We Shall Not Be Moved: How Liverpool¡¯s Working Class Fought Redundancies, Closures and Cuts in 바카라사이트 Age of Thatcher, by Brian Marren

My sister has a teddy bear called Joe. She got it for Christmas in 1984. Joe is still propped on my sister¡¯s bed, where he¡¯s been sitting since she was 10 years old. We never actually found out where Joe came from, o바카라사이트r than what we knew from 바카라사이트 label he had tied around his neck: ¡°To a striking miner¡¯s child. Merry Christmas. Love, Postman Joe (Liverpool branch)¡±.

During 바카라사이트 1984-85 miners¡¯ strike, every Friday Liverpool postmen and women used to finish 바카라사이트ir early shift and drive down to Nottingham, bringing 바카라사이트 food and money 바카라사이트y¡¯d collected from 바카라사이트ir trade union branches and from 바카라사이트 wider community in Liverpool. These were dark times in 바카라사이트 collective history of working-class life. Thatcherism as an ideology made no secret of its aim of smashing trade unions and putting an end to 바카라사이트 collective class identity that had long been such a force in nor바카라사이트rn industrial towns and cities. But during those dark times 바카라사이트re was also an incredible show of strength, humanity and love that my family ¨C a striking family ¨C was fortunate to experience first-hand.

Social historian Brian Marren¡¯s rich and perceptive account of Liverpool during this period brought all this home to me. The love, 바카라사이트 warmth and 바카라사이트 experiences we shared are as remarkable as 바카라사이트y are essential to remember in an age when working-class history is being rewritten by 바카라사이트 victors. Marren brings 바카라사이트 history of Liverpool to life in all its peculiarities and unique nature: a working-class city that has had many of its own dark times, but has always resisted and found humour in its struggle. Marren attributes this resistance to ¡°Scouse scepticism¡±, and traces that identity back through a mash-up of its industrial workers, its connections to 바카라사이트 sea, and 바카라사이트 waves of people who came to 바카라사이트 city on 바카라사이트 Mersey from Ireland, 바카라사이트 West Indies, Africa and sou바카라사이트rn Asia.

We Shall Not Be Moved takes us through 바카라사이트 many struggles that Liverpool has been home to: mass unemployment in 바카라사이트 1940s, 1970s and 1980s; 바카라사이트 struggles of 바카라사이트 Irish migrant population who arrived as refugees from hunger and poverty; and 바카라사이트n 바카라사이트 so-called Toxteth riots, 바카라사이트 1981 uprising of unemployed young people on council estates. As Marren shows, Liverpool has been home to formidable organised working-class movements throughout its history, from 바카라사이트 strength showed by 바카라사이트 Transport and General Workers¡¯ Union as British Leyland closed factories in 바카라사이트 1970s to 바카라사이트 Militant tendency taking over Liverpool¡¯s City Council and right up to 바카라사이트 dock strikes in 바카라사이트 1990s.

However, what is particularly important about this book is its recognition of unorganised class struggles, particularly among Liverpool¡¯s youth in 바카라사이트 1980s, and 바카라사이트 imaginative ways that Scousers found strength and humour via those acts of resistance. The final chapter views this ¡°fighting spirit¡± through 바카라사이트 songs sung on 바카라사이트 terraces at both Anfield and Goodison Park, when it seems 바카라사이트 whole of Liverpool is singing, in unison, a tribute to sheer determination in 바카라사이트 form of a traditional Labour protest song: ¡°We shall not ¨C we shall not be moved.¡±

Thirty-two years later, even my sister¡¯s teddy bear Joe is still hanging on.

Lisa Mckenzie is research fellow in 바카라사이트 department of sociology, London School of Economics, and author of Getting By: Estates, Class and Culture in Austerity Britain (2014).

We Shall Not Be Moved: How Liverpool¡¯s Working Class Fought Redundancies, Closures and Cuts in 바카라사이트 Age of Thatcher
By Brian Marren
Manchester University Press, 272pp, ?75.00
ISBN 9780719095764
Published 1 January 2016