New trade union activism

Class consciousness or social identity?

Sian Moore, Palgrave Macmillan, 208 pages, hardback, special 40% discounted price offer from Bookmarks £30 (usual price £50)

Sian Moore, a former researcher at the Labour Research Department and now Reader at the Working Lives Research Institute at London Metropolitan University, writes about a new generation of trade union activists who are emerging across the movement.

These are people from a wide range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds, including migrant workers, young people, gay and transgender workers.

“In this book” says Moore, “workers tell their own stories about why they become active and how they see their trade union activity.”

And, she says: “It refutes arguments that class is no longer important or that it has been overtaken by other social identities based upon gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality or disability.”

Moore found that work remains central to identity. But “gender, race and ethnicity are crucial components of work relations too and are therefore a vital part of wider, collective identity and consciousness”.

Frances O’Grady, TUC deputy general secretary, says the book is “essential reading for all those interested in the future of trade unionism”.

Reviews contributed by Bookmarks, the UK’s leading socialist bookshop. Order online at www.bookmarksbookshop.co.uk