Plebs, pedagogy, and praxis: Reflections on research at Ruskin College

The critical approach to the study of international labour and trade unions, as advocated for and practiced by the Critical Labour Studies network, once had an institutional home at Ruskin College, Oxford. In light of the demise of the International Labour and Trade Union Studies (ILTUS) programme, and Ruskin as an independent home for working-class education, in this article, we – a former student and a former member of teaching staff at Ruskin – argue that Ruskin was a site for the production of ‘really useful knowledge’ for labour and social movements. We conclude with a consideration of the role that the Critical Labour Studies network can play in a radical and collaborative working-class education and research agenda.