Anarchist Movement Conference starts tomorrow // 6th - 7th June // London
Anarchist Movement Conference 09 | 05.06.2009 18:25
Over 250 people have registered to attend the first conference of anarchists in UK since Bradford 1998. It is a chance to look at the anarchist movement and decide collective ways to become more effective in fighting for radical change.
Anarchist Movement Conference09 is being held on the weekend of 6-7 June at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London. See website for map www.conference09.org.uk
Anarchist Movement Conference09 is being held on the weekend of 6-7 June at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London. See website for map www.conference09.org.uk
Updated website with directions and times!!
Below is an interview by Freedom with one of the organisers of the conference.
UK Anarchism Gets Organised
Conference09 is the biggest gathering of anarchists for over 10 years. We talk to one of the organisers about the two day event and about the state of radical politics in the UK today.
How did the idea of the conference come about?
The idea has been knocking around anarchist circles in London for a few years now - a conference which would hold up a mirror to the movement and take a no-holds barred critical look at who we are what we do and attempt to at least acknowledge our own self-marginalisation within our class.
We felt it was time that we took at look at what currently is composed as 'the movement'. Many of us have been involved with anarchist, direct action and libertarian politics for decades and it has always been a debate around the question “if our ideas our so good why are they so few of us?”.
What has the response been from the 'anarchist movement'?
The anarchist movement is fairly fractured, though in the last few years there have been more interaction and solidarity so the response has been positive. We have had the majority of organisations back the conference and are mobilising for it.
We also have many people who are involved in the Climate Camp, ex-Reclaim the Streets, ex-Class War that are coming after being cold to the idea. This has meant that the conference will be the space where a huge amount of experience and knowledge can be shared. It will truly be an exciting occasion to be involved in. There will be people who were active from the 1960's to the present day. No need to read books about those struggles, ask the participants who were there!
Is it open to anybody?
The conference will not be for everyone. It is unashamedly for and by those involved in anarchist politics in the UK and therefore is not a public event like, for example, the London Anarchist Bookfair. That's not to say we will exclude anyone we don't know!
Do you think this type of conference will be alienating for people new to anarchist politics?
Not at all. I think it will show people who are new that we are serious about what we do. That we are self-reflective and self-critical because we want to play a part in struggles and become a popular movement. It relies solely on the participation of people to progress these ideas and therefore demands more. The best experience of anarchists are those that have been lived experiences and not 'inherited' dogmas.
What's to stop it being two days of sectarian inward looking navel-gazing?
The groups will be composed of people from all over the UK and involved in different groups. We have stated that the conference is about breaking down barriers and working together to reach solutions. The key themes which we have suggested each group discuss is aimed at starting from a self-reflective look at anarchism, then looking at effective resistance, then looking at where and how we are located in the wider schemes of things. All in all it is about challenging ideas rather than reinforcing them. At the end of the day we have designed the conference to be less about promoting our own individual groups or pet obsessions and more about looking at the bigger picture.
Why do you think anarchist groups and ideas have so little recognition in society generally?
Some would say it is the result of 150 years of propaganda against anarchism in the worlds press. Others would argue it is our own ineffectualness. I agree with both positions. Anarchism represents a society without state governance; it also represents a desire for a free communist society. Also as a political tendency we have low self-esteem and lack self-confidence in how we communicate our politics. That affects how and when we communicate and announce our presence. If you look at other radical-left and anarchist movements say in Greece or Italy, there is a massive recognition of those movements. They both have confidence, not constantly questioning themselves to the point of inaction.
How would you consider the conference to be a success?
If people after the conference see a difference in activity, in outlook, in priority and locate it back to the discussions they had at the conference then we have achieved our aims. If there is a greater sense of common purpose and greater interests in supporting each others initiatives then I think is a start. We don't expect overnight miracles, it will take a longer process but at least we will have a process.
Anarchist Movement Conference09 is being held on the weekend of 6-7 June at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London. See website for map www.conference09.org.uk
UK Anarchism Gets Organised
Conference09 is the biggest gathering of anarchists for over 10 years. We talk to one of the organisers about the two day event and about the state of radical politics in the UK today.
How did the idea of the conference come about?
The idea has been knocking around anarchist circles in London for a few years now - a conference which would hold up a mirror to the movement and take a no-holds barred critical look at who we are what we do and attempt to at least acknowledge our own self-marginalisation within our class.
We felt it was time that we took at look at what currently is composed as 'the movement'. Many of us have been involved with anarchist, direct action and libertarian politics for decades and it has always been a debate around the question “if our ideas our so good why are they so few of us?”.
What has the response been from the 'anarchist movement'?
The anarchist movement is fairly fractured, though in the last few years there have been more interaction and solidarity so the response has been positive. We have had the majority of organisations back the conference and are mobilising for it.
We also have many people who are involved in the Climate Camp, ex-Reclaim the Streets, ex-Class War that are coming after being cold to the idea. This has meant that the conference will be the space where a huge amount of experience and knowledge can be shared. It will truly be an exciting occasion to be involved in. There will be people who were active from the 1960's to the present day. No need to read books about those struggles, ask the participants who were there!
Is it open to anybody?
The conference will not be for everyone. It is unashamedly for and by those involved in anarchist politics in the UK and therefore is not a public event like, for example, the London Anarchist Bookfair. That's not to say we will exclude anyone we don't know!
Do you think this type of conference will be alienating for people new to anarchist politics?
Not at all. I think it will show people who are new that we are serious about what we do. That we are self-reflective and self-critical because we want to play a part in struggles and become a popular movement. It relies solely on the participation of people to progress these ideas and therefore demands more. The best experience of anarchists are those that have been lived experiences and not 'inherited' dogmas.
What's to stop it being two days of sectarian inward looking navel-gazing?
The groups will be composed of people from all over the UK and involved in different groups. We have stated that the conference is about breaking down barriers and working together to reach solutions. The key themes which we have suggested each group discuss is aimed at starting from a self-reflective look at anarchism, then looking at effective resistance, then looking at where and how we are located in the wider schemes of things. All in all it is about challenging ideas rather than reinforcing them. At the end of the day we have designed the conference to be less about promoting our own individual groups or pet obsessions and more about looking at the bigger picture.
Why do you think anarchist groups and ideas have so little recognition in society generally?
Some would say it is the result of 150 years of propaganda against anarchism in the worlds press. Others would argue it is our own ineffectualness. I agree with both positions. Anarchism represents a society without state governance; it also represents a desire for a free communist society. Also as a political tendency we have low self-esteem and lack self-confidence in how we communicate our politics. That affects how and when we communicate and announce our presence. If you look at other radical-left and anarchist movements say in Greece or Italy, there is a massive recognition of those movements. They both have confidence, not constantly questioning themselves to the point of inaction.
How would you consider the conference to be a success?
If people after the conference see a difference in activity, in outlook, in priority and locate it back to the discussions they had at the conference then we have achieved our aims. If there is a greater sense of common purpose and greater interests in supporting each others initiatives then I think is a start. We don't expect overnight miracles, it will take a longer process but at least we will have a process.
Anarchist Movement Conference09 is being held on the weekend of 6-7 June at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London. See website for map www.conference09.org.uk
Anarchist Movement Conference 09
e-mail:
info@conference09.org.uk
Homepage:
http://www.conference09.org.uk