The Internationalist Communist Tendency recently published a critique of autonomism, ranging across the fields of history (which I know a bit about), economic theory (which I’m pretty shaky on), and organisation (which is one of those areas where we’re all pretty much guessing what might work or not work, if we’re being honest). I wouldn’t particularly describe myself as an autonomist, and I don’t think that autonomist theory has all the answers or anything, but I do think that some of the most useful efforts to get to grips with our contemporary situation have come from autonomist-influenced groups like the Angry Workers of the World (AWW) and Plan C. Insofar as the ICT article is a critique of those groups, it seemed worth engaging with.

The introduction states “Over the years we have had contact with a number of groups who have been influenced by the ideas of…

By Kyle Swenson

J. Edgar Hoover, left, and Dick Gregory in 1968. (AP)

In the middle of the hothouse atmosphere of the 1968 U.S. presidential election — racial strife splitting cities, antiwar protests on college campuses, segregationist George Wallace growling up out of the South — Dick Gregory barnstormed the country, pitching audiences his acid mix of jokes and politics. The African American comic and activist was looking for votes in his long-shot bid as a write-in candidate for the White House.

“I have a lot of newsmen asking me strange questions,” Gregory told a group of students at the University of California at Los Angeles on April 24. “Like for instance, ‘Mr. Gregory, if you were elected president of the United States, what is the first thing you would do?’” The punchline: “I thought the whole world knew if I was elected president of this country, the first thing I’d do…

What is Fracking?

Fracking is a type of drilling used to extract fossil fuels (Oil and Gas) from the ground, it involves drilling into a rock formation, then pushing in large amounts of a water and chemical mixture (Fracking fluid) at high pressure to extract oil or gas from the cracked rock formations.

Water Use and Pollution

A single frack uses 5-10 Olympic swimming pools of clean water (10 billion gallons or more) which are turned into toxic ‘flowback/produced water’ which must be treated and disposed of. Methane produced by fracking migrates via the damaged aquifers into drinking water.

Corporate Profit vs Community Cost

The impacts and dangers from fracking are extreme and long term and are borne by local communities who find themselves living in the middle of gas fields. The rewards go to an elite of shareholders, directors and investors. Any benefits to locals – such as jobs…

30.08.2017

We call activists, social movements, NGO's and all others in the world to join the second global action day for the defense of Hasankeyf and the Tigris River on 23rdSeptember 2017! It is under threat by the Ilisu Project; lets protest this one of most controversial dams in the world!

After the first global action day in Sept. 2015 the construction of the Ilisu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant has continued without a break. The ongoing armed conflict has been used by the Turkish government to oppress protests on local and Turkey wide level. However, since mid of August 2017 a wave of new protests and critic came up all over the Kurdish region and Turkey after several rocks at the castle rock have been destroyed using explosives and other means. This action, which had no proper legal permission, is the start of new…

In an age of seemingly never ending austerity, council services are under ever growing strain and in a growing number of instances, they’re failing. Working with groups such as Basildon & Southend Housing Action (BASHA) and the Vange Hill Community Group (VHCG), it’s all too clear that services such as rubbish collection and estate maintenance are in crisis. On a fair few occasions, BASHA and VHCG have had to step into the breach to undertake activities such as neighbourhood clean ups, educating residents on rubbish disposal (nigh on impossible when Basildon Council don’t have a rubbish disposal protocol!) and setting up community gardens.

BASHA, and now VHCG, are not stepping into the breach just to cover the failings of Basildon Council – they’re doing it because they care passionately about their communities. Recent clean ups they’ve undertaken include Gambleside on the ¾ estate in Vange: Doing it for ourselves (because…

This questionaire was written up for reports about the local impacts of austerity in the UK

* Where do you live?
* How many people live there?
* Who are the main employers, or sectors people work in?
* Where have the most recent investments been?
* How significant is unemployment and the social consequences?
* How significant is the migrant population and who constitutes it?
* How significant is the university and student world?
* Who is local government, have there been changes recently?
* What kind of general impact of recession can you make out?
* Have there been public sector cuts, or have any been announced?
* Who is concretely affected by the cuts?
* How did they ‘sell’ the cuts and how did affected people react?
* Have there been job cuts or company closures? Where and how?
* Has there been an increase in social…