Lawrence & Wishart is a British publishing company formerly associated 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 ...

. It was formed in 1936, through the merger of Martin Lawrence, the Communist Party's press, and Wishart Ltd, a family-owned Left-wing and anti-fascist publisher founded by Ernest Wishart, father of the painter

Michael Wishart John Michael Wishart (June 12, 1928 – June 29, 1996) known as Michael Wishart, was an English figurative painter who spent most of his career in France, America and North Africa. A friend of Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, he published a memoir ...

."About Us"
Lawrence & Wishart.

Publications

Journals published include: * ''

Anarchist Studies ''Anarchist Studies'' is a biannual academic journal on anarchism. It takes an interdisciplinary approach, examining the history, culture, and theory of anarchism. The journal was established in 1993 and is edited by Ruth Kinna and published by L ...

'' * ''

New Formations ''New Formations: A Journal of Culture, Theory & Politics'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal which covers the uses of cultural theory for the analysis of political and social issues. It is published by Lawrence and Wishart and the edi ...

'' * '' Renewal'' * '' Socialist History'' * '' Soundings'' * ''

Twentieth Century Communism ''Twentieth Century Communism'' is a bi-annual peer-reviewed academic journal for "an international forum for the latest research" focusing on the "Russian revolution (1917–1991) and on the activities of communist parties themselves" but extendin ...

'' * '' FORUM: for comprehensive education''.

History

Founded in 1936, Lawrence & Wishart initially became involved with the political and cultural life of the

Popular Front A popular front is "any coalition of working-class and middle-class parties", including liberal and social democratic ones, "united for the defense of democratic forms" against "a presumed Fascist assault". More generally, it is "a coalition ...

, publishing literature, drama and poetry, as well as political economy, working-class history and the classics of

Marxism 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 ...

. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the company published work from the CPGB's History Group, including early work by

Eric Hobsbawm Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm (; 9 June 1917 – 1 October 2012) was a British historian of the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. A life-long Marxist, his socio-political convictions influenced the character of his work. H ...

. Later in the century Lawrence & Wishart began its project of commissioning translations of selected writings by

Antonio Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a ...

, whose work on the relationship between politics and culture has ongoing significance for the company. The first volume dedicated to Gramsci, ''Selections from the Prison Notebooks'', was published in 1971, and re-published in 2005. The mid-1980s saw the publication of works by writers who brought the insights of cultural studies to bear on more traditional political concerns with ideology, politics and power, a field of research that ultimately led to the range of journals that Lawrence & Wishart now publish.

John Newsinger John Newsinger (born 21 May 1948) is a British historian and academic, who is an emeritus professor of history at Bath Spa University. Newsinger is a book reviewer for ''Race & Class'' and the ''New Left Review''. He is also author of numerous bo ...

wrote that the Communist vendetta against

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's ''

Homage to Catalonia ''Homage to Catalonia'' is George Orwell's personal account of his experiences and observations fighting in the Spanish Civil War for the POUM militia of the Republican army. Published in 1938 (about a year before the war ended) with little com ...

'' was maintained as recently as 1984, when Lawrence & Wishart published ''Inside the Myth'', a collection of essays "bringing together a variety of standpoints hostile to Orwell in an obvious attempt to do as much damage to his reputation as possible."

Lawrence & Wishart today

Continuing to publish the journals ''

'', ''

'', '' Renewal'', ''Twentieth Century Communism'', and '' Soundings'', Lawrence & Wishart are also developing their work with online books. Recent online publications have included ''Regeneration'', on generational politics, and the Soundings collection ''The Neoliberal Crisis''. The company has also published books with a number of partners, including

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...

, the

International Brigade Memorial Trust The International Brigade Memorial Trust is a British educational trust formed by the veterans of the International Brigade Association, the Friends of the IBA, representatives of the Marx Memorial Library, and historians specialising in the Spa ...

, the

Marx Memorial Library The Marx Memorial Library in London, United Kingdom is a library, archive, educational, and community outreach charity focused on Marxist and wider socialist bodies of work. England and Wales charity number: 270309. Its collection comprises over ...

, the

Socialist History Society The Socialist History Society (SHS) is a British-based organisation which publishes a twice-yearly journal (''Socialist History'') mainly about the history of the socialist and labour movements in Britain. It also publishes a series of pamphlets on ...

UNISON In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

and

Unite the Union Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a British and Irish trade union which was formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). Unite is the second largest trade union in the UK (after ...

.''The T&G Story: A History of the Transport and General Workers Union''
/ref> In August 2016 Lawrence & Wishart moved premises from Central Books in

Hackney Wick Hackney Wick is a neighbourhood in east London, England. The area forms the south-eastern part of the district of Hackney, and also of the wider London Borough of Hackney. Adjacent areas of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets are sometimes a ...

to a new premises in

Chadwell Heath Chadwell Heath is an area in east London, England. It is situated on the boundary of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and the London Borough of Redbridge, around west of Romford and east of Ilford, and north-east of Charing Cross. ...

. The move was a result of a combination of increased rents within Hackney Wick due to

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and urban planning, planning. Gentrification ...

and regeneration of the area due to the construction of the

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City developm ...

; and the convenience of the company to remain close to Central Books, who are also Lawrence & Wishart's distributor.

Copyright issue on ''Marx/Engels Collected Works''

The ''

Marx/Engels Collected Works ''Marx/Engels Collected Works'' (also known as ''MECW'') is the largest existing collection of English translations of works by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Its 50 volumes contain publications by Marx and Engels released during their lifetimes ...

'' (''MECW'') were published by Lawrence & Wishart, in collaboration with others, between 1975 and 2004 in 50 volumes, and is the most complete attempt at rendering their work in English. According to Andy Blunden, a volunteer at the

Marxists Internet Archive Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists.org) is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels ...

(MIA), Lawrence & Wishart allowed the website to publish material from the ''MECW'' around 2005, but it was always an option of the publishers to revoke permission.Jennifer Howard
"Readers of Marx and Engels Decry Publisher’s Assertion of Copyright"
''Chronicle of Higher Education'', 29 April 2014. This finally happened at the end of April 2014, when the publishers asked via email for the deletion of 1,662 files from the website, threatening legal action if MIA did not comply.Noam Cohen

''The New York Times'', 30 April 2014.Hector Tobar
"Radicals fight over a Karl Marx copyright"
''Los Angeles Times'', 29 April 2014. Lawrence & Wishart has argued that the free reprints on MIA will affect its plans to issue ''MECW'' in a digital version in the near future, and its action is purely to ensure that it remains in business. By the end of April 2014, more than 4,500 individuals had signed a petition objecting to Lawrence & Wishart's decision to take action against MIA. In response to the criticism, Lawrence & Wishart in a statement said it had been "subject to a campaign of online abuse".

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence and Wishart Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Political book publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1936 1936 establishments in the United Kingdom British companies established in 1936