146-599: Social democracy Socialism Communism Northern Ireland Scotland Wales Other The Scottish Trades Union Congress ( STUC ) is the national trade union centre in Scotland . With 40 affiliated unions as of 2020, the STUC represents over 540,000 trade unionists. The STUC is a separate organisation from the English and Welsh Trades Union Congress (TUC), having been established in 1897 as
292-430: A Marxist faction and non-communist socialists or the right-wing of socialism during the split with communism . Others have noted its pejorative use among communists and other socialists. According to Lyman Tower Sargent , " socialism refers to social theories rather than to theories oriented to the individual. Because many communists now call themselves democratic socialists , it is sometimes difficult to know what
438-451: A gradualist , reformist and democratic approach toward achieving socialism. In modern practice, social democracy has taken the form of predominantly capitalist economies, with the state regulating the economy in the form of welfare capitalism , economic interventionism , partial public ownership , a robust welfare state , policies promoting social equality , and a more equitable distribution of income . Social democracy maintains
584-496: A political and economic democracy supporting a gradualist , reformist , and democratic approach towards achieving socialism. Others view it as an ethical ideal to guide reforms within capitalism. One way social democracy can be distinguished from democratic socialism is that social democracy aims to strike a balance by advocating for a mixed market economy where capitalism is regulated to address inequalities through social welfare programs and supports private ownership with
730-591: A post-capitalist economic system based on either a market economy combined with workers' self-management or on some form of participatory , decentralized planning of the economy. Marxian socialists argue that social democratic welfare policies cannot resolve the fundamental structural issues of capitalism, such as cyclical fluctuations , exploitation , and alienation . Accordingly, social democratic programs intended to ameliorate living conditions in capitalism, such as unemployment benefits and taxation on profits, creates further contradictions by further limiting
876-566: A post-capitalist order or, in more ethical terms, as a just society, described as representing democratic socialism, without any explicit reference to the economic system or its structure. Parties such as the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Swedish Social Democratic Party describe their goal as developing democratic socialism, with social democracy as the principle of action. In
1022-452: A Labour Government in office and Labour pressure in opposition. Against the dogged resistance to change, we should have pitted a stronger will to change. I conclude that a move to the Left is needed". In Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties: East-Central and Western Europe Compared , Vít Hloušek and Lubomír Kopecek explain how socialist parties have evolved from the 19th to
1168-402: A commitment to representative and participatory democracy . Common aims include curbing inequality , eliminating the oppression of underprivileged groups, eradicating poverty , and upholding universally accessible public services such as child care , education , elderly care , health care , and workers' compensation . Economically, it supports income redistribution and regulating
1314-818: A decrease in wages. Following the end of the strike, Singer fired 400 workers, including Jane Rae one of the women activists, and all strike leaders and purported members of the Industrial Workers of Great Britain , among them Arthur McManus , who later went on to become the first chairman of the Communist Party of Great Britain between 1920 and 1922. Labour unrest, in particular by women and unskilled labourers, greatly increased between 1910 and 1914 in Clydeside, with four times more days on strike than between 1900 and 1910. During these four years preceding World War I , membership of those affiliated to
1460-426: A failed state, with record unemployment levels and the fact that many young people will not find a job in their lifetime. Social democracy rests on three fundamental features, namely: "(1) parliamentary democracy, (2) an economy partly regulated by the state, and (3) provision of social support to those in need". In practice, social democratic parties have been instrumental in the social-liberal paradigm, lasting from
1606-466: A further indicator of their success, a mass demonstration was organised by the WPC on Sunday 8 July 1917, in which processions marched to the sound of music and the flying of banners from two sides of the city to the famous Glasgow Green in the centre of the city. As the two streams of Crusaders approached the green they merged into a huge colourful and noisy demonstration of around 14,000 participants. By
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#17327724491151752-409: A gradual or evolutionary path to socialism rather than a revolutionary one. Policies commonly supported are Keynesian and include some degree of regulation over the economy , social insurance schemes, public pension programs, and a gradual expansion of public ownership over major and strategic industries. During the late 20th century, those labels were embraced, contested and rejected due to
1898-671: A liberal capitalist movement, effectively making social democrats similar to non-socialist parties like the Democratic Party in the United States. Red Clydeside Red Clydeside was the era of political radicalism in Glasgow , Scotland , and areas around the city, on the banks of the River Clyde , such as Clydebank , Greenock , Dumbarton and Paisley , from the 1910s until the early 1930s. Red Clydeside
2044-471: A line of strikers. The left-wing activities continued after the end of the war. The campaign for a 40-hour week, with improved conditions for the workers, occupied the exertions of organised labour. On 31 January 1919, a massive rally, organised by the trade unions , took place on George Square in the city centre of Glasgow. Although it has been claimed that as many as 90,000 people were present, contemporary sources suggest 20-25,000. Once again, although it
2190-585: A membership of 671,630. In addition, 51 trades councils were affiliated. Membership was made up of members of the Scottish unions and Scottish members of unions covering the British Isles. The period 1977 to 1980 saw membership of the STUC peak to over one million with 80 affiliated unions and 45 trades union councils. A gradual decline of membership then occurred to a total of 634,797 in 2001 with 46 affiliated unions and 33 trades union councils. In 2013,
2336-485: A more satisfying life for most people". Socialism became a catch-all term for the critics of capitalism and industrial society. Social democrats are anticapitalists insofar as criticism about "poverty, low wages, unemployment, economic and social inequality, and a lack of economic security" is linked to the private ownership of the means of production . Social democracy or social democratic remains controversial among socialists. Some define it as representing
2482-611: A neoliberal form of government have registered relatively poorer results. Similarly, several reports have listed Scandinavian and other social democratic countries as ranking high on indicators such as civil liberties , democracy , press , labour and economic freedoms, peace , and freedom from corruption . Numerous studies and surveys indicate that people live happier lives in countries ruled by social democratic parties than those ruled by neoliberal, centrist, and right-wing governments. Other socialists criticize social democracy because it serves to devise new means to strengthen
2628-503: A number of places in each section reserved for representatives of women workers), approximately on the basis of its proportion of the total STUC membership. There are also two places on the General Council for representatives of black workers, and two places for representatives of young (under the age of 26) workers. Whilst the General Council is elected by the whole of Congress, candidates are restricted to standing for election to
2774-540: A pertinent example. The Labour Party has been historically dominant in Glasgow where they held the vast majority of parliamentary seats until SNP gains in 2015 from where they held all seats (with the exception of Glasgow North East between 2017-2019) until their return to Labour in 2024 . This period in Glasgow's colourful past remains a significant landmark for those on the political left in Scotland. The story of
2920-606: A policy regime. They call the first classical social democracy or classical socialism , and the latter as competitive socialism , liberal socialism , neo-social democracy , or new social democracy . Many socialist parties in several countries have been, or are called Social Democratic . In the 19th century, social democrat was a broad catch-all for international socialists owing their primary ideological allegiance to Lassalle or Marx, in contrast to those advocating various forms of utopian socialism . Many parties in this era described themselves as Social Democrats , including
3066-423: A political label really means. As a result, social democratic has become a common new label for democratic socialist political parties." As a policy regime, social democracy entails support for a mixed economy and ameliorative measures to benefit the working class within the framework of democratic capitalism . Social democracy currently depicts a chiefly capitalist economy with state economic regulation in
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#17327724491153212-454: A qualitatively different socialist economic system . Since then, social democracy has been associated with Keynesian economics , the Nordic model , and welfare states . Social democracy has been described as the most common form of Western or modern socialism. Amongst social democrats, attitudes towards socialism vary: some retain socialism as a long-term goal, with social democracy being
3358-663: A result of a political dispute with the TUC regarding political representation for the Labour movement . The current General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress is Rozanne Foyer . The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is a completely independent and autonomous trade union centre for Scotland. It is not a Scottish regional organisation of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). It
3504-405: A revolutionary opportunity for the working-class, though on the face of it, it would appear that the revolutionary potential of the Clydeside working-class has been exaggerated. Firstly, except Maclean, none of the labour leaders developed a class analysis of the war, nor did they seriously consider threatening the power and authority of the state. Furthermore, it was the behaviour of those conducting
3650-564: A revolutionary road to socialism. In the 20th century, the term came to be associated with the positions of the German and Swedish parties. The first advocated revisionist Marxism , while the second advocated a comprehensive welfare state . By the 21st century, parties advocating social democracy include Labour, Left, and some Green parties. Most social democratic parties consider themselves democratic socialists and are categorized as socialists. They continue to reference socialism, either as
3796-404: A socialist form of private property as part of new socialism (although Corfe technically objects to private property as a term to collectively describe property that is not publicly owned as being vague) and rejecting state socialism as a failure. Third Way social democracy was formed in response to what its proponents saw as a crisis in the legitimacy of socialism—especially state socialism—and
3942-421: A strong emphasis on a well-regulated market. In contrast, democratic socialism places greater emphasis on abolishing private property ownership . Nevertheless, the distinction remains blurred and the two terms are commonly used synonymously. The Third Way is an off-shoot of social democracy which aims to fuse economic liberalism with social democratic economic policies and center-left social policies. It
4088-486: Is a reconceptualization of social democracy developed in the 1990s and embraced by some social democratic parties; some analysts have characterized the Third Way as part of the neoliberal movement. Social democracy is defined as one of many socialist traditions . As an international political movement and ideology , it aims to achieve socialism through gradual and democratic means. This definition goes back to
4234-534: Is a significant part of the history of the labour movement in Britain as a whole, and Scotland in particular. Some newspapers of the time used the term "Red Clydeside" to refer, largely derisively, to the groundswell of popular and political radicalism that had erupted in Scotland. A confluence of charismatic individuals, organised movements and socio-political forces led to Red Clydeside, which had its roots in working-class opposition to Britain 's participation in
4380-555: Is claimed that the Red Flag was raised in the centre of the crowd, this had in reality happened on Monday 27 January. The failure of the tram drivers to join the strike had led to growing hostility, and some of the strikers tried to block the tram traffic in the Square. Police attempts to clear the way led to violence and a series of baton charges. The Riot Act was read, and attacks were made on strike leader David Kirkwood as he exited
4526-583: Is conflated either with the pink tide in Latin America, especially with Venezuela, or with communism in the form of Marxist–Leninist socialism as practised in the Soviet Union and other self-declared socialist states . Democratic socialism has been described as representing the left-wing or socialist tradition of the New Deal . The lack of a strong and influential socialist movement in
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4672-442: Is loosely held to be valuable for its emphasis on changing the world for a more just, better future. During the late 19th century and the early 20th century, social democracy was a broad labour movement within socialism that aimed to replace private ownership with social ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange , taking influence from both Marxism and the supporters of Ferdinand Lassalle . By 1868–1869,
4818-448: Is seen as inequality and oppression that laissez-faire capitalism causes. In the 21st century, it has become commonplace to define social democracy in reference to Northern and Western European countries, and their model of a welfare state with a corporatist system of collective bargaining . Social democracy has also been used synonymously with the Nordic model . Henning Meyer and Jonathan Rutherford associate social democracy with
4964-408: Is that of advancing those values within a capitalist market economy , as its support for a mixed economy no longer denotes the coexistence between private and public ownership or that between planning and market mechanisms but rather, it represents free markets combined with government intervention and regulations . As a form of reformist democratic socialism , social democracy rejects
5110-437: Is that socialists see the welfare state "not merely to provide benefits but to build the foundation for emancipation and self-determination". In the 21st century, a social democratic policy regime may further be distinguished by a support for an increase in welfare policies or an increase in public services . Some distinguish between ideological social democracy as part of the broad socialist movement and social democracy as
5256-416: Is the General Council which implements policy. The affiliates are divided into seven sections: transport, mining and distribution; steel, engineering and electrical; manufacturing; municipal, general and building; financial, scientific and technical services; civil and public services; education and cultural services; and trades union councils. Each of these sections is represented on the General Council (with
5402-494: Is with a quite different form of society that socialists must now concern themselves. Pre-war anti-capitalism will give us very little help", for a new kind of capitalism required a new kind of socialism. Crosland believed that these features of reformed managerial capitalism were irreversible, but it has been argued within the Labour Party and by others that Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan brought about its reversal in
5548-781: The British Socialist Party organised the Scottish Federation of Tenants' Associations in 1913 to fight against rent increases and championed public housing. In 1914 the Independent Labour Party Housing Committee and the Women's Labour League formed the Glasgow Women's Housing Association . Under the leadership of Mary Barbour , Mary Laird , Helen Crawfurd , Mary Jeff , Jessie Stephen and Jessie Fergusson
5694-753: The European Economic Community because it demanded a free-market economy among its members. Public ownership never accounted for more than 15–20% of capital formation , further dropping to 8% in the 1980s and below 5% in the 1990s after the rise of neoliberalism. The collapse of the legitimacy of state socialism and Keynesian interventionism (with the discovery of the phenomenon of stagflation ) has been an issue for social democracy. This has provoked re-thinking of how socialism should be achieved by social democrats, including changing views by social democrats on private property—anti-Third Way social democrats such as Robert Corfe have advocated
5840-797: The First World War , although the area had a long history of political radicalism going back to the Society of the Friends of the People and the " Radical War " of 1820. The 11,000 workers at the largest Singer sewing machines factory, in Clydebank, went on strike in March–April 1911, ceasing to work in solidarity with 12 female colleagues protesting against work process reorganisation. This reorganisation involved an increase in workload and
5986-838: The General German Workers' Association and the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany , which merged to form the Social Democratic Party of Germany , the Social Democratic Federation in Britain, and the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party . Social Democrat continued to be used in this context until the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917, when Communist came into vogue for individuals and organizations espousing
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6132-651: The German Empire between the 1880s and 1890s, when the conservative Chancellor Otto von Bismarck put in place many social welfare proposals initially suggested by the Social Democrats to hinder their electoral success after he instituted the Anti-Socialist Laws , laying the ground of the first modern welfare state . Those policies were dubbed State Socialism by the liberal opposition, but Bismarck later accepted and re-appropriated
6278-728: The Great Depression , economic interventionism and nationalizations became more common worldwide and the post-war consensus until the 1970s saw Keynesian social democratic and mixed economy policies put in place, leading to the post-World War II boom in which the United States, the Soviet Union, the Western European, and East Asian countries experienced unusually high and sustained economic growth , together with full employment . Contrary to early predictions, this period of high economic growth and national development also included many countries that were devastated by
6424-613: The Great Recession in the late 2000s and early 2010s cast doubts on the Washington Consensus , and protests against austerity measures ensued. There was a resurgence of social democratic parties and policies, especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, with the rise of politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn , who rejected the Third Way, after the economic recession caused
6570-474: The Labour and Conservative parties, famously dubbed Butskellism . Some social democratic Third Way figures such as Anthony Giddens and Tony Blair , who has described himself as a Christian socialist and a socialist in ethical terms, insist that they are socialists, for they claim to believe in the same values that their anti-Third Way critics do. According to those self-proclaimed social democratic modernizers, Clause IV 's open advocacy of state socialism
6716-582: The Liberal Party as the political formation most popular among the working class . This manifested itself at the 1922 general election , when several of the Red Clydesiders were elected to serve in the House of Commons (most of them Independent Labour Party members). They included Maxton, Wheatley, Shinwell, Kirkwood, Neil Maclean and George Buchanan . According to the Labour Party ,
6862-486: The National Health Service and Labour's welfare state development. This social-liberal paradigm represented the post-war consensus and was accepted across the political spectrum by conservatives, liberals and socialists until the 1970s. Similarly, the neoliberal paradigm, which replaced the previous paradigm, was accepted across the mainstream political parties, including social democratic supporters of
7008-567: The Pasokification of many social democratic parties. The United Nations World Happiness Report shows that the happiest nations are concentrated in social democratic nations, especially in Northern Europe, where the Nordic model is applied. This is at times attributed to the success of the social democratic Nordic model in the region, where similar democratic socialist , labourist , and social democratic parties dominated
7154-535: The Red Clydesiders can still be politically motivating. At the 1989 Glasgow Central by-election , the Scottish National Party candidate Alex Neil called himself and the SNP member of Parliament for Govan at the time, Jim Sillars ; the "new Clydesiders". The album Red Clydeside by Alistair Hulett and Dave Swarbrick contains nine songs about the movement, particularly the anti-war protests and
7300-438: The Red Clydesiders were viewed as having a dissident left-wing character. Many of them, most notably Maxton and Wheatley, were great critics of the first and second Labour governments, elected in 1924 and 1929 respectively. The Red Clydeside era still impacts upon the politics of the area today. Ever since, Glasgow has been known for political and industrial militancy. The Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Work In of 1971 offers
7446-711: The Scottish Trades Union Congress rose from 129,000 in 1909 to 230,000 in 1914. To mobilise the workers of Clydeside against the First World War, the Clyde Workers' Committee (CWC) was formed, with Willie Gallacher as its head and David Kirkwood its treasurer. The CWC led the campaign against the coalition governments of H. H. Asquith and David Lloyd George and the Munitions of War Act 1915 , which forbade engineers leaving
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#17327724491157592-495: The economic and technological determinism generally characteristic of orthodox Marxism and economic liberalism . By the post- World War II period and its economic consensus and expansion , most social democrats in Europe had abandoned their ideological connection to orthodox Marxism. They shifted their emphasis toward social policy reform as a compromise between capitalism to socialism . According to Michael Harrington ,
7738-565: The 1930s onwards, probably the most important concern of the Congress has been the Scottish economy. The STUC has played its part in the legend of Red Clydeside 1910-1922; the period of militancy and protest by the working people of Glasgow and elsewhere. It has played a role in many historic struggles of the Scottish people including the General Strike of 1926, the post-war reconstruction of Scottish industry, and more recent events like
7884-459: The 1940s and 1970s, and called such because it was developed by social liberals but implemented by social democrats. Since those policies were mostly implemented by social democrats, social liberalism is sometimes called social democracy . In Britain, the social-liberal Beveridge Report drafted by the Liberal economist William Beveridge influenced the Labour Party 's social policies, such as
8030-458: The 1970s and 1980s. Although the post-war consensus represented a period where social democracy was "most buoyant", it has been argued that "post-war social democracy had been altogether too confident in its analysis" because "gains which were thought to be permanent turned out to be conditional and as the reservoir of capitalist growth showed signs of drying up". In Socialism Now (1974), Crosland argued that "[m]uch more should have been achieved by
8176-432: The 19th century, social democracy could be described as "organized Marxism", it became "organized reformism" by the 20th century. In political science, democratic socialism and social democracy are sometimes seen as synonyms, while they are distinguished in journalistic use. Under this democratic socialist definition, social democracy is an ideology seeking to gradually build an alternative socialist economy through
8322-507: The 19th-century labour movement . Originally a catch-all term for socialists of varying tendencies, after the Russian Revolution , it came to refer to reformist socialists that are opposed to the authoritarian and centralized Soviet model of socialism. In the post-war era, social democrats embraced mixed economies with a predominance of private property and promoted the regulation of capitalism over its replacement with
8468-593: The 21st century, European social democratic parties represent the centre-left and most are part of the Party of European Socialists , while democratic socialist parties are to their left within the Party of the European Left . Many of those social democratic parties are members of the Socialist International , including several democratic socialist parties, whose Frankfurt Declaration declares
8614-481: The City Chambers. The Sheriff of Lanarkshire, who had earlier checked that troops would be available if he needed them, called for military aid. Mainly Scottish and mainly veteran troops were sent from bases elsewhere in Scotland, and one battalion was sent up from the north of England. Claims that the troops were sent by the government, as well as claims that Scottish troops were locked in their barracks during
8760-528: The Communists sought to distance themselves from to Social Democracy 's association with reformism. The Communists also sought to distinguish themselves from the socialists that had supported the imperialist Great War and thus betrayed proletarian internationalism . This reformist–revolutionary division culminated in the German Revolution of 1919 , in which the Communists wanted to overthrow
8906-555: The Gaitskellites, nationalization was not essential to achieve all major socialist objectives; public ownership and nationalization were not explicitly rejected but were seen as merely one of numerous useful devices. According to social democratic modernizers like Blair, nationalization policies had become politically unviable by the 1990s. During the Third Way development of social democracy, social democrats adjusted to
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#17327724491159052-704: The General Council), the governing body of the Congress. She was nominated for chairman but declined nomination on the grounds that to appoint a woman chairman at that time was too premature. However, she acted as the Parliamentary Secretary and was also Secretary of the Scottish Council for Women's Trade. The first female President, Bell Jobson , presided at the 1937 Congress. In 1926, the Organisation of Women Committee (later
9198-728: The German government and establish a soviet republic like Russia, while the Social Democrats wanted to preserve it as what came to be known as the Weimar Republic . Thus social democracy went from a "Marxist revolutionary" doctrine into a form of "moderate parliamentary socialism". The Bolsheviks split from the Second International and created their own separate Communist International (Comintern) in 1919 that sought to rally revolutionary social democrats together for socialist revolution. With this split,
9344-533: The Glasgow Women's Housing Association became the driving force behind the rent strike that started in May 1915 in the industrialised area of Govan . Tenants refused to pay the latest increase in rents and staged mass demonstrations against evictions, resulting in violent confrontations. With the start of the First World War local young men left Glasgow to serve in the army overseas, and the first violent protest in
9490-520: The Govan district took place in April to resist the eviction of a soldier's family. As evictions were repeatedly attempted with support from the police, women attacked the factors and the sheriffs' men. In early summer 1915, the rent strikers were supported by mass demonstrations and by August, the rent strikers had found widespread support in Glasgow. Rent strikes spread from heavily industrialised areas of
9636-618: The Marxist analysis that the creation of socialism is interconnected with the evolution of capitalism. August Bebel , Bernstein, Engels, Wilhelm Liebknecht , Marx, and Carl Wilhelm Tölcke are all considered founders of social democracy in Germany. However, Bernstein and Lassalle, along with labourists and reformists such as Louis Blanc in France, led to the widespread association of social democracy with socialist reformism. While Lassalle
9782-555: The STUC had offices in various locations in Glasgow city centre and the Govanhill area of Glasgow before moving to Woodlands Terrace in the west end of the city in 1949. In 1998, the offices moved to Woodlands Road. The Annual Congress is the Governing Body of the STUC. From the earliest days, the Congress concerned itself with a wide range of economic and social questions, lobbying British Members of Parliament, and from 1999
9928-565: The STUC represented over 630,000 trade unionists, the members of 37 affiliated trade unions and 20 Trades Union Councils. The focal point of the STUC is its Annual Congress held in April and attended by delegates from affiliated organisations. It is the Annual Congress which sets down the policy of the STUC and which elects the General Council (known as the Parliamentary Committee until 1923). Between Congresses, it
10074-502: The Scottish Parliament and executive, on major issues. Hours and conditions of work and the battles around these issues were always a central preoccupation of the Congress, but it also concerned itself with wider issues such as international affairs, housing, education, transport, peace, racism, and social and economic issues, as well as promoting and supporting joint trades union councils (later renamed trade union councils). The struggle for independent working class political representation
10220-401: The Third Way. This has caused much controversy within the social democratic movement. From the late 19th century until the mid to late 20th century, there was greater public confidence in the idea of a state-managed economy that was a major pillar of communism, and to a substantial degree by conservatives and left-liberals . Aside from anarchists and other libertarian socialists , there
10366-504: The United Kingdom (the latter in the form of the Liberal welfare reforms ), with both socialist and liberal parties adopting those policies. In the United States, the progressive movement , a similar social democratic movement predominantly influenced more by social liberalism than socialism , supported progressive liberals such as Democratic presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt , whose New Freedom and New Deal programmes adopted many social democratic policies. With
10512-487: The United States as representing European social democracy. South Africa has been governed by the African National Congress (ANC), a social democratic party, since 1994. In 2022, The World Economic Forum said that South Africa risks state collapse and identified five major risks facing the country. Former minister Jay Naidoo has said that South Africa is in serious trouble and is showing signs of
10658-497: The United States has been linked to the Red Scare , and any ideology associated with socialism brings social stigma due to its association with authoritarian socialist states . Socialism has been used as a pejorative term by members of the political right to stop the implementation of liberal and progressive policies and proposals and to criticize the public figures trying to implement them. Although Americans may reject
10804-465: The United States, where it is tied to the New Deal . Some democratic socialists who follow social democracy support practical, progressive reforms of capitalism and are more concerned with administrating and humanising it, with socialism relegated to the indefinite future. Other democratic socialists want to go beyond mere meliorist reforms and advocate the systematic transformation of the mode of production from capitalism to socialism . Despite
10950-572: The Upper Clyde Shipbuilders work-in of 1971–1972, the 1984–1985 miners' strike and the defeat of the poll tax in the early 1990s. The Congress was instrumental in bringing the motor industry to Bathgate and Linwood, Scotland, in the 1960s the STUC played a central role for many decades in the campaign which established the Scottish Parliament . By 1947 the STUC consisted of 83 affiliated trades unions with
11096-490: The Women's Advisory Committee, now the Women’s Committee) was established by the Congress, specialising in issues relating particularly to women. In 1937 the Congress agreed a motion to establish youth fellowships as a way of attracting young people to join the unions, and therefore encourage union membership regardless of sex or age. It was realised that to create separate youth fellowships was restrictive, suggesting that
11242-689: The building of municipal housing as early as 1885, when the Royal Commission on Housing and the Working Class noted the housing crisis. The Scottish Housing Council organised in 1900 and under pressure from trade unions the Housing Letting and Rating Act 1911 was passed. The act introduced letting by month, previously workers with unstable jobs had been forced to put up a year's rent payment. But as landlords increased rents protests by tenants became more frequent. John Maclean of
11388-410: The capitalist system, which conflicts with the socialist goal of replacing capitalism with a socialist system. According to this view, social democracy fails to address the systemic issues inherent in capitalism. The American democratic socialist philosopher David Schweickart contrasts social democracy with democratic socialism by defining the former as an attempt to strengthen the welfare state and
11534-563: The city to artisanal areas and slum areas. Strikes ignited in Partick, Parkhead, Pollokshaws, Pollok, Cowcaddens, Kelvingrove, Ibrox, Govanhill, St Rollox, Townhead, Springburn, Maryhill, Fairfield, Blackfriars, and Woodside. In October 1915, 15,000 tenants were on rent strike and a demonstration led by women converged on St Enoch Square . By November, 20,000 tenants were on rent strike as violent resistance against evictions continued. Trade unions threatened factory strikes if evictions supported by
11680-688: The company they were employed in. The CWC met with government leaders, but no agreement could be reached and consequently both Gallacher and Kirkwood were arrested under the terms of the Defence of the Realm Act and jailed for their activities. Anti-war activity also took place outside the workplace and on the streets in general. The Marxist John Maclean and the Independent Labour Party (ILP) member James Maxton were both jailed for their anti-war propagandizing. Helen Crawfurd
11826-630: The early 21st centuries. As the number of people in traditional working-class occupations such as factory workers and miners declined, socialists have successfully widened their appeal to the middle class by diluting their ideology; however, there is still continuity between parties such as the SPD, the Labour Party in Britain, and other socialist parties which remain part of the same famille spirituelle , or ideological party family, as outlined by most political scientists. For many social democrats, Marxism
11972-446: The economy in the public interest . Social democracy has a strong, long-standing connection with trade unions and the broader labour movement . It is supportive of measures to foster greater democratic decision-making in the economic sphere , including co-determination , collective bargaining rights for workers, and expanding ownership to employees and other stakeholders . The history of social democracy stretches back to
12118-600: The economy and retaining significant social regulations. When nationalization of large industries was relatively widespread in the 20th century until the 1970s, it was not uncommon for commentators to describe some European social democracies as democratic socialist states seeking to move their countries toward a socialist economy . In 1956, leading Labour Party politician and British author Anthony Crosland said that capitalism had been abolished in Britain, although others such as Welshman Aneurin Bevan , Minister of Health in
12264-438: The economy that the state could best manage and rejected a mass scale of state ownership as being too burdensome to be manageable. Bernstein was an advocate of Kantian socialism and neo-Kantianism . Although unpopular early on, his views became mainstream after World War I. In The Future of Socialism (1956), Anthony Crosland argued that "traditional capitalism has been reformed and modified almost out of existence, and it
12410-504: The economy, some political commentators stated that during the post-war period, when social democratic parties were in power, countries such as Britain and France were democratic socialist states. The same claim has been applied to Nordic countries with the Nordic model. In the 1980s, the government of President François Mitterrand aimed to expand dirigism and attempted to nationalize all French banks, but this attempt faced opposition from
12556-413: The efficiency of the capitalist system by reducing incentives for capitalists to invest in further production. The welfare state only serves to legitimize and prolong the exploitative and contradiction-laden system of capitalism to society's detriment. Critics of contemporary social democracy, such as Jonas Hinnfors, argue that when social democracy abandoned Marxism , it also abandoned socialism and became
12702-425: The either/or interpretation of capitalism versus socialism. It claims that fostering a progressive evolution of capitalism will gradually result in the evolution of a capitalist economy into a socialist economy. All citizens should be legally entitled to certain social rights: universal access to public services such as education, health care, workers' compensation, and other services, including child care and care for
12848-889: The elderly. Social democrats advocate freedom from discrimination based on differences in ability/disability, age, ethnicity , gender , language, race, religion, sexual orientation , and social class . Later in their lives, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels argued that in some countries, workers might be able to achieve their aims through peaceful means. In this sense, Engels argued that socialists were evolutionists, although both Marx and Engels remained committed to social revolution . In developing social democracy, Eduard Bernstein rejected orthodox Marxism 's revolutionary and materialist foundations. Rather than class conflict and socialist revolution , Bernstein's Marxist revisionism reflected that socialism could be achieved through cooperation between people regardless of class. Nonetheless, Bernstein paid deference to Marx, describing him as
12994-592: The emergence of developments within the European left, such as Eurocommunism , the rise of neoliberalism, the fall of the Soviet Union and the Revolutions of 1989 , the Third Way , and the rise of anti-austerity and Occupy movements due to the global financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the Great Recession , the causes of which have been attributed by some to the neoliberal shift and deregulation economic policies. This latest development contributed to
13140-503: The father of social democracy but declaring that it was necessary to revise Marx's thought in light of changing conditions. Influenced by the gradualist platform favoured by the Fabian movement in Britain, Bernstein advocated a similar evolutionary approach to socialist politics that he termed evolutionary socialism . Evolutionary means include representative democracy and cooperation between people regardless of class. Bernstein accepted
13286-445: The first post-war Labour government and the architect of the National Health Service , disputed the claim. For Crosland and others who supported his views, Britain was a socialist state. According to Bevan, Britain had a socialist National Health Service , which opposed the hedonism of Britain's capitalist society. Although, as in the rest of Europe, the laws of capitalism still operated fully and private enterprise dominated
13432-425: The general interest, state provision of welfare services and state redistribution of income and wealth. Social democratic concepts influence the policies of most Western states since World War 2. Social democracy is frequently considered a practical middle course between capitalism and socialism. Social democracy aims to use democratic collective action for promoting freedom and equality in the economy and opposes what
13578-556: The goal of developing democratic socialism. Others are also part of the Progressive Alliance , founded in 2013 by most contemporary or former member parties of the Socialist International. Social democracy has been seen as a revision of orthodox Marxism , although this has been described as misleading for modern social democracy. Marxist revisionist Eduard Bernstein 's views influenced and laid
13724-552: The government at the national level. During the post-war consensus , this form of social democracy has been a major component of the Nordic model and, to a lesser degree, the West European social market economies . The development of social corporatism began in Norway and Sweden in the 1930s and was consolidated in the 1960s and 1970s. The system was based upon the dual compromise of capital and labour as one component and
13870-518: The government of Scotland provision should be made for the same industrial legislation being applied throughout Great Britain." Close contact was retained with the TUC with reciprocal arrangements existing for mutual assistance and co-operation when the occasion warranted. The STUC originally had a rented office at 58 Renfield Street, Glasgow, Scotland, in a building belonging to the Scottish Council for Women's Trades . Between 1900 and 1949
14016-399: The gradual abolition of capitalism and social democrats opposed to the Third Way merged into democratic socialism. Although social democracy originated as a revolutionary socialist or communist movement, one distinction between democratic socialism and social democracy is that the former can include revolutionary means. The latter proposes representative democracy under the rule of law as
14162-401: The groundwork for developing post-war social democracy as a policy regime, Labour revisionism , and the neo-revisionism of the Third Way . This definition of social democracy is focused on ethical terms, with the type of socialism advocated being ethical and liberal . Bernstein described socialism and social democracy in particular as organized liberalism; in this sense, liberalism is
14308-421: The idea that the United States has characteristics of a European-style social democracy, it has been argued by some observers that it has a comfortable social safety net , albeit severely underfunded in comparison to other Western countries. It has also been argued that many policies that may be considered socialist are popular but that socialism is not. Others, such as Tony Judt , described modern liberalism in
14454-412: The implementation of market-oriented , monetarist , and neoliberal policies ( privatization , deregulation , free trade , economic globalization , and anti- inflationary fiscal policy , among others), the social democratic welfare state was put in doubt. This caused several social democratic parties to adopt the Third Way , a centrist ideology combining social democracy with neoliberalism; however,
14600-452: The importance of social corporatism to social democracy in his work Economic Democracy: The Politics of a Feasible Socialism (1995). As a welfare state, social democracy is a specific type of welfare state and policy regime described as being universalist, supportive of collective bargaining, and more supportive of public provision of welfare. It is especially associated with the Nordic model. Social democratic policies were first adopted in
14746-543: The incident, are part of the extensive mythology surrounding the event. It was only fourteen months since the Russian Revolution , and the German Revolution was still in progress in January 1919. The troops started arriving at 10 pm that evening, after the violence was over. Six tanks arrived from Dorset on Monday, 3 February. There remains a debate on the left, over whether the Red Clydeside movement constituted
14892-562: The individuals, groups, and literature of the First International , and have retained some of the terminology and symbolism such as the colour red . How far society should intervene and whether the government, mainly the existing government, is the right vehicle for change are issues of disagreement. As the Historical Dictionary of Socialism summarizes, "there were general criticisms about the social effects of
15038-665: The influence of both the reformist socialism of Ferdinand Lassalle and the internationalist revolutionary socialism advanced by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels . Social democracy has undergone various major forms throughout its history. In the 19th century, it encompassed various non-revolutionary and revolutionary currents of socialism, excluding anarchism . In one of the first scholarly works on European socialism written for an American audience, Richard T. Ely 's 1883 book French and German Socialism in Modern Times , social democrats were characterized as "the extreme wing of
15184-506: The influence of politicians like Carlo Rosselli in Italy, social democrats began disassociating themselves from orthodox Marxism altogether as represented by Marxism–Leninism , embracing liberal socialism , Keynesianism , and appealing to morality rather than any consistent systematic, scientific , or materialist worldview. Social democracy appealed to communitarian , corporatist , and sometimes nationalist sentiments while rejecting
15330-493: The influx of immigrants from all over Scotland, other areas of Britain and Europe. Eleven percent of Glasgow's housing stock was vacant due to speculation and few new houses were built as landlords benefited from renting out overcrowded and increasingly dilapidated flats. As Highlanders and Irish migrants came to Glasgow, the city's population increased by 65,000 people between 1912 and 1915 while only 1,500 new housing units were built. Glaswegian activists had demanded legislation and
15476-445: The institutions of liberal democracy . Starting in the post-war period, social democracy was defined as a policy regime advocating the reformation of capitalism to align it with the ethical ideals of social justice . What socialists such as anarchists , communists , social democrats, syndicalists , and some social democratic proponents of the Third Way share in common is history, specifically that they can all be traced back to
15622-686: The interests of the people through their representatives' influence, an argument echoed by some socialists in post-war Britain. Advents in economics and observation of the failure of state socialism in the Eastern Bloc countries and the Western world with the crisis and stagflation of the 1970s, combined with the neoliberal rebuke of state interventionism , resulted in socialists re-evaluating and redesigning socialism. Some social democrats have sought to keep what they deem are socialism's core values while changing their position on state involvement in
15768-533: The latter as an alternative economic system to capitalism. According to Schweickart, the democratic socialist critique of social democracy is that capitalism can never be sufficiently humanized and that any attempt to suppress its economic contradictions will only cause them to emerge elsewhere. He gives the example that attempts to reduce unemployment too much would result in inflation, and too much job security would erode labour discipline. In contrast to social democracy's mixed economy , democratic socialists advocate
15914-480: The long history of overlap between the two, with social democracy considered a form of democratic or parliamentary socialism and social democrats calling themselves democratic socialists, democratic socialism is considered a misnomer in the United States. One issue is that social democracy is equated with wealthy countries in the Western world, especially in Northern and Western Europe, while democratic socialism
16060-681: The market and the state as the other. From the 1940s through the 1970s, defining features of social democracy as a policy regime included Keynesian economic policies and industrial agreements to balance the power of capital and labour and the welfare state. This is especially associated with the Swedish Social Democrats . In the 1970s, social corporatism evolved into neo-corporatism , which replaced it. Neo-corporatism has represented an important concept of Third Way social democracy . Social democratic theorist Robin Archer wrote about
16206-423: The national Labour Party. A Scottish Council of the Labour Party was formed in 1915. Despite this involvement in the process which established the Labour Party, the STUC is not, and has never been, affiliated to any political party. The STUC has always had active women members. In 1897 a female delegate, Margaret Irwin , obtained the highest vote in the election of the first Parliamentary Committee (later renamed
16352-433: The neoliberal political climate that had existed since the 1980s. Those social democrats recognized that outspoken opposition to capitalism was politically non-viable and that accepting the powers that be , seeking to challenge free-market and laissez-faire variations of capitalism, was a more immediate concern. The Third Way stands for a modernized social democracy, but the social democracy that remained committed to
16498-699: The old and young should work separately. Therefore, in 1938, it was decided to establish the Trade Union Youth Advisory Committee (now called the Youth Committee) encouraging youth sections within the existing unions. The Committee is elected by an annual conference of young trade unionists that deals with youth related issues, and elects a delegation to the Annual Congress which submits three motions and amendments like other affiliates. It also organises day and weekend schools and other activities for young trade unionists. From
16644-791: The only acceptable constitutional form of government. During the Great Recession, Social Democratic parties in Europe increasingly adopted austerity as a policy response to the economic crisis, shifting away from the traditional Keynesian response of deficit spending . According to Björn Bremer, this shift in thinking was due to the influence of supply-side economics on Social Democratic leaders and by electoral motivations whereby Social Democrats wanted to appear economically competent to voters by adopting orthodox fiscal policies. Social democracy has some significant overlap in practical policy positions with democratic socialism, although they are usually distinguished from each other. In Britain,
16790-670: The organisation initially attracted working-class women in Govan to activism, and with open air meetings throughout Glasgow, Edinburgh and within Lowland Scotland they began to extend their reach. By 1917, street meetings were regularly being held all around the districts of Glasgow and beyond, including Partick , Maryhill , Bridgeton , Parkhead , Govan, Govanhill , Whiteinch , Shettleston , Springburn , Possilpark , Bellahouston , Rutherglen , Paisley , Overnewton Barrhead , Cambuslang , Blantyre , Alloa , Cowdenbeath , Drongan , Drumpark, Douglas Water and Lanark . As
16936-618: The police continued and following demonstrations on 17 November, legal action against rent strikers was halted. State Secretary of Scotland Thomas McKinnon Wood asked the Cabinet to freeze all rents at pre-war levels and in December, the Rents and Mortgage Interest Restriction Act 1915 received royal assent. In March 2018, to mark International Women's Day, a bronze sculpture of Barbour was unveiled in Govan, Glasgow portraying Barbour leading
17082-440: The position that socialism should be grounded in ethical and moral arguments and achieved through gradual legislative reform . Bernstein's ideas were initially not well received; his party maintained the position that reforms should be pursued only as a means to an eventual revolution, not as a substitute for it. Yet, Bernstein's ideas would have growing influence, particularly after the First World War. The Russian Revolution
17228-447: The predecessor and precursor of socialism, whose restricted view of freedom is to be socialized , while democracy must entail social democracy. For those social democrats, who still describe and see themselves as socialists, socialism is used in ethical or moral terms, representing democracy, egalitarianism, and social justice rather than a specifically socialist economic system. Under this type of definition, social democracy's goal
17374-400: The prediction that the working class was the decisive class with the development of capitalism. In their view, this did not materialize in the aftermath of mass industrialization during World War II. In Britain, the social democratic Gaitskellites emphasized the goals of personal liberty , social welfare , and social equality . The Gaitskellites were part of a political consensus between
17520-692: The primary reason for this was the perspective that viewed the Stalinist-era Soviet Union as having succeeded in usurping the legacy of Marxism and distorting it in propaganda to justify totalitarianism . In its foundation, the Socialist International denounced the Bolshevik-inspired communist movement, "for [it] falsely claims a share in the Socialist tradition". Furthermore, core tenets of Marxism have been regarded by social democrats as having become obsolete, including
17666-435: The private ownership and control of capital", "a general view that the solution to these problems lay in some form of collective control (with the degree of control varying among the proponents of socialism) over the means of production, distribution, and exchange", and "there was agreement that the outcomes of this collective control should be a society that provided social equality and justice, economic protection, and generally
17812-525: The prospect of a new socialism was "a chimera, a hopeful invention of Western socialists who had not understood how ' actually existing socialism ' had totally discredited any version of socialism among those who had lived under it". Social democracy influenced the development of social corporatism , a form of economic tripartite corporatism based upon a social partnership between the interests of capital and labour , involving collective bargaining between representatives of employers and labour mediated by
17958-521: The protesters' side. The trade union leaders, who had organised the meeting, were arrested. Most were acquitted, although both Gallacher and Manny Shinwell were put in jail for their activities that day, Shinwell also being charged with an inflammatory speech the week before in James Watt Street in the city's docks, in an episode that later erupted into a race riot. The aura of Red Clydeside grew as delegations of organised labour replaced
18104-479: The reformists founded the Labour and Socialist International (LSI) in 1923. The LSI had a history of rivalry with the Comintern, with which it competed over the leadership of the international socialist and labour movement. During the 1920s and 1930s, social democracy became dominant in the socialist movement, mainly associated with reformist socialism while communism represented revolutionary socialism. Under
18250-551: The region's political scene and laid the ground for their universal welfare states in the 20th century. The Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, as well as Greenland and the Faroe Islands, also ranks highest on the metrics of real GDP per capita , economic equality , public health , life expectancy , solidarity , perceived freedom to make life choices , generosity , quality of life , and human development , while countries practising
18396-535: The revised version of Clause IV to the Labour Party Constitution , which was implemented in the 1990s by the New Labour faction led by Tony Blair , affirms a formal commitment to democratic socialism, describing it as a modernized form of social democracy; however, it no longer commits the party to public ownership of industry and in its place advocates "the enterprise of the market and
18542-412: The rigour of competition" along with "high quality public services either owned by the public or accountable to them". Many social democrats "refer to themselves as socialists or democratic socialists", and some such as Blair "use or have used these terms interchangeably". Others argue that "there are clear differences between the three terms, and preferred to describe their own political beliefs by using
18688-551: The rise of politicians, such as Jeremy Corbyn in Britain and Bernie Sanders in the United States, who rejected centrist politicians that supported triangulation within the Labour and Democratic parties. According to both right-wing critics and supporters alike, policies such as universal health care and education are "pure Socialism" because they are opposed to "the hedonism of capitalist society". Because of this overlap, democratic socialism refers to European socialism as represented by social democracy, especially in
18834-442: The rising legitimacy of neoliberalism, especially laissez-faire capitalism. The Third Way's view of the crisis is criticized for being too simplistic. Others have criticized it because with the fall of state socialism, it was possible for "a new kind of 'third way' socialism (combining social ownership with markets and democracy), thereby heralding a revitalization of the social democratic tradition"; however, it has been argued that
18980-627: The section to which their organisation belongs. In 2020, the STUC moved to temporary accommodation in Rutherglen before its planned move to a new build premises in Landressy Street, Bridgeton, Glasgow in early 2021. The following unions were affiliated to the STUC as of July 2020: Social democracy Social democracy (often shortened to socdem or SocDem) is a social , economic , and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and
19126-411: The socialism associated with Karl Marx had become the official theoretical basis of the first social democratic party established in Europe, the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Germany . In the early 20th century, the German social democratic politician Eduard Bernstein rejected orthodox Marxist ideas about the inevitable progression of history and the need for revolution , advancing instead
19272-426: The socialists" who were "inclined to lay so much stress on equality of enjoyment, regardless of the value of one's labor, that they might, perhaps, more properly be called communists". In the early 20th century, social democracy came to refer to support for a process of developing society through existing political structures and opposition to revolutionary means, which are often associated with Marxism. Thus whereas in
19418-511: The socioeconomic order in Europe from the post-war period until the early 1990s. Social democratic roots are also observed in Latin America during the early 20th century; this was the case in Uruguay during the two presidential terms of José Batlle y Ordóñez . While the welfare state has been accepted across the political spectrum, particularly by conservatives ( Christian democrats ) and liberals ( social liberals ), one notable difference
19564-478: The term 'social democracy' only". Democratic socialism represents social democracy before the 1970s, when the post-war displacement of Keynesianism by monetarism and neoliberalism caused many social democratic parties to adopt the Third Way ideology, accepting capitalism as the status quo for the time being and redefining socialism in a way that maintains the capitalist structure intact. Like modern social democracy, democratic socialism tends to follow
19710-491: The term. It was a set of social programs implemented in Germany that Bismarck initiated in 1883 as remedial measures to appease the working class and reduce support for socialism and the Social Democrats following earlier attempts to achieve the same objective through Bismarck's Anti-Socialist Laws. This did not prevent the Social Democrats from becoming the biggest party in parliament by 1912. Similar policies were later adopted in most of Western Europe, including France and
19856-548: The time that the Peace Crusade disbanded it had become a UK-wide organisation. At the turn of the twentieth century the Clydeside area in Glasgow experienced rapid industrial and population growth during which time Glasgow became Scotland's largest city, Its population grew from almost 200,000 in 1851 to over 1,000,000 in 1921. Despite this exponential growth, housing remained a huge problem for its inhabitants as few houses were added to Glasgow's housing stock to accommodate
20002-411: The war, not the war itself that provoked opposition within the labour movement. The Independent Labour Party 's May Day Manifesto of 1918 makes this very clear in calling for A Living Wage for all and Justice for our Soldiers and their Dependants . Moreover, the massive demand for men to fight in the war meant that few Glaswegian families escaped personal loss of some kind. To undermine the war effort
20148-553: The war, such as Japan ( Japanese post-war economic miracle ), West Germany and Austria ( Wirtschaftswunder ), South Korea ( Miracle of the Han River ), France ( Trente Glorieuses ), Italy ( Italian economic miracle ), and Greece ( Greek economic miracle ). With the 1970s energy crisis , the abandonment of both the gold standard and the Bretton Woods system along with Keynesian social democratic, mixed-economy policies and
20294-620: Was a pivotal moment that furthered the division between reformists and revolutionary socialists. Those supporting the October Revolution renamed themselves as Communists while those opposing the Bolsheviks retained the Social Democrat label. While both groups technically shared the goal of a communist society that fully realized the principle of " from each according to his ability, to each according to his need ",
20440-497: Was a reformist state socialist , Bernstein predicted a long-term coexistence of democracy with a mixed economy during the reforming of capitalism into socialism and argued that socialists needed to accept this. This mixed economy would involve public , cooperative , and private enterprises , and it would be necessary for an extended period before private enterprises evolve of their own accord into cooperative enterprises. Bernstein supported state ownership only for certain parts of
20586-575: Was alienating potential middle-class Labour supporters, and nationalization policies had been so thoroughly attacked by neoliberal economists and politicians, including rhetorical comparisons by the right of state-owned industry in the West to that in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, and nationalizations and state socialism became unpopular. Thatcherite Conservatives were adept at condemning state-owned enterprises as economically inefficient. For
20732-477: Was confidence amongst socialists in the concept of state socialism as being the most effective form of socialism. Some early British social democrats in the 19th century and 20th century, such as the Fabians , said that British society was already mostly socialist and that the economy was significantly socialist through government-run enterprises created by conservative and liberal governments which could be run for
20878-560: Was established in 1897 largely as a result of a political dispute with the TUC regarding political representation for the Labour movement. A number of meetings were held by the various Scottish trades councils to discuss the situation, resulting in the formation of the STUC in Glasgow, Scotland, in March 1897. From the outset, the STUC was not in competition with the TUC, nor was it a political movement, but sought to ensure that "in any scheme for
21024-527: Was one of the concerns on which the Congress was founded and in 1900, the Congress was instrumental in establishing the Scottish Workers' Parliamentary Election Committee, a forerunner of the Scottish Council of the Labour Party, which would nominate and support candidates for Parliamentary elections. The Congress was also involved with the Scottish Workers' Representation Committee which continued to function until 1909 when its duties were taken over by
21170-797: Was opposed to conscription and, although there were anti-war and anti-conscription campaigns in organisations such as the WIL being organised and run by middle-class women, few working-class women were involved in Scotland. Frustration on her part on their lack of representation, Helen Crawfurd organised a grassroots meeting called 'The Great Women's Peace Conference' involving socialist-minded women in June 1916. From this meeting, and alongside her fellow Rent Striker Agnes Dollan , The Women's Peace Crusade (WPC) arose in November 1916 in Govan , Glasgow . As intended,
21316-505: Was to risk alienating the working-class, which many labour leaders were unwilling to do-–apart from Maxton, Gallacher and Maclean. William Gallacher , who would later become a Communist MP claimed that, whilst the leaders of the rally were not seeking revolution, in hindsight they should have been. He claimed that they should have marched to the Maryhill Barracks and tried to persuade the troops stationed there to come out on
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