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anarchist fortnightly ‘4,g°;g°;;/gg EDO 4 20p

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Christiania: Write Stot Christiania, Dronnin9- HASTINGS ANARCHIST GROUP (l8a WE WELCOME news, reviews, articles, ensgade I4, I420 Copenhagn H Markwick Terrace, St. Leonard on Sea, letters. Copy deadline for next issue FEDERAL RE PUBLIC OF GERMANY Sussex) would like to buy, or be given, (no. 21) is MONDAY 23 OCTOBER. an electric typewriter, ideally with a - Baden: Karin Bauer, Info-Bistro, Please send to Editors, FREEDOM, long carriage. 84b Whitechapel High Street (Angel Postfach 161, 717 Schwafbisch Hall HAG also have for sale, £75., very Alley), London E. l. Berlin: Anarkistische Bund, Publishers of good value, a Gestetner electric duplic- 'AnaFl

For information write Karl-Heinz Sang, 21 September - 4 October incl. Metht-'esselstr.. 69, 2000 Hamburg I9 International Hambur : Initiative Freie Arbeiter LEEDS: P. B. £1. 00; AUCKLAND, NZ: Union lfinarcho-syndicalists). FAU, D. B. £1. 50; WOLVERHAMPTON: J. L. New South Wales Repsoidstr. 49, *Hochpaterre links, £1. 00; JKW £0.10; Proceeds from the ZOITSIZ Ram, F0 Box 238, Darlinghurst, NSW 2000 Hamburg 1. Picnic held at St Teresa Park, San 8 Osimestfalen: Anarchistische Fiider- Jose, California, USA, organised by Disintegratorl P0 Box 29l, Bondi Junction, afion Osfiestfalen-Lippe (Eastwest- Italian comrades, per J. B. £37. 50; Sydney, NSW‘ failian anarchist federation). Wolfgang FINLAND: ANON; £1. 00; TWICKE N- Sydney Anarcho-Syndicalists, Jura Books HAM: G.' 8: H.H £1. 00; LONDON SW4: Collective, 4l7 King Street, Newtown, NSW Fabisch, c/o Wohngemeinschaft P. N. 20.16; IN SHOP:R. M. £1.00; . _//“W 2042 Schwarzwurzel, Wdhrener Str. 138, 4970 Bad Oeynhausen 2. WHITSTABLE: R. & J. £1.00; CARDIFF: W Sydney Libertarians, P0 Box 24, Darlinghurst, B. J. C. £2. 50; WOLVERHAMPTON: NSW 20l0 FRANCE J. L. s-:1. 00; JKW. £0.10. OI‘ Queensland Paris: Federation ananchiste fnancaise, 3 rue TOTAL: £48.86 Libertarian Socialist Organisation, P0 Box 268, Ternaux, 750I| Paris Previously acknowledged : £859.75 _./)5?) i-" Mt Gravatt, Central 4|22 ITA LY Sell’-Management Organisation, P0 Bax 332, TOTAL TO DATE : £908. 61. North Quay, Queensland Roma: Gruppo Hem Day, c/o Giovanni Trapani, L-7' Victoria yia A. Tittoni, 5-00l53 Rome La Trobe Libertarian Socialists, c/o SRC, La SWEDEN / . Trobe University, Bundoora, Vic-.8, 3083 Frihetlige Forum, Landsvagsgatan I9, Monash Anarchist Society, c/o Monash Univer- 41304 04 GOTEBORG. NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, Monday sity, Clayton, '3l68 Melboume 23 October. Black Jake meeting on Frihetligt Forum, Renstiemasgata 51, South Australia Are we moving towards ...... \ I163] STOCKHOLM. _...... \ Adelaide Anarchists, P0 Box 67, North a police state "with special reference Adelaide, 5006 Revolutiondra Anarchisters Organisation, to Persons Unknown case. Bridge i /’ Box II075, S-I00 61 STOCKHOLM» Hotel (near High Level Bridge), 8 pm. Westem Ausfialia *1 Freedom Collective, P0 Box I4, Mount Haw- LONDON, TODAY, 14 October, Scala thorn, 60l8 cinema, Tottenham St, WA. Film TASMANIA DUBLIN ANARCHIST GROUP writes: show, organised by Friends of Astrid -» ,Qn~"-'~=_q:...».,,,,¢;;';=.<'i:-"‘- -- Anarchism has little or no tradition in Proll, of ‘The Lost Honourof Kathar- . . -‘,.__.:.--v:.‘;_'._';‘:__‘.’:'r_I- - -.-__ ._.'.- . - -. mt...-d‘-, _ *- c/o 34 Kennedy St, Launceston 7250 ' - "'.,. - =' P, \. ,.,-. '_ ina Blum'. (For more details, see J‘ --_'.-'.. .~ -- *- -: Ireland. However, since the beginning .w_1 ' ' - -or ' D“_ -.. -., _- , -~___ __ NEW ZEALAND news item inside). ___ . . _,. . . _ of this year groups have been formed in ~- .-.. W *1 I ' .._ ¢_- ;'4W' \.,,.._,_‘._-.Q.,,,_,__ . . Belfast, Dundalk and Dublin. In Dublin - .-. -1-r I'.;'::_f._-_1_*.‘,\.-|-\~v~'I§.-1 A .»- -. ' J» . P0 Box 2052 Auckland - ....‘.. . -5 or _--,, . "" ‘ ' 7 "- ' I Y-_3""* -1'. -I3‘-_§:-1.?‘-I71. 4-‘. I-77:7“;-".t.. .. .-. -- -1~IHI!-- 1-. 1 ta.“ '.“!% - I-Q- " ' " .. - _ ' ' " ' Q _ - we have been active on a number of --. . .. . fih- - --.:-5* ./~'" .' .-. - - 7 .. - - P0 Box 22-607 Christchurch .- - - ‘*‘ - ' - - --an ' '_, 1 "“" 1‘-. __‘ -. 0 -u .-.1» 1---, -. issues including H-BLOCK, the anti- -a _ Daybreak Bookshop, P0 Box 5424 Dunedin ‘I--u 3- -' '7; .3 0 ._.

nuclear campaign and the defence of the ~1- CANADA Nikos Balis, Korydailos Prison, ‘ IRSP 4. Members are also active in their trade unions, the women's move- Ward 7, Cell 31., Korydallos, Open Road, Box 6l35, Station G , Vancouver, Piraeus, GREECE. Letters, cards BC. Write For information on activities; ment and within the Trade Union Cam- paign Against Repression (TUCAR). and all reading material welcome. USA We now hope to open a bookshop and SCHWAE BISCH HA LL: THIRD INTER - Minnesota: Soil of Liberty, Box 7056, Powder- centre before the end of the year. This NATIONAL ANAR CHIST CAMP. will cost us £1, 300. We have already hom Station, Minneapolis, Minn, 55407 Schwaebisch Hall Info -buero report ANYONE with half an eye can see that the one great contrib- Nor does lindness stop at our two leading capitalist Missouri: Columbia, M0 6520l raised £ 520 within the group but we ution that the technological revolution offers us is the ' parties. The servile call that went up from the SW P for ‘The need £510 by the end of November. We the holding of their third international Right to Work‘ might have been astonishing except that the New York: Libertarian Book Club, Box 842, anarchist camp in August this year, abolition of hard labour. Mechanisation has always been GFO, New Yorl<, NY l00I2 are asking the international anarchist attractive for employers because it has enabled them to authoritarian left no less than the rightwant to be in the movement for aid. If you or your organ- after an interval of two years. Between position of power, whereby workers would be controlled by SRAF/Freespace Alternative U, 339 Lafayette 30-40 people attended, mainly from get more out of their factories with fewer workers. But it St, NYC, NY |00|2 isation can help us, please, do so. should be attractive for workers too, because it enables employers (even if the state), the unions and, for good Please make all monies payable to: the Anarchist Federation of Baden, measure, the party as well. Any authority, be it aristocratic San Francisco: Free Socialist, P0 Box l75l, which was dissolved in December 1977. them to produce more wealth with less effort. San Francisco, CA 94l0l Alan MacSimoin The camp was considered a success. 4 The trouble is, of course, that the wealth then belongs or bureaucratic, can maintain'7§5wer only by exploiting the - Texas: Houston SRAF, South Post Oak Station, 49a Leinster Road to the employers, as do the machines and, in a very real wealth created by the workers. " ‘It was everybody's concern not to lead The anarchists stand alone in demanding both workers‘ P0 Box 35253, Houston, TX 77035 Rathmines, Dublin 6, IRE LAND. theoretical discusssions but to spend sense, so do the workers, since they can live only by selling themselves to the employers. » control in industry and the abolition of the wage system - A I wzsrsm EUROPE . We also wish to receive news from some nice days together . . . ' The camp in a word the end of employment as we know it. Which is why was also attended by a delegate from Last week at Blackpool a party that likes to call itself DENMARK you and/or your organisation. Our group socialist at conferences and democratic at elections managed we don't join in the general bleating about irrelevances like seeks information on the general situat- AFOL (Anarchist Federation of Ostwest 5 per cent or even unemployment. If we did we should be Aarhus= Regnbuen Anarkist Bogcafe, Mr-i'lgade- | falen-Lippe). See contact column for to talk for a week about most of the things which affect our 48, 8&0 Aarhus . ion in your country and about anarchist lives without once questioning the essence of wage slavery - demanding a three -day week as more just than the catch-as- activities. A addresses. that it means the vast majority can live only by working for catch-can and differential-squabbling of the unions. Co enha n:Anarkist Synd, Bogcate, Studies Pniujrzaa B7 MA;-ic m<; HARGATE traede IS, I455 Copenhagn Yours for -libertarian communism a boss. We do not expect the party gathering this week at But we want much more than that. We want the workers in Maeve de Paor PUBLISHED 37 F&E€.I>oM PASSS. Brighton to question it either! ' control and free. That means the Abolition of Employment!

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0 2 FREEDOM FREEDOM 3 excellent description of this process can 4- 1 7 ! """ in ‘ 0 “Q: ‘y. , -9‘: -. . be found in Sebastian Cobler‘s book, La ‘ I .7 '3' '_\\ "_ 1 Order and Politics in West Germany (Pen- N v\ L?“ I _ _. ~ ..-.~1;.. guin, transfitedl. ..-:"':§I. ,_‘Ii,’ \ ._"'Q 1 1.}-"‘,,~f It is also necessary for the defence to bear in mind that even if the German auth- orities promise that Astrid will not be put O ¢r~'z~ ’ '7 in solitary or in small-group isolation should she be extradited to the FRG, a)

11'.’ integration is not always by any means what it implies where political prisoners T F { are concerned; and b) the legalisation of THE conditions to which Iris Mills has of course applies to Astrid and Khloud). “As far as I'm concerned, conditions 4.31- total isolation in times of government ens-.: .t*=#-5-‘ll’.7. "1? I now been subjected for four months - In a letter to a member of the FREEDOM have got worse. They seem to have taken .__,__, crisis - ‘contact ban law‘ - can and will with committal proceedings still to come group and the London support group, Iris it into their heads that I have become a override any other considerations. It was - are a problem of increasing urgency. writes: dangerous person - I don't know why. “i!'l.." during the Kontaktsgrre and the contin- There has been recent coverage of the ", , , As far as being ' 5- l11‘0iB' it does- I'm really living a Jekyll and Hyde exist- uing solitary confinement to which all" problem in extra-anarchist papers" like n't really work out like that I fear! We ence. I know I'm a quiet kind of person, political prisoners (whatever their 'iT1rr- The Leveller and Time Out, but the three very dangerous women are not all- yetthey treat me like a homicidal man- ent views and beliefs) were submitted, campaign for Iris‘ release on bail or at owed out of our cells together, Don't ask iac. For example, I'm not allowed my even after the lifting of the ban, that least transfer to Holloway, is only just me why when 7 Cat. ‘A‘ men are allowed knitting or my typewriter in my cell, . four RAF prisoners were found dead in. beginning to gain momentum. to associate. They have made up a new they said that I might use them against 'October and November last year in cir- Why the conditions of Iris in particular} set of rules" for us. We are all complain- them as dangerous weapons. It's quite cumstances.which have never been exp- This is not a question which regular ing about it. ridiculous, I'm only allowed to knit and lained or publicly investigated. The Bad- readers of this paper will be asking, but "I'd like to set one thing straight that type in my association period and as that en-Wurttemberg parliamentary enquiry its significance could not be better illus- was said in FREEDOM l7 about my hours has been cut down so drastically, I have ' 1 into the Stammheim deaths was a white- trated than by the recent remark of one of association. It wasthat I only had 24 no time hardly to do them. I would still I '|' G 38 - wash, of course, and the death by hanging of the women guards when a visitor pro- hours a day with Khloud - that's not so - like to try to get to Holloway, I really of Ingrid Schubert has also left several tested about a restriction against Iris we had about 2%. hours morning and after- don't see how I can be any worse off". SINCE Astrid Proll‘s arrest last month time or Astrid‘s trial in Frankfurt (before disturbingly unresolved questions. What that did not apply to the Cat A men. noon plus one hour's exercise a day, so An added absurdity is the fact that she has been held on remand in Brixton she was released on bail for reasons of is the guarantee that during the next ' "Ah", she triumphantly retorted, "but we were unlocked for about six hours a even within the short association period awaiting extradition proceedings, under health) it would have been difficult to crisis the same kind of tragedies will not Iris is most definitely female! " da . now allowed, the prisoners are shuffled the same Kafka-like conditions as Iris press the most serious charge against be repeated? This somewhat thoughtless admission ¥'It seems that I get less association unpredictably around with eachother, Mills and Khloud al Mugrabi her, that of attempted murder of two pol- However, this is, and must be, a war serves better than the most eloquent the more people there are! When I was two at a time. Under such artificial The German press lost no time in icemen, because of the reluctance of the on two fronts for Astrid‘s friends, just treatise on sexual discrimination, and is by myself I was unlocked for a further pressures it is hardly possible to have adopting their British counterparts‘ epi- police to submit evidence, and its dub- as for anarchists it is a war against the made more poignant because from a wo- two hourse in the evening to watch tele- a decent conversation. _ thet, ‘Miss Terror‘, and in seeing her ious quality - to the extent, say §p_i_e_gel, whole world. The Guardian reports that man. It's no doubt true that the crazy vision, so I was ‘out’ for about eight A Public meeting on ‘The Case of Iris arrest (among several other recent arr that the judge was apparently ready t5_ "People who have seen her in the past problems facing women prisoners held hours a day, though it was pretty point- Mills‘ is being held by Peter Cadosan of ests or murders in Germany, the Nether acquit her of the charge. That leaves the few days say that she is subject to fits of under high security conditions stem lar- less as I had no-one to talk to. South Place Ethical Society at Conway lands, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria) as another remaining one of participation in bank uncontrollable shaking". (3 October). gely from the treacherous logic of state "When Khloud came they stopped the Hall on 24 October ('1. 00 p. m. ) _ The blow on behalf of ‘liberal democracy‘. robberies in Berlin and her native town This kind of thing is not the legacy of Oss- security as a whole and from the fact television - so as I have justexplained, London support group are P13991118 3 But even the mass media have baulked of Kassel - but any sentence against her endorf prison, Cologne. It is the respon- that they inhabit anemphatically male we had about six hours a day. Now there public meeting also, at a later date. just a tiny bit at presenting Astrid as a must take into account the three years sibility of (Brixton prison, London. It world unprepared to accommodate them, is someone else here I've got about Details will follow. psychopathic monster. The Guardian has already spent in gaol awaiting trial. reflects the constitutional’ insanity of all rather than from a direct conspiracy to three hours! I just hope no-one else allowed itself a gentle reprimand of Brit- But the extradition case is still to be prisons, pure and simple. Yet abolition break them as women. Yet that one wo- comes or they might as well throw away Gem ish and German newspaper coverage. presented to the British courts, and Ast- of prison remains - for how much longer?- man can stand Eere in Brixton and say the key. And the German news magazine, Der rid‘s friends and supporters would be ill- the brave, quixotic slogan on an anarchist that about another, shows in a striking Sgegleli though very much a gove%ent advised to underestimate the ingenuity of badge . . . way, as nothing else, how far we still organ ese days, has pointed out some the authorities. In its political partiality Gaia have to go in the liberation struggle. potentially embarrassing legal problems the German judicial system is no except- Persons Unknown have now produced in the government's extradi_tion case. ion to the general rule. The last decade a special five -page leaflet on the subject For instance, the charge of ‘criminal has seen an uninterrupted process of what TODA Y, Saturday, 14 October, 3.-00 pm, sons Unle association‘ - the blanket accusation in some people - perhaps rather naively - Scala Cinema, Tottenham St, W. l. of the prison conditions in ‘D’ block It is written in solidarity with Iris‘ fell THE latest important development in Iris Mills, who throughout has been Germany against members or former call ‘illegal legalisation‘ on the state's Film show: ‘The Lest Honour of Kathar- ow prisoners, Astrid Proll and Khloud the ‘Persons Unknown‘ case since our picked out for especially heavy attention members of any revolutionary activist t behalf (on whom else‘s?), including the ina Blum‘ from the novel by Heinrich al Mugrabi. Available from the support last issue is the release on bail of Trev- (see accompanying item - eds.) has now group - is not a readily extradictable one castration of the defence in political cases Boell, followed” by discussion.- Organised group address at Box 123, Rising Free or Dawton. At the time Trevor was ‘on been told she has to make written req- - bel.ween¢Britain and Germany at the pres- through the Stammheim show trial of by the Friends of Astrid Proll. Bookshop, 182 Upper St. , London N. 1., the block‘ with Ronan Bennett after they uests for anything she wishes to receive. ent time. In addition, it seems that at the 1975-77. Without going into details, an it gives detailed information on the ‘Cat- Anything not specifically applied for is had protested about Ronan being made £081‘. F0-OH Q.2. - egory A‘ security regime and outlines to change cells. Trevor is having to held back. This is extraordinary treat- the history of Iris‘ treatment in Brixton time, you‘bastards!’a‘nd they all jumped ed only six books, and that they would be stay with his parents outside London and ment for a remand prisoner, even on severely harrassedl At two successive x on him saying ‘this'll keep your mouth from May this year onwards. It closes report daily to the police. Category ‘A‘ It is not, for example, remand hearings defendants have been told that he was responsible. Within a with three demands: to end the special shut! " A PU report on the twentieth week of applied to her co-defendants. Q" beaten by police officers. On September The same week Trevor Dawton and prison community this is a grave threat. segregation of women prisoners in Brix- remand at Brixton describes events as Another new development around the 21 Ronan Bennett was attacked in the The arbitrary way in which rulings ' ton; to end ‘A‘ categorisation for Iris Ronan'Bennetl: were both put ' on the follows: four visits allowed weekly is that her basement of the court before the hearing. block‘. Prison officers attempted yet are made and enforced for Category ‘A‘ and to transfer her to Holloway. As the defendants in the ‘conspiracy visitors are required to sign themselves He and Iris had attempted to kiss. They prisoners is well established. This in- An important point made by the leaflet again to move Ronan from one cell to _ to cause explosions‘ case enter their in - and out - of the visiting room, as were quickly separated and whilerlris another. Both he and Trevor, who was cident, however, clearly reflects the - is the way in which, contrary to super- 21st week of detention on remand at Brix- well as having to undergo a body search. was restrained Ronan was beaten. It is petty basis to these disturbing rulings. ficial appearances, conditions have dete- present, voiced their protest at this, ton Prison, the harrassment that has Again, this does not normally apply to understood that he is taking legal action as he was just finishing making it habit- It is understood that Taff (Dafydd) is riorated for Iris as time goes on9 and. been a continuing feature of their treat- Cate8orY ‘A‘ P1‘isoners - against the officers involved. able. This natural reaction was reward- still suffering because of a serious and as other women have arrived. (The same The other defendants have also been On September 29, after the hearing, long-standing stomach complaint. ment is being intensified. r.aI'r.ou_g~,3 ed with two weeks‘ isolation and suspen- Vincent Stevenson protested vocally sion of privileges. The routine yiolence and institutional about being summarily refused bail. Dafydd Ladd protested to the prison harrassment exercised by those author- Hewas jumped on, punched and" dragged authorities about being refused certain ities holding arbitrary power over -people * 6., " "u|~'|beaaw1b <9 BRMGD @ .¢ v ®bos~‘r- @ ““""'K4°D from the court. Once alone in a cell he books and magazines. It was finally held in custody must be challenged. In '1“ ‘((0955 I ANNU-'Il.S"l'. A5$n$su~l$ il"“°L"‘“‘mg 5enR-rumxiflqe, , I ‘T5 1.,N° was badly beaten, especially about the agreed that he should have them, but an this case harrassment occurs against a “$13 or we-n-i~z|<" 0 Rm; mnnmcni. ‘PIS-rbl-5! new ‘ 0° 0 back. In the struggle his jacket was arbitrary ruling was made that he should background of questionable use ‘of Cate- 0, 1"eRRo&:5‘1'5 ripped apart. have only six books at a time in his cell. gory ‘A‘ status and an interminable de- cl’6l~°° ‘ ‘i»,(“"“i

4 FREEDOM - FREEDOM 5

. > Charles Oxley, the Christian extrem- istwho circulated a collective statement in favour of the blasphemy law a few . LETTER months" ago, and included in it a libell- \ IOIII ous statement that the poem was being republished by Denis Lemon, editor of CANBERRA ,0 / ‘ Gay News (see FREEDOM, August 19), A PERSOIIALVIEW as now agreed to make a public apology, though the exact wording and circulation of the apology are still being argued M TLEI 0 ’ " between the lawyers. The episode should JAMES KIRKUP, who was born in 1923 experience, and a valuable one. I main- cost him a few hundred pounds as well as make him look the complete fool he is. Writing to ask that "Alternative The Alternative Canberra group has been a prolific writer since 1948, I tain my right, as a poet, to write what I Now, as I prepare to make a new but became really famous in 1976, wh. And Nicolas Walter, editor of the New Canberra" be deleted from the Contact was centrally involved in the organ- start elsewhere I can see that we, as want and as I please. If that makes me Column, Bob James goes on to explain his poem "The Love That Dares To in Britain a dissident, then I am one . . . Humanist, who has been republishing_"' isation of that gathering (lighting, a group, underestimated the difficulties, Speak Its Name" was published in Ga the poem, is still being pursued by the why: toilets, site -discussions with the and overestimated ourselves. I can "I reject, as a pacifist anarchist - all News and was the object ‘of Mary ite- good poets are natural anarchists - auth- authorities. A year ago he was question- bureaucracy etc) but we pulled out a see that the jump from essentially house‘s blasphemy prosecution. As every ed by the police but not prosecuted when week before the actual event because 9 to 5 work to largely autonomous ority of any kind, be it of the State or the one knows, GaZ News was found guilty in Church. Not for nothing was one of my he refused to answer any questions (see Dear People at FREEDOM, of what we (I ) saw as a tendency to farmers and propagandists was too FREEDOM, October land December l0 . . . When I started the group, I had 1977 and lost its appeal early in 1978. books entitled Refusal to Conform . . . It over -plan and over -direct. great and that, though we tried, our Its appeal to the House of Lords will be 1977). On October 3 he was again quest- little knowledge of anarchism and Then, as now, the alternative life- conditioning and/or our natures led us was because of my absolufi refusal to little experience in practical organis- heard in November. submit my individuality to conscription ioned by two officers from the Obscene . styles movement is primarily to put more effort and more resources Meanwhile an interview with Kirkup, Publications Branch of the Metropolitan ation, let alone struggle. Basically, I political in its thrust, i. e. it is about into resolution of problems in areas that I was a conscientious objector in the was alone and lonely, and vaguely per- made by William Bed rd while he was war - and still am, and always will be, Police, following further complaints, power over one's own life; and the outside the farm (eg the food co-op-we Creative Writing Fellow at Sheffield Uni- including one from Oxley himself and ceived that while others seemed to degree to which the central group were part of, or the local community against every kind» of violence, both per- share groups, clubs, marriages, etc versity, has appeared in various forms in sonal and national. I reject the repress- another from Norman Knight, an agent prevented participants at the Cotler radio station on which we worked) than New Yorkshire Writin London Magazine provocateur who lives near Oxley in with other people, the contact was from participating in problem-solving on the farm. And it seems to me to be ive elements in religion and morality. and Ga News. Mo§ of it concerns his I have a right to live exactly as I please, Lancashire and who made a rather crude minimal and superficial and they may exercises was the degree to which the right here that anarchism, by analogy, attempt to get the poem sent to him. as well have been alone for all the good views Si poeEy and religion, but one as long as it hurts no one but myself . . " gathering as a whole failed to achieve is failing, firstly to achieve the rate ‘ _ . Nicolas Walter again refused to answer it did them. So, I advertised for a its potential as a learning/living passage concerns wider issues: of societal change that is possible, "For me, nothing is barred in poetry, What was that about poets being the any questions, and has told the Director group of people to work around the idea experience. and secondly, to achieve the kind -of unacknowledged legislators of the world? of Public Prosecutions that if he is pro- of "an alternative Canberra. " Anyhow, the group, now 5, moved and all is sacred. During 1970 and l97l change which is possible. Notice I've I wrote a large number of humorous erot- Meanwhile, there have been two more secuted he will naturally publicise the Canberra, by the way, is regarded as onto the land and took up apple orchard- said what'is possible’. minor developments in the saga of Kirk- details of Knight's provocation. a planned city, but for me, differs from ic poems - not obscene - it was a passing ing, vegetable-growing and poultry- Anarchism is not about personal or phase such as many writers and artists up‘s poem. T other large urban conglomerations only farming, seemingly with enthusiasm. societal affluence except in regard to M. H. in that the degree of planning provided Up at dawn in season to spray the trees its equitable distribution; and barriers by the National Capital Devlopment with lead arsenate, a chemical demanded ‘put in the way of people participating m Commission makes profits for private by the local authority, clearing debris- in its benefits and in decisions about and loved not to remain as one is, but love, afraid to open up, afraid to enterprise more certain. This has covered ground and generally exploring the production and distribution of that been by producing a chocolate -box encouraged to be something more. A express ourselves, to make or receive the dozens of areas in which we were affluence. A recent Zero published better society will be made up of better criticism. _ pretty centre to attract tourists, and by almost entirely ignorant. a statement by the AR'M_Group, Grasp the people, and I makeno apologies to banishing residents to a suburban Two examples from the Sydney scene purporting to be-libertarian but which anyone for making judgements that will suffice. There is a food co-op sprawl which surpasses any other any- P was shot through with Marxist-derived so-and-so is not as perfect as she/he . where in length, in emptiness and/or Integrity nettle! operating from Jura Bookshop which correlations between levels of affluence could be or that he/she is improving. unblushingiy buys the chemicalised and‘ vacuous materialism. The whole plan In the beginning we agreed to and the capacity of a society to achieve slain’ soon Pg, 5 I do‘ it for myself, and I regard friends monopolised fruit and veg from the ensures fortunes to the various elements decision-making by 100 per cent liberation. Anarchism must go beyond as people who are prepared to do it of the "road lobby", food corporations concensus, no total agreement meaning wholesale market and congratulates the accounting stage of libertarianism- common sense will tell us when we're for me, and in conjunction with me, itself, because the supermarket is and land speculators. nothing was done in that area unless represented most clearly on the one - for themselves. I. I had in mind research into the way any individual who acted alone was hand by the right-wing anarcho-capital_- on the right ‘cacti. Thus, it i the being avoided. Second, a "men‘s in which the city actually worked -- prepared to accept responsibility for ists and on the other by a George s truggle, the tension, the satisfaction Anarchism is not, and cannot be, consciousness raising group" is unable what liaisons existed in the adminis- any consequences of such action. This Woodcock-style rendering. Anarchism of ‘honestly, bravely striving which is tolerant of everything, and the sooner to confront personality conflicts within tration, what networks were used by I took to be the core of practical must go beyond the ledger -books and the touch-stone of anarchism. I'm not we purge statements like "It is it, let alone devise supportive and whom and what alternative ways of anarchism, the way to balance sensit concern for workers‘ control of denying peace, harmony, stability. In forbidden to forbid", or "Anarchy is therapeutic situations to make well the building and operating a city could be ivity to feelings of others with individ- production to develop and articulate them there is intense joy made greater complete freedom“ the better. I make people -involved. developed by "alternative" people. ual integrity. We also recognised the a set of values based upon an under- by our recognising their fragility. no apologies for the word "purge". Whether we believe anarchism is an The initial group managed only to need to be honest and courageous in standing of why we haven't taken That is why theefarm failed for me, And I make no apologies for suggesting actualising of a potential already in produce one issue of a directory of personal interreaction, in order to control of production and don't look and why anarchism as a movement is I anarchists pursue, practise and h people, or is something impossible "alternative goups and individuals“ work through conflict situations within likely or capable. finding it very difficult to get beyond proselytise anarchist values. If we - until achieved for all, it is possible to and to give some degree of encourage- the group. These values will be based upon an the "accounting" stage (Woodcock‘s oppose aggressive, competitive, talk sensibly about degrees of anarch- ment to a just emerging tendency in It failed immediately, of course, to analysis of power. “Anarchist Reader") but I hasten to destructive, hierarchical social ist society. the area. We heard a few speakers on live up to the ideal, as for example, Anarchism is about power. It t add that Zer anarcho feminism and structures and do no more we are It‘s a reluctance to grasp the nettle solar power, domes and the like and when one couple brought with them onto opposes hierarchies, whether monopo- ggn Road are very significant bound to the past and to a reactive of personal involvement in the pkept a newsletter going. the farm a cat and a dog, when previou - listic or not, and poses autonomy in eve opments. political role. Thus, frustration and construction of a living, breathing On the farm there was insufficient ‘ no future. anarchist world that makes the philoso- A core group of half a dozen seemed ly objections had been raised to pets. I their place. But people must live Q to coalesce out of this broader group, emphasise that the ideal failed, not committment to personal change, The people who are actively involved phy, anarchism, a 20th century together. There is need therefore to irrelevance. Perhaps the philosophy to make it seem possible that a with the action itself, but because no distinguish the positive and negative insufficient regard for discipline in in building autonomous groupings commune could be established -- a satisfactory talking through of the aspects of the power -relation which thought, speech and action; a discipline (schools, families, child-care centres, will always be an irrelevance. Perhaps commune which would be politically not of conformity to pre -arranged co-ops etc) will be helped if the values there's no point using the~word~ at all. conflict occurred, indeed,was attempted. exists when any two (or more) people Perhaps there's no D6 anarchist realistic and yet pragmatic, and thus Similar failings of will occurred when are considered together. The present measures, and not the discipline of we wish to put in place of those we bring to the "alternative movement“ the aesthetic, but the self-discipline reject are spelt out continuously, history or literature or presence in objections by other members of the social structure emphasises the demonstrations etc. s But, in any event, . much needed hard-headedness. Some group were put to the only smoker and negative, and thus materialism, death which values the actualisation of one's consciously lived and made the basis= land, just a few miles from the city when a chimney was demolished. and mechanical sex. The alternative, own potential and sees it as something of group criticism and self-criticism. I believe consi:ructive, serious solving centre, was located and a committment to be consciously pursued; which sees I know all about the dangers of the of actual problems (with fun and with Overall, however, quite a bit of the positive side ofpower, is the power flair quite often) can produce, in our 9 made, just about the same time Jim personal development occurred, and that attracts, encouraging, blossoming, the group as a supportive place where loudest, strongest personalities Cairns, former Cabinet Minister and criticism is regarded positively, and becoming the new dictators, and the lifetime, something more like an‘ the group achieved (?) the reputation doesn't repel or attract only to stifle anarchist society if we are but willing just a CIA-breath away from being of being more serious than most about or kill. reciprocated, analysed and acted upon, dangers of any values becoming solid- Prime Minister the previous year, always with the criteriaof honesty and ified and sacred, beyond criticism. At to try, I Regards, the task set. I regard this degree of _ And there is no final, ultimate state Bob James. ~ S began organising the first Down-To- achievement as negligible, however, in which perfect relations between tolerance in mind. I'm talking of an the moment Ii think the other extreme is Earth gathering at the Cotler*River when seen in the context of what is people will have been achieved. But intensity which comes from a feeling more likely, and equally dangerous - 10, Beltana Rd., . j that one is loved but seen as imperfect; most of us, if not all, are afraid to Pialligo, ACT, "Australia 2609 Reserve just out of Canberra. required. con-rr.ov~\Pi\qI’~ 5 ‘fr

5 FREEDOM FREEDOM 7 into the prison administration‘ (Howard ed line with an automatic answering mach League for Penal Reform). Previously ine. However, the Knights being im?rt- “the internal boards could arbitrarily _a_n_t_ people, -the post office promise a hand out vast losses of remission, i.e. full enquiry. This helpfulness was tarn- in practice extended sentences, without ished somewhat, as a PO spokesperson the prisoners having the right of legal HA E n-||a L said that if any bugging involved was off- representation within a heavily weighted AFTER a hiccup and a victory the ABC icial they wouldn‘t be able to say so any- procedure. Congratulations to the six trial-continues. Following the judge's way. But now all is cleared up. One prisoners who challenged the system and indignation that comments were made James Hazan has been produced out of a brought this about. And, in particular, on television, the trial was stopped and A NUMBER of people in Hartlepool are top hat in North London. Apparently to our comrade, Jake Prescott, still a new jury produced. The unfortunate upset to find that they have been filmed James has also been having trouble with fighting! . GOT IT RIGHT ? judge was so upset that he developed a enjoying a quiet drink. The police had his phone. So much so that he has taken ‘Thirty per cent of Norwegian industry stomach complaint and also had to be installed a camera “for the express and- to recording crossed lines in order to is now state-owned compared with 18 per replaced. The ABC defence committee sole purpose of detecting illegal traffick- accumulate evidence. Having read about cent in 1970, it was reported in Oslo yes- IT IS GOOD that so many white individ- It's no wonder, then, that so few black thoughtfully sent him some flowers. ing in drugs". the Knights‘ troubles, James realised terday, and share capital held by the uals and groups are now joining the - people or independent black organisations And the victory? The most serious “More bugging. Andrew and Sabiha that, in fact, it was his recording that state now makes up more than 25 per struggle against racism and fascism. are actively involved with the ANL. Hand charge has been dropped. Duncan Camp- Knight were recently distressed by sus- was involved, and that'he must have been cent of the country's total share capital". At the same time, it is doubtful whether, in hand with the failure of the ANL and bell was originally charged, under Sect- icion that their phone was tapped. This playing his tapes back, while his phone Oh, how principled ethical stands can the Anti-Nazi League is capable of trans- the Britishleft in general to understand ion l of the Official Secrets Act (the bit would be serious as Andrew is editor of was off the hook. Niceto have got that one be swayed by partisan feelings! The right lating their enthusiasm into a long-term the roots-of racism - especially the dealing with foreign spies) with collating The Economist and therefore in contact all neatly sorted out. wing press has, in print, a strident res- and effective commitment to combat effect of imperialism on the conscious- information on ‘secret’ matters. The with im rtant people. Apparently the Useful things have come out of the pect for law and order. This impartial racism wherever it manifests itself. ness of the British working class - has fact that this was all from open sources Knig well for themselves and Hull Prison Riots of 1976. The appeal instrument must be applied rigidly, or (The large rallies and ‘carnivals’ of this gone a long-standing chauvinist and arro- was apparently irrelevant, as putting all manage to employ a cook. While Sabiha court has now ruled that the decisions the end of civilisation as we know it will summer should not raise false hopes; gant attitude towards the struggles of this stuff in one place represented a was discussing a menu with him the line of internal prison disciplinary boards loom. And what does the Daily Mail after all, CND and the Vietnam Solidarity black people, whether in the Third World threat to the nation's security. P was so bad that she rang off and re-diall- can be challenged by outside courts. It's shriek in its leader today? a e con- Campaign attracted even larger numbers, or here in Britain. Hiding for many years "If I went to the Russian Embassy with ed. Only to hear her own conversation not often that we see courts as useful cept of Ian Smith asra traitor is outmoded only to collapse almost overnight). This behind the empty slogan of ‘Black and the information we discussed they would- repeated back to her! They wre hastily J things, but this represents the ‘first ‘legalistic claptrap'. Ho. hum. is because in practice the ANL exhibits White, Unite and Fight! ‘ they have freq- n't even give me the bus fare home". assured that they must have had a cross- dose. of legalism that has been injected a very limited grasp of the true nature uently described the reaction of black (Duncan Campbell). 0 and arrested for forming, a ‘terrorist’ ing to our judgement, lies in the groupings and extent of racism-in Britain. people to the racist oppression they suffer organisation! L being formed at the ‘periphery‘ of the in this country as racism in reverse, and well known anarchist ‘centres’. There lies the differences between the various nat- Bookshops are terrorised and vandal- ised by the fascists and the secret police. too the danger of isolation due to lack of ional minorities as racist. More recently, contacts and support and breakdown of as the self-appointed defenders of black Anarchists are framed into ‘civil law‘ Dear comrades, internal communication lines. people's interests, they feel they have accusations, in which the first question J Although we are unable to attend (the YOU support, OUR support for all of the right to ask black activists, "Where of a judge is ‘are you an anarchist? ' 5». ‘:3’ _i\ second conference of the Yorkshire The answer, independent of what one has us living abroad is urgently needed. I1;_,2.'.;'II-.;;If‘ were ou lot " (meaning the black com- Anarchist Federation in Sheffield), we Please do publicise the facts about muni%)_whenever they take on the Nat- done (if anything) is the controlling fact- gladly welcome this second Conference or for the length of sentence. Greece in your local and national libert- ional Front on the streets. Today, the of the YAF, and we hope and wish that arian anarchist papers, write letters of ANL is insulting the intelligence of black . Homosexuality is a civil law crime; this will reaffirm the strong bonds among Greek homosexuals have applied to the protest to British and Greek papers. people and irivialising the struggles Yorkshire anarchists, as well as the Moral support is the first step towards which they have waged continuously (with Council of Europe in an attempt to pub- internationalisation of the struggle. licise the ‘heavy oppression they suffer. international solidarity. We hope that this precious little support from the left) We would like to present here a very conference will mark the starting point. against racism and fascism by jumping There is little or no chance of forming short account on the current situation in a support group for, or by anarchists s Fraternally, Q-f -It _. on the bandwaggon of ‘carnival’ and Greece, which, despite the writing in LEEDS AUTONOMOUS ::‘f'- =+r reggae music - implying that this is the which will not be busted or disrupted by q_."1'u-- the international bourgeois press, is as any means by the security forces. GR OUP- T only way black people can be reached S suppressive to us as was the dictator- and mobilised politically. It is anarchists and anarchism itself However, the State (or ‘The Crown‘ ship. along with basic human rights that are .4 . -- ‘Q, (‘II - ‘E ‘-4 Obviously, it is impossible here to as it is known in these matters) has The main coarse political difference being drawn into the courts and prisons M. I ~+-- ‘P g make detailed criticisms of the ANL, or- is that, while during the dictatorship all 1 0' ' . realised the ludicrousness of their arg- and forced to go underground, perhaps .Q¢b.r01’-TY I I . =2 _ I . . ‘_ ' u to offer ready-made solutions. The ument, or, more cynically, realised leftists were witch-hunted, now with against their will. PLEASE NOTE ' _ .1 A . -.-_ _ "__“ a‘ ____‘L above remarks are intended simply to these (from left-centre to all Maoist stimulate discussion within the ANL and "that they weren't going to get away with parties) legalised and entering the elect- Within the last month alone more than NEW RATES . this one, and the charge has been dropped all other progressive and democratic ion game, the efforts have been channell- five houses where anarchists live have One year £ 6.00 ($12.00) They fail to see - or if they do see it, groups who are genuinely committed to That only leaves eight. ed into suppressing anarchists and other ~ been raided in a search for ‘explosives!-; Six months O0 ( $6.00) Meanwhile, the case rumbles on, with more than six people have been arrested I\J they don't point it out - that the National the struggle against racism. At the same left, anti-statist elements. F-i've issues 1-1-32"’! —'C40O0 5 ( $2.50) the usual scattering of fatuous judicial and later released (including ixvo 18-year- , - Front is a symptom, and not the cause, time, we would be glad to discuss the The ‘dissidents’ of Greece who do not 1 comments. (If someone outside made olds who were holding a party when raid- of the racist ideology and practices which issue with those who feel that the struggle agree to play the parliamentary game of "Have just come across at copy of your characterise every sector of British goes beyond the more or less extreme similar remarks, a judge might des- capitalism are not allowed to publicise ed and arrested for ‘terrorist organisat- cribe them as ‘gratuitous journalistic ion‘ because anarchist books and maga- paper. Unti-l then I thought I was the society today, including the working variantsof ‘Front-bashing‘ offered by their views, despite the ‘free speech‘ only one . . . " class. Consequently, the ANL devotes the ANL. The Ad-Hoc Committee was gossip‘). A succession of military fig- values of western democracy. Most (and zines were found in the house!) Two I little or no attention to the institutional set up after the weekend of the Notting ures has been put into the dock, only to that leaves one or iwvo out to reach 'all') anarchists, F. and S. Kyritsis, and N. “Best wishes to the best magazine in refuse to say anything, as it's all secret, Papadopoulos, were sentenced to from breeding grounds of fascism and racism: Hill Carnival, when the police not only , of the Greek Anarchist papers have sur — Europe". the police, schools, local government flexed their para-miliiary muscles at don't you know. One wing commander vived for only one issue because the ed- '§ 3 to 9 years‘ imprisonment, and a pro- had the perception to agree that the Albanian leftist, Y. Skandalis, to 5 years We get a steady stream of new sales, - even the trade unions. No-one would the Carnival itself, but also systematic- itor(s) was (were) arrested. Greece is often accompanied by encouraging com- wish to deny the valuable support which ally terrorised and assaulted black youth secrecy was ‘idiotic’. the only country in Europe as far as we And that is the record ONLY for the last But, behind the idiocy we must rem- month! » ments such as the above. Encouraging people in the ANL have given to the Ben- at a number of tube stations in South know where, within a few days, a year us in the sometimes demanding product- gali people in East London in their strugg- London. We believe that, to be fully ember that there is a hard edge. These ago, all the people named ‘editors’ who From cases published in the British anarchist press, Y.' Serifis is still in ion routine every week, and underlining le against National Front and police terr- effective, an anti-racist campaign must three people are on trial because they had been involved in producing an anarch- the need to keep aregular anarchist or. On the whole, however, the ANL has be equipped to deal with this and other dared to challenge the State's power. ist magazine or paper were arrested as prison without trial, and N. Balis is currently serving one year for publishing paper available for new enquirers. But not taken up the issues which affect black blatant moves towards fascism, and not If they are convicted it will be a major ‘morally supporting the riot‘ during a we can't do it only on new subscribers people's lives daily. In Brixton, for ins- blow. Obviously, for them. They face , demonstration which none of the papers an anti-war issue of the magazine OTAN simply concentrate on one aspect of the (see contact column - eds.) _ - we need renewals regularly and tance, ‘and in most areas where black struggle, which is all the National Front many years in prison. Also, for us all! was writing about! promptly. We don't have time and re- people live, it is not the National Front represents. The State will demonstrate its attitude Fly posting or otherwise publicising On the other hand, Greek anarchists, sources to keep sending the graduated but the police who are the principle, t - B.RIXTON AD-HOC COMMITTEE that journalists are here to provide a libertarian event or protest is prohib- partly due to the state terror and supp- demands commercial publications do ‘legal’ and most brutal agents of racism. AGAINST POLICE RE PRESSION pap entertainment and political ‘analysis’ ited - since one needs ag licence by the ression, and partlydue to other reasons, (and anarchist papers shouldn't need And not far behind are the many racist (2 Talma Road, SW2). is to be merely rabble rousing, and police either to organise an event or pub- have not yet managed to get together to). So if we get no response to our that employees of the State are to keep licise it. _ _ _ V , effectively and somehow react in self- officials in Lambeth Council, the Em- Note: See also ‘Racism and Fascism renewal reminder the third time round ployment Exchange and the Social Serv- their mouths shut and do as they are * Groups of yOung people getting together defence to this obscene but real situation. we trust you will understand! Today - Sorting out the Cliches‘, in told. These lessons would not be lost. to discuss social problems are busted The hope of the movement today, accord- ices. _ this issue's Review. lb

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OOO “QO 0o Q0“ O0 Q at Q 50R~\I “R'3~\‘=2 O'I{.__;_,_“OO \ er the last couple of years F.REEDOM‘s Review has played 1%in oQOQO‘O‘.1. a role in introducing to English-speaking anarchists Continent- al anarchist and libertarian socialist ideas on the development 0 <>c> Q 0 QC) QQ of the technobureaucratic society. A recent exchange of views in FREEDOM on whether the British state shows fascist tend- Q 0 encies (not the same as calling it fascist, which would be O0 grossly simplistic), has stimulated further discussion on OQ ° 0 modern corporate/technobureaucratic society and its relation O00 OO€@.§ooO Q 0 to fascism. This analysis by Martin Spence is, we feel, an important contribution to the subject, going on to suggest how 0 QQ 0 ‘vi anarchists can constructively help in the formation of a street fl culture resistance. EDS. as WHAT WITH Lewisham and Ladywood, race killings in Southall 1-¢-1'” f and the East End, bomb attacks on left wing premises and black ¢:’|Alexander Berkman, Louise Michel, Rosa down Brick Lane, or who lie in wait at night for lone blacks, Luxemburg, (For review see FREEDOM, vol. 39, no. 18). areThe motivatedNF,s C trby1 something. t d mored basic -.figutstocolouri . prejudice.t. this. A racism is capable of evoking. a response among sections. _of - Victor Serge: Birth of our Power. £1. 25p (22p). BOOK OF TH;-3 WEEK and advocag; ofars‘;:i:Eiati‘i>rf?,a:‘esi;e:l‘spt)l?s ffi:dameT:iItIs}lg-:‘::ii1s?c:ious- the working class ggd lower giddlahclags‘ It hgs lpglimnsf roots’ - Victor Serge: Men in Prison. £1. 25p (22p). NEW FRQM FREEDOM PRESS nessSupporterswhich underliesSee themselvesall theprimarilytheories andas beingqualifications:White BritonsNF bloodyas we ‘wonimperialgpechistoryn a combehindYit,W f__ull3' oforigjingoistan g and0 ousracistY . . ' d ' Victor Serge? Conquered C“5Y- "31- 509 (19P)- Vernon Richards: The Immssibilities of Social Democracy y with P1‘imarY loYalties to other White Britons- From this P0i'nt myths B“ the p°“"‘ is that this h‘s"°"Y is be---h"‘d“'3'_ an the - J<>hnQw=1i1= The Slow Burning Fuse 91- 9511 (25P)- 21.00 (l9p). (us. $2.25c. plus 30¢. post). l42pp. Paperback. of .view, immigration. is.at tremendouss threat,. whether. or not _ retrogressiveracism which feeisa iteraupofiyitreacis cgnsequenfilyonary p emonenon.backwa'rdTl11°°$§ée y * Murray Bookchin: The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic A critique Of the T-»ab°111‘ Pa1‘tY in 0PP°9iti°I1, 1956-1964, and, gilsegeélgegfgigga,J%:;::r§?gZ%i:;%¥6n$ri;tl:?r%rya,E}o;,: racism is thus different in kind from the racismf of the State, Years 1368_1936_ £7_ 95p (36p)_ implicitly, in government. The usual terms are available to British Race ’ ' i which is modern, forward looking and pragmatic. ' the trade on this title. * Ammon Hennacy: The Book of Ammon. £3. 50p (66p). Election results in the past couple of years have shown that I, k - Walt Whitman: Anarchist Calendar 1979. E 0.10p (7p).

' r 10 Review Modern corporate capitalism does not require vulgar racist century, throughout the industrialised world, and we have started, but it may not be long before they do. it myths of the sort which justified the imperialist adeventures seen the steady rise of a corporate form of capitalism domin- Against this possibility the threatened communities must of 19th century capitalism. What it does require is an easily- ated by this techno-bureaucratic ruling class. But although organise. Blacks are already doing this in some areas, arguing manipulable workforce, unable or unwilling to take initiatives fascism was not responsible for these developments, it did that self defence is no offence. But we have seen that, although on its own behalf, ready to respond to the needs of capital as accelerate and justify them in certain historical conditions. blacks are the obvious targets for attack, they are not the only and when they arise. The State's changing policies on immig- Fascism can thus be seen as one of a range of ideologies or ones; left bookshops, offices and homes are also under threat, ration have consistently sought to mould black immigrant pop- strategies, which serve to consolidate the underlying trend And beyond these, there are yet wider circles of people who towards corporate capitalism and a techno-bureaucratic ruling ulations into such a pliable tool. Immigration was of course %-a.t-'-- would be threatened by a strong racist-rightist presence on actively encouraged in the 1950s, so as to fill low-paid, low- class, Bureaucratic state capitalism (as in the Eastern bloc) the streets: ‘dissident lifestylers’, feminists, gays, punks, smtus but vital jobs. What was not intended was the creation of is another such strategy; welfare capitalism or social democ- eccentrics and layabouts of all sorts. large, increasingly dissatisfied Ta.Tid increasingly militant racy (as in the Western bloc) is yet another. This becomes clear if we look at the people who have in fact black populations in Britain, prepared to fight back when hit by In discussing fascism we must therefore distinguish between been mobilised and energised by ANL carnivals (as opposed E economic collapse and rising unemployment. Government pol- its character as an opposition movement of desperate petty the people who ought in theory to have been mobilised). The icy has sought consistently to replace the settler-immigrant bourgeois and working class origins; and its character as a people who came out were not the massed organised working " with the migrant worker, therefore (2), by imposing ever movement in power, when it serves to facilitate the transform- class, but a congiomeration of left activists, blacks, freaks, st:ricter limitations on residence. Different classes of British ation from classical to corporate capitalism, and the rise of dissident lifestylers, school kids, and so on. What we apparent- citizen have been created, with different rights. the techno-bureaucratic ruling class. ly have here is a community of anti-racists, united only by Migrant workers are ideally suited to the requirements of their rejection of mainstream values and styles - both the old 14' mainstream of the NF, jingoist and racist, and the new mains- corporate capital. They provide labour, but need not themselves THE FASCISM OF THE NF AND tream of the techno-bureaucracy, pragmatic and well-groomed. be provided with the usual level of facilities; they tend to feel THE QUASI-FASCISM OF THE STATE ‘ chronically insecure, being separated from their families and This community doesn't wield massive economic power, it isn't communities (3), and are unlikely to be militant, as they are The NF is technically a fascist party. Its policies are very organised around a common platform, but it is obvious that close to those of the Ger man Nazi party, emphasising autarchy, these marginalia, these frequently lumpen elements, are central only in the host country on sufferance; they can be summoned intervention". To understand fascism properly, we must look and disintched as required, and when they are unemployed the strict control of finance capital (and also of the multinationals), to any anti -racist or anti-rightist struggle. more closely at the relationships between the fascist State and A strong, street-fighting NF would threaten all these groups, burden of their upkeep falls elsewhere. Some of the most cons- the capitalists. the encouragement of ‘productive’ capital as opposed to ‘para- most of whom are as visually identifiable as blacks. It's ob- picuously wealthy countries in the world have won their riches In both Italy and Germany the fascists came to power with sitic’ finance capital, the welding of the State, industry and largely from the misery and toil of migrant workers: South the backing of big business, and for a while they may have labour into a single machine serving the ‘national interest’; a vious that these groups are conscious of the threat and are Africa and West Ger many are obvious examples. Britain app- foreign policy built around common racial and cultural bonds; developing a hostility to the right. They too may soon learn appeared to be the pawns of big business. This soon ceased that self defence is no offence, and that an injury to one anti- arently seeks to join that club by the implementation of laws to be the case in both countries. In Italy, State control of the and of course the expulsion of minority racial groups. which are clearly racist, differentiating as they do between The NF is a Nazi party then, as the Anti Nazi League has racist is an injury to all. economy was first extended obliquely through subsidies, and Long term strategies against the NF and other racist-rightist white and black citizens. But this racism arises not from any then directly. The Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI) made abundantly clear. We must now ask, Is this actually sig- crude colour prejudice, but from the higher needs of capital. nificant? Do the NF‘s policies, such as national self-sufficiency, organisations therefore depend on building a sense of commun- was established in 1933, as the major instrument of State inter- ity and solidarity among these groups, so that attacks will Meanwhile, the State seeks to ‘integrate’ those blacks already vention. Restrictions on the formation of new companies or an orientation towards the white Commonwealth, or ’repat- l here, to defuse any possibility of autonomous organisation or riation‘ of blacks, really represent a viable or attractive opt- always be met by immediate and massive mobilisations, and if were applied. By 1939, the IRI controlled 80 per cent of Italiar ion for corporate capitalism? The fascists came to power in necessary by counter attacks. This is not a matter of organis- militancy. shipbuilding, more than 50 per cent of iron and steel, and The recent Tory shift towards repatriation is therefore a Italy and Germany because sections of big business supported ing people into formal bodies, and certainly not a matter of 29 per cent of the electrical industry. (‘l’). them: are there today powerful sections within the ruling class, recuiting people into parties. We need to build a street culture sign of the degree to which the Tory leadership is wedded to a In Germany, the State took control of financial and credit which is predominantly a pragmatic, techno-bureaucratic ruling of resistance, a hydra-headed community of solidarity. This totally outmoded view of capitalism. Every step taken by the institutions. Conditions for the very biggest enterprises were Tories towards the NF is a step towards political obsolescence class, which are attracted by the visions of Tyndall and Webster‘, will be far stronger and more resilient than any particular made especially comfortable; cartels were encouraged, and I think not. party or faction, though these may play a role within the wider and irrelevance. For all its own failings, Labour is the only existing private companies were even declared to be cartels party which understands’ how modern capitalism works. (4). Fascism of this classic type is a fossil, a throwback, In movement. and given monopoly status. Clearly sections of big business modern conditions, fascism would be a severe embarrassment. profited from all this - but at a price. From 1936, with the How can jingoist, racist slogans serve the interests of a form _T§!.°.__PHA___$ES°_F._FA§.€l$.1l"_ k introduction of the Four Year Plans, the needs of industry The term”fascist" is bandied about to such a degree that we of capitalism which is increasingly international, through were increasingly subordinated to the plans of the State for multinationals and groupings like the EEC and Comecon? are in danger of losing sight of its actual meaning. There is autarchy and militarisation. The major iron and steel compan- broad agreement on the left as to what fascism actually is: it Within individual nations, the techno-bureaucratic class is ies were made to invest in the unprofitable Hermann Goring now established in power, and does not require a fascist mid- is usually depicted as a mass movement of despairing and bitt- Works, which sought to reprocess local low-grade iron ore. er people, petty bourgeois and even working class, which finds wife. The historical tasks performed by fascism in the 1920s As the economy became increasingly dependant on rearmament, and 1930s have been performed, and are being performed, by allies in big business, and seeks above all to smash the left. it was increasingly common for government and Wehrmacht In the historic st:ruggle between capital and labour, fascism is other ideologies and strategies. Fascism sought to weld State, nominees to appear on the boards of companies, and of the industry and labour into a single machine - but if social dem- seen as a means whereby capital can, in times of crisis, use ‘Industrial Groups’ into which companies were organised. The a_%inst the left the left’s own weapon of mass mobilisation. ocracy can also achieve this end, by negotiation rather than largest enterprises even appointed representatives of the coercion, then where is the need for fascism? The ascend- e contradiction within fascism is that it is a mass move- Labour Front and Gestapo. It is quite clear that German econ- ment which aims to remove power from the hands of the masses ancy of the techno-bureaucracy is established and is contin- omic life came increasingly to be dominated not by considerat- ually st:rengthened, as dynamic young bureaucrats emerge it is a movement of people-seeking and celebrating their own ions of profit, but rather by considerations of ‘national interest‘, powerlessness. A true understanding of the phenomenon must from college to enter the service of State, industry or unions, as defined by the fascist State. (8). all imbued with the same concepts of what is "reasonable" and clearly look beyond social and economic class analysis, and Changes were also occurring within the capitalist enterprises delve into the psychology of the matter. Reich's work here "in the national interest. " The 1937 corporation law effectively deprived shareholders of To suggest that the modern State is actually fascist would becomes crucial, demonstrating the ways in which certain soc- any say in the running of companies, leaving them only with be absurd - it would be an abuse-of the word, an abuse of the ial structures and institutions generate a psychology admirably the power to criticise management and reduce their own divid- suited to respond to fascism. (5). ends! Undistributed profits rose rapidly, and the manageiital sort from which we must escape. The British social-democrat strata became increasingly autonomous, and closely-linked ic State (or welfare capitalist State,. or mixed economy State, whichever you prefer), is not fascist; but we can see that hist- However, this contradiction still remains. If fascism is a with their opposite numbers within the State bureaucracies. The same was to be seen in Italy: the only social class to ex- orically, social-democracy acts as a functional equivalent of mass movement of people seeking their own powerlessness, fascism, serving the same class interests and facilitating the then who does wield power when fascism wins political success? pand between 1921 and 1936 was the middle class salariat. same underlying trends. And just in case we are accused of Which inte_r'e's'ts does fascism represent when in power, as dis- In class terms, these developments clearly imply a decrease being objective advocates of third-stage Stalinism, let us reit- tinct to the interests it mobilises when in opposition? in the power and significance of ‘capitalists’ in the classic erate that Stalinist state capitalism is another functional equiv- Guerin‘s classic work (6) demonstrates the social roots of sense - people who personally own and therefore control the alent of fascism. fascism among the loower middle classes, and the ways in means of production. Meanwhile there was an ipcrease in the THE OPPOSITION which it won sympathy and support from certain sections of big power and significance of theose people occupying central business (especially heavy industry). Many socialists have con positions within the new bureaucratic corporations, and within If this analysis is valid, then the NF is not a potential gover- eluded from this that fascism was essentially the tool of big the new State bureaucracies; and an increase in the numbers ning party, and to this extent its admittedly fascist ideology business, that fascism is effectively the ‘last resort‘ of capit- of people working in the peripheral positions within these bur- is not particularly important. This is not to say that the NF is alism, to be used in times of crisis when all else fails. They eaucracies. Power was coming to rely less on ownership and itself insignificant, however; it is highly significant, and dan- point to the fact that the first thing the Nazis did when they personal wealth than on technical and bureaucratic expertise. gerous, as a grassroots racist-rightist agitational party, pro- took power was to smash the German trade unions, setting up A new ruling class was emerging, with a new power base. viding an organisational focus and even a vene.er of respectab- a ‘National Labour Front‘ which embraced both employers a_n_d_ We may call it the techno-bureaucratic ruling class. ility for such tendencies in society. We may be looking forward workers, which defined employers as ‘leaders’ and workers as Fascism was not solely responsible for the emergence of to many years of violent political conflict in Britain, between ‘followers’ within enterprises, and which gave employers total thisnew class, or for the transformations within capitalism racists on the one hand, and blacks and white socialists on the power within their enterprises, subject only to State intervent- with which it was associated. The decline of ‘classical’ entre- other. A pattern is being set: night-time attacks, knifings, ion. This last point needs‘ consideration: "subject only to State preuneurial capitalism has been going on since the late 19th letter bombs, fire bombs. Snipings and shootings have not yet

4 H 12 Review Review But we ought also to be working alongside other socialists All this is not to deny that the conventional organised work- where it is D0ssible and constructive and a lot of the time it ing class has a role - of course it is crucial to any anti- is possible and constructive. There are a lot of good, committ- | racist strategy that large numbers of working people be in- edrevolutionaries within or close to the organisations of the volved. As Sparks argues in his pamphlet (9), class struggle left, alongside the hacks and megalomaniacs. If we can't bring is an excellent antidote to the NF, because workers in strug- ourselves to work with them, then we really are an insignific- gle as workers will simply not be interested in racist ideas: ance, the flotsam of history. they may at other times sympathise with such ideas, but will In June 1922, bare months before the triumph of fascism in find them of no relevance in situations of class confrontation. Italy, Malatesta wrote as follows: All this is quite true, and points to the need for class milit- "Alone we cannot subdue fascism, even less destroy exist- ancy as a response to the crisis and to the racism which it ing institutions. So either we must unite with those who, though breeds. But Sparks doesn't consider the possibility that other not anarchists, share short term, common objectives with us, groups, which stand outside conventional class categories, or allow that the fascists, with the connivance of the govern- may be just as central to the anti -racist struggle as the org- ment, should be free to terrorise the country, or that the mon- anised working class. archy should go on ruling undisturbed. What is more, the development of an active resistance to "But in 'revolutionary alliances‘ one is always ‘betrayed’. the racists and rightists of the NF lays the foundation of a Possibly one is. But we prefer to run the risk of being betray- much wider and longer resistance to the State itself, and to ed by others, than betray ourselves to the point of extinction the developing totalitarianism of corporate capitalism. A through inaction" (l0). i conscious community of militant dissidents, and an organised I believe that this warning speaks to our condition-. working class with growing experience of class militancy and The anarchist movement can play a useful role in the strugg- solidarity, would pose tremendous threats to the techno- le against the racists. We can point out the broad-based nature bureaucracy and to the pragmatic alliance of State, indusiry of the possible anti-racist alliance, provide a libertarian and unions. It would be then that the real struggle would begin, counter -weight to the more-manic Leninists, and put new per- and then that we would have to start learning lessons from spective on the whole issue. We seem to be undergoing a minor Ireland. The struggle against the NF may turn out to be only revival at present, so let's put it to good use. a dress rehearsal. MARTIN SPENCE August 1978 .....__°UR(:‘.9§..T_‘31__B_UT121! Immediately, what can our contribution, as anarchists, be? I believe we are well placed to make a significant contribution, ReferenQe_§_ if we take an honest look at ourselves. As a movement, we are quite well rooted in those marginal communities referred (1) David Edgar, Racism fascism a_n_c_i_the politics of the l§T_atL Lanai Front, Race E; Class Pamphlet no. 4. An American Anarchist. The Life of Voltairine de Cl_e5y5e. to above - dissident lifestylers, freaks, ‘layabouts’. We can P5u"l-A"vT'Gl'T’1, PF"‘E1n"ei!"_onU'n1"v‘é'“§ifry“ PF'e"s'§. I978? $I6. "' therefore help in the construction of that street culture of (25 F. Sivanandan, Race, class and the State: the black exper- resistance which provides a crucial element in the long term ience in Britain, se'"e"e“8}'CTe‘e'§'Pe""“'mp'hTe‘t'i6.'T defence against racism and rightism. It won't be an easy job, (5.5 §€TI'oT1Y1-'T3Y-figer 8: Jean Mohr, _Tl_1e_se:;v_e__1_1_th_n1_z1£, Penguin, VOLTAIRINE DE CLEYRE is one of the most unjustly neglect- certainly far less satisfying and clear cut than simply recruit- l9'*’5. ed figures of American radicalism. Essayist, poet, translator ing members to ‘the party‘. We won't be ringleaders or org- (4) See A. Sivanandan, From immigation control tQ_'induced and orator she played a prominent part in the libertarian move- anisers, so much as active agents within a process which is repatriation‘, Race 81 Class Pamphlet nb_._5. ment between l88'7 and her death in 1912 at the age of 45. well as you for yourself; for even if you err you learn by it, hopefully going to be happening anyway, and which maybe is (§)_‘7'iTh'§lT5_Reich, The mass psychology of fascism, Penguin, It is for this reason that I welcome Paul Avrich's well-writt- while if he errs the blame is his, and if he advises well the happening now. 1975. en and serious biographical study. In it he vividly depicts credit is his, and you are nothing", but she pays tribute to Secondly, we ought to keep in contact with the rest of the (6) Daniel Guerin, Fascism and big business, Pathfinder Press, her struggles to assert herself as a free individual, her rel- him as "the pride of Young Germany who would have the indiv- left, however obnoxious that may be at times. The mass anti- New York, 1973. """"""""'"""""“"'"""" ations with comrades and the evolution of her thought. Not idual acknowledge nothing, neither science nor logic, nor any racist movement which we want to see is going to be bigger ('7) Luciano Lanza, in FREEDOM, vol. 37, nos. ‘Z1 8: 29.. only this, but he gives us fascinating sketches of her friends other creation of his thought, as having authority over him, its than the organised left, but the organised left is still going to (8) Very useful on the socio-economic structure of Nazi Ger- such as Dyer D. Lum, George Brown and Mary Hansen. He creator". play an important role within it, (note the influence of the many _is Richard Grunberger, A social history of the T__h_irdW also corrects the errors made by Emma Goldman and Hippo- Nonetheless, despite her recognition of the value of ego- Socialist Workers‘ Party within the ANL). A lot of the time, Reich, Weidenfeld 81 Nicholson, l97l,(a'lso now insilaenguini. lyte Havel in their biographical essays on her. centricity, Voltarine de Cleyre remained haunted to the end of organisations like the SWP are going to be using the movement (§)_Colin Sparks, I*_‘a_§c_i_s__n_1__a_._Ild_the_lfat_i_9_1_E1l Front, SW P pamph- Voltairine de Cleyre began her public life as a lecturer in her life by a religious concern for the sacredness of principles, to gain more recruits and power for themselves - we should let, 1978. the free‘ thought movement. She became interested in anarch- the notion that one had to serve a "cause" greater than one- certainly expose this opportunistic and harmful attitude where (10) Vernon Richards, ilialatesta, life and ideas, Freedom ism as a result of the Chicago Affair of 1886 and at first self. Two years before her death she wrote one of her most it appears. Press, 1965. championed the ideas of Benjamin Tucker, to whose paper impressive essays, The Dominant Idea, which shows very Liberty she contributed. She soon came under the influence clearly the conflicting st1'_e1i1'1'sT_of her thought. She praises the of her friend and lover Dyer D. Lum who, like Tucker, was "liberty and pride and strength of the single soul" and "the and I thank him for a worthwhile exhibition. a mutualist, but favoured militant participation in the trade immortal fire of Individual Will, which is the salvation of the Of the Hayward what can one say for it was publicised that union struggle. Towards the end of her life she began to work Future". At the same time she holds up for emulation that C/7753 0F 7!/FDEAD /fiiféie le girls had taken over so they must take the blame. Trivia closely with the libertarian communists, but refused to commit most obnoxious source of all support for authority, the view his own house in the region of Helsinki and it would appear to for the sake of trivia, gimmick for the sake of gimmick. It is herself to their ideas, preferring to call herself an "anarchist that "to conceive a higher thing than oneself and live towards be the only building meant for human habitation. Here are trees all enjoyable but speaking as a tired, sad chauvinist pig I without adjectives" and adopting a pluralist view of any future that is the only way of living worthily". Indeed, she concludes and flowers and natural rock formation. Pleasant confusion cannot see myself risking anyone's life to save any of the works "free society". Indeed, Paul Avrich shows conclusively that, her essay by transforming "Individual Will" into her "Domin- and gentle disarray and as a leftwing art critic of the national on display come the third world war. Wendy Taylor halts the despite claims by Rudolf Rocker and Emma Goldman, she did ant Idea" and in this way negates it. . A press murmered to me "All the bastards did this, they design- Town and his foot sore frau in their tracks with her ‘Brick not embrace communism. But I am not convinced that her It is not surprising that not long after writing this essay she ed these ghastly concrete living units for the masses no matter Knot‘ 2l3x356x23l, like unto a large brick chimney tied into a efforts to maintain a balance between individualism and comm- became possessed by a bleak despair about her life and ideas. what class, then from Frank Lloyd Wright to Aalto they built knot but like cold cast sculpture it is a con job it is not made unism rested on any sure foundation. My own experience is that Such an attempt to walk the philosophical tightrope between these lovely little liveable human homes for themselves". And of brick but merely the surface material used by television one eventually has to choose between one or the other. altruism and egoism, the sacred and the profane, could not this is a stark and brutal fact of every society whose truth can set makers and Wendy before you blow your lovely skull it In this connection Voltarine de C’leyre's attitude towards be kept up for ever. She found emotional refuge from her dil- be tested by the simple observable fact that almost without could have been sculptured in living bricks, check any City 8: philosophical egoism is significant. Her mentor Dyer D. Lum emmas in the shape of the Mexican Revolution which she saw exception every village that was once the home of country lab- Guild Building Department and sadly sadly Eduardo Chillida believed that "the devotee of a cause is never the devotee of ' as part ofan economic revolution which "at any moment of ourers, every small fisher man's village now houses the mobile did this type of sculpture in 1963 using bare metal and it is the self" and he sneeringly dismissed egoists as "dung-beetles" -- our lives . . . may invade our homes with its sterm demand middle class and we the great and sacred mass are left to live pfstic sheeting of immitation bricks that make it a gimmick. "people who think a great deal of their ego and don't care a for self-sacrifice and suffering". Abandoning her critical - and work in.their concrete and brick blocks. I feel that some AOf the Portuguese Art since 1910, again at the RA wine ho, rap for society". In her obituary essay on him written after awareness she plunged into a frenzied campaign to rally support where there must be a moral but meanwhile it is on to the one can only say, with honesty, that it is a collection of trite his suicide in 1893 she describes his views without any dissent, for the Mexican revolutionaries whom she idealised in a Rodrigo Moynihan Retrospective Exhibition still within the immitative works of fashionable styles and even by those stan- so one may assume she agreed with them. In her later writings, fashion beyond belief in one so intelligent. She died before she Royal Academy wine ho. dards fairly drear but they were painted and exhibited in good however, she began to stress the importance of thinking "a could witness the revolution ending in a mere change of rulers, Moynihan is a tough pleasant man and the vast array of his faith, but as I creep off to the male dominated Ward's Irish great deal" of one's ego. Even in one of her most "Tolstoyan" as is the melancholy habit of such ventures. life's work is impressive on first viewing but it would appear pub in Piccadilly with my head between my legs let me give essays, Crime and Punishment, she wrote "I believe in the I have written enough about Voltairine de Cleyre to demons- to my jaundiced eye that most of it is immitative of the style unstlnted praise to the magnificent pen and ink drawing of . individual. I believe that the purpose of life (insofar as we can trate her abilityito provoke and to stimulate more than sixty A of the day and while it is always competent and gives much Deanna Petherbridge. The brilliance of her craftsmanship is give it a purpose, and it has none save what we give it) is the years after her death. In Paul Avrich she has found an able pleasure in the end it will all just slip down Time's stream to a pleasure to the eye and if there nothing else on display within assertion and the development of strong, self-centred person- biographer who has brought her to life once more. Read his be forgotten. One work stays in my mind and that is his 1938 the Hayward Gallery the work of Deanna Petherbridge would ality". In Anarchism and Literature, not onlyldoes she echo book! I ‘still life with meat' but again I am reminded of the raw angry make the visit worth while. Max Stirner by stating that "none can decide . . . for you so . , S.E. PARKER work of Chaim Soutine and Rodrigo Moynihan is never angry ARTHUR MOYSE

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14 A Review

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.. 3 burger Heaven, tells us in Times tear out supplement prose that all the huge working class mass living units have been a Dear comrades 9 against the party Marxists, shown the libertarian poetential glorious balls up. And here black upon white, within -the Royal I, too, have read When Pro hecy Fails, and, like Bob of Marxist theory. (It was no anarchist, but Marx, who wrote Academy is the life work and the style fixer of one man among Potter, was struck by the sim1EE¥1'ty Efieen the sect it des- ‘The communists are very well aware that egoim is in defin- The Few who helped to design the concrete cross that we the cribes and the various Marxist sects. (FREEDOM, August 23, ite circumstances a ‘necessary form of the self-ass'értion=of people have to bear every time the lift is out of action or the ‘ p. 14). A friend of mine who spent six months in the SW P con- individuals. ' German Ideology, Lawrence and Wishart, p. 247). public transport system fails to transport us to the latest firmed the similarity between the processes within such Marx- Garaudy has, against dogmatic Marxism, argued the import- windowless sepulchre that looks so imposing in photographic ist sects and within Christian sects. In the repeated debates ance of ethics, art and subjectivity. Kolakowski, now an ex- reproduction, all white and square, in the share holders hand- Marxist, has demonstrated the compatibility of ethics with he held with himself at 5. 30 am about whether he should get out. up to sell Socialist Worker or turn over and go back to sleep, historical determinism. Poggi's totally undogmatic Develop- The western european middle class are a class who accept he was overcome with a feeling that he knew he'd had before ment of the Modern State has recently been published in this mobility (carwise . . . to ruin a word) as normal to their way but couldn't remember where. Then it dawned on him. It was counEy and is worthy of the attention of all libertarians. of living and they commute over great distances to and from when, at the age of 14, he was in an evangelical bible sect and Closer to home and to the hearts of anarchists, Cynthia Cock- the rat race but the working class are static (and comrade was worrying whether he had been praying enough. The feeling burn's The Local State analyses the role of local authorities please don't tell me that you knowi an overtime bod, who" works was guilt, and it was the mechanism by which both sects sec- A in state domination, a topic hitherto almost untouched. A on a factory conveyor belt and has his own road runner). It is ured the loyalty of their members. case study of corporate management and community develop- the middle class who have taken over the isolated little villages It is a shame, however, that Potter falls into the indiscrim- ment in the London Borough of Lambeth, it shows in detail and the small fishing communities and in exchange they have, inate attack on ‘Marxism’ so common among anarchists. His the l_ocal state's part in reproducing bourgeois class and not unwittingly, given the peasant, the fisherman and the interpretation of Marxism as a religion has a lot in it, but it authority relations. Christine Delphy's Materialist Analysis simple honest labourer such as myself a world that they them- is typical of the anarchist view that presents all Marxism as of Women's Qpression and the new journal m7t - Both the selves reject. In the corrupt and decayed world of the 1930s merely the dogma of an institution based on tlTé_'sacred scrip- work of Marxist feminists - are quite as valuable as the writ- Aalto's world of the future was hawked around as the social tures‘ of the prophets. Despite his ertswhile membership of ings of the anarcha- feminists. B-Arrm...o¢v\|.'e.u oi]: J;-5 .SA.NT'D$ , ”A'TL.AN'TT$‘\Q°l'l2.) paradise for the masses from H. G. Wells Shape of Things to the YCL, I wonder whether he has ever acquainted himself with To reject Marxism out of hand puts anarchists in a peculiar from ink: Pl>I"t\ljUC$€ Aft-1 Qxkafinbien -uh t-kc. Rvyai /\c.a-A¢,1v\7. Come to Fritz Lang's teutonic expressionistic Metropolis we the contents of these ‘scriptures’ (few ‘Marxists’ have) and, if position in relation to the socialist movement, for none of saw the High Rise flats and the mighty mindless motorways he has, _why he does not actually take issue with Marxist theory Marx's ideas were original. What was original was the combin- and we are now living in our future. Frank Lloyd Wright threw rather than caricaturing party Marxism. ation and development of these ideas. To reject Marxism in ALL HUMAN COMMUNICATION is in the dead end no more up his concrete weeds and the world applauded and ‘Le Corbus- Anarchism in Britain has always been marked by this indiff- toto, as Potter seems to do, is to reject all its component- than a desire to amuse or to be amused. We seek an audience ier aped him making his grand slam with the vast living com- erence to theory, and this is one of the reasons for its lack of Fafis and thus many of the ideas of the socialist movement: or we wish to be an audience and the most profound of philos- plex that now lies like unto a stranded liner in the Marseilles influence. Marxism is the most influential tendency in the rev- the materialist analysis of social relations, the historical ophies, the deliberate planned bureaucratic slaughter of mill- area. Built on a scale based upon the human body it was to be olutionary movement and, in comparison, the anarchists seem perspective on political action, the idea of class conflict, the ions of men, women and children, O1‘ Red Eyes at the Fest- a hive for the French working class wherein they would be to have so little to say. Most anarchists cannot effectively importance of the fact that those who do not own capital can ival Hall, the great State trials, the drag shows and the heart born, work, eat, shit and die but the French workers to their criticise Marxism Edause they do not know much about it. live only by selling themselves to those who do (the idea of transplant operations are no_more than a circus to amuse the unidealistic credit never moved in and the tomb, well tarted Potter seems to be ignorant not only of classical Marxism labour-power is prefigured in Rossi and Sismondi) and the Town and his catalogue clutching frau. We are amused be- up, has now become a State subsidised Marseilles Hilton On (he says nothing about Marx's ideas) but also of modern Marx- theory of surplus-value. cause we are not involved in the trivial or terrible tragedies The Cheap for the French middle class. Alvar Aalto never had ism, suggesting it has its be-all and end-all in Trotsky and Obviously the dogmatic predictions of the WRP (the CP is or we are the manipulators of an audience and the demonstrat- the verve or the world reputation of the Terrible Twins and Mao. But the Marxist method has been far more productive in now more cautious), the defence of orthodoxy, the expulsions, ion, the pop rock show and those who stand in the State's his architecture was but no more than the cliches demanded the analysis of modern capitalist society than anarchism, even splits and about-turns show the absurdity of party Marxism. criminal dock in the fullness of terrible time become no more by a managerial class. Nonetheless, Marxism has strengths that most anarchists in its analysis of that institution of overriding importance for than a theme for senile babblings as we bore the ticket happy The huge flat brick walls of Dickens‘ industrial England, anarchists - the state. In fact, one of the important develop- ignore at their cost. The materialist conception of history is young lions waiting to repeat the acts that were repetitions ten ments in modern Marxism has been the recognition of the rel- the vast megalomaniac steps and concrete ‘open' space where essential as a method for revolutionaries. Many anarchists thousand years before Rome was acting out the script for nary a flower is allowed to trespass and a few small trees ative autonomy of the state. One would have expected these lack a historical sense, and the idea that a revolution can Graves‘ BBC television soap opera. London as the intellectual stand in a single regimented row and like our own State's analyses to have come from the anarchist movement, but the occur irrespective of the prevailing economic conditions and and cultural capital of the western world, and let the Neasden Hayward Gallery and National Theatre every building ends up anarchist hostility to theory has ensured this should not be so. class relations is even more absurd than the dogmatic predict- intelligentsia throw down the plastic gauntlet if they dare, is Other matters of interest to anarchists - ideology, community looking like a surrealist concrete empty box reflecting nothing ions Potter so rightly derides. Many anarchists do not accept in full flower with major art exhibitions filling every wall and of the creative humans within it only a shell for a power stat- politics, personal relations and the position of women - have that we make history in circumstances not of our own choosing cranny of the State galleries until in the end one is forced to ion. The work of these men and those who still practice these also received more penetrating analysis from Marxists. and independent of the will of individuals, nor that ideas are say no more to the Press Day wine. Room_after room of cliches is that it is the product of men without vision or imag- " I'll just list a few examples. Gramsci‘s theory of cultural shaped by the way people think, in detachment from practical tinted rhubarb, cut glass and bended iron and plastic and in hegemony has done much to undermine the rigid economic det- ination and alien to the human heart for in all the photographs struggles on a large scale. The Marxist view that revolution- the end we are left with the happytime trivia of questing but within the catalogue neither book nor bird, dog or child can erminism that still characterises the more antediluvian Marx- ary practice is the coinciding of the changing of material con- non creative minds. If the wine is free flowing and the com- be seen. Within this exhibition I would fault the late Aalto ism of groups like the SPGB. It stresses the importance of ditions and of self-change seems to me to be more useful than pany enjoyable one could argue that the work upon the walls ideological and political struggle and analyses the relative on three exhibits. One is Aalto's first major building, his ‘ the ideological view of many anarchists that consciousness is but a minor background to the conversation but when the Jyvaskyla workers‘ club. Described as classical its brute box autonomy of ideology and politics in advanced capitalism. alone determines material conditions. artist, writer or architect affects our daily living then we are shape owes more to the German Bauhaus than to the groves _ Unlike the anarchists, Gramsci sought to understand the relat- Although the prophecies of Capital and several of its specific not amused to quote Mrs Thatcher. ionship of ideology and politics to capitalist Hegemony. of Athens. Supported, in fact or fiction, on Greek doric col- ideas are false, it remains unsurpassed as an overview of Within the Royal Academy there are a number of major umns this drear building sports a single large renaissance Althusser, for all his appalling obscurantism and party ortho- bourgeois property relations, and the anti -Marxist anarchists exhibitions and the latest to coax Polish George, the Dutchman, window which means that the workers of Jyvaskyla were sold doxy, has also taken forward the analysis of the role of ideol- have yet to produce a theory of capitalist exploitation that Harry and myself to the buffet table is the plans and the arch- the worse of three architectural styles. Two is a plastic chair ogy in the maintenance of bourgeois society. Poulantzas (un- betters it. itectural models of "Alvar Aalto (1898 - l9'76) The Finnish designed by Aalto again in the fashionable Bauhaus cliche style fortunately another obscurantit) has remedied the inadequacy I take issue with Bob Potter not over his desire to criticise master of architecture and design. Produced in collaboration but when, behind the RA guard's back Itestedthis chair by‘ of classical Marxism by analysing the way the bourgeoisie has Marxism but rather over the indifference to theory that lies with the Scandinavian Bank Limited". We are all authorities on sitting 'on it I found that each time I moved forward to rise the split into fractions with apparently competing interests held behind his article. The libertarian movement is too important human habitation because we either live in the State's brick chair tipped up which no kitchen chair or Chippendale 18th to be jeopardised by the philistinism of the traditional anar- together by the power of the state. Cardan, by no means an hutches or are at the non mercy of some drear landlord and we century chair ever did for to paraphrase Gert Stein aAchair is orthodox Marxist, has shown, within a broadly Marxist frame- chists. know we know as every social seminar tells us and every with a chair is a chair not an exercise on a sheet of paper. And my Yours sincerely work, the increased importance of relations of domination and it rising young architect, designing his first motor way Ham- third condemnation of Aalto's work is that in 1934 Aalto built subordination in bureaucratic capitalism. Dunayevskaya has, L London E 1 1 Marshall Colman ‘ (1:-'1-\cll.I¢fi:¢\ on, 1;-Q31

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