E101: [TEASER] Radical Reads – ‘Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics’
Working Class HistoryShow Notes
This is a teaser preview of one of our Radical Reads episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 87-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e101-radical-and-120598405
In this episode, we speak to Alex Charnley and Michael Richmond about their excellent book, Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics. The book pushes back against the idea of 'identity politics' as a vaguely defined and universal bogeyman for both left and right-wing politics.
Instead, they show how 'identity' is not just a ‘subjective’ idea in people’s heads, but the result of real, material ways the working class is structured according to race, gender, nationality etc by the various divisions of labour, immigration laws, etc. And, as we discuss in the episode, what often gets called ‘identity politics’ is actually an attempt to think through how class functions, and is acted upon, in the reality through which it’s lived.
Listen to the full episode here: E101: Radical Reads – ‘Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics’ More information: Buy Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity Politics from an independent bookshop 'Aliens at the Border' – a lightly edited version of Chapter Four from Fractured, looking at Jewish immigration to Britain from Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth/early twentieth century 'Fascism and the Women's Cause: Gender Critical Feminism, Suffragettes and the Women's KKK' – piece by Alex and Michael looking at the link between contemporary transphobic feminists and the far-right by placing it against reactionary elements within the women's suffrage movement, and trajectories which led some into the Ku Klux Klan and British Union of Fascists Listen to an earlier Radical Reads episode with Michael, discussing David Baddiel's hilariously terrible book, Jews Don't Count Books and merch related to Black history and struggle Books and merch related to women's history and struggle Books and merch related to LGBTQ history and struggle Webpage for the episode is available here: https://workingclasshistory.com/blog/e101-radical-reads-fractured-race-class-gender-and-the-hatred-of-identity-politics/ Acknowledgements Thanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Jeremy Cusimano, and Nick Williams. The episode image of a London Black Lives Matter protest, 2020. Credit: Katie Crampton, Wikimedia UK (with additional design by WCH). CC BY-SA 4.0. Edited by Louise Barry Our theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube
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New Fireside Chat available exclusively for our Patreon supporters about the true history of the weekend, struggles over time off from work, and what is missing from mainstream accounts. Our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes, ad-free episodes, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory Listen to the full episode here on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/workingclasshistory/posts/e126-fireside-we-169049458 While mainstream narratives credit antisemitic capitalist, Henry Ford, with the creation of the modern two-day weekend, the reality is that it was something which millions of workers around the world organised and fought for. Time, like wage labour, and many other facets of modern life, seems like a natural phenomenon. But the way we experience time has been shaped almost entirely by human societies. From ancient Mesopotamia, and major world religions including Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we trace the history weekend to mediaeval Europe, Iran, China, revolutionary France up to the present day in the US, UK and elsewhere. From drunkards in Austria, to oil workers in Azerbaijan, anarchists in Chicago, and women in Detroit, in this episode we look at the people who, together, created the weekend. The majority of workers in the West today don’t realise that the modern two-day weekend that most of us enjoy only really became widespread in the last 80 years. And while today we take it for granted, employers and governments everywhere are making moves to erode it. At the same time, as automation continues, and large language models promise ever-higher productivity, a new generation of workers is calling for its extension – to a three-day weekend without loss in pay. Who will ultimately prevail, depends on us. E125: Fireside Chat – How We Won the Weekend – Available exclusively for our supporters on Patreon Full episode webpage: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e126-the-radical-history-of-the-weekend/ WCH commemorative merch about the weekend: https://shop.workingclasshistory.com/collections/all/weekend Acknowledgements Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands. Edited by Jesse French Our theme tune is Montaigne’s version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses’, performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube.
As part of our work to mark the centenary of the UK's 1926 general strike, we sat down with with Charles Ferrall and Dougal McNeill, authors of the excellent Writing the 1926 General Strike: Literature, Culture, Politics to talk about some of the literature texts produced in response to the strike, both from established authors and emerging working-class writers.
Free preview extract ofIn various countries around the world, as movements against exploitation and inequality exploded, protesters found some unlikely allies – street dogs. In these episodes, we look at movements and riot dogs in two countries: Chile and Greece, and Negro Matapacos and Loukanikos, respectively. Our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes without ads, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Supporters also get access to two exclusive podcast series: Fireside Chats and Radical Reads. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory In this bonus episode, we look at a street dog named Loukanikos, and protests against police violence in 2009, and against austerity in 2011. Listen to the whole thing exclusively by joining us on Patreon. More info Check out the Riot dog merch in our online shop. Check out sources, more information, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e125-riot-dogs/ Acknowledgements Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands. Episode graphic: Loukanikos poster, designed for WCH by Jeff Mooridian Jr Our theme tune is Loukanikos, by Ricardo Araya, as The Sunfall. Get it here on Bandcamp. Written by Audrey Kemp and Tyler Hill. Produced by Tyler Hill.
In various countries around the world, as movements against exploitation and inequality exploded, protesters found some unlikely allies – street dogs. In these episodes, we look at movements and riot dogs in two countries: Chile and Greece, and Negro Matapacos and Loukanikos, respectively.Our podcast is brought to you by our Patreon supporters. Our supporters fund our work, and in return get exclusive early access to podcast episodes without ads, bonus episodes, free and discounted merchandise and other content. Supporters also get access to two exclusive podcast series: Fireside Chats and Radical Reads. Join us or find out more at patreon.com/workingclasshistory You can listen to our podcast on the links below, or on any major podcast app. Links to a few below.Episodes E125: Chile – In this episode, we head to Chile, where a central figure of the 2019 uprising against the country’s dictatorship-era legacy, was a street dog called Negro Matapacos. Available without ads on Patreon. E125.1: Greece – In this bonus episode, we look at a street dog named Loukanikos, and protests against police violence in 2009, and against austerity in 2011. Available exclusively for our supporters on Patreon. More info Check out the Riot dog merch in our online shop. Check out sources, more information, and eventually a transcript on the webpage for this episode: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e125-riot-dogs/ Acknowledgements Thanks to our Patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands. Episode graphic: Negro Matapacos mural, courtesy Sfs90/Wikimedia Commons Our theme tune is Loukanikos, by Ricardo Araya, as The Sunfall. Get it here on Bandcamp. Written by Audrey Kemp and Tyler Hill. Produced by Tyler Hill.
Fireside Chat podcast available exclusively for our Patreon supporters we invited back Tomas Rothaus (from our Argentina 2001 episodes) to discuss football, politics, and the chaotic mess of the World Cup in Donald Trump's USA.