During the Covid-19 pandemic, Notes from Below published From the Workplace, a collection of worker writing covering 12 different industries in the UK. This project provided important insights into how work was changing during the crisis, covering the current issues faced in workplaces up and down the country, with how workers have started responding. At the start of 2021, we launched the Class Composition Project. This builds on the previous publication, but seeks to take it further than the snapshots of individual workplaces. This is an inquiry which aims to collect as much information as possible about contemporary work, working conditions, and the organisation of workplaces in Britain. As a workers’ inquiry, this is an undertaking to develop a view, from the perspective of workers themselves, of the changing shape of work and the working class, as well as the challenges it faces in getting organised. The project is born from a conviction that such an analysis is sorely lacking and necessary for the future developments of the labour movement and Marxism. It has so far attracted over 250 workers who have filled in the project’s survey and 25 have completed longer interviews. The project has widened out from Notes from Below to include new participants across four industry-specific working groups: education, healthcare, tech, and cultural work. This roundtable will introduce the project, its aims, and some preliminary findings. In doing so, it will also reflect on the challenges and possibilities offered by methods of co-research.

Sai Englert, Lorenza Monaco, Callum Cant, Jamie Woodcock

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Notes from Below: Initial findings from the Class Composition Project

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