Big Flame

This book addresses the ideas and experiences of a small British revolutionary socialist and feminist organisation in the 1970s and 1980s.

Written by two ex-members, it sets out the organisation’s eclectic influences: Italian Marxism, libertarianism, James-ianism, anarchism — and its complex relationship with Leninism and Trotskyism. Big Flame lost momentum in the early 1980s when many leftists joined the Labour Party. It includes a critical interpretation of Big Flame’s successes and failures.

The analysis is interspersed with vignettes from 40 members reflecting on their days in the organisation. ‘Our book is aimed at those in the radical movements of every type who are seriously interested in political ideas and their relationship to political struggle. We are writing for an audience wider than those in the academy. This book seeks to assist those who continue to expose racist, patriarchal capitalism and to organise for a future where love and equality will prevail. The book explains Big Flame’s unconventional organisational structure and it includes descriptions of its  interventions in a wide variety of struggles."