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Ewan Gibbs

@ewangibbs.bsky.social
6.2K followers 1.6K following 3.5K posts

Historian of work, energy, industry and protest. Author of An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class and Coal Country. Should be running or writing.

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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 9h
The Scottish government behaved like they’d saved jobs and bus manufacturing at Alexander Dennis last year. Now we know the furlough scheme has delivered zero pounds in support and the downgrade from bus to chassis manufacturing is going ahead.
news.stv.tv
Flynn says failure of Alexander Dennis furlough scheme ‘deeply disappointing’
Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn said it was not possible to pay out £4m of cash from a furlough scheme set up by the Scottish Government.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Tonight I’ll be recording the first interview about my new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class. Wish me luck!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
First run under the rising sun this autumn 🏃‍♂️
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Does anyone know what happened to the British Political Speeches website? It was an incredibly useful resource!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
'A book that treats "class politics" as a means to ignite debate not close it down. A most welcome change, for the better.' Mark Perryman has rated my new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, as essential to understanding Labour. labourhub.org.uk/2026/09/25/t...
labourhub.org.uk
Ten Books to Make Sense of the 2026 Labour Party Conference
Mark Perryman’s annual selection this year ranges from Eric Hobsbawm to Rocking against Racism. Emile Chabal – The Age of Hobsbawm: The Life of a Revolutionary Historian In the October …
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Just had my first interaction with a Linked In bot. Sad.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
'A book that treats "class politics" as a means to ignite debate not close it down. A most welcome change, for the better.' Mark Perryman has rated my new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, as essential to understanding Labour. labourhub.org.uk/2026/09/25/t...
labourhub.org.uk
Ten Books to Make Sense of the 2026 Labour Party Conference
Mark Perryman’s annual selection this year ranges from Eric Hobsbawm to Rocking against Racism. Emile Chabal – The Age of Hobsbawm: The Life of a Revolutionary Historian In the October …
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Sunday trouble.
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Jacob Wolf Lefton @watermosaic.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
"We have lost much of the pride and collective power that once came with being part of the working class. Rebuilding that power means rejecting the idea that everyone can simply work their way out of inequality."
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Six goal special at Pollok.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
'What Gibbs describes as the unmaking of the working class happened as a result of concerted political will. Rebuilding will require similar effort. Books like his are a start.' Thanks to @tajmccoy.bsky.social for incisively reviewing my new book, An Injury to All. hyphenonline.com/2026/09/24/u...
hyphenonline.com
We need to rebuild an empowered and inclusive working class - Hyphen
It took decades of deliberate strategy to erode our sense of pride and solidarity. We’ll have to work equally hard to get it back
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
'What Gibbs describes as the unmaking of the working class happened as a result of concerted political will. Rebuilding will require similar effort. Books like his are a start.' Thanks to @tajmccoy.bsky.social for incisively reviewing my new book, An Injury to All. hyphenonline.com/2026/09/24/u...
hyphenonline.com
We need to rebuild an empowered and inclusive working class - Hyphen
It took decades of deliberate strategy to erode our sense of pride and solidarity. We’ll have to work equally hard to get it back
13510
Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Reedijk is the first Hibs manager who is younger than I am. Guess I’m having to come to terms with the dream being over!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The US threat to ban diesel imports is a risk for Britain because we depend on imports. It’s not about the North Sea. The big problem is that our refineries have closed. Britain was nearly self-sufficient in diesel 25 years ago but we import more than half of what we consume now.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
You can get 20% off my new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, from bookshop.org and help support independent bookshops!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Gorbals panther on the loose. 🐈‍⬛
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
You can get 20% off my new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, from bookshop.org and help support independent bookshops!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Doing some writing for an edited collection which asks for a historiography overview and generating pages which are half footnotes. Channelling some Lenin and Marx here so I am.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Looking forward to @tajali1.bsky.social's book launch for Come What May, We're Here To Stay organised by Glasgow Trades Council on Thursday. It's an exciting new history of British South Asian organising against racism and workplace exploitation. Tickets 🔽 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launc...
eventbrite.co.uk
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Oddly warm morning to be running by the autumn leaves 🏃‍♂️ 🍂
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I'm looking forward to sharing my new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class, with colleagues the Just Transition Lab in Aberdeen next month. It will also be a valuable opportunity to learn more about their important research.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Today's weird fake media inquiry email was an impersonation of a well-known radio and television media presenter. The gmail email address and the fact they seemed to think my first book was an art criticism were a bit of a give away though.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Escaped to Largs to go up Castle Hill. We saw a Neolithic tomb and enjoyed Nardini’s on the way.
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Tom Railton @tomrailton.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
We have some ideas on this: prospect.org.uk/news/governm...
prospect.org.uk
Government must end battery rip-off and take control to lower bills, says Prospect
The government needs to play a much greater role in the roll-out of clean energy infrastructure in order to keep...
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
‘Britain’s political class remains unified in its belief that energy infrastructure must be owned by the private sector.’ A commanding essay by @arthurdowning.bsky.social explaining why agreement on privatisation across political divides defines Britain’s energy crisis.
lrb.co.uk
Arthur Downing · Asset Sweating: Britain’s Energy Crisis
Britain has private ownership while making the state responsible for planning via subsidies. The result is a zombie...
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I’ve been at worse crisis matches!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The BBC’s Ratcliffe interview is shocking. He’s allowed to spout unchallenged nonsense about politics, economics and energy. Ratcliffe is worth listening to because he represents an emboldened and retrograde section of Britain’s ruling class 🧵 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Billionaire Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe says he has lost confidence in UK
Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe tells the BBC he thinks the country is "on the slide" and calls for more investment in the North Sea.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
In The Breaking of the English Working Class, Jonas Patrick Marvin grapples with a society where ‘class is everywhere’ from geography to work to housing and ill health. It’s an emotive and highly personal history of the present. My review for @bellacaledonia.bsky.social.
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Breaking of the English Working Class
‘Class is Everywhere’: Can something new making come out of the breaking?  Jonas Patrick Marvin, The Breaking of the English Working Class, Verso, £14.99. Reviewed by Ewan Gibbs. ‘Class is everywhe…
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
In The Breaking of the English Working Class, Jonas Patrick Marvin grapples with a society where ‘class is everywhere’ from geography to work to housing and ill health. It’s an emotive and highly personal history of the present. My review for @bellacaledonia.bsky.social.
bellacaledonia.org.uk
The Breaking of the English Working Class
‘Class is Everywhere’: Can something new making come out of the breaking?  Jonas Patrick Marvin, The Breaking of the English Working Class, Verso, £14.99. Reviewed by Ewan Gibbs. ‘Class is everywhe…
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Was back out running this morning 🏃‍♂️
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
A group of first year undergraduate students I'm advising mistook me for one of their number this afternoon!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The loud debate over North Sea drilling is a convenient distraction which obscures the real problems of Britain's ongoing failure to create many good jobs in renewables or deliver energy security. @pancholewis.bsky.social and I writing for @uk.theconversation.com. theconversation.com/north-sea-dr...
theconversation.com
North Sea drilling is a distraction: low-carbon transition hinges on prioritising people and jobs
Industrial renewal coupled with social reforms could support a green transition away from carbon-intensive industries while narrowing social inequalities.
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ourpower.bsky.social @ourpower.scot · 15/09/2026
"Renewables are dominated by foreign multinationals, including state-owned companies from abroad. The government should be exploring how the UK could own its own green technology companies, so that citizens benefit when profits are made." - @ewangibbs.bsky.social & @pancholewis.bsky.social
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Enjoyed discussing the value of studying energy history as labour history at Bristol University with Mattin Biglari, a historian of Iranian oil workers, and @linda83ross.bsky.social, a nuclear society and culture scholar. Thanks to the Telling (Other) Energy Stories conference for having us!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The loud debate over North Sea drilling is a convenient distraction which obscures the real problems of Britain's ongoing failure to create many good jobs in renewables or deliver energy security. @pancholewis.bsky.social and I writing for @uk.theconversation.com. theconversation.com/north-sea-dr...
theconversation.com
North Sea drilling is a distraction: low-carbon transition hinges on prioritising people and jobs
Industrial renewal coupled with social reforms could support a green transition away from carbon-intensive industries while narrowing social inequalities.
01113
Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
In Come What May, We’re Here to Stay, @tajali1.bsky.social uses original research from archives and interviews to detail how British South Asians have organised against racism and exploitation for more than a century. It’s a valuable addition to working-class history.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Good explainer for why the fashionable idea of ‘flexicurity’ doesn’t face much chance in Britain as long as employers can get away with imposing flexibility on their terms.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Glad to attend the Auchengeich Miners’ Memorial Service which remembers 47 men who died in the 1959 pit disaster. As usual, there was a good turnout from the community and trade unionists from further afield. It was great to hear thoughtful contributions from local school pupils.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Highland Hibees!
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Historians are trapped in a vice between clamouring for contemporary relevance amid widespread demands for 'lessons from history' and a strong disciplinary aversion to prescribing lessons from history.
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Dave Steele @drdavesteele.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Enjoying Dr Ewan Gibbs’s talk about his book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class @ewangibbs.bsky.social @historylabplus.bsky.social
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Back out running 🏃‍♂️
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Jokingly insisted to a friend that James Watt was the defining figure of both the 20th and 21st century. It was originally a banter position but I think I might have actually come round to it.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Class has stormed back into the language of both the left and right. I've written for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social on the return of political appeals to class. They raise pertinent questions over who the working class are, how they mobilise and who politically represents them?
tribunemag.co.uk
Return of the Working Class?
The rhetoric of class politics is everywhere, but only workers can make it a reality.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Class has stormed back into the language of both the left and right. I've written for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social on the return of political appeals to class. They raise pertinent questions over who the working class are, how they mobilise and who politically represents them?
tribunemag.co.uk
Return of the Working Class?
The rhetoric of class politics is everywhere, but only workers can make it a reality.
12113
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Receiving the first reports of my book being seen inthe wild! An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class was on sale at the London Radical Bookfair at the weekend. It's hitting the shops on 27 October. Preorder your copy here 🔽 versobooks.com/en-gb/produc...
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Receiving the first reports of my book being seen inthe wild! An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class was on sale at the London Radical Bookfair at the weekend. It's hitting the shops on 27 October. Preorder your copy here 🔽 versobooks.com/en-gb/produc...
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
A set of headlines which would have been astonishing just a few years ago.
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Decent second hand haul 📕
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Ewan Gibbs @ewangibbs.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Making slides for my first ever talk about my new book, An Injury to All: The Unmaking of the British Working Class. I'm looking forward to sharing my ideas with the History Lab on Thursday. More details of their day of events in Glasgow here 🔽 eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
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