Unemployed Workers’ Centres (1978–): Spatial Politics, “Non‐Movement”, and the Making of Centres

Abstract

This paper revisits the histories of Unemployed Workers' Centres to consider the politicisation of unemployment in the UK. Drawing upon archive material and over 50 oral histories, it considers the emergence of centres as a response to a crisis of increasing unemployment and retrenchment of the welfare state. The paper indicates how Asef Bayat's concept of "non-movement" proves useful for capturing a wider sphere of labour organising, moving beyond more conventional spaces and actions. This approach critically revisits the role of centres in conversation with emerging work in labour geography and social movements studies around the fostering of solidarities. It reveals tensions around their making, whilst also stressing the potential of seemingly small acts when held alongside campaigns. Revisiting this repertoire of activity reveals the persistence of trade union engagements with communities beyond the workplace, as well as a critical insight into the politics of space in forging such alternatives.

Frayed social safety: Social networks, stigma, and COVID-19 – The case of Sri Lankan garment workers

“…And this sustenance sometimes also extended to advocating for correct payment of wages, where some employers were evading or paying lower than the stipulated amount. The presence of RED Sri Lanka, Da Bindhu, Stand Up and Women’s Centre in the forefront was then a boon for working-class women labouring in the apparel sector – and duly acknowledged by such by the workers themselves (see also Kumarage, 2022; Griffin, 2023). Gunawardena and de Silva (2021) too outline how this agentive action by peer labour rights groups was a bulwark that workers needed and had to draw on.…”

“…It is thus distinctive and nuanced from readings that highlight diverse moments of camaraderie and solidarity (Dutta, 2022). Such interpretations as crucial as they are, may miss out on the “diverse political antagonisms shaped through struggles and political practices”, which are also ensnared in complicated incongruities that come with promises and pitfalls (Featherstone and Griffin, 2015: 386; see also Griffin, 2023; Herod, 2022).…”

“…This setting, however, was constantly chipped away at during the past four decades and is ongoingand like elsewhere, ranges from efforts to weaken protective labour legislation to reduced social welfare spending (Biyanwila, 2011;Dunham and Jayasuriya, 2000; see also Griffin, 2023;Ruwanpura, 2023). Development scholars have gone so far as to point out Sri Lanka's internecine ethnic war on the frayed social fabric, removal of subsidies and increased inequality (Dunham and Jayasuriya 2000;Venugopal, 2018).…”

“…This focus is critical to appreciate the sociability that occurs through a “variety of collective activities” that extend beyond the community union schemes and speak to labour politics from below (Griffin, 2021: 27; see also Dutta, 2022; Fischer et al, 2022). Spatializing and grounding labour politics includes the need to be attentive to the contradictions and complexities therein (Griffin, 2023), with the spatial transformations that stemmed from COVID-19 both foreclosing and opening possibilities for collective actions, as Herod (2022) outlines. In the literature reviewed in section three, I focus primarily on contributions by feminist scholars to draw attention to the gaps that persist.…”

Solidarity on the move: Imaginaries and infrastructures within the People's March for Jobs (1981)

“…By 1985, over 210 centres had opened nationally, with the centre on Merseyside a prominent presence in Liverpool city centre (Marren, 2016). Their emergence has been described elsewhere (Griffin, 2023), but here they are introduced to further emphasise the relationship between imaginaries and infrastructures. The march was a moment of solidarity and resistance, but the legacy of action could be found in part through the lives of marchers and the subsequent response of the trade union movement.…”