>>Let our past struggles inspire our future>> The songs, theatre and poetry of working class struggle have played a key role in carrying forward the convictions and knowledge of one generation to the next.
Paisley Tuesday 7 December
In today’s struggle to defend the welfare state, the trade union movement needs that inspiration more than ever: the laughter that comes exposing the pretences of the great and the good, the anger that comes from understanding the origins of exploitation, the confidence that comes from solidarity – and the knowledge that the world can change.
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
This series of four meetings will be followed by a further four in the spring and summer of 2011 in the East of Scotland. Glasgow
Richard Leonard Pat McIlvogue Chair: Eric Blackburn 7 p.m. Paisley Town Hall
“Even as you think at present that it's right for so few people to own the Earth, the Minerals and the Water, which are all just as necessary as is the air. In exactly the same spirit as you now say: "It's Their Land," "It's Their Water," "It's Their Coal," "It's Their Iron," so you would say "It's Their Air," "These are their gasometers, and what right have the likes of us to expect them to allow us to breathe for nothing?" ROBERT TRESSELL 1911
Tuesday 5 October Working class culture, the trade union movement and government: a review Susan Galloway Dave McLennan Chris Bartter Chair Drew McFarlane 7 p.m. STUC, 333 Woodlands Road, Glasgow G3
Motherwell Tuesday 11 January
Ayr Tuesday, 2 November
Robert Burns The Radical Jackson Cullinane Chair Alex Baird 7 p.m. Ex-Service Club, Academy St, Ayr
George Orwell: from Down and Out in Paris and London to Animal Farm: an assessment Elaine Smith MSP Vince Mills Chair Andrew Clark 7 p.m. Daisy Park Community Centre, 105 Roman Road, Motherwell
>>the working class and its culture>>