As I may have mentioned before, I am a firm believer in the need to understand and study history – particularly of anarchism and anarchists. I do not think we can know where we are – or how to progress – without have a grasp of how we got to where we are now. If we do not know our own history, we are at the mercy of those who do – or, more likely, those who claim they do.

THE JOBSTOWN SIX have been found NOT GUILTY - a disastrous outcome for the Labour party and Garda in what has been the biggest political show trial for some decades. It is impossible to have followed the details of the arrests and trial and walk away with the impression that the Garda were not acting on government instructions, even if just on the basis of the ‘nod and a wink’. The verdict may well catch anyone relying on the mainstream media as a surprise because right across that media the reporting of the trial was highly selective, reflecting the interests of those who own and control it.

*** A summary for anyone following this from outside Ireland, six men were on trial accused of falsely imprisoning the then Tanáiste and Labour TD, Joan Burton, and her colleague in Jobstown on 15 November 2014. The charge of false imprisonment carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. All six men claimed that they were exercising their right to protest, and that the protest was peaceful. Following a nine week trial, the six have been found not guilty. ***

For reasons too unimportant to discuss here, the 20^th anniversary blog for An Anarchist FAQ (AFAQ) ended up on my personal blog rather than AFAQ’s “official” one. Now I correct this by reposting it here as well as taking the opportunity to preface it with a few comments to mark 21 years since AFAQ was officially launched.

Abstract

This text examines the theorisation of microaggressions by Derald Wing Sue in relation to Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of micropolitics. Specifically how micropolitics clarifies a fundamental inconsistency in Sue’s theorisation and how this reflects a confusion between the different dimensions of intentionality and scale. How distinguishing the two can help us apply the concept of microaggressions to scales above the interpersonal such as at institutional, state, societal and international scales. And how doing so clarifies the concept of “institutional racism” introduced in the Macpherson report into the police investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Finally how the articulation of the concept of microaggressions with normative notions of culpability based on an incompatible traditionalist model of strong intentionality in behaviour, leads to contradictory and detrimental political practices.

The end of May 2017 saw the start of an unusually broad debate take place within and around the Irish far left and left feminist movement. As with almost all discussions now most of it took place online although it did also include articles in national newspapers. I’d a conversation with activists friends who hadn’t followed the discussions out of which I realised it was a bit hard to understand the heat of the argument without understanding its development. So I prepared a timeline of it, what is below is a modified version of what I first posted on my Facebook profile, some of the Twitter debate, and my side of some of the discussions that generated in turn.

Mayday 2017 saw the annual Dublin Council of Trade Unions (DCTU) organised march through Dublin. The theme of the march was the struggle for housing, with it being led off by housing action groups including the Irish Housing Network. Other campaign groups on the march included Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland, Abortion Rights Campaign, Sex Workers Alliance and a range of other campaign groups, unions and left groups. There was also a sizeable anarchist bloc bringing up the rear with a banner that used the James Connolly quotation 'Our demands are most moderate, we only want the Earth'.

My footage of the Working Class Queeroes bloc on Dublin Pride 2017 including the banner drop before Pride and the bloc smoking up the rainbow flag prior to crossing the river Liffey.

I have been somewhat quieter than normal for the last two months. Suffice to say, been a bit busy. First, I finished my introduction to Kropotkin’s Modern Science and Anarchy and sent it to AK Press. I also completed my chapter (“The State and Revolution: Theory and Practice”) of forthcoming AK Press Russian Revolution book.

With at least 12 confirmed dead at the London towerblock fire this morning (14th June) it has emerged that repeated warnings to the landlord and council of a fire hazard were ignored.  Early reports indicate that tower was home to 120 families, many drawn from poor migrant communities. 

The Grenfell Action Group this morning posted "we have posted numerous warnings in recent years about the very poor fire safety standards at Grenfell Tower and elsewhere in RBKC." - they had previously called KCTMO "an evil, unprincipled, mini-mafia" in their blog where 8 warnings about this tower had been posted.

The term “alt-left” started out more or less as a joke in the culture wars within the left. Although originally an exonym, there are signs that the term is persisting and has even begun to be tentatively accepted as a badge by some of its targets. Now is a good time, then, to put a brief outline on some of the beliefs and attitudes that lie behind this phenomena.