The Institute for Workers' Control was founded in 1968 by Tony Topham and Ken Coates, the latter then a leader of the International Marxist Group and subsequently professor at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

and a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

from 1989 until 1999. The Institute drew together shop stewards and militant workers to discuss

workers' control Workers' control is participation in the management of factories and other commercial enterprises by the people who work there. It has been variously advocated by anarchists, socialists, communists, social democrats, distributists and Christi ...

of production. It grew out of the Workers' Control Conferences organised from 1964 by ''Voice of the Unions'' and the Centre for Socialist Education. From around 100 at the first meeting in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, the figure grew to some 1200 in 1969. The goals of the Institute were to "assist in the formation of workers control groups dedicated to the development of democratic consciousness, to the winning of support for workers control in all the existing organisations of Labour, to the challenging of undemocratic actions wherever they may occur, and to the extension of democratic control over industry and the economy itself". The Institute won sponsorship from a number of trade union leaders, including Hugh Scanlon. In the later opinion of the International Marxist Group's journal, the Institute over-accommodated to its sponsors and failed to organise its supporters: "only 26 people attended the AGM in 1970, and affiliation and membership fees have been maintained at a very high level."

Publications

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References

External links

* Ken Coates and Tony Topham, eds,
Readings and Witnesses for Workers' Control
Spokesman Books * Socialist Renewa
Institute for Workers' Control archive
Organisations based in Nottingham Politics of Nottingham Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom University of Nottingham {{UK-org-stub