Opening the gates : the Lip affair, 1968-1981 / Donald Reid.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reid, Donald, author.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

LIP (Firm).

Lip, Fred, 1905-.

Lip, Fred.

Clock and watch industry--France--History--20th century.

Clock and watch industry.

Strikes and lockouts--France--History--20th century.

Strikes and lockouts.

Industrial management--Employee participation--France--History--20th century.

Industrial management.

Industrial relations--France--History--20th century.

Industrial relations.

History.

Industrial management--Employee participation.

France.

Physical Description:

xvi, 492 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Verso, 2018.

Summary:

"How the occupation of a watch factory became one of the iconic labour struggles after May 1968 In the Summer of 1973, workers occupied the Lip watch and clock factory, sparking a national affair. The Lip occupation and self-management experience captured the imagination of the Left in France and internationally, as a living example of the spirit of May '68. In Opening the Gates, Donald Reid chronicles the history of this struggle. Beginning with the early stirrings of worker radicalism in 1968, Reid's meticulously researched narrative details the nationally publicised conflict of 1973, the second bankruptcy and occupation of 1976 and the conversion of Lip into a group of cooperatives operating into the 1980s. Reid explores the arguments that that animated Lip: between the labour bureaucracy and the rank-and-file; between the two main progressive trade unions, the CGT and the CFDT; between the established worker institions at Lip (CGT, CFDT, and the CE/works council) and the more militant, less structured organizations like the Action Committee; and lastly, between male workers and an increasingly-politicized female workforce at Lip, who gradually developed a parallel feminist struggle both inside and outside the factory"-- Provided by publisher.

"In the Summer of 1973, workers occupied the Lip watch and clock factory, sparking a national cause and controversy. The Lip occupation and self-management experience captured the imagination of the Left in France and internationally, as a living example of the spirit of May '68. In Opening the Gates, Donald Reid chronicles the history of this struggle. Beginning with the early stirrings of worker radicalism in 1968, Reid's meticulously researched narrative details the nationally publicised conflict of 1973, the second bankruptcy and occupation of 1976 and the conversion of Lip into a group of cooperatives operating into the 1980s"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 Lip, Lip, Lip, Hurray! 14

2 The Serpent 47

3 We Produce, We Sell, We Pay Ourselves 95

4 The Factory Is Where the Workers Are 130

5 Because We Tell You It Is Possible 167

6 From Besançon to the Chingkang Mountains 206

7 Sometimes a Great Notion 231

8 Take the Money and Run 265

9 Women's Lip 301

10 Like the Bodies of the Hanged at the Place de Gréve 326

11 Reentering the Atmosphere 356

12 The Onions of Egypt 393

13 From Besançon to Gdansk 418

14 In the Musée Grévin 448.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 471-478) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

9781786635402

1786635402

OCLC:

1001307631