Sign-In
Cart
Reasons to Rebel
Paperback
Political BiographiesSocial Movements
ISBN13: 9780850367911
Publisher: Merlin Press
Published: Sep 24 2024
Pages: 310
Weight: 0.79
Height: 0.65 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English
The 1980s were a shock. Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government battered left movements, painfully disrupted working-class peoples' livelihoods and pressed down on many groups who faced discrimination.
There was no shortage of reasons to rebel. Along with thousands upon thousands of others I opposed not just the repressive laws, but the fundamental tenets of the new right. Hanging on to visions of creative utopias, we strove for new ways of organizing and relating to others and we sought to connect a liberatory sexual politics with rebellions against many kinds of inequality. We argued wrote, campaigned, demonstrated, picketed.
We established alternative cooperative projects, secured reforms through local government and made direct international links. Resourceful resistance slowed down the onslaught but we were contending not simply with the doctrinal resolve of a right-wing government. We faced something larger, something that could not be voted out - a more ruthless global capitalism, geared to profits which was prepared to dump hard-won social provision and neglect to conserve even basic infrastructure.
'Reasons to Rebel ' puts one woman's experiences of radical resistance on record. It is written in resolute opposition to the fatalism that assumes that the power accrued by the right from the 1980s is irreversible. It testifies to the the hope that others will communicate theirs.
'Deeply personal and politically astute. Sheila Rowbotham is a perceptive guide to a painful decade.' - Gary Younge
'Sheila Rowbotham is a great social historian - her socialist feminist writings have influenced generations of women like myself. Here, with her usual originality and sharp insight, she charts the alarming and steady shift to the Right since Thatcher but reminds us of all the community displays of resistance. A rebel girl to her heart, she shows that this merciless trajectory is reversible.We can set ourselves on a different path, towards an equitable and just society.' - Helena Kennedy KC
'A more evocative and informed account of the activism of the 1980s would be hard to imagine. Reasons to Rebel fearlessly interweaves the personal and the political, as Sheila Rowbotham shares the many ways she navigated that constant search in those challenging years for new ways to resist, to campaign, to organize, and to write our own history.What an essential - and amazing - record of an era! To have access to Sheila's unique memories is invaluable.' - Margaret Busby
'There are so many reasons to rebel, especially in these troubling times. Lifelong political activist Sheila Rowbotham's fascinating and beautifully written autobiography of the 80s gives us more than reasons to rebel. Bringing her extraordinary life experiences, she gives us insights, strategies for political activism, ways to cope, how to savor small victories and deal with the too many defeats when political pushback and repression is on the agenda. Her book is not only a call to rebel, but also a reason to hope.' - Barbara Winslow, author, Revolutionary Feminists: The Women's Liberation Movement in Seattle.
20 black & white photographs; index.
Also from
Rowbotham, Sheila
Striking a Light: The Bryant and May Matchwomen and Their Place in History
Raw, Louise
Rowbotham, Sheila
Paperback
Also in
Social Movements
Urban Revolutions: Urbanisation and (Neo-)Colonialism in Transatlantic Context
Kipfer, Stefan
Paperback
In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era
Iton, Richard
Paperback
By the Light of Burning Dreams: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Second American Revolution
Talbot, David
Talbot, Margaret
Hardcover
Revolution and Its Alternatives: Other Marxisms, Other Empowerments, Other Priorities
Brass, Tom
Paperback
Turning the Tide: U.S. Intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace
Chomsky, Noam
Paperback
With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful
Greenwald, Glenn
Hardcover
Doing History from the Bottom Up: On E.P. Thompson, Howard Zinn, and Rebuilding the Labor Movement from Below
Lynd, Staughton
Paperback
They Stole a City: Wilmington's White Supremacist Coup and the Families Who Live with Its Legacy
Collins, Lauren
Hardcover
How Bright the Path Grows: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the March on Washington
Chatelain, Marcia
Hardcover
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home
Grant, Stephen Starring
Paperback
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Davis, Angela Y.
Paperback
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care
Hayes, Kelly
Kaba, Mariame
Paperback
Socialism: The Real History from Plato to the Present: How the Deep State Capitalizes on Crises to Consolidate Control [With Paperback Book]
Federer, William J.
Paperback
The Humanity Archive: Recovering the Soul of Black History from a Whitewashed American Myth
Fowler, Jermaine
Paperback
Exceptional Hatred: Antisemitism and the Fight Over Free Speech in Modern America
Loeffler, James
Hardcover
Killed to Order: China's Organ Harvesting Industry and the True Nature of America's Biggest Adversary
Jekielek, Jan
Hardcover
In Sickness and in Health: Love Stories from the Front Lines of America's Caregiving Crisis
Mauldin, Laura
Hardcover
Korean Messiah: Kim Il Sung and the Christian Roots of North Korea's Personality Cult
Cheng, Jonathan
Hardcover
The Death of Trotsky: The True Story of the Plot to Kill Stalin's Greatest Enemy
Ireland, Josh
Hardcover
Handbook for the Revolution: Building a More Perfect Union for the Twenty-First Century
Palmer, Derrick
Hardcover
The Pursuit of Liberty: How Hamilton vs. Jefferson Ignited the Lasting Battle Over Power in America
Rosen, Jeffrey
Hardcover
Mailman: My Wild Ride Delivering the Mail in Appalachia and Finally Finding Home
Grant, Stephen Starring
Hardcover
I Won't Pretend These Missiles Are Stars: Life in Iran During the 12-Day War
Collective, The Cartoonist
Paperback
Searching for Jane Crow: Black Women and Mass Incarceration in America from the Auction Block to the Cell Block
Leflouria, Talitha L.
Hardcover
Strange People on the Hill: How Extremism Tore Apart a Small American Town
Hayden, Michael Edison
Hardcover
A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children
Gilliland, Haley Cohen
Paperback
America in 25 Revolutions: The Story of Our Imperfect Nation's 250-Year Quest to Become a More Perfect Union
Graff, Garrett M.
Hardcover
Irresistible Revolution: Marxism's Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military
Lohmeier, Matthew
Hardcover
Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism: And Other Arguments for Economic Independence
Ghodsee, Kristen R.
Paperback
This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible
Cobb, Charles E., Jr.
Paperback
We've Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America
Dodson, Angela P.
Days, Michael I.
Hardcover
College Girl, Missing: The True Story of How a Young Woman Disappeared in Plain Sight
Cohen, Shawn
Paperback
Blueprint for Revolution: How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men, and Other Nonviolent Techniques to Galvanize Communities, Overthrow Dictators, or Simply
Miller, Matthew
Popovic, Srdja
Paperback
How We Get Free (Updated 2nd Edition): Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective
Taylor, Keeanga-Yamahtta
Paperback
We Are Heirs of the World's Revolutions: Speeches from the Burkina Faso Revolution 1983-87
Sankara, Thomas
Paperback
Black Marxism, Revised and Updated Third Edition: The Making of the Black Radical Tradition
Robinson, Cedric J.
Paperback
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America (20th Anniversary Edition)
Ehrenreich, Barbara
Paperback
The Myth of Red Texas: Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South
Griscom, David
Paperback
Imperialism, The Highest Stage of Capitalism - A Popular Outline: Unabridged with original tables and footnotes (Aziloth Books)
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich
Paperback
Moon U.S. Civil Rights Trail: A Traveler's Guide to the People, Places, and Events That Made the Movement
Douglas, Deborah D.
Moon Travel Guides
Paperback
The Radical Fund: How a Band of Visionaries and a Million Dollars Upended America
Witt, John Fabian
Hardcover
Against the State: Anarchists and Comrades at War in Spain, Myanmar, and Rojava
Stout, James
Paperback
As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance
Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake
Paperback
Trade Up: Why the Future Belongs to Skilled Trades and How Career Education is Transforming the Workforce
Burr, Riley
Altmire, Jason
Paperback
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects
Wollstonecraft, Mary
Paperback
Shattered Dreams, Infinite Hope: A Tragic Vision of the Civil Rights Movement
Terry, Brandon M.
Hardcover
Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better
Pahlka, Jennifer
Paperback
Be a Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the World--And How You Can, Too
Oluo, Ijeoma
Paperback
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
Incite!, Incite! Women of Color Against
Paperback
Working: People Talk about What They Do All Day and How They Feel about What They Do
Terkel, Studs
Paperback
Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the Fbi, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence
Burrough, Bryan
Paperback
White Evangelical Racism, Second Edition: The Politics of Morality in America
Butler, Anthea
Paperback