Remembering the Commune: Celebrations in Britain and the United States.

UNITED Kingdom; UNITED States

The Paris Commune led to annual celebrations from the labor movement across the globe. This article focuses on those in Britain and the United States from 1871 to the end of the century, exploring how the event's interpretation and function within a community has fluctuated over this period. It discusses the internationalism present in demonstrations as people shed their national identity and joined an internationalist community in celebration each year. It analyzes how the labor movement in each country responded to perceived threats from outside their community in the wake of the Haymarket Affair. It also demonstrates that the Commune was a palimpsest, an event that could be reinterpreted each year to express whatever ideals the movement needed. It was a call to reform and revolution, to hope and despair, and to past and future. The article's analysis of British and American Commune celebrations reveals a rich and evolving community that emphasized internationalism and oppression during a turbulent period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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