The Plebs' League was a British educational and political organisation which originated around a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

way of thinking in 1908 and was active until 1926.

History

Central to the formation of the League was Noah Ablett, a

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

from the

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley ('' ...

who was at the core of a group at

Ruskin College, Oxford Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is an independent educational institution in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. It is named after the essayist, art and social critic John Ruskin (1819–1900) an ...

who challenged the lecturers' opposition to Marxism. In the 1907–8 academic year, Ablett began leading unofficial classes in Marxist

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

which were attended by

Ebby Edwards Ebby is a given name. Notable people with the given name include: * Ebby DeWeese (1904–1942), American football player * Ebby Edwards (1884–1961), English trade unionist * Ebby Halliday (1911– 2015), American realtor * Ebby Nelson-Addy (born ...

, among others. Ablett returned to South Wales in 1908, where he began promoting Marxist education through local branches of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

.Syndicalism in South Wales
Bob Pitt A mixture of students and former students at Ruskin founded the Plebs' League in November 1908, also launching the ''Plebs' Magazine''. In the first issue of the ''Plebs'', dated February 1909, Ablett contributed an article on the need for Independent Working Class Education. The League ran classes teaching Marxist principles and later

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

ideas.''The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales''. John Davies,

Nigel Jenkins Nigel Jenkins (20 July 1949 – 28 January 2014) was an Anglo-Welsh poet. He was an editor, journalist, psychogeographer, broadcaster and writer of creative non-fiction, as well as being a lecturer at Swansea University and director of the crea ...

, Menna Baines and Peredur Lynch (2008), p. 687 During 1909, student agitation for Marxism continued at Ruskin. The students were supported by the Principal,

Dennis Hird James Dennis Hird (28 January 1850 - 13 July 1920) was a British clergyman, educator and author. Hird was born in Ashby, Lincolnshire (now part of Scunthorpe) to Robert and Fanny Dennis Hird née Kendall.John Beatson-Hird, ''Dennis Hird: Socialis ...

, and when he was dismissed the students went on strike, refusing to attend classes. The rebels formed the

Central Labour College The Central Labour College, also known as The Labour College, was a British higher education institution supported by trade unions. It functioned from 1909 to 1929. It was established on the basis of independent working class education. The colle ...

, which worked closely with the Plebs' League. By 1910, the Plebs' League was active in South Wales, Lancashire and Scotland. Activists included

A. J. Cook Andrea Joy Cook (born July 22, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role as Supervisory Special Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau on the CBS crime drama ''Criminal Minds'' (2005–2020, 2022). Cook has also appeared in ''The Virgin ...

William Mainwaring William Henry Mainwaring (1884 – 18 May 1971) was a Welsh coal miner, lecturer and trade unionist, who became a long-serving Labour Party Member of Parliament. Both as a trade unionist and a politician he struggled, largely successfully to cou ...

Mark Starr Mark Ashford-Smith (December 26, 1962 – June 7, 2013) was an English professional wrestler best known by his ring name Mark Starr. He competed as a member of several tag teams. Wrestling career Continental Wrestling Association (1986–198 ...

and John Maclean.The Ruskin Debate: Their college or ours?
''Socialist Worker Review 93'',

Duncan Hallas Duncan Hallas (23 December 1925 – 19 September 2002), was a prominent member of the Trotskyist movement and a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Great Britain. Biography Born into a working-class family in Manchester, Duncan Hall ...

(1986) The League had sympathies with

De Leonism De Leonism, also known as Marxism-De Leonism, is a Marxist tendency developed by Curaçaoan-American trade union organizer and Marxist theoretician Daniel De Leon. De Leon was an early leader of the first American socialist political party, t ...

, primarily represented in Britain by the Socialist Labour Party. It later had a relationship with the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

.''Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations'', Peter Barberis, John McHugh and Mike Tyldesley (2000), p. 157 The League was absorbed by the

National Council of Labour Colleges The National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC) was an organisation set up in the United Kingdom to foster independent working class education. The organisation was founded at a convention held in the Clarion Club House, Yardley, Birmingham on 8/9 ...

the year after the

1926 United Kingdom general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governm ...

, although the ''Plebs' Magazine'' continued to appear for many years.

The Plebs Textbook Committee

The Plebs' League established the Plebs Textbook Committee, which was responsible for the collective publishing of several of their books after 1921. These were attributed to "communal production" rather than individual authors. # ''Outline of psychology''. London: Plebs League, 1921. Plebs Textbooks, No. 1. Drafted by

Henry Lyster Jameson Henry Paul William Lyster Jameson (1875, Louth – 26 February 1922, West Mersea) was a zoologist, who studied pearl-formation. He also made contributions to speleology and encouraged the study of psychology in adult education. Life H. Lyster Ja ...

. # ''Outline of modern imperialism''. London: Plebs League, 1922. Plebs Textbooks No. 2. Drafted by Thomas Ashcroft. A

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

translation by Uchida Sakur appeared in 1929. # ''Outline of economics''. London: Plebs League, 1923. Plebs Textbooks No. 3. Based on a series of articles by

William McLaine William McLaine (1891–1960) was an engineer, Marxist and trade union activist. McLaine worked as a mechanic and joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) in 1912. He became secretary of the Manchester No.2 branch in 1916. Opposed to Wor ...

, entitled "Economics without Headaches." # ''Outline of economic geography''. London: Plebs League, 1924. Plebs Textbooks No. 4. Drafted by

J. F. Horrabin James Francis "Frank" Horrabin (1 November 1884 – 2 March 1962) was an English socialist and sometimes Communist radical writer and cartoonist. For two years he was Labour Member of Parliament for Peterborough. He attempted to construct a s ...

. # ''Outline of European history from the decay of feudalism to the present day''. London: Plebs League, 1925. Plebs Textbooks No. 5. Drafted by

Maurice Herbert Dobb Maurice Herbert Dobb (24 July 1900 – 17 August 1976) was an English economist at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is remembered as one of the pre-eminent Marxist economists of the 20th century. Dobb was bo ...

. # ''Outline of finance''. London: N.C.L.C. Pub. Society, 1931. Plebs Textbooks No. 6. Drafted by

Arthur Woodburn Arthur Woodburn (25 October 1890 – 1 June 1978) was a Scottish Labour Party politician. Born in Edinburgh, he was educated at Heriot-Watt College. Imprisoned as a conscientious objector during World War I, Woodburn worked in engineering and i ...

References

External links

Archive of 26 issues from February 1915 - January 1917

History

The Plebs Textbook Committee

References

External links

Further reading