[lbo-talk] RIP Carrol

Jack Gain jaccuse at gmail.com
Wed Aug 22 01:44:02 PDT 2018


I didn't know Carrol, but his was among the first names I would look for, scanning this list every day as a first year undergraduate student in Glasgow about 15 years ago.

Later when I did my Master's, Carrol's reflections on his involvement with CISPES were part of what made me want to research the Central American solidarity movement. He said that the fragmented left of the post-60s era -- the single-issue movements that focused on Central America or disability rights or reproductive rights -- though narrower in scope, were vital; a keeping of the flame until better conditions could emerge.

*"We were in retreat... It was a fairly honorable retreat on the whole."*

That idea is one that I have had at the back of my mind during a few poorly-attended meetings and cold, after work protests.

This, from 2010, has also stuck with me:

*"While the next upsurge of working-class resistance will catch us by surprise, will surprise even those who organize it, and will not at all resemble the '60s, still from the study of that decade leftists might begin to "loosen" their minds up, be more ready to recognize class resistance when it comes in new forms."*

Rest in peace, Carrol.



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