Anyone for Anarchy?

By David Benson and Katy Long 28/03/2002

Student political protest is still alive and well. While the CUSU [ie cambridge university student union] 'corridor of power' is nothing more than a narrow and dilapidated staircase, Anti-Capitalist Action (ACA), a new pressure group led by three King's [one of the colleges that make up the university] anarchists, promises a return to bygone days of student uprising.

In planning to "Destroy Capitalism and Reclaim Our Lives", ACA offer an alternative to mainstream Cambridge University political societies, in which cynical politicking is rife and principles are too often sacrificed in the hunt for power. Members of ACA feel their campaigns are about "real politics", where direct action is used to disrupt the political status quo and force systemic change. ACA is an 'umbrella organisation', allowing free discussion and debate among members whose political views range from Old Labour Socialism to Revolutionary Anarchism. They run an e-mail list, which has already attracted around 150 subscribers. Since the beginning of this term, the group has also held weekly meetings in King's, attended by a core of around 20 to 30 members. This week saw the first "direct action", taken as part of a world-wide anti- Starbucks week. Every morning, ACA members have manned a stall opposite the Starbucks in Market Square, offering free fair-trade coffee as an alternative to the chain's customers, and have handed out leaflets publicising their concerns over Starbucks' attempts to gain a strangle-hold on the global coffee trade. Craig McDowell, an ACA member, said: "We would rather drink fair trade coffee than that laced with the sweat of workers exploited by capitalist fascists, and their lattes taste shit anyway." The action has been claimed to be "a huge success", with around thirty percent of Starbucks' clientele choosing to take the 'ethical' alternative. ACA also ensured that the IMF's annual recruitment scheme for Cambridge Economics PhD students, held on Tuesday morning at Trinity, did not go as planned. ACA members invaded the meeting, took to the stage, and delivered speeches condemning the IMF's policies towards South America, claiming they had precipitated the recent Argentinian economic crisis. In a show of solidarity for their Argentinian comrades, ACA then began a ten minute 'crazy pans' session (crazy pans is an ancient Argentinian protest technique, which involves banging pans together and generally being as obstreperous as possible). The action at Trinity [another college of the university, where the IMF careers presentation and the protest against it took place] was described as "small scale but symbolic".

Further actions planned by some members of the group include the establishment of a squat in Cambridge as an alternative 'social centre'. ACA members will use this centre for various forms of "non-mainstream social interaction" our members find it hard to express themselves freely in conventional social contexts". Initially, interested members would use the squat for a few days only, but longer-term plans will then be made to make the arrangement permenant. An "affinity group", for those members planning to participate in this year's May-day protests has also been set-up. At present, no actions have been taken which could be considered violent, and Dan Meyer, a leading member of ACA, was quick to emphasise that "in all probablitiy the majority of members would not support violent direct aciton". However, anti- Starbucks week, which has received wide ranging support, is seen as a "fluffy campaign" by some of the most active ACA members, and McDowell, Meyer and Matthew MacDonald (another leading member) refused to rule out the possibile use of violence in the future if it is judged to be necessary.

Suggestions that ACA were plotting to blow up King's Chapel were dismissed however as "mere rumours" [I think that bit was meant to be sarcastic]. While ACA is undoubtedly beyond the extremely small, clearly circumscribed world of conventional Cambridge politics, the group have acheived what the main organisations are often accused of failing to do. They have incited fierce debate over the fundamental principles on which contemporary society is based, and are actively working to implement change. With 150 subscribers to their mailing list, they outnumber both the Cambridge Lib Dems and the University Labour Club in terms of membership. The revolution may not be here yet, but perhaps this week's CUSU [presidential] candidates need to learn from ACA's ability to create sizeable momentum - for what can only be termed an extremist cause - if the potential power of student protest is ever to be harnessed.