“The working class did not rise like the sun at an appointed time. It was present at its own making.” – EP Thompson

The global working class has been made and re-made by global capitalism continuously over the past few centuries, as millions have been driven off the land, pulled into the factories, and thrown into an ever-evolving world economy.

But this is only half the story: generations of radicals and militants have fought to “make” the working class as a political and social actor in its own right.

This session will look at the look at the broad sweep of this history, examining the intertwined processes – social, political and industrial – through which the working class becomes the makers of our own history, and potentially makers of a new society.