In and Against the State

'How can we fight both inside and outside the state for the socialist futures we so urgently need? Essential reading for everyone eager for change in these dangerous times'
– Lynne Segal, author of 'Radical Happiness: Moments of Collective Joy'

Forty years after its first publication, In and Against the State returns with a new introduction and featuring an interview with John McDonnell.

Originally published as a pamphlet in 1979, In and Against the State brought together questions of working-class struggle and state power, exploring how revolutionary socialists might reconcile working in the public sector with their radical politics. Informed by autonomist political ideas and practices that were central to the protests of 1968, the book’s authors spoke to a generation of activists wrestling with the question of where to place their energies.

Forty years have passed, yet the questions it posed are still to be answered. As the eclipse of Corbynism and the onslaught of the global pandemic have demonstrated with brutal clarity, a renewed socialist strategy is needed more urgently than ever.

With a foreword by John Holloway, this edition includes a new introduction by Seth Wheeler and an interview with John McDonnell that reflect on the continuing relevance of the book and the questions it raises.