J30 Black Bloc London website?
JH | 28.06.2011 12:10 | Public sector cuts | Workers' Movements
After the large black bloc on the March 26th anti-cuts demo in London, it seems likely that a repeat BB would be out on the streets for any subsequent demo. A website / blog called Black Bloc London has appeared announcing a meet-up place for J30.

Posting a meet-up time at the start of the main union demo does not seem highly tactical. The strength of any BB seems to be that it gathers and ungathers as it goers along making kettling much harder. BB seems to also be more suited to word of mouth.
Is this a case of falling back into old routine and failed ways of calling out more radical blocks or something more akin to a provocation with other agendas?
If there is a BB on J30 in London, it will be interesting to see if has learnt from some of the criticisms leveled at it after M26. How do anti-cuts, union and more radical tactics work together?
JH
Homepage:
http://blackbloclondon.tumblr.com/
Comments
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IP harvesting
28.06.2011 12:45
(DONT use corporate webservices they will log your ip)
Piggy
No Black Bloc
28.06.2011 12:52
It's useful as a tactic when it becomes more than a group of anarchists doing it, and becomes - like with Millbank - a real movement with mass widespread participation. Otherwise it's effect is negligible in some ways, and actually really negative in other ways. Many anarchists are striking or supporting the strikes, and have been doing so in really productive ways. Doing this would really undermine our work. The fact is there is widespread disapproval of the tactic by many working class activists and strikers. I work in a school, and believe me if my school (and all the others and uni's, etc. I have heard of) is anything to go by there is literally zero chance of anything other than a small number of already politicised strikers joining in, and the majority will actively be opposed to the black bloc. Obviously, as anarchists, we should be working to get rid of people's irrational respect for private property, etc. but the reality of the situation is that it would make this strike worse, disempowering for the strikers (who will form the majority of the participants), and less likely to be repeated.
There is a very real danger that the extremely negative publicity generated by the black bloc, as well as personal feelings of being undermined by it, will lead to workers being less up for striking in future - and will certainly give union bosses an excuse to not ballot us for more industrial action.
Diversity of tactics is all well and good, but when your tactic works to actively undermine others (including the tactic that the vast majority of the participants are using) then you've got to consider which strategic choices we should make to best generalise, spread and support the strikes.
atatatat
its just kids...
28.06.2011 13:25
butt face
will you please listen to us
28.06.2011 16:11
fran
'The truth?' Far out!
28.06.2011 17:51
And what is the truth of the world that most workers don't already know? That capitalism, bosses and work suck everyday. I think we got that one, ta.
There nothing wrong per se about trashing symbols of capitalism but how many banks do we have to smash before the tipping point of revolution is upon us? 10, 50, 1000, 1 million!
Banks are only part of a global structure of capitalism but as such, in the form the BB attacks, they are just buildings. Revolution comes from abolition of the whole capitalist relationship between workers and bosses that why strikes and occupations, expropriations and so on are much more likely to bring change than a bunch of BB folks fetishising property destruction as the most radical political act, fun and satisfying as it obviously is.
Here's a good read on this topic: The Reproduction of Everyday Life by Fredy Perlman
Opie
Homepage:
http://libcom.org/library/reproduction-everyday-life-fredy-perlman
Black bloc provocateur scum
29.06.2011 08:56
THese people are organised by the police to break the protest. UK Uncut had been very successful in putting pressure on corporations. Black Bloc got involved and got many of them arrested. Black Bloc also allowed the media to undermine the protest. I can't think of anything else that Black bloc achieved.
Black bloc are provocateur scum
SDubois
BB, Uk Uncut
29.06.2011 09:39
So why did UK Uncut refuse to condemn the BB if the picture is as you paint it. You know nothing about how any of this works.
Ui
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