amsterdam's anarchist revolt richard kempton autonomedia In memory of Suzanne Kempton-Gerson The Hague 1940-Berkeley 2000 whose interest in the Proves inspired this book. uxori carissimae Copyright © 2007 Richard Kempton Photographs on the following pages are copyright Cor Jaring, and used with permission: 20, 22, 29, 32, 37, 40, 54, 58, 64, 71, 74, 79, 82, 87, 97, 106. Book design: Josh MacPhee Published by Autonomedia, PO Box 568, Williamsburgh Station, Brooklyn, NY 11211-0568, USA. Autonomedia publishes and distributes a wide variety of materials on radical politics and culture. Please visit www.autonomedia.org for a full catalog and more information. State of the Arts This publication is made possible in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. NYSCA Printed in Canada contents 6 acknowl edgements 7 pub lisher's forew ord 10 provo map of amsterdam 11 au thor's introduction 15 1. amsterdam, the magic center (1961-1965) 23 2. the prophet of magic amsterdam: robert jasper grootveld 31 3. the birth of provo (may-july 1965) 47 4. the state is provoked! (july 1965- march 1966) 59 5. the finest hour of the du tch republ ic (march 10, 1966) 69 6. the tw o dimensions of police brutality : amsterdam under seige (march 19-ju ne 13, 1966) 91 7. the monster of amsterdam (ju ne 14, 1966) 105 8. af termath of the battle: the gradual decline and death of provo (ju ne 15, 1966- may 14, 1967) 117 appendix 1: new babyl on 119 appendix 2: provo and the situationists 122 appendix 3: dada influences 125 appendix 4 : anarchist antecedents in amsterdam 129 appendix 5: provos in belgium and the provinces 132 appendix 6: the kabouters (1970) 136 appendix 7: sartre's concept of the fused grou p (analytical applications to revolutionary groups of the 1960 s) 144 appendix 8: some comments on a recent critiqu e of the provos 148 annotated general bibliography acl<nowledgements My interest in the Provo movement was initially kindled by a paper on the Provo use of the Dutch language written for a class at the University of California, Berkeley by my late wife, Suzanne Gerson, a native of the Netherlands. The impetus to write this book stemmed from conversations I had with Johan Snapper, Professor of Dutch at UC Berkeley. Thanks are due to a number of people who aided me with their help, encouragement, and sometimes by supplying with needed publications from the Netherlands. Jaap van Ginneken, Sjo­ erd Wartena, and Tjebbe van Tijen, the successive directors of the Provo archives when it was at the University of Amsterdam, gave generously of their time and greatly aided my use of the archives; as did Peter De Jonge at a more recent date at the Internationaale Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis (International Institute for So­ cial History), Amsterdam, which is the present location of the Provo archives. The Dutch writer Simon Vinkenoog and Provo co-founder Roel van Duyn were kind enough to read early versions of the man­ uscript, provided copious commentary, and supplied publications otherwise not available to me. Proves Luud Schimmelpennink of Amsterdam and Herman J. Claeys of Brussels also gave generously of their time in speaking with me. Dutch friends were helpful in answering numerous ques­ tions about details of Dutch political and social life and supplying me with publications and newspaper clippings. A very special word of appreciation is due to my brother-in-law Hans Gerson who has supplied me with much help and information over the years. Thanks are also due to the Oxenaar family of Arnhem and to Willem Maiten, formerly of Amsterdam. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Professor Gerald Larson, formerly of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who called my attention to Jean-Paul Sartre's neglected masterpiece, Th e Cri­ tique of Dialectical Reason , which I utilized in evaluating the revo­ lutionary phenomenon of the 1960s. Thanks too to L. J., formerly of Amsterdam, who translated phrases of her native Amsterdam slang and architectural terms I could not find in dictionaries avail­ able to me. And thanks to others who either read my manuscript or encouraged me to pursue publication, among them William Tim­ berman, John Rowe, Maurice Zeitlin, Richard Flacks, Joseph Adler, Daniel Marlin, Steve Williamson, Glenn and Colette Gauthier Myles, 6•richard kempton••••••••••••••••••••••- and Henk van Os. I have learned much from Jordan Zinovich and my other editors at Autonomedia about the history of anarchism and its developments since the '60s and have hopefully incorporated these valuable lessons in the text of the book. And I benefited from the comments of Hans Plomp and Stephen Snelders, who read the edited manuscript on Autonomedia's behalf. Again, a word of heartfelt thanks is due. Also, thanks to Peter Stansill and David Zane Mairowitz for permission to use materials from their collection BAMN (By Any Means Necessary): Outlaw Manifestos and Ephem­ era, 1965-70. I must add that the opinions and conclusions expressed are my own. In no way do they constitute an endorsement of my views on the part of those mentioned above - I am thinking here particu­ larly of my Dutch contacts. It seems to be a point of Batavian pride that no two Dutch people will agree on any matter social or politi­ cal, so I gracefully accept beforehand the possibility that no one in the Netherlands will be completely in accord with that which I have written about three years of their nation's history. -Richard Kempton publisher's foreword Provo: Amsterdam's Anarchist Revolt is another title in Autono­ media's ongoing exploration of Dutch resistance movements: pre­ viously, Th e Devil's Anarchy (2005) examined early Dutch piracy, and Cracking the Movement (1994) chronicled the Dutch squatting movement. · While some in our collective cannot imagine modern anar­ chism without Provo, others only came to understand the move­ ment's impact through researching and editing this book. Provo is a legendary movement whose creative energy, successes, and fail­ ures helped shape the anarchism that we practice and love today. And while the effects of legends often drift in and out of our every­ day lives, they frequently pass unanalyzed. This book brings the history of Provo to the fore so that we can make the connections between the past and present, as well as take note of substantial differences between their historical moment and ours. Our hope for this introductory history of Provo in English audience is that it al- ••••••••••••••••••• provo: amsterdam's anarchist revolt•7 ; lows others to mine Provo's experiments and experiences for inspi­ =f; ration and strategies . .; Provo's playful combination of theory and street-level prac­ � tice helped generate the creative and flexible engagement that has .5 become an essential part of our most effective interventions into the increasingly militarized and regulated spaces of our everyday lives. It is part of a hidden history of fleeting moments, outbursts, and insurgencies that connect to form a linked revolutionary his­ tory, one which often remains secret even to those who make it. Many people involved in Provo likely were not aware of the ways in which previous revolutionary traditions informed them, and like­ wise, Provo has "invisibly" informed current practices of creative resistance. This book hopes to uncover parts of the hidden history that we're already embodying and living through even if we're not totally aware of it. Provo initiated the programs of playful street insurrection that we picked up and expanded through events such as Critical Mass and Reclaim the Streets. The White Housing Plan was an im­ portant precursor for the squatting movement that emerged in Am­ sterdam and elsewhere in Europe, eventually spreading to North America. Furthermore, the White Bicycles intervention, which Amsterdam authorities had seen as such a threat, is now copied around the world and are often sponsored and funded by municipal authorities. But such tactics are only the beginning of what we can learn from Provo. The Proves found ways to expand temporary autono­ mous zones into a sustainable movement that were based on col­ lective processes, critical reflection, and an impulse towards action. Rather than isolating the spheres of contemplation, politics, pro­ test, and play, they valued informed theories that generated new practices through critical reflection. There is much to learn from the particular ways they worked these levels simultaneously. Even the death of Provo was a strategic move stemming from a consensus-based process of self-reflection. It was initiated by the movement itself: when the Proves realized that their cohe­ sion was waning, they determined that dispersal was more strate­ gic than continuation. Their conscious choice of public dissolution demonstrated Provo's true vitality. That choice enabled them to join and inspire other groups, and we need only scrutinize the founda­ tions of the practices of resistance in Amsterdam today to recognize the continuing impact they have. Provo does not stand alone. It lies embedded in a matrix of earlier movements, as well as countless later layerings. There is clear evidence that the 1968 Paris activists borrowed from Provo's successes. So even the Situationists - who are often canonized S•richard kempton•••••••••••••••••••••••• within various radical milieus - owe a debt to the creative Provo activists who played with the political potential of aesthetics. It is sometimes surprising to realize that our histories are so incomplete, and a project like this by no means completes the history of Provo. In the DIY spirit, we take this opportunity to en­ courage others to pick up this thread and explore it on their own.