The War on Christmas
Posted by Disillusioned kid at Saturday, December 20, 2008
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Ian Bone, Bash The Rich: True-Life Confessions of an Anarchist in the UK, Tangent Books, Bath, 2006, 281 pp
I've always had a soft-spot for Class War. Nobody makes political propaganda quite like them. One of their recent stickers, for instance, consists of a picture of a scalpel with the message, "Mess with out NHS and we'll mess with you." Of course, not everybody's so keen on the unrepentantly anatgonistic stylings or the group's sense of humour. They also get considerable kudos for their decision in 1997 to wind themselves up (a decision they consciously made themselves, something wwhich is virtually unheard of in political circles) which led to issue 73 of their eponymous paper, an explanation of their decision and a critique of themselves and the wider Left and anarchist movements. (Incidentally, if you haven't read this, you really should, it's quite brilliant.) Of course, the fact that they're still producing paraphernalia testifies to the fact that the organisation was promptly restarted by former members, but that's by the by. Anyone wanting an insight into the politics which guided and the context which gave rise to Class War could do a whole lot worse than pick up a copy of founding member Ian Bone's memoirs.
The book starts with a perusal of the Bone family's radical heritage heritage. While his grandfather had been a miner his dad became a butler and his mother a housekeeper. Despite this apparently servile position, both were solid Labour (not merely Labour voters, Bone stresses). Campaigning for the party in constituencies which had previously been dyed-in-the-wool Tory strongholds.
While Bone inherited this commitment to working-class politics, he became an anarchist and was heavily involved in the movement while at Swansea University. His accounts of participation in the anti-Vietnam movement are particularly interesting and he still holds a grudge against Tariq Ali for bottling a march on the US Embassy and acquiescing in its redirection to Hyde Park, where it was obviously less likely lead to a serious riot.
Remaining in Wales for some years after finishing uni, Bone became peripherally involved in the nascent Welsh Republican movement. While I don't want to question the sincerity of those involved in this movement, the sheer ridiculousness of so much of its campaigning contribute to some of the funniest moments in what is a consistently funny book. In one incident, a number of activists discuss "retaking" Hereford, apparently in some detail, noting that the local police force are unlikely to put up much resistance. These plans are only abandoned when Bone points out that Hereford is where the SAS are based.
While Bone's early political life is intriguing and amusing, often in equal measures, the book's real draw is inevitably his formative role in Class War. The movement grew out of a single paper Bone and a number of others knocked together in the hope of shaking things up in the anarchist movement which they considered to be moribund. They never thought about making this a regular publication, but it proved to be hugely popular and was soon followed up. Beginning in April 1983, the paper would grow to reach a readership of 15,000 at the height of the Miners' Strike, at least according to Bone.
Class War the group would grow out of the paper, but despite the publication's huge success, the organisation itself never grew much beyond 50 people. Bone makes no attempt to cover-up the very real differences which existed amongst this group. Debates appear to have been lengthy and often forceful, something which is unlikely to have been helped by the extensive intake of alcohol which took place in the course of most meeting. What is particularly surprising given the accusations of "macho" posturing levelled at Class War is quite how much time seems to have been spent discussing sexual politics: prostitution, porn, monogamy and even compulsory bisexuality.
In the early days, Class War focused on intervening in other campaigns, hoping to radicalise the participants. In October 1983 they turned up at a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) demonstration and tried to storm the stage when Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock ("Kinnockio") was invited to speak. Later they turned up at an animal rights demo organised by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) demo against a company called Biorex where they hoped to build links with the nascent animal liberation movement. After a sit-down protest led to a riot, Class War crashed the post-march rally BUAV were holding in a nearby Town Hall to protest the organisation's failure to support the rioters. They demanded and were granted a speaker. On this basis, one of their number was sent on-stage only to ignore what he had been told to say by the rest of the group and drunkenly assert, "Hitler was a fucking vegetarian," before stumbling off-stage.
In fact, riots play a central role in the book, as they did in Class War's politics. Bone had, after all, set the organisation up with the hope of building links with those who had launched riots in inner-city areas in 1981. For this reason, I suspect it's unlikely to go down with your average pacifist, although they aren't really the target market. What is perhaps surprising is Bone's openness about his participation in various riots and disturbances. Perhaps he figures the cops know it all already? Or don't care? Whatever, it certainly makes for an engaging, action packed read.
The focus on violence (a word which, appears repeatedly throughout the book), brings to mind Dave Hann and Steve Tilzey's No Retreat, an account of militant anti-fascism in the UK in the 70s-90s and one of the few other political memoirs I've ever read. Unlike Hann and Tilzey, however, Bone doesn't underplay the more mundane aspects of political campaigning: meetings, paper sales, political discussions etc. Then again, it's possible that this simply reflects the fact that Class War meetings (often drunken affairs) were just more exciting than those held by Red Action and hence easier to fit into a book without risking losing half the readers.
This is certainly not a boring, self-aggrandising tome and it's quite the page-turner. It's also very funny (or, as Bone would no doubt have it, "fucking funny as fuck"). If I had one complaint it would be the way it seems to grind to a halt with the narrative located in late-1985, shortly before the Wapping strike. Perhaps this is indicative of a second volume, although I've seen nothing else to suggest this. If there is going to be another one, I'll definitely try and lay my hands on a copy. Which is another way of saying you should get hold of a copy of this one.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Friday, June 01, 2007
Beer Not Bombs
Ian Bone, Bash The Rich: True-Life Confessions of an Anarchist in the UK, Tangent Books, Bath, 2006, 281 ppI've always had a soft-spot for Class War. Nobody makes political propaganda quite like them. One of their recent stickers, for instance, consists of a picture of a scalpel with the message, "Mess with out NHS and we'll mess with you." Of course, not everybody's so keen on the unrepentantly anatgonistic stylings or the group's sense of humour. They also get considerable kudos for their decision in 1997 to wind themselves up (a decision they consciously made themselves, something wwhich is virtually unheard of in political circles) which led to issue 73 of their eponymous paper, an explanation of their decision and a critique of themselves and the wider Left and anarchist movements. (Incidentally, if you haven't read this, you really should, it's quite brilliant.) Of course, the fact that they're still producing paraphernalia testifies to the fact that the organisation was promptly restarted by former members, but that's by the by. Anyone wanting an insight into the politics which guided and the context which gave rise to Class War could do a whole lot worse than pick up a copy of founding member Ian Bone's memoirs.
The book starts with a perusal of the Bone family's radical heritage heritage. While his grandfather had been a miner his dad became a butler and his mother a housekeeper. Despite this apparently servile position, both were solid Labour (not merely Labour voters, Bone stresses). Campaigning for the party in constituencies which had previously been dyed-in-the-wool Tory strongholds.
While Bone inherited this commitment to working-class politics, he became an anarchist and was heavily involved in the movement while at Swansea University. His accounts of participation in the anti-Vietnam movement are particularly interesting and he still holds a grudge against Tariq Ali for bottling a march on the US Embassy and acquiescing in its redirection to Hyde Park, where it was obviously less likely lead to a serious riot.
Remaining in Wales for some years after finishing uni, Bone became peripherally involved in the nascent Welsh Republican movement. While I don't want to question the sincerity of those involved in this movement, the sheer ridiculousness of so much of its campaigning contribute to some of the funniest moments in what is a consistently funny book. In one incident, a number of activists discuss "retaking" Hereford, apparently in some detail, noting that the local police force are unlikely to put up much resistance. These plans are only abandoned when Bone points out that Hereford is where the SAS are based.
While Bone's early political life is intriguing and amusing, often in equal measures, the book's real draw is inevitably his formative role in Class War. The movement grew out of a single paper Bone and a number of others knocked together in the hope of shaking things up in the anarchist movement which they considered to be moribund. They never thought about making this a regular publication, but it proved to be hugely popular and was soon followed up. Beginning in April 1983, the paper would grow to reach a readership of 15,000 at the height of the Miners' Strike, at least according to Bone.
Class War the group would grow out of the paper, but despite the publication's huge success, the organisation itself never grew much beyond 50 people. Bone makes no attempt to cover-up the very real differences which existed amongst this group. Debates appear to have been lengthy and often forceful, something which is unlikely to have been helped by the extensive intake of alcohol which took place in the course of most meeting. What is particularly surprising given the accusations of "macho" posturing levelled at Class War is quite how much time seems to have been spent discussing sexual politics: prostitution, porn, monogamy and even compulsory bisexuality.
In the early days, Class War focused on intervening in other campaigns, hoping to radicalise the participants. In October 1983 they turned up at a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) demonstration and tried to storm the stage when Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock ("Kinnockio") was invited to speak. Later they turned up at an animal rights demo organised by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) demo against a company called Biorex where they hoped to build links with the nascent animal liberation movement. After a sit-down protest led to a riot, Class War crashed the post-march rally BUAV were holding in a nearby Town Hall to protest the organisation's failure to support the rioters. They demanded and were granted a speaker. On this basis, one of their number was sent on-stage only to ignore what he had been told to say by the rest of the group and drunkenly assert, "Hitler was a fucking vegetarian," before stumbling off-stage.
In fact, riots play a central role in the book, as they did in Class War's politics. Bone had, after all, set the organisation up with the hope of building links with those who had launched riots in inner-city areas in 1981. For this reason, I suspect it's unlikely to go down with your average pacifist, although they aren't really the target market. What is perhaps surprising is Bone's openness about his participation in various riots and disturbances. Perhaps he figures the cops know it all already? Or don't care? Whatever, it certainly makes for an engaging, action packed read.
The focus on violence (a word which, appears repeatedly throughout the book), brings to mind Dave Hann and Steve Tilzey's No Retreat, an account of militant anti-fascism in the UK in the 70s-90s and one of the few other political memoirs I've ever read. Unlike Hann and Tilzey, however, Bone doesn't underplay the more mundane aspects of political campaigning: meetings, paper sales, political discussions etc. Then again, it's possible that this simply reflects the fact that Class War meetings (often drunken affairs) were just more exciting than those held by Red Action and hence easier to fit into a book without risking losing half the readers.
This is certainly not a boring, self-aggrandising tome and it's quite the page-turner. It's also very funny (or, as Bone would no doubt have it, "fucking funny as fuck"). If I had one complaint it would be the way it seems to grind to a halt with the narrative located in late-1985, shortly before the Wapping strike. Perhaps this is indicative of a second volume, although I've seen nothing else to suggest this. If there is going to be another one, I'll definitely try and lay my hands on a copy. Which is another way of saying you should get hold of a copy of this one.
Posted by Disillusioned kid at Friday, June 01, 2007
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Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Francophilia
The French don't wait around do they? Within hours of the news that Nicolas Sarkozy (or "Sarko") had won the French presidential election on Sunday, protests against the result led to riots in Rennes, Toulouse, Nantes, Lyon, Paris, Dijon and Montpellier. On Sunday night alone, 730 cars were torched across France, with violence continuing on Monday and Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, on Monday unions promised to resist any attempt to force through "reforms."
The massive and ultimately successful campaign against the CPE (Contrat Première Embauche, Contract of First Employment) demonstrates that what we are witnessing in France isn't mere posturing. French social movements can stop so-called reforms dead in their tracks, causing massive disruption in the meantime. The flipside of this, of course, is that the majority of the French electorate were perfectly happy to vote for a right-wing authoritarian like Sarko (and in many cases were happy to do so twice). Perhaps they just wanted an excuse for a riot?
Sarko has demonstrated his connection with the common man by holidaying on a billionaire friend's luxury yacht following his victory on Sunday. The Socialists were able to stop fighting amongst themselves long enough to find a representative who described the trip as "ostentatious" and "scandalous." Even the conservative Le Figaro wasn't sure this was his best idea ever reporting that it had caused "concern among a number of friends of Nicolas Sarkozy."
The massive and ultimately successful campaign against the CPE (Contrat Première Embauche, Contract of First Employment) demonstrates that what we are witnessing in France isn't mere posturing. French social movements can stop so-called reforms dead in their tracks, causing massive disruption in the meantime. The flipside of this, of course, is that the majority of the French electorate were perfectly happy to vote for a right-wing authoritarian like Sarko (and in many cases were happy to do so twice). Perhaps they just wanted an excuse for a riot?
Sarko has demonstrated his connection with the common man by holidaying on a billionaire friend's luxury yacht following his victory on Sunday. The Socialists were able to stop fighting amongst themselves long enough to find a representative who described the trip as "ostentatious" and "scandalous." Even the conservative Le Figaro wasn't sure this was his best idea ever reporting that it had caused "concern among a number of friends of Nicolas Sarkozy."
Labels: Electioneering, Europe, France, Riot Porn
Posted by Disillusioned kid at Wednesday, May 09, 2007
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Friday, April 27, 2007
It's all Greek to me
Earlier this week, riots shook the Greek penal system, as prisoners protested against the beating of one of their number.
The unrest began at Malandrinos prison in central Greece after the alleged beating of a bank robbery suspect by prison guards. Although designed for 260 inmates, the facility currently holds 440 in predictably cramped conditions. The protesting prisoners demanded a reduction of prison overcrowding and reform of Greece's parole system.
Police were called to the prison in central Greece after inmates refused to return to their cells and began throwing burning sheets and clothes from the roof. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman from the Justice Ministry stated that some 200 prisoners remained on the roof, following the breakdown of negotiations with ministry officials. "Police have entered the prison," she claimed, "and are trying to get them off the roof without using violence."
One inmate, described by Associated Press as a "spokesman" said police were "welcome" to take on prisoners. "We will kill for our dignity," convicted murderer Yiannis Palis told Antenna TV. "We will take this all the way." Unlike so much activist rhetoric you can't help feeling that his past form, suggests this promise should be taken seriously.
Although disorder had initially spread to ten other prisons, this had largely died out by late Tuesday. Police utilised stun grenades and tear gas to quash an uprising at a high security facility in Athens after a number of inmates tried to use the unrest to escape. The use of tear gas, appears to have been particularly controversial, as this institution is located in a densely populated area of the city. By Wednesday, authorities had regained control everywhere except Malandrios and another institution on Crete.
There have been a number of solidarity demonstrations in Greece, organised by the country's famously militant anarchist movement. On Wednesday, a group of anarchists, numbering anywhere between 30 and 80, marched through the centre of Athens, attacking shops, a bank, ministers' offices and a police station where they torched twelve police vehicles. Amazingly, despite clashes with the police at Kaningos Square, there were no arrests and the group dispersed into Exarcheia district, apparently a traditional anarchist neighborhood. Further arson attacks were carried out the following evening and into the early hours of the morning, with two cars belonging to the Uruguayan ambassador to Greece being among the targets (no, I don't know why either).
The unrest began at Malandrinos prison in central Greece after the alleged beating of a bank robbery suspect by prison guards. Although designed for 260 inmates, the facility currently holds 440 in predictably cramped conditions. The protesting prisoners demanded a reduction of prison overcrowding and reform of Greece's parole system.
Police were called to the prison in central Greece after inmates refused to return to their cells and began throwing burning sheets and clothes from the roof. On Wednesday, a spokeswoman from the Justice Ministry stated that some 200 prisoners remained on the roof, following the breakdown of negotiations with ministry officials. "Police have entered the prison," she claimed, "and are trying to get them off the roof without using violence."
One inmate, described by Associated Press as a "spokesman" said police were "welcome" to take on prisoners. "We will kill for our dignity," convicted murderer Yiannis Palis told Antenna TV. "We will take this all the way." Unlike so much activist rhetoric you can't help feeling that his past form, suggests this promise should be taken seriously.
Although disorder had initially spread to ten other prisons, this had largely died out by late Tuesday. Police utilised stun grenades and tear gas to quash an uprising at a high security facility in Athens after a number of inmates tried to use the unrest to escape. The use of tear gas, appears to have been particularly controversial, as this institution is located in a densely populated area of the city. By Wednesday, authorities had regained control everywhere except Malandrios and another institution on Crete.
There have been a number of solidarity demonstrations in Greece, organised by the country's famously militant anarchist movement. On Wednesday, a group of anarchists, numbering anywhere between 30 and 80, marched through the centre of Athens, attacking shops, a bank, ministers' offices and a police station where they torched twelve police vehicles. Amazingly, despite clashes with the police at Kaningos Square, there were no arrests and the group dispersed into Exarcheia district, apparently a traditional anarchist neighborhood. Further arson attacks were carried out the following evening and into the early hours of the morning, with two cars belonging to the Uruguayan ambassador to Greece being among the targets (no, I don't know why either).
Labels: Anarchy, Europe, Repression, Riot Porn
Posted by Disillusioned kid at Friday, April 27, 2007
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Saturday, March 03, 2007
What's the Danish for fuck the police?
It looks like things are really kicking off in Copenhagen.
Internationally most famous for its statue of Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid (which is frankly crap in case you were thinking about going), the city also has a vibrant underground. The "Freetown" of Christiania is a former military base which has been squatted since the 1970s and become a hippy-commune-cum-drugs-supermarket, although the Danish state has increasingly tried to assert its control over the community in recent years. The city also has a squatted social centre known as the Youth House (Ungdomshuset) which has been occupied since 1982. Unfortunately, the authorities sold the building to a Christian group who have now obtained a court order for the eviction of the residents. This order was implemented on Thursday (March 1).
The eviction was carried out at 7am (6am GMT) by anti-terror police, deployed from helicopters. Police were soon in control of the building, but more than a thousand squatters and supporters took to the surrounding streets, erecting barricades, torching cars and skirmishing with police. Thursday's clashes led to the arrest of 217 people and injuries to a 25 people, but this wasn't the end of unrest. On Friday night into Saturday morning, squatters again took to the streets, engaging in battles with police, leading to the arrest of 100 people.
Squatters have pledged to continue their fight. Jan, apparently a "spokesman" for the squatters, told Reuters, that activists planned to disrupt traffic, with "pin-point actions creating short breakdowns and disruptions. For example, having a dinner party in the street". He further asserted, "The struggle will continue for a long time. As long as there is no Youth House in Copenhagen, there will be a fight to get one." Solidarity demonstrations, meanwhile, have taken place in Australia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and London.
Internationally most famous for its statue of Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid (which is frankly crap in case you were thinking about going), the city also has a vibrant underground. The "Freetown" of Christiania is a former military base which has been squatted since the 1970s and become a hippy-commune-cum-drugs-supermarket, although the Danish state has increasingly tried to assert its control over the community in recent years. The city also has a squatted social centre known as the Youth House (Ungdomshuset) which has been occupied since 1982. Unfortunately, the authorities sold the building to a Christian group who have now obtained a court order for the eviction of the residents. This order was implemented on Thursday (March 1).
The eviction was carried out at 7am (6am GMT) by anti-terror police, deployed from helicopters. Police were soon in control of the building, but more than a thousand squatters and supporters took to the surrounding streets, erecting barricades, torching cars and skirmishing with police. Thursday's clashes led to the arrest of 217 people and injuries to a 25 people, but this wasn't the end of unrest. On Friday night into Saturday morning, squatters again took to the streets, engaging in battles with police, leading to the arrest of 100 people.
Squatters have pledged to continue their fight. Jan, apparently a "spokesman" for the squatters, told Reuters, that activists planned to disrupt traffic, with "pin-point actions creating short breakdowns and disruptions. For example, having a dinner party in the street". He further asserted, "The struggle will continue for a long time. As long as there is no Youth House in Copenhagen, there will be a fight to get one." Solidarity demonstrations, meanwhile, have taken place in Australia, Germany, Norway, Sweden and London.
Posted by Disillusioned kid at Saturday, March 03, 2007
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