Comrades! A great victory! Today a few hundred counter-olympics protestors (500 according to the BBC, or maybe up to 1000 in fact), including members of no less than 43 organisations, marched from Mile End Park in East London, to Wennington Green, another park in East London not very far away. The demo headed along the Mile End road tantalisingly in the direction of the olympic park at Stratford, before doubling back in a state-approved circular route to keep everyone safely out of harm's way.
Everything went according to plan. No one disrupted nothing. Arriving at Wennington Green, we listened to a range of inspiring speeches, beginning with a rallying cry from someone who was introduced as the writer of a "great article in last week's Socialist Worker". Well done comrades for not jumping the gun and taking any precipitous action! We're still doing a great job of lulling the state into a false sense of security as, behind the scenes, our ninja army of highly trained cadres all get into position for the final reckoning.
There were a couple of touch and go moments. The demo paused outside the former Bryant & May match factory, site of the historic matchgirls strike of 1888 (google it), a key moment in British working class history. And now, renamed Bow Quarter yuppiedrome, site of MOD olympic surface-to-air missiles. Some at the back paused a bit too long, getting a tad over-enthusiastic in shouting and gesticulating at the squaddies with the bombs on the tower, but a good deal of berating from the stewards helped eventually move the march back onto the approved route.
Then, towards the end of the march, the forces of order made a move to grab one reprobate at the back who had allegedly been snipping the official Met police demo route tape with a pair of scissors. He was surrounded by a ring of blue for a stop and search. At this point, as our wise head stewards pointed out, there was a real danger that elements in the crowd would surge to the back to show misguided solidarity with the supposed snipper. This could have caused all kinds of inconveniences, particularly as the target picnic spot still lay a whole 50 metres further ahead, and the march had already fallen behind official schedule due to the match factory incident.
Indeed, now a group of self-styled anarchists from ALARM (All London Anarchist Revolutionary Mob:
http://www.soundthealarm.org.uk/ effectively overrode the authority of the head stewards (two SWP bigwigs, or maybe ex-SWP bigwigs, who can keep up) and persuaded almost all of the demonstrators to stop and go back to the flashpoint. The crowd surrounded the police, who released their man.
The sun shone. Papers were sold. There was a display of folk dancing from a group protesting Russian oppression of the Circassian people (the 2014 winter olympics will be held in the black sea city of Sochi, claimed as the site of historic genocide by the Russian empire). There were also Turkish and Kurdish refugee groups, Global Women's Strike, Occupy London, Save Leyton Marsh, and many more, including our friendly police liaison officers mingling with the crowd in their baby blue bibs.
So, after all the heady juvenile days of Millbank and March 26 and the whatever spring and all that, it's reassuring to see that we've returned to the good old ways, the tried and tested ways. A to B marches. Speeches in a park. Some spineless trots. A pretty pitiful handful of anarchists with a black and red banner (though a pretty good ALARM free sheet which was handed to lots of people along the route).
(Disclaimer: don't get me wrong, it was really important that we were there, that we didn't let this crock of corporate shite go without even a whimper of protest. And it was really good to be out in the streets of east london, and talk to and give out info to lots of people. But is this really it for the olympics? Is that all there is?)
Everything went according to plan. No one disrupted nothing. Arriving at Wennington Green, we listened to a range of inspiring speeches, beginning with a rallying cry from someone who was introduced as the writer of a "great article in last week's Socialist Worker". Well done comrades for not jumping the gun and taking any precipitous action! We're still doing a great job of lulling the state into a false sense of security as, behind the scenes, our ninja army of highly trained cadres all get into position for the final reckoning.
There were a couple of touch and go moments. The demo paused outside the former Bryant & May match factory, site of the historic matchgirls strike of 1888 (google it), a key moment in British working class history. And now, renamed Bow Quarter yuppiedrome, site of MOD olympic surface-to-air missiles. Some at the back paused a bit too long, getting a tad over-enthusiastic in shouting and gesticulating at the squaddies with the bombs on the tower, but a good deal of berating from the stewards helped eventually move the march back onto the approved route.
Then, towards the end of the march, the forces of order made a move to grab one reprobate at the back who had allegedly been snipping the official Met police demo route tape with a pair of scissors. He was surrounded by a ring of blue for a stop and search. At this point, as our wise head stewards pointed out, there was a real danger that elements in the crowd would surge to the back to show misguided solidarity with the supposed snipper. This could have caused all kinds of inconveniences, particularly as the target picnic spot still lay a whole 50 metres further ahead, and the march had already fallen behind official schedule due to the match factory incident.
Indeed, now a group of self-styled anarchists from ALARM (All London Anarchist Revolutionary Mob:
http://www.soundthealarm.org.uk/ effectively overrode the authority of the head stewards (two SWP bigwigs, or maybe ex-SWP bigwigs, who can keep up) and persuaded almost all of the demonstrators to stop and go back to the flashpoint. The crowd surrounded the police, who released their man. The sun shone. Papers were sold. There was a display of folk dancing from a group protesting Russian oppression of the Circassian people (the 2014 winter olympics will be held in the black sea city of Sochi, claimed as the site of historic genocide by the Russian empire). There were also Turkish and Kurdish refugee groups, Global Women's Strike, Occupy London, Save Leyton Marsh, and many more, including our friendly police liaison officers mingling with the crowd in their baby blue bibs.
So, after all the heady juvenile days of Millbank and March 26 and the whatever spring and all that, it's reassuring to see that we've returned to the good old ways, the tried and tested ways. A to B marches. Speeches in a park. Some spineless trots. A pretty pitiful handful of anarchists with a black and red banner (though a pretty good ALARM free sheet which was handed to lots of people along the route).
(Disclaimer: don't get me wrong, it was really important that we were there, that we didn't let this crock of corporate shite go without even a whimper of protest. And it was really good to be out in the streets of east london, and talk to and give out info to lots of people. But is this really it for the olympics? Is that all there is?)
Comments
Hide the following 43 comments
freedom to choose
28.07.2012 19:59
Maybe it is. Perhaps there isn't as many people as you thought who oppose the olympics.
Also, perhaps people don't want to cause disruption. Perhaps they just want to do a protest march and some speeches. Anything wrong with that? Just because it isn't your cup of tea, doesn't mean don't have the right to do what they want, not what you want. Its a democracy, we don't all have to follow the anarchist way.
Max
just do it
28.07.2012 20:28
Unless of course alarmist, you've got something planned, that so hot it needs to be kept hush hush. I hope you do.
Fuck the olympics.
anarcha
@anarcha, re alarm
28.07.2012 23:29
they had a meeting a couple of months ago to decide whether to disband, being as they were failing utterly to acheive anything at all. most members either abstained or voted to give up. 7 people voted for it to continue, three of whom had never been to an alarm meeting before and knew nothing about the group. so it goes on.
mainly alarm is good at making and distributing fliers and the odd newspaper, and at criticising everybody else. oh and claiming not to run (but entirely controlling) a monthly piss-up for the boys called the red n black club.
hence the above "article", a prime example of why only 7 people could be bothered to vote for its continued existence.
they haven't organised anything against the olympics, that's not their style. they'll just bitch at the ones they have noticed have organised something. the stuff they aren't even aware of they'll obviously ignore.
most of the anarchists in london who have heard of them are deeply embarrassed by them.
amused
The SWPers were a disgrace
29.07.2012 01:13
And the above argument is quite frankly ridiculous. Of course we're entitled to criticise them. OK, I don't have an Olympic ASBO. But today people from very many different groups came together for a common cause, and lots of us are active on a daily basis fighting the same shit - so why can't we fucking criticise? Instead of seeing it as their project, SWPers should have been be open to the different ideas of those groups. We of us didn't appreciate being herded into a park or shouted at for doing something that wasn't in the script.
Good article, btw, very accurate write up.
@
Where were the locals?
29.07.2012 03:36
i'm sure the locals all have opinions on the Olympics and the local council services, cutbacks etc, but where were they?
the counter olmpyics network should of made some decent flyers in the local lanuages...cockney and bengali, and flyered the place.
Glad to see WAG/Alarm making they're prescence known, its they're turf, but all those old SWP cliche socialists... they ain't cool.
yuck.
rfkorgf weme
counter olympic network
29.07.2012 09:52
Anarchists are well-represented in the organsing group and in many of the groups represented in the network. ALARM endorsed the call-out for yesterdays demo. All the groups involved were asked to provide stewards, so presumably all the stewards werent trots.
Thats not to say that there arent swpers involved of course.
And i'm not saying don't criticise, but if you think things could have been done differently or better, then do it differently or better.
anarcha
plan attacks and carry them out
29.07.2012 10:00
go for gold, silver or bronze.
anti-d
Anarcho-teenyboppers
29.07.2012 10:04
For Bakunin's sake grow up!!
Nestor Makhno
confused by this account of ALARM's role when man stopped by police
29.07.2012 10:36
I share a frustration with A to B marches as the main form of action, and that there haven't been more imaginative actions planned as well as the short route; and that it is worth making this point. But as you have said that it was important to nevertheless support this protest - I am suprised the article seems to try and make the whole protest sound mostly negative and worse than it was e.g. by making out ALARM had to persuade everyone to stop and get the man released (when that it isn't true).
It is also unclear if you or your group has attempted to plan or organise any actions that are more imaginative, which is always an option?
Anonymous person protesting yesterday
Hundreds of millions of people world-wide
29.07.2012 11:13
As it happens however, despite its failure to engage local communities, on one level the demo was an undoubted success, as it got worldwide mass-media coverage, sending its message out to an audience of hundreds of millions of people world-wide.
Vic
What was alarm doing about the olympics?
29.07.2012 11:23
ann
Local asking why we weren't heading to Stratford
29.07.2012 11:24
another anarchist
@ another anarchist
29.07.2012 12:06
con supporter
The Emperor's New clothes.
29.07.2012 14:34
Nestor Makhno
here
29.07.2012 14:55
As I wrote in my preceding blog, the start of the Olympics has seen the proliferation of dreadfully insipid puff pieces from writers who seemingly have a very shaky grasp on their own mind. The Observer today leads with yet another one which is unable to separate the event from the athletes and so sees the author dismissing his previous concerns as ‘curmudgeonly’ and ‘cynical’. What I find most hilarious about it is that this transformation is due to the Opening Ceremony, an event which pretty much had the sole purpose of being inspirational about Britain and had a massive budget with which to be so. It was never going to fail. Myself, I enjoyed it well enough but what I found curious was that it largely relied on pre-existing associations for its power. When I thought about it afterwards I realised that I had been far less impressed by what was actually happening on screen than by the machine-gun roll call of British achievements, whether that be our brilliant pop history, JK Rowling or the Industrial Revolution. This thought was bolstered by a friend who informed me that his Greek parents would have been hugely confused by much of it.
The part of the ceremony which did truly move me was the simplest - the procession of the athletes. The utter joy and excitement evident on the faces of the athletes was completely infectious and this more than anything resonated as a celebration of humanity, as the Morning Star put it. Yet as my heart was stirred by this I also felt great sadness at what could have been; at the trampling of this spirit beneath the jackboots of profit and elitism.
I get the sense from most of aforementioned puff pieces that they could have been written at any point over the past year by people who haven’t set foot in London, such is their banal predictability in trotting out the same PR lines. The Observer piece quite oddly suggests that the heavily-choreographed and controlled £27 million opening ceremony showed that London ‘was at ease with itself and its many contradictions’. Coming barely a year after the city tore itself apart, a city which is one of the most unequal in the developed world, that is quite the claim.
It was with huge relief, then, that I found myself at the Counter-Olympics demo in Tower Hamlets yesterday. Relief because I was surrounded by hundreds of people who cared deeply about their city and their country; people who went out of their way to wish the Olympic athletes well but did not let this stifle their critical faculties. Posters everywhere demanded ‘Sport for the 99%, not Profit for the 1%’ - these people were far from the ‘curmudgeonly’ moaners opposed to the entire thing, sports and all, that the media keeps portraying. No, these people had a very positive belief in humanity. They cared about social justice; they cared about public ownership of land; they cared about housing and living costs; they cared about militarisation and the wars which make the UK a target; they cared about poverty, exploitation and abusive labour practices; they cared about austerity and the use of mega-events to push its agenda. Again, I felt moved by the spirit on display - people who had given up their Saturday afternoons to make a stand and attempt to highlight some of the issues around the Olympics which the media is now furiously distancing itself from. The atmosphere was incredible - friendly and fun, with people beeping their car horns in support as they passed. There was an interesting observation to be made for those who keep wheeling out the attendance at the Torch Relay as proof of the UK’s unswerving love for the Games, as hundreds of people came out from their houses, pubs, cars etc to watch the march go past - not necessarily in support, but merely because something big was happening.
The march ended in Wennington Green with speeches from such inspirational organisations as War on Want and Defend the Right to Protest. I was thrilled that John McDonnell, one of the minority of principled Labour MPs remaining, appeared to speak of his solidarity for the cause.
The speaker who has most remained with me, however, was perhaps the most ineloquent - a woman from Critical Mass who had been arrested the evening before for peaceful protest. Clearly she was a last minute addition and was a little startled to be speaking before the crowds, yet she spoke matter-of-factly about the circumstances of her arrest - how she had been targeted for passing a bottle of water to a fellow cyclist who had already been arrested, how the police officer who arrested her claimed to recognise her as ‘one of that Occupy lot’. She then spoke of a visit to Critical Mass, some weeks earlier, of an Olympic cyclist (whose name unfortunately escapes me at the moment) who spoke to the organisation and led the members in a chant of ‘I am not afraid of offending my oppressor’. She led the gathered crowd in this same chant and I shouted it with passionate glee - not only as a message to the gathered authorities, the police who had flooded the streets in a clear demonstration of strength, the army guarding the Bow Quarter missiles - but as a message to those who wish to dismiss concern for London and the country as ‘cynical’ and ‘curmudgeonly’.
It was a beautiful day. As we left the Green and walked through a sunny Victoria Park, the ‘people’s park’ which now finds a large part of itself ticketed for entry, I felt almost euphoric. The human spirit is an incredible, resilient force, capable of great things even in the face of hardship and injustice. This is the real message of the Olympics and it’s a message which the Counter-Olympics demo shouted out loud.
alternative viewpoint
if your all so angry
29.07.2012 18:14
dkjf kjol
Failure was your fault
29.07.2012 18:32
There weren't any marches because you failed to organise them.
Team Leader
in response to 'nestor makhno'
29.07.2012 18:39
yes, the army come from the young workingclass just like us but like the police they choose to betray where they come from to fight instead for the ruling classes.
yeah on the one hand we could try & persuade them over to our side, on the other hand, they have chosen to be in a job where they go abroad (or stay home in this case for the olympics) to kill people because their governments have different idealogies.
the majority of young ppl who join the army aint forced into it either through poverty or compulsory enlistment, they choose to do this brutal, totalitarian job.
ps its useful to mention since youre calling us anarcho-teenyboppers in some smug, condescending way, nestor makhno who you identify as became an anarchist at 17.
also useful to note 'for the love of bakunin', bakunin would have wanted me & my family dead, hes a disgusting antisemite
some next anarchist
I don't understand a word you just said
29.07.2012 18:46
Justice for all
why?
29.07.2012 19:06
some next anarchist
What happened to...
29.07.2012 21:21
"the demo didnt go to stratford because the police refused permission to go there"... and here, exactly, is the problem... the police were in control of what the event did. People didn't dare to stand up to the police and assert their basic democratic rights (let alone anarchy). And if they'd asserted their rights, the police would have resorted to extreme repression. And this is why the movement is such a failure - we can't do anything useful because the police won't let us, and we can't stand up to the police because they're too strong.
More broadly, this is a crisis of activism since about 2000. Marches no longer influence the state (if they ever did) because of the lack of social forces behind them. Strikes have been shut down by precarity and anti-union laws. Civil disobedience/NVDA is now much higher-risk than before and can't be sustained as "serial activism" the way it once could. Street insurrection is threatened by a whole wave of new surveillance and repression technologies. Underground action is similarly threatened. As a result, there is a surplus of power on the side of the system. Since it isn't afraid of any of the available responses being used, it can do what it likes without danger.
The real question is, how do we get out of this dead-end?
The following would be possibilities:
1) we need some kind of indirect retaliation to "punish" the police when they suppress events - making suppression more costly.
2) we need new tools or tactics which stop the police being able to suppress protests. For example, revive white overalls against kettling, or use weapons strong enough to bust holes in police lines.
3) we need ways to get into high-security spaces or do things in public, without so much risk. (Example: remote-control drones, facial prosthetics).
4) we need a much larger movement - and we need guarantees of numbers BEFORE we call for action. Only call an action when there's a guarantee of 10,000 people there.
5) we need to concentrate on building sustainable communities of resistance. We should put most of our activity into building alternative communities. Once they're built, the basis will be there for bigger protests and greater disruption.
6) we can't hit the system through protest anymore - from now on, effective action will be clandestine.
I have no idea which of these is the best response. I'm just sure we need something new - our current repertoire is exhausted, and that in turn is why we aren't getting numbers.
fuck pigfuckers
Great solutions
29.07.2012 22:38
Basically, the police are professionals, they do this shit for a living. We're part-time amateurs without a clue where to begin. We need to hire professionals like the village did in The Magnificant Seven.
1) we need some kind of indirect retaliation to "punish" the police when they suppress events - making suppression more costly.
Maybe we can all get arrested and put in prison. They would mean they would have to feed us which would cost more.
2) we need new tools or tactics which stop the police being able to suppress protests. For example, revive white overalls against kettling, or use weapons strong enough to bust holes in police lines.
Perhaps we can build a tank. Lots of ideas can be found on the A-Team such as a vehicle that shoots watermelons at the police lines using compressed air.
3) we need ways to get into high-security spaces or do things in public, without so much risk. (Example: remote-control drones, facial prosthetics).
The mission impossible films have some good ideas on this. Or get some training similar to that used by Jason Bourne.
4) we need a much larger movement - and we need guarantees of numbers BEFORE we call for action. Only call an action when there's a guarantee of 10,000 people there.
Gotcha... I'll sort that one out - should be easy. Why not 100,000? I'll make it a cool million just to be on the safe side.
5) we need to concentrate on building sustainable communities of resistance. We should put most of our activity into building alternative communities. Once they're built, the basis will be there for bigger protests and greater disruption.
OK, I'll get the million people, you sort this out. Should be easy - end of the week?
6) we can't hit the system through protest anymore - from now on, effective action will be clandestine.
Cool sounds ace. I'll be like an international uncover operative. Can i be called Jason Bourne?
> I have no idea which of these is the best response. I'm just sure we need something new - our current repertoire is exhausted, and that in turn is why we aren't getting numbers.
With you in charge, I feel this will all be implemented with a hitch.
keep 'em coming
@keep 'em coming
30.07.2012 09:44
cul-de-sac
at least some of us are trying to help...
30.07.2012 10:33
I'm not sure if you're just trolling, pissed-off at the suggestion that existing methods are failing, or just trying to lower morale by dismissing anything that's suggested. But I'd like to hear your suggestions of how we go about reviving activism.
fuck pigfuckers
My point has been proved
30.07.2012 10:48
And as regards Bakunin, irrelevant and inaccurate.
Nestor Makhno
@nestor makhno
30.07.2012 10:55
we aint gona show solidarity to a group of people who fight for the ruling classes, i dont see the army much differently to the police except they usually execute their brutality abroad instead of at home, why should we display any support to them?
if you dont understand what im saying, its your fault, im pretty sure i been clear with what im saying
also it aint inaccurate, he accused jews as responsible for the majority of the worlds problems
some next anarchist
Another Alarmist on the demo writes...
30.07.2012 12:25
RE: the incident with the marcher being searched - I was one of the first, if not the first person to approach the man when he was being stopped by the police in the first place. Luckily some legal observers (LOs), as well as other members of Alarm, were right behind me (well the LO's took longest to arrive actually!). The police liaison was trying to get us all to move on, as they would release him in a minute. We refused and said we could wait for that minute then, if need be. The crowd and LO's kept up the pressure and the man was released after a very brief (and not very thorough-looking) search. Because we were there (the crowd I mean, not just Alarm members or LO's), it was a potential flashpoint, and I think that's why the police let him go. The stewards, as usual on these demos organised / commandeered by the left, showed no solidarity at all. And this was after what the SWP-er had told me at the meeting about standing up to the police!
Lastly on the demo - It was a typical A to B march. I personally wasn't really expecting anything else. Lots of great people and good groups were on the march. Many of them had done a lot locally and taken great risks to do so, and I commend them. The stewarding let them down as well.
Going over a few other points on the comments thread - re: Alarm - half the people at the AGM decided they wanted Alarm to continue. The problem for us I think is that the rest of the scene has seen some of the old hands drop out (some because they don't want to work in Alarm, some because they don't want to do anything at the moment, for various personal reasons) and they've assumed none of us are doing anything. The remaining and new members are not so well known on the scene, and so perhaps this is why people here - 'Anonymous person protesting yesterday', for instance - have said 'oh I didn't see anyone from Alarm there' etc - maybe we weren't with the banner at that moment (like when we were with the guy being searched) and you don't know who exactly is in Alarm anymore! Sorry we're not famous enough on the anarchist scene to be recognised by you but there you go, tough shit.
Lastly, Alarm broke down for a number of reasons - external and internal - we had a lot of shit to deal with last year as a group, which I won't go into here - but both the old schoolers still involved and the newbies are determined to build something good and fresh from now on.
As for the Red & Black Club - for 'amused' to describe this as a 'boy's club' shows one of two things - either you don't attend, and you don't have any idea of the inner workings of the collective, and you are making ill informed judgements for some reason or another, or you yourself are unable to see (deliberately, or unconsciously) the contributions made by women and the attendance of women every month. Because there are a lot of us involved! For you to say that we're not tells me YOU have the problem, not us.
And while I would be happy to have Red & Black Club under the Alarm banner if that were appropriate, not all the people involved in putting Red & Black Club on are in Alarm, it wouldn't be fair on them to do so. And we don't want involvement with one group to be a pre-requisite to involvement with another. Seems fair to me.
An alarmist
Homepage:
http://www.soundthealarm.org.uk
TO CLARIFY - Above comment (no.27) is from a DIFFERENT alarmist
30.07.2012 14:03
Alarmist no.2
Don't be scared
30.07.2012 14:37
bystander
it is a boys club
30.07.2012 15:32
half of those attending voted to keep alarm going? that means only 14 people bothered to attend, and only 7 wanted alarm to continue!
alarm controls red n black, everybody who pays any attention knows that much.
keep doling out those newspapers and pretending you are different from the trots etc who do exactly the same. meanwhile others will actually organise shit for you to criticise and lie about.
it's not like you can do much more is there, with your tiny numbers...
anarchista
@anarchista
30.07.2012 20:33
Alarmist no.2
Homepage:
http://www.soundthealarm.org.uk
@ alarmist no. 2 (of 7)
31.07.2012 12:01
thatcher's a woman, the tories were still a boys club even when she led them.
you don't miss me because you don't know me, you don't know what you are missing. also, i and others like me don't fit in your wierd little clique, we are too fond of thinking for ourselves and we refuse to pretend that getting pissed and handing out papers is ever going to change anything in any worthwhile way.
anarchista
interesting points
31.07.2012 12:41
crazy optimist
Indeed - and what next?
31.07.2012 15:38
Best to ignore Nestor Marknov and anarchista on this thread. They clearly have personal grievances to air which appear to tinged with ageism or outright sexism, and underpinned by class prejudice, and which are derailing an otherwise interesting thread. There are better places to air your dirty laundry/underlying prejudices than on a public indymedia discussion, but then you might have to be brave and put your name and/or face to it, and perhaps some people don't want to do that.
As for what to do next - I do agree with the comments that some activists have become overly fearful of repression - I've met a lot of otherwise rational people lately who believe the police will arrest you for simply your anti t shirt or for handing out anti-olympics propaganda.
We read through the actual law in an Alarm meeting, and found that these specific new powers re: displaying anti-olympic material only apply to commercial interests. But really that's quite an obvious thing to do, and doesn't explain why not other anarchists appear not to have done the same (or maybe they have - surely they have - enlighten me please if so).
I think the huge wave of action we saw last year, which broke and then ebbed away, has left people wondering what to do next. Everything else in comparison seems a bit shit. And the last student demo, where we were kettled in a moving 'sock' formation by the cops, and demonstrators violently yanked out the crowd and roughed up by cops, really demoralised the students and others on the demo. There hasn't been a decent one since.
Obviously the riots followed by deeply repressive sentencing has put a lot people into a state of shock, and wondering what can be done next. The state has shown itself to be pretty damned ruthless.
All this happening in a country where the general consensus seems to be 'the police are ok, at worst a necessary evil'.
I think once the Olympics are over, and they've run out of circuses (first Royal Wedding, then Jubilee, then Olympics - anarchists have been through a lot this past year, with all these heady cries to nationalism, no wonder we're feeling sick!), and people realise there is no more bread (they spent it all on themselves, and on the circuses...)... then the militancy will rise again.
In Britain, the government cuts are yet to bite - last year was really only the intro, most cuts will be imposed over the next two years - and I think we'll see things change when they do. The change to squatting laws haven't come into effect yet either (September) - I mention this cuz I think this could affect many more 'ordinary' people in the future, i.e. people who are made redundant, and can't meet their mortgage repayments, and find the police turn up with the bailiffs ready to chuck them out of their homes or arrest them.
Globally, the recession rages on, and gets worse by the day...it's difficult to see how this *won't* affect us in Britain in the near future. I think as a result, people will start resisting again.
All this got a bit macro as you can see. I don't have any answers as to how we, as anarchists, will act (as divided as we are, on this thread, is there much of a 'we' anymore?)
Alarmist no.2
Homepage:
http://www.soundthealarm.org.uk
We don't exist
31.07.2012 18:21
I don't know the background to the boys club criticism, but there is certainly massive issues within the london anarchist scene which alarm people form a part of.
Any social scene based on a lack of politics is always going to remain just that - a social scene - private, privileged and highly individualised to the point anarchism and anarchist politics has no role and little purpose.
So far alarn mk2 has sought to replicate its former self. Maybe the people involved are still finding their feet and it is the only way they know how to proceed. This could be fatal for them.
collegen fleshwipe
How we move forward
31.07.2012 18:30
- / / -
Below are proposals of how Alarm could develop:
1. Proposal of content of preamble, statement of intent
We put forward our proposal for an initial preamble/statement of intent. This can be built on, developed and fleshed out with more in-depth explanation. The purpose is to outline a brief introduction of the group.
"Alarm is a network of anarchists from diverse backgrounds who are committed to building a strong anarchist movement in London, to work together towards the overthrow of capitalism and destruction of the state, to be replaced by a classless society based on free association and mutual aid.
Alarm actively seeks to:
- promote anarchist ideas
- engage in confronting capitalism in all its forms with a view to its eventual destruction
- challenge the institutions of the state in all its forms as the antithesis to a free and open society
- support social and political struggles from an anarchist perspective
- Encourage the development of a combative anarchist movement that will work towards the self-organisation of the working class as means to revolutionary social change
- provide an environment of mutual respect and solidarity based on equality and comradeship
- organise events activities and actions based on the above criteria"
2. Propose establishing a core purpose of Alarm: to make Anarchism a viable political alternative
Involves extensive propaganda and outreach work to 'sell' anarchist politics to the general public. The aim will be to win over as many people as possible. This will help make the anarchist movement a mass movement, and prevent us from existing in an activist ghetto or as mere counter-culture.
We should position ourselves as being organised, positive and constructive i.e. be seen to be active in practically applying anarchist theory to current issues; housing, healthcare, education (childcare!) etc as well as just 'fucking things up' (though that is also important...)
We need to make the group accessible to the new generation inspired by anarchism: and it's in danger of becoming a clique rather than a movement. We need to be more modern and agile in communicating the message
3. Proposal to have clear-set goals:
Short-term goal - to provide a distinctly revolutionary anarchist space within the anti-austerity/anti-cuts movement.
Mid-term goal - to build a mass anarchist movement which is self-sustaining
Long-term goal - be at the forefront of militant activity during periods of social unrest and change
Having a short-term goal will provide a sharp focus to our work, rather than exist in a political abstraction. The anti-austerity movement provides us with an excellent opportunity to reach out to as many people as possible, to emerge publicly as a political force. Providing a revolutionary perspective within this movement will give us an added dimension beyond other anarchist groups and help us combat the reformist nature of the anti-cuts movement.
4. Propose taking a defined approach to fascist/nationalist politics
Fighting fascists not only on the streets but politically, through counter-propaganda, debates, discussions, the circulation of anti-fascist literature etc, all aimed at the general public. The aim is to do this pre-emptively, in order to create a strong anti-fascist, anti-nationalist, anti-racist, sentiment among people.
5. Propose having a clear media strategy
Either have one designated person (subject to recall) or different people chosen by ALARM who will respond to media requests if necessary and represent the group to the media. Also have a blacklist of media organizations whose politics we oppose.
6. Propose building links and networks with other anarchist/autonomist groups in a systematic way
Sending chosen delegates regularly to their open meetings and campaigns to represent ALARM and to report back. Offering practical help and solidarity as and when we can [DOES NOT have to be money] on behalf of the group and not as individuals. The aim is create a strong network of like-minded groups based on support and solidarity. Especially cement our relations with alternative media groups like Indymedia, Dissident Island, Reel News and Resonance, and work with them more closely.
7. Propose a periodical break-down of work
This is to make our work smooth, systematic and well-apportioned. Divide the year into four, with each quarter organised around one event called/organised by Alarm as a minimum expectation. This provides a continuity of activity. We meet at the end of each period to assess our goal and to plan for the next period.
Notes on decision making
Voting and consensus decision making (cdm) are, simply put, tools used to reach a decision. They have on occasion been elevated to a position of ideology. Their use has also been employed to promote and reinforce particular ideologies. The worst kind of decisions are those made for ideological purposes - this includes deciding how we make decisions!
Both cdm and voting have their good and bad points and both are open to abuse, manipulation and outright misuse. Both can be very destructive when used badly. The point about how decisions get made it that it should include as many people in the process as possible and that everyone feels they have contributed in an effective manner.
In reality what gets decided is only useful if it actually gets carried out, properly and productively. The point then is not so much what the methodology is, but that any decision is transparent, democratic (everyone has equal input) and actually implemented (within the set criteria of the group). And that people are held accountable for making them (they must be able to explain and justify their actions as carried out on behalf of the group).
All of this involves commitment and a degree of trust. It also involves a lot of hard work.
D
Response to the above
01.08.2012 13:48
Secondly, whoever posted about Alarm's plan - well, yes, we know that exists. But I thought we were talking about where the anarchist scene (nee movement) was going, in the UK in general, not just one group's internal plans?
Alarmist no.2
Homepage:
http://www.soundthealarm.org.uk
It also involves a lot of hard work.
01.08.2012 17:34
If not, why not?
D
addition
01.08.2012 18:22
An example: When an alarm meeting was convened to discuss the above proposals, an alarm male said that we shouldn't be discussing these things and that it was pointless for the meeting to continue. When it was pointed out that the purpose of the meeting was to explicitly discuss these proposals the male along with four other alarm males got up and walked out of the meeting.
This kind of behaviour towards a female alarm member, who had the audacity to present ideas to the group, is something perhaps people within the group are not especially good at addressing.
D
What this demo achieved
01.08.2012 20:57
Ness
To 'D'
08.08.2012 10:52
I'm sorry your female friend had a bad experience. However, it didn't quite cut that simple did it? It wasn't about whether or not your friend is female. The proposal you and your friend drafted wasn't accepted. I'm saying this as a female myself.
The last alarm meeting you attended, in May this year, was long after this happened. Perhaps a year or more. I thought it was water under the bridge then, but maybe not for you?
You know you can always come and talk about it with us, at the next meeting if you like. I think you're on the list still, details will be on there.
Alarmist no.2
Never that simple
09.08.2012 06:06
It wasn't addressed. You really need to speak to this women about what happened.
D
personal?
09.08.2012 23:38
also, some of us think that when a group is called out for shitty behaviour which may include threatening or dominating behaviour, expecting those subjected to it to attend a meeting of your group is unrealistic, disrespectful and frankly ridiculous. why would we want to expose ourselves to that? even if there is only seven of you. it is your responsibility to take action on the matter, not ours.
another anarcha-feminist