The Dawn of Labor: Commemorating May Day, by Yanis Iqbal

Solidarity of Labour by Walter Crane 1889

Image by Tysasi via Flickr

by Yanis Iqbal
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Aligarh, India
Originally published May 4, 2021
May 1, 2022

In 1889, Clara Zetkin wrote: “Wherever busy folk are drudging under the yoke of capitalism, the organised working men and women will demonstrate on May Day for the idea of their social emancipation.” In today’s world, the murderous claws of oppression have dug deeper into the flesh of humanity. The globalization of capital, establishment of post-Fordist economic arrangements of flexible specialization, financialization of the accumulation process and neo-colonial strangulation of the Global South have led to a barbaric situation. Amid this generalized chaos, May 1 acts as a blazing streak, inviting the wretched of the earth to reflect intensively on their own history of joy, tenacious resistance, collective courage and strong solidarity.

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