James Connolly, Civil Society and Revolution

This essay argues that across the span of James Connolly’s revolutionary career there was a move from prosecuting revolutionary activity in the sphere of ’the political’ or ’political society’ to that of ’civil society’. This is exemplified in Connolly’s move from organising and running a small Leninist party, the Irish Socialist Republican Party, in the 1890s, to his involvement with the Industrial Workers of the World, and then the Irish Transport and General Workers’ Union - radical syndicalist unions - in the early 1900s and in the lead up to 1916. The essay argues that Connolly’s move is a crucial element in the matrix of factors that contributed to his ultimate and tragic political failure