May Day Manifesto 1968

Description

The original publication of the May Day Manifesto in 1967 collected together the most influential radical voices of the era. Among the seventy signatories were Raymond Williams, E. P. Thompson, Stuart Hall, Iris Murdoch, Terry Eagleton, Ralph Miliband and R. D. Laing. The manifesto set out a new agenda for socialist Britain, in the aftermath of the failure of postwar labours. Urgently relevant to the current arguments about the crisis of austerity, the burden of empire and the failures to control rampant capitalism, it offers a complete road map to a brighter future. Covering the purpose of the state and how finance and empire are twinned, the importance of a planned economy for all, the role of Britain in the world, the manifesto hoped to inspire change and a fairer society. It is a bold reminder that there are alternatives to the current situation, and that alternative policies can make a difference.

The May Day Manifesto committee consisted of over seventy signatories including: Raymond Williams, E. P. Thompson, Stuart Hall, Iris Murdoch, Terry Eagleton, Ralph Miliband and R. D. Laing

A genuinely collaborative project among a range of leftwing intellectuals of the day. -- Terry Eagleton The Manifesto sought to rescue and renew the idea that the purpose of the politics of the left - Labour and beyond - should be to further the long-term transformation of capitalist society in a democratic and egalitarian direction. -- Michael Rustin * Guardian *