Harry McShane (7 May 1891 – 12 April 1988) was a Scottish

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

, and a close colleague of John Maclean.

Life and career

Born into a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

family, he became a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

. He was involved in the Clyde Workers Committee and the anti-war movement during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the conflict ended, he was part of the ''Tramp Trust Unlimited'', formed by Maclean to propagandise and campaign for a

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

and a

six-hour day The six-hour day is a schedule by which the employees or other members of an institution (which may also be, for example, a school) spend six hours contributing. This is in contrast to the widespread eight-hour day, or any other time arrangemen ...

, amongst other socialist policies. He was a member of the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of political faction, factional struggle, in 1916 the party's ...

, like Maclean, but chose to join the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

when it was formed in 1920 rather than follow Maclean into the Scottish Workers Republican Party. McShane stated of the SRWP, that they ''"had some queer people that I didn’t like – they had never been to John’s economics classes, they knew nothing about socialism or revolutionary work. Even if I had not joined the Communist Party I could never have joined with that crowd"''. A firm supporter of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, McShane visited Russia in 1932. He was shocked by some of the things he saw there, particularly the working conditions in a coal mine in the

Donbas The Donbas (, ; ) or Donbass ( ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. The majority of the Donbas is occupied by Russia as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The word ''Donbas'' is a portmanteau formed fr ...

region, which he described as being like something from the previous century. He met a young American journalist who had come to the USSR as a firm supporter, but had become disillusioned, as "people kept disappearing...and no-one asked any questions". McShane remembered later that his faith in the Soviet Union remained strong, but he had his first doubts after the trip. In the 1930s, he became involved with the National Unemployed Workers' Movement and led a number of

hunger marches Hunger marches are a form of protest, social protest that arose in the United Kingdom during the early 20th century. Often the marches involved groups of men and women walking from areas with high unemployment to London where they would protest ou ...

to London. In 1933, McShane lead an NUWM march from

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

which became known as the ''Scottish Hunger March''. The marchers camped out on the streets of Edinburgh for three days, and McShane chronicled this event in a pamphlet that was published and distributed entitled ''"Three Days that Shook Edinburgh"''. In the 1930s, he also fought to ensure that freedom of speech and assembly was allowed on

Glasgow Green Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge. History In ...

along with other socialist figures. McShane had a number of disagreements with the Communist Party, particularly over the policy document '' The British Road to Socialism'' which he regarded as "reformist"; ultimately, he would leave the Communist Party but remained a convinced socialist for the remainder of his life. In 1954, he combined with other socialist figures such as Eric Heffer to create a new organisation, the ''Federation of Marxist Groups''. In 1958, after reading ''Marxism and Freedom'' by Raya Dunayevskaya, he embraced

Marxist Humanism Marxist humanism is a philosophical and political movement that interprets Karl Marx's works through a humanist lens, focusing on human nature and the social conditions that best support Eudaimonia, human flourishing. Marxist humanists argue th ...

. He was also involved in the Amalgamated Engineering Union and was a Scottish correspondent for the '' Daily Worker''. While not involved as a full-time organiser, McShane worked as an engineer, and continued to do engineering work until he retired at 69. His biography, ''No Mean Fighter'' was published in 1978. The book is based on transcriptions of tape recordings made at the suggestion of Paul Foot. Richard Kuper and Pluto Press bought the tape recorder that Joan Smith used to make the recordings. She then worked alongside McShane until together they produced the final draft for publication. He died on 12 April 1988.

Awards

On 21 December 1984, he was awarded the freedom of the City of Glasgow for his services to the Labour and Trade Union movements.

References

External links

Texts by Harry McShane
at marxists.org
Additional texts by Harry McShane
at marxists.org
Obituary of Harry McShane
by Paul Foot
Red Clydeside: a history of the labour movement in Glasgow 1910-1932
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcshane, Harry 1891 births 1988 deaths Engineers from Glasgow 20th-century Scottish autobiographers British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain members Scottish communists 20th-century Scottish engineers Scottish socialists Scottish Marxists