In solidarity, under suspicion is the successor volume to Against the grain (2014) and Waiting for the revolution (2017), complementing analysis of the far left in Britain from 1956 until the present. In addition to new scholarship on hitherto under-researched groups and movements, the volume explores recent findings from the Undercover Policing Inquiry and provides historical context for developments in the British left during and after 'Corbynism'. Chapters consider the far left's relationship to the state as well as to the Labour Party, and highlights attempts by far-left groups and activists both to intervene internationally and to transform themselves. With a range of different perspectives
activist and academic
In solidarity, under suspicion draws out the distinct ways that different far left groups and movements have responded to problems which remain salient today.
Edited by:
Daniel Frost,
Evan Smith
Imprint: Manchester University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 27mm
Weight: 846g
ISBN: 9781526179593
ISBN 10: 1526179598
Pages: 480
Publication Date: 18 November 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction Studying the far left in Britain after ‘Generation Left’ – Daniel Frost & Evan Smith Against the State 1 Undercover policing of the left 1968–82: subversives under the lens – Chris Brian 2 ‘Secret and Delicate Sources’: British black power, counter-subversion and undercover policing – Rosie Wild & Eveline Lubbers 3 Shot by both sides? The foundation of the Institute for Workers’ Control and its critics on the left and right – Ieuan Franklin and Alan Tuckman 4 From the SLL to the WRP: violence, gender, and the perils of Leninism – Aidan Beatty 5 Anti-statism and the trajectory from the Revolutionary Communist Party to Spiked – Evan Smith Worlds transformed 6 Trades councils and The December The Sixth Group: trade unions and the ‘unofficial’ radical left in the early 1970s – Hazel Perry 7 ‘Organising to win’: Big Flame and workplace interventions 1970–3 – Kerrie McGiveron 8 Socialist-feminist revival in the Merseyside Women’s Liberation Movement: new priorities, strategies, spaces and solidarities after 1978 – Rachel Collett 9 ‘Black and white, unite and fight’? black power and the British radical left, 1965–79 – Alfie Hancox Beyond borders 10 ‘Let the people of Malaya rule their own country!’: The Communist Party of Great Britain’s solidarity campaign with Malaya – Armand Azra bin Azlira 11 British Maoists, China, and the Cold War in the 1970s – Neil Redfern 12 British Marxism and the coup in Chile – Owen Dowling 13 Difficult solidarities: the Irish diaspora and the British left during the Northern Ireland conflict – Jack Hepworth Breaking and entering 14 From rupture to retreat: black Power and the rise of black Marxism in 20th century Britain – Azfar Shafi & Ilyas Nagdee 15 Inside out, outside in: the IMG’s changing attitudes towards the Labour Party and entryism – Nicolas Sigoillot 16 Finally moving on? The Socialist Labour Party and the search for an electoral alternative to New Labour – Alfie Steer 17 Researching left-wing activism (after 1956) during and after Corbynism – Daniel Frost -- .
Daniel Frost is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London. Evan Smith is a Visiting Fellow at Flinders University, South Australia, and a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide.
Reviews for In solidarity, under suspicion: The British far left from 1956
'There’s a great deal here of interest – about claimants’ unions, trades councils, the early Women’s Liberation Movement and the Anti-Nazi League. Today’s activists shouldn’t dismiss these contributions as historical, academic exercises. On the contrary, there is a lot here that could teach us how to help build contemporary social movements. Many of the currents who made a mess of united front activity fifty years ago are still leading campaigns today – and if they are unable to learn from their mistakes, others should at least try.' Labour Hub -- .
