Born OTD in 1873, Rudolf Rocker. Historically one of the most prominent forms of social anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism is a school of thought that views labour unions as a potential force for revolutionary social change, capable of replacing capitalism and the State with a new society democratically self-managed by the workers.

The basic idea behind anarcho-syndicalism is to create an industrial workers’ union movement based on anarchist ideas, aiming eventually to … More

OTD in 1834, six farm labourers from the Dorset hamlet of Tolpuddle fell foul of draconian Victorian laws prohibiting assembly . Today the names of George Loveless & his brother James, Thomas Standfield & his son John, James Brine & James Hammett, who made up the Tolpuddle Martyrs, stand high on the roll of British men who have been victimised for their beliefs but stood steadfast in the face of persecution. They refused to be persuaded to betray their principles either by the promise of release or by transportation to Australia.

The Tolpuddle men fought to win their freedom sustained by their passionate conviction that their sacrifices would not be in … More

The stories of the hard-rock miners’ shooting wars, young Elizabeth Gurly Flynn (the “Rebel Girl” of contemporary sheet music), the … More

Imagine Karl Marx as a cartoonist, ready to set the record straight about his much maligned classic, Das Kapital. Impossibly … More