Class Follow

THIS IS the story of four generations of working class people in Blair's Britain-great-grandparents, grandmother, parents and their children.

NEW RESEARCH reveals that working class students will be four times less likely to go to university than those from better off families if top-up tuition fees are introduced.

The Northern Star was the paper of the first ever mass working class movement-Chartism. Chartism got its name from the fight for a Charter that would expand the right to vote. But it also focused wider social issues into a movement that struck fear into the ruling class. The Northern Star was the lifeblood of the movement-as educator, organiser and agitator.

A SOCIALIST member of Ireland's parliament and a local councillor were both jailed last week for standing alongside the working class people they represent. Until now the essential public service of collecting rubbish has been provided free in Ireland, and funded by general taxation. The right wing government wants to impose local charges for rubbish collection-a bin tax.

"As we move into a new political order, where all mainstream parties have become the same, it is important for all working class people to have a choice that has a clear agenda for socialist politics." Bill O'Dowd, chair of Stratford 1 RMT union branch

WHEN 18 year old working class garage MC Dizzee Rascal picked up the Mercury Music Prize I was pleased, but something bugged me. It had nothing to do with his oversimplistic beats or the lack of content in his lyrics. I quite like his voice and style of flow.

"ANOTHER WORLD is possible" is one of the most popular slogans of the anti-capitalist movement. It is hard to imagine a world without capitalism. Aspects of the system like competition, sexism or class divisions are often presented as eternal truths. But throughout history people have lived in many different kinds of society. Two hundred years ago over 95 percent of people were peasants. They might own a small patch of land and a few basic tools that they could use to produce enough food for themselves and their family. Most of what they needed could be produced in the home.

THE FRENCH Revolution between 1789 and 1794 was the first time in history that revolutionary newspapers played a decisive role in shaping the course of events. The revolution was the key battle in the birth of the modern capitalist world. It swept away the old feudal order of aristocrats and kings. In its place it forged a national state dominated by the middle class of merchants, doctors, lawyers.

I USED to teach 10 and 11 year olds who were reluctant to leave their computers and read books. To encourage them, I started writing stories about children like them and read them chapters in class. I wanted to give them something they could identify with and they loved it. Harry Potter is written to an old-fashioned formula, like Billy Bunter and the Just William books. It's got the same old public schools and servants.

ALLENDE FACED the organised resistance of the Chilean ruling class. Allende's government did nationalise some industry in its first year. But his government was far from extreme. It nationalised 38 big enterprises and took over 1,400 farms. But this was not a major inroad into capitalist power.

The Key is a major new drama about three generations of working class women in Glasgow. Their story reveals an inspiring history of political activism and working class militancy rarely seen on TV. Donna Franceschild wrote The Key. She spoke to Socialist Worker about why political drama is back in fashion.

THE Communist Manifesto, I suggested last week, identified the new forces being unleashed by modern capitalism. Marx's classic pamphlet argued that capitalism also created a new exploited class, the "proletariat"-the modern working class.