Symposium on 1926 General Strike
Posted by Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak on 2025-07-15
The 1926 General Strike in Britain marked a powerful symbolic moment in the modern history of trade unionism. The sheer scale of the strike and its cross-industry solidarity reflected the central role that labor unions had come to play in shaping working-class identity and collective action. At the same time, the strike exposed tensions within the broader labor movement, particularly as the political ascent of labor parties brought them into closer alignment with traditional institutions of power. The strike’s failure, followed by the introduction of more restrictive legislation on union activity, dealt a significant blow to hopes of achieving transformative reform through organized labor, thus clearing the way to alternative frameworks for understanding capital-labor relations, both on the left and the right.
To commemorate the centenary of the 1926 General Strike and its international resonance, RHETM will publish a symposium on labor unionism in the history of political economy. While the 1926 strike will serve as a central theme of the symposium, individual contributions need not focus on this specific episode. We welcome papers that explore the broad historical trends leading up to the strike, as well as its longer-term implications for 20th-century political economy. Submissions addressing one or more of the following topics are especially encouraged:
- The ‘social question’ in late 19th and early 20th century political economy
- Trade unionism and the Marxian and anarchist legacies
- Fabian socialism and the labor movement
- Industrial democracy in interwar Europe
- Economic planning and organized labor
- The role of trade unions in Third Way politics
- Fascism and collective labor organization
- Trade union relations with the Comintern
- Labor unions in post-WWII political economy
Interested contributors are invited to reach out to the symposium editors, François Allisson (francois.allisson@unil.ch) and Carlos Eduardo Suprinyak (csuprinyak@aup.edu), before Sep 10, 2025. Complete first drafts are expected on Jan 31, 2026.