Colours of democracy: trade union banners and the contested articulations of democratic spatial practices

Crossan, J. , Featherstone, D., Hayes, F., Hughes, H. and McDonald, I. (2023) Colours of democracy: trade union banners and the contested articulations of democratic spatial practices. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 48(1), pp. 23-38. (doi: 10.1111/tran.12575)

Abstract

This paper locates trade union banners and those of other campaigns and left organisations as part of the ongoing work and labour of producing democratic political cultures. It argues that engaging with the ways in which they were used, shaped, produced and re-worked can shed important light on often neglected spatial practices and forms of agency of democratic politics. We contend that engaging with the geographical imaginaries and practices shaped by trade union engagements with democracy offers important and original perspectives on different articulations of spatial relations, labour and democratic politics.. The paper engages with Clive Barnett’s influential work on the geographies of democracy and outlines on alternative position based on engaging with the generative character of political activity.. The empirical part of the paper offers three cuts through different articulations of labour and democratic politics. The paper engages with the Banners of Glasgow Shipwrights to explore aspects of trade union politics and struggles for democratic reform, we discuss the relations between the STUC Black Workers' Committee and generative spaces of organising and the relations between banners and the peace movement to discuss forms of antagonistic democratic cultures.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Featherstone, Professor David and Crossan, Dr John
• Authors: Crossan, J., Featherstone, D., Hayes, F., Hughes, H., and McDonald, I.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences
• Journal Name: Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers
• Publisher: Wiley
• ISSN: 0020-2754
• ISSN (Online): 1475-5661
• Published Online: 12 September 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 48(1): 23-38
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License