, and throws new light both on the international trade union movement and its relations with multinational companies. The book will be of interest to all those interested in the future of trade unionism, multinational companies and corporate social responsibility.

Individual essays chart the position of men and women in work, assess the impact of immigration and map industrial politics. Case studies open up other fields: unions' relations with the Labour Party, media coverage, union education, the Cold War and the diverse political forces from Labourism to Trotskyism forging industrial relations. This path-breaking analysis provides an excellent guide to the trade unionism and militancy of the 1960s and 1970s.

This multifaceted text, written by authors from a range of disciplines, focuses on the politics of trade unionism - not only unions' relations with political parties and the state but also on the politics of workplace conflict and industrial action. Scene-setting essays provide broad perspectives on trade union organising, and on the parameters of the post-war industrial environment. Case studies consider particular fields: union relations with the Labour Party, international politics, productivity, major strikes and key groups of workers.