Issue: 129 WORKERS SOLIDARITY April/May 2013 25 Years of Irish Anarchist News Only Mass Action Can Defeat Austerity

Five years into an austerity program visible that the workers are unhappy. Inside this issue: that is only working to make the rich richer, most of us are very unhappy • Fighting for Abortion Rights in about the lack of resistance from the As long as workers across Europe ac- unions. During the Croke Park cam- cept this limitation we will have auster- the North paign the SIPTU National Executive ity imposed on us. Tokenistic one or Council released a statement that in- two-day actions, no matter how mili- • Campaign Against Home cluded: “There is, of course, a wider tant or noisy, cannot force the reversal and Water Taxes – inspiring issue of fairness in the Country as a of austerity. If that’s what we want to people to demand participatory whole because the wealthy are not con- see, it’s not token action we need, it’s tributing to the degree that they can or striking to win. democracy should. This is a consequence of the political choices made by the voters at • What the Frack? election time.” We need to give up on pleading with the wealthy 1% to treat us fairly. Their • The Human Cost of Cuts to strength is in their enormous wealth Public Services -Thoughts of a Here, boldly stated, is the problem at though which they literally buy politi- Dole Worker the heart of modern trade unionism in cians and the media. Our strength is in Europe. Deeply built into its ideology the fact they are 1% and we outnum- • An Irish Emigrant in Sydney - is the acceptance that we have to accept ber them 99 to 1. Our strength is in the the policies of whichever parties hap- fact that unless we work they make no life, work and radical politics pen to win each consecutive round of money. And our strength is in their fear the Xfactor-like electoral circus. This that if we act together, if we organise • West Belfast - 2nd highest levels is why the so-called general strikes in together, if we strike together we will of child poverty in the UK Spain, Greece & Italy have not changed realise that we have no need for the 1% policy there. Those ‘general strikes’ are at all. • ‘Why It’s Still Kicking Off not aimed at bringing down the govern- ment but rather just on making it very Everywhere’ - Review WORKERS SOLIDARITY 129 What the Frack? One of the final acts of the last the engineers be sure Fianna Fáil government was to of what the extent and award licences to a number of effect of the fractures companies to explore for com- will be? The practice mercial gas in the Northwest of hydraulic fracturing Carboniferous Basin (commonly has come under exami- known as the Lough Allen basin). nation internationally The Lough Allen Basin is a huge due to environmental, area that covers parts of Cavan, health and safety con- Donegal, Fermanagh, Leitrim, cerns and has been Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, banned in France and Sligo and Tyrone. Significantly in certain parts of the this area covers the headwaters of USA. There are also two of our largest water systems, temporary bans in place the Shannon and the Erne. Right pending further re- tific American, March 2010). in the middle of the basin is an search into its environmental effects in area that is dependent on water New South Wales (Australia), Quebec We are being asked to trust an indus- related tourism and recreation (Canada), Karoo region (S. Africa) and try that is effectively saying “we only for its economic activity. It is es- in parts of the UK. polluted over there, because we were timated that 1,000 wells could allowed to, of course we won’t do that be drilled. Similar plans are also What we are primarily concerned with here because it’s against the law.” We being made for Clare. The drill- is the effect fracking may have on the are being told that we should rely on ing method that would be used groundwater. The fact that President our stiff anti-pollution regulations to in these wells is Hydraulic Gas Bush made fracking exempt from the protect us from this wanton destruc- Fracking. federal “Clean Water Act” in 2005 is a tion. This comes at a time when all big hint at its potential effects on wa- public services including environmen- Fergal S ter quality. There’s at least 11.5 million tal regulation are being cut back. With litres involved in the initial fracking of the best will in the world our state ser- What is Fracking? just one gas well. All of this water and vices definitely don’t have the man- chemicals have to be transported to and power to do this job properly. Even if Hydraulic fracturing, often called from the well heads causing a massive they did, we have an Environmental fracking or hydrofracking, is the pro- increase in traffic from the thousands Protection Agency (EPA) which is im- cess of fracturing or breaking a rock of heavy trucks needed to do this job. mune to prosecution and run by a for- layer, using a highly pressurized fluid, mer IBEC adviser who is famous for re- in order to release natural gas for ex- Another result of fracking is that meth- marks about facilitating industry with traction. This fracturing is done from a ane, brine and other fluids (some of light touch regulation. well-bore or hole, drilled directly into them radioactive) normally trapped in the rock formation. The energy from the rock layers can come to the surface The big question is: when all the mon- the injection of highly pressurized with the natural gas and these must be ey from these energy companies starts fluid creates new channels in the rock disposed of somewhere. There’s also sloshing around, what will happen to which can increase the extraction rates the problem of what to do with the mil- our regulators then? History shows us and ultimate recovery of fossil fuels. lions of gallons of waste fracking fluid. that greedy politics takes over. Where A mixture of water, sand and chemi- In the USA environmentally damaging were the regulators of the banks when cals is pumped into the rock at a very spillages of fracking fluids, diesel and we needed them most? What about high pressure and it cracks it just like a other chemicals from gas wells have the planning tribunals? Have we really windshield. The cracks go out a couple been recorded, affecting river systems learnt enough lessons from these deba- hundred feet on either side and that and drinking water wells. cles to trust that our own principles will forms the pathway for the natural gas be enough to shield us from the dam- to migrate to the well bore and up to US EPA tests have found suspected age already seen in the USA? The goal the surface. The fracture width is typi- fracking fluid chemicals in drinking of any of these private gas companies is cally maintained after the injection by water wells, and a study by the New to make money and if there is any short the sand or other particles that prevent York State Department of Environ- cut that will improve the bottom line the fractures from closing when the in- mental Conservation identified 260 then it will be taken. Ireland has the jection is stopped but still allow the gas different chemicals used in the process. smallest tax take on the exploitation of to rise through them. Companies zealously guard the secret any of its natural resources so we won’t of what exactly makes up their individ- even see any meaningful additions to Why Should We Be Worried? ual fracking fluid in the same way Coca the public purse. Cola keeps its recipe secret. Companies This process of deliberately fracturig also dump used fracking fluid back the bed-rock is very risky and unpre- beneath the surface, usually injecting dictable. At the very least it raises some it into other formations beneath the For further information and what you questions. For example what will be the shale. The long term effects of this form can do see the longer version of this effect on our groundwater? How can of deep dumping are unknown (Scien- article at FILL THIS PART IN

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Fighting for abortion rights in Contacts Workers Solidarity Movement the North PO Box 1528, Dublin 8. In the North, abortion is prohibited un- www.wsm.ie der the Offences Against the Persons Act [email protected] (1861) - with some common law excep- Organise! tions. If continuation of the pregnancy http://organise-ireland.blogspot.com/ threatens the life of the woman, or would [email protected] adversely affect her mental and physical health where the effects are ‘real and seri- Derry Anarchists ous’ or ‘long term’, are two such examples. http://derryanarchists.blogspot.com/ Maria Revolutionary Anarcha-Feminist The ‘Attitudes and practice of gynaecologists to- Group wards abortion in Northern Ireland’ survey claims PO BOX 10785, Dublin 1. that the majority of gynaecologists in Northern http://ragdublin.blogspot.com/ Ireland “do not support the current abortion law Seomra Spraoi as it stands”. Many also say they would carry out Dublin Social Centre abortions under certain conditions. Sexual health been more than willing to receive any inspections/ 10 Belvedere Court, Dublin 1. charity FPA said this “rubbished” claims by anti- assessments set by the Dept of Health/Health http://www.seomraspraoi.org choice groups and politicians that “there is no Minister. Edwin Poots, the current Health Minis- place for abortion in NI”. Of 42 gynaecologists ter, commented ‘If this is the backwoods, I’m glad Just Books working in Northern Ireland, 37 took part in the we’re in it.’ – showing a complete disregard for Belfast Radical Bookshop survey giving a response rate of 88%. women’s ability to make their own choices about 13-15 Clarence Street, Belfast. healthcare and reflective of a wider effort to steer [email protected] The recent opening of the Marie Stopes clinic in the abortion debate away from choice. Shell to Sea Belfast provides abortions for women up to nine Campaign to move Shell’s gas pipeline weeks via the abortion pill and also provides other Control offshore from Co. Mayo. sexual health services - at a cost of up to £400 - http://www.shelltosea.com £2000 for the consultation and care including the A Petition of concern was signed by Sinn Fein, Al- Hands Off the People of Iran abortion pill. The abortion pill, or misoprostol, will liance and the Green Party –which fortunately terminate a pregnancy up to 12 weeks. Anti-imperialist network for solidar- prevented the amendment being made. However ity with Iranian trade unionists & the women’s legal right to abortion is under constant Desperation women’s rights movement. threat of attack from the right wing, predominant- http:// www.hopi-ireland.org ly Christian, male dominated Stormont Assembly Due to the lack of adequate abortion provision who not only want to retain the control of women Choice Ireland for women here, 40 women a week leave Ireland via reproductive rights and choices but support Abortion rights action group to obtain abortions in Britain. Those who cannot the continuance of the unacknowledged labour [email protected] afford to travel and have no options fall victim to of women, and ensuring in the wider context the http:// www.choiceireland.org unscrupulous internet scams which claim to be production of cheaper labour. selling the abortion pill, or in desperation go to Residents Against Racism loan sharks of which there has been a rise since the Opposing racism and deportations. With the introduction of austerity measures we 24 hour helpline: 087 666 2060 introduction of the austerity measures across the will see not only continuation of lack of provision board – putting these women and their families for healthcare for women but a reinforcing of the Anti-Deportation Ireland into serious debt. status quo. The only women having access to Campaign against deportations and abortions, even within the common law restric- the direct-provision asylum system In the 2009 case to remove Department of Heath tions of private healthcare at great cost, are middle facebook.com/AntiDeportationIrelan- guidelines on Terminations for the medical pro- and upper class women showing it is not a moral dadi fession, Lord Justice Girvan claimed that giving issue but a class issue. advice as to the availability of abortion services Irish Palestine Solidarity Cam- elsewhere in the UK was ‘arguably unlawful’. paign Solidarity 01-6770253 | [email protected] The European Court of Human Rights decided http://www.ipsc.ie in a case against Ireland in 1992 that prohibit- ing women from receiving such information was The cross border efforts between the North and the South show a strong support for pro- Free Education for Everyone a breach of fundamental rights in the European Active in colleges around the county, Convention. choice campaigners. What is needed is to con- tinue to renew efforts to collectivise power, show North and South. solidarity with NI and ROI comrades to ensure the www.free-education.info Lord Justice Girvan put forward a proposed fight continues until free safe and legal abortion [email protected] amendment in February of this year which would on demand for all women can be provided via the restrict even further the allowance of any abortions healthcare system in place - presently, the NHS. Campaign Against the Household and Water Taxes in the North to be carried out legally not under Alliance for Choice Belfast and Derry are very ac- www.nohouseholdtax.org NHS and also restrict the limited legal framework. tive in keeping the debate open. This was despite the Marie Stopes clinic having 1890 989800 WORKERSWorkersSolidarity SOLIDARITY 129112 The Human Cost of Cuts to Public Ser- vices: Thoughts of a Dole Worker The following text was sent to us by a reader who works in a social welfare of- fice. It illustrates just one aspect of the human cost of the Croke Park agreement and of the furhter deterioration that will occur under the “extension”, if it is passed. Life in a social welfare office can be heart- breaking sometimes. Sitting there, behind the glass, you have a very limited range of available responses available to a broad expanse of problems. As the crisis deep- ens, people’s problems become more seri- ous and varied and our responses and the the fact that staff who are out on long term of a delay in their rent allowance applica- time available to respond narrow. illness, maternity, on shorter working tion, the people who are telling social wel- years etc. are not being replaced. fare staff they are going to commit suicide At the same time, despite wishing you because they have no money and can’t live, When staff leave, or get transferred, it can could help more, you are often the one left the people who are ashamed to be claim- take months to replace them or they are sitting taking abuse from people who are ing social welfare because they are being not replaced at all. They are sometimes frustrated at a system that is letting them made to feel like spongers, the people hav- only replaced by temp staff, who the rest of down. Meanwhile, the people who have ing nervous breakdowns; this is what we us have barely enough time to train in, and created this situation never have to face see on a daily basis. These are the people even then, because they are temps, they the everyday reality of the fall out of their who it will be more and more difficult to can be gone in a few months and you have actions. help, and that takes its toll on us too. We, to start the process all over again. This the staff and them, the people who come The social welfare office that I work in is means some public hatches are closed and to us for help - to the number crunchers, one of the busiest in the country. The first there is no cover when someone goes out we are just statistics. We are just another Croke Park agreement has had a notice- sick or has a family emergency. When ex- way to make sure the people who caused able impact on our ability to provide ser- tra work is taken on by the office, we have the economic crisis don’t have to pay for it. vices to the public. Waiting times have sig- to make the resources we have stretch fur- nificantly increased before people even get ther. People’s lives are being destroyed. The to submit their claims for social welfare. country is being destroyed. It’s time we When the government talk about “sav- After that they can be waiting months for a said enough is enough. It’s time we fought ings”, the human cost is never mentioned. decision on their claim. This is not through back. any fault of the staff. It is a direct result of The people who are getting evicted because West Belfast - 2nd highest levels of child poverty in the UK The recent report commissioned rate of benefits claimants at 15.2% in the about this growing poverty and depriva- by the ‘End Child Poverty’ cam- UK. West Belfast has also seen a dra- tion? We have seen local politicians be- paign found that out of 650 parlia- matic rise in youth unemployment, with ing responsible for implementing aus- mentary constituencies, West Bel- Northern Ireland as a whole amongst terity measures resulting in continual fast has the second highest levels the highest youth unemployment rate in closures and cuts to our public services. of child poverty in the UK. 43% of the UK at over 20% children within the West Belfast We have also seen Unionist politicians constituency grow up in poverty. The issue of housing sees West Belfast whipping up sectarian division over the And while this is a reduction on also topping the polls with the high- moving of the Union flag upon Belfast the previous year from 46%, oth- est waiting lists in the North for social city hall to designated days only. This er areas saw a greater percentage housing. At the same time repossessions situation has seen months of street mo- drop in poverty levels over that of home owner’s properties are reaching bilisation from loyalist working class year. an all-time high. In recent years West communities and the rising of sectarian Belfast has also seen a rise in suicides, tensions. All of this is further creating Davy one of the biggest causes of premature sectarian divisions while pushing many deaths in the area. Alcohol and drug de- more into poverty. Whether it be West West Belfast has constantly been at the pendency have also spiralled in local ar- Belfast, East Belfast or Catholic and top of the statistical lists for the areas eas while food and clothing bank chari- Protestant working class communities of greatest socio -economic deprivation ties are inundated from people seeking across the North, it is time to stand up case for decades. January’s 2013 release help. to the sectarian politicians for our col- from the ‘Office for National Statistics’ lective class interests rather than to also has West Belfast men as the highest What are the local politicians doing stand with them for their self-interest. Find out more - Check out www.wsm.ie WORKERS SOLIDARITY 129 Thinking About : Campaign Against Home and Water Taxes – inspiring people to demand participatory democracy At a public meeting of the Cam- Grassroots paign Against Home and Water Taxes (CAHWT) in Kildare last The grassroots nature of the campaign, month, a query was raised from and the democratic structures it has in a woman anxious about the up- place - where any person from a local coming local elections. She ex- area can put forward ideas and help plained her complete frustration make decisions that will be imple- with the austerity policies of the mented nationally - is a small example Fine Gael-Labour Government, of the sort of participatory democracy and described her despair at not I would like to see in other spheres of having the power to challenge my life – my workplace, my university, policies that were ravaging her and my neighborhood. Don’t get me community, stating there “really wrong, debating things out with peo- is no one legitimate left to vote ple who may have quite different ideas for.” American trade unionist and philoso- feel that so many of the conditions of of what to do hasn’t been easy, but it pher Rick Roderick has said, “Once our existence are not under our con- has forced me to see issues more com- Farah capitalism invades the whole of life, trol, and the possibilities we imagine plexly through the eyes of lots of differ- then struggle involves the whole of for changing that situation feel a lot ent people, and seek compromise and I think her anger with the Govern- life.” It is easy to see the numerous more distant. I think representational imaginative possibilities that are never ment, and the despondency the aus- ways in which austerity is ravaging our democracy exploits the separation be- presented in traditional “winner” and terity policies, such as the property tax community, from the property tax leg- tween those of us whose capacity to “loser” sort of electoral democracy. legislation, elicits from working class islation and water charges, to cuts to have power over our own lives has been people in Ireland and across Europe, social welfare and wages of public sec- stolen from us, and those in control of Participatory democracy also makes can be instructive for all those of us tor workers. It isn’t always easy to see these processes who benefit from this me accountable to my local commu- who wish to resist these policies. It is how to resist, especially when we have separation by accumulation either of nity, whether it’s simply showing up at a realisation that the ruling class has been told that the centre of gravity of power or wealth – or both! We begin to a meeting every week or making sure kept the majority of us from question- our political participation is found in feel like we are spectators on our own to accomplish the tasks I’ve been given ing the inequality of a system where we the ballot box. lives, and our ability to imagine other the responsibility for. are threatened into paying heavy taxes possibilities diminishes until we get to I think CAHWT has the potential to for which we get almost nothing in re- The example of what this Fine Gael/La- the same desperate state of that woman inspire significant resistance in this turn – the insanity of paying more and bour government has done should be from Kildare who knew there had to be country not only through boycott of the more, whilst getting less and less. enough to confirm to us not only that more to democracy than choosing be- property tax, but through strikes, walk voting is entirely inadequate (at best) tween party A or B. Struggle as a way of changing our society, but outs, occupations and other forms of also that a sort of political participation That is why I felt I needed to not only protest. And I think we can only win by However, being angry with elected that is participatory and empowering, be critical, but to mobilize my frustra- way of the meaningful involvement of representatives is not enough. Simply where we feel we can have power over tion into action, and why I got involved the broadest layer of activists, who feel threatening to vote for yet another par- the decisions that effect our lives, is a with the CAHWT. For me the campaign ownership not only over the campaign, ty will not pose the sort of significant far more meaningful democracy. represents the possibility to profitably but more and more, over their own challenge necessary to reject austerity reset my political compass, and that lives. I see the possibility that this cam- and its roots in neoliberal, transnation- Separation of our country, to not only boycott the paign can inspire people to demand the al capitalism - a system that has proven property taxes and water charges, but same participatory democracy in their time and again to ignore the votes and I think that our anger at the present to demand a more meaningful and ac- unions, in their schools, in their work- democratic decisions of communities policies can make us feel quite alien- countable democracy. places and local communities. across Europe. ated from politics because we begin to Anarchism & the WSM A round-up of recent WSM activ- paign. with other volunteers have been ity. keeping the friendly, neighbour- On the 6th of April, the 8th Annual hood anarchist bookshop and Our members in Cork and Dublin Dublin Anarchist Bookfair, organ- community space up and running. have been active at local, regional ised by the WSM, took place. This Solidarity Books hosts weekly and national levels in the Cam- year, talks and workshops were community meals and weekly paign Against Home and Water based around the theme ‘1913- showings of radical films as well Taxes, helping with stalls, leaf- 2013 - Rebuilding a Movement as providing a cheap, comfortable, letting and demos, and arguing from Below’. Issue 7 of our free welcoming venue for the meet- for greater grassroots democracy political analysis magazine, the ings of various campaign groups. within the campaign. WSM mem- Irish Anarchist Review was also A series of excellent events were bers were also invloved in occupa- published and distributed at the held in the space for Internation- tions of council offices and TDs of- bookfair. al Women’s Day, which included fices in Cork and Dublin as part of WSM members were involved in films, talks, drama and dance the campaign. an anti-racist picket at the Cam- performances, wrapped up with a Members have also been involved den Court Hotel in Dublin follow- meal courtesy of Veg Out! in the recent wave of pro-choice ing inflammatory anti-Traveller Dublin WSM have also been or- activities following the death of comments by Fianna Fáil TD Séan ganising the popular informal Savita Halappanavar in Galway, McEniff, who owns a share of the ‘Conversations about Anarchism’ working to help build protests and hotel. discussion series in Seomra Spraoi. were involved in the foundation In Cork our local branch, along of the new Abortion Rights Cam- WORKERS SOLIDARITY 129

An Irish emigrant in Sydney - life, work & radical politics Sydney is a vast city of over 4 million, the economic boom in Aus- tralia is driven by the phenomenal growth of the Chinese economy and their hunger for Australian mineral resources - everything else flows from that. Indeed the crash experienced in Europe and the US barely caused a ripple here. Consequences of the boom however are not all positive, the mining industry has a huge influence on government policy and the money sloshing around the banks combined with government policy has given rise to a huge housing bubble, familiar territory if you’re Irish. The average house price in Sydney is $657,000 (about €500,000) so out of reach of Australian workers whose average wage is just short of $1,000 per week. A consequence of this is a huge increase in the rental market which is also overpriced. Consequently you have the phenomenon of im- migrants living in hostels and working from them as there is a hous- death. His family, aided by aboriginal rights activists and others, ing shortage for low and medium priced rents. have been pressing for a reopening of the inquiry into his death that Work absolved the police. His mother is still visibly grieving his loss and this was quite an emotional occasion. The Irish have arrived in numbers, about 20,000 a year on working holiday visas and another 5,000 last year on 457 visas (skilled work- Aborigines today make up less than 4% of the population and are Solidarity Books is a radical ers sponsored by employer). Of course there are countless others over-represented in terms of social deprivation and prison popula- bookshop in Cork open for the here “on holiday”. There is certainly work available as the unem- tion. Redfern has been largely gentrified as a part of government past 2 years. It has a wide se- ployment rate is low. There is resentment building up amongst cer- policy since 2004, but the two social housing tower blocks still dom- lection of books on anarchism, tain sections of the population against skilled foreign labour getting inate the area. The march was a good eye opener into the nature of socialism and Irish history. It jobs in the mining sector and this is being cynically exploited by the the state’s attitude to the aborigines, an antidote to the many public also holds regular radical film politicians. buildings that fly the aboriginal flag, shops that sell original aborigi- nights and is a meeting space nal art and the frequent empty apologies from politicians. My own experience of Sydney has been a fairly positive one, where for progressive groups in the being Irish is a bonus. There are plenty of sites worth seeing, the city Politics city. It is run by WSM. is ethnically quiet diverse, but it is obvious that the “White Austra- I went along to a few sessions of politics in the pub ( http://politic- lia” policy of previous years did affect demographics here. After set- sinthepub.org.au/ ) a lefty kind of discussion night. The format of tling in I went to visit ( http://jura.org.au/ ) an anarchist two speakers followed by questions, with little tolerance for making bookshop going over 30 years and now settled on Parramatta Road. interventions, is a little bit flawed in my opinion, but nonetheless It is an impressive set-up with a very good selection of books, a li- the sessions are informative. The policy of questions rather than brary, anarchist archive, printshop and kitchen. The space is used comments isn’t really conducive to debate and the start time of 6pm for political discussions, meetings, film showings, gigs etc.. militates against workers, consequently the audience is overwhelm- Protest ing pensioners or those living nearby, nonetheless an interesting evening on occasion. The first demonstration I was on was the 9th anniversary march for justice for TJ Hickey on February 14th. TJ Hickey was a 17 year old Sydney also has an active branch of the IWW and I hope to get along aboriginal boy who died after his bike was clipped by a police car to some of their events and activities. that was chasing him and he ended up impaled on an iron fence That’s all for now from down under. in Redfern where he lived and died. The Redfern riots followed his Review: Why It’s Still Kicking Off Everywhere Today, it is easier to imagine the end of and, common to all risings, the po- nicative/technologi- the world than the end of capitalism. Yet tent force presented by ‘the gradu- cal change but is the something else is stirring. 2011 occasioned ate without a future’. But Mason is last-ditch option for a transnational impulse of ‘outrage’ against probably best known for emphasis- civil society once the the cruelties of global financial institutions ing the role of ‘networked individu- state has been cap- and the petty thuggery of enthralled states. als’ in the revolts, the increasing tured, directly and The occupation of the world’s squares was si- numbers of us who use communi- visibly, by interna- multaneously an impulse of ‘hope’, ‘solidar- cations technology such as Face- tional governance ity’ and ‘the commons’, directed towards a book and Twitter to socialise and, networks (e.g. the dimly perceived yet somehow more just and as occasions arise, to organise. IMF) and the pri- humane future. Tracking their emergence, Techno-fora users, characterised vate interests they evolution, fading, and re-emergence world- as people with ‘weak ties, multiple serve? What is left Irish Anarchist Review wide – now Cairo, then Syntagma, here Zuc- loyalties and greater autonomy’, for those who want cotti Park, there Puerta del Sol - Paul Mason, create horizontal social networks a more equal, demo- The Workers Solidarity Move- BBC journalist and author, has provided an capable of challenging repressive cratic society but to ment is very pleased to announce insightful record and (more questionable) states on the one hand and closed start assembling in the seventh issue of The Irish analysis of these revolts. ideas or dogmas (rightist or leftist) squares, to institute Anarchist Review. This maga- on the other. direct democracy? Tom Murray This seems to me an important part of the zine is dedicated to understand- The book’s first weak point relates to its un- 2012’s Why It’s Kicking Off Everywhere story in Chiapas, Argentina and everywhere ing the contemporary political, derstanding of ‘everywhere’. The focus is on documented the evolving wave of revolt and the IMF has ‘come to town’, which the book economic and social situation Europe, the US and the Arab Spring. Manila revolution from the Arab Spring to riots in omits. that confronts us, and finding is also analysed to include a section on slum- Athens and Manila, from the student occu- ways to advance alternatives. dwelling (increasingly important politically Summing up, Mason draws an uncontro- pations in the UK to the emergence of the in a rapidly urbanising world). But new stu- versial conclusion that the economic cri- indignados in Spain and Occupy in the US. dent movements in Canada and Chile are sis is here to stay (for the next five years at Contact us with your postal ad- The updated edition, Why It’s STILL Kick- not considered. Neither are the networked least) and so too is the politics of contest- dress if you would like to re- ing Off Everywhere expands on the flower- rioters in London in 2011. China is barely ing austerity. Starkly, this means that the ceive a copy or download a ing and repression of revolt in Russia, up- mentioned, notwithstanding its tentative possibility of something ‘viscerally fearful’, PDF from http://www.wsm. dates the analysis of Greece and Spain and ‘jasmine revolution’ or increasing waves of such as a fascist breakthrough in Greece ie/c/irish-anarchist-review-7 revisits Mason’s thesis of the ‘networked’ ‘mass incidents’ arising from peasant, work- or Northern Europe, remains. Meanwhile, revolution. The book is a terrific read, large- er, urban and ethnic struggles throughout the social movements of 2011, having been www.anarchistblackcat.org ly because Mason – while never losing sight the 2000s and 2010s. These include strikes ousted from the world’s public squares in of historical, economic or political context at the Foxconn Zhengzhou factory plant 2012, are now faced with a logjam-inducing - foregrounds the voices and actions of the where the hardware for social networking relationship to existing political institu- discontented and the dispossessed. And, of (such as the iPhone) is produced. The most tions. In the short to medium term, Mason course, as even Financial Times journalists glaring omission though is South America, suggests, their questioning of methods and will admit, much of what the protestors have particularly the Zapatistas in Mexico or post- aims will probably occur alongside ‘coopera- to say is worth listening to. This direct re- financial crisis movements in Argentina. The tive economic practices’ such as took place porting is a real strength. A friendly and respectful online discus- horizontal practices that evolved here in the with Occupy Sandy in New York or the local sion board for anarchists of all stripes Mason’s analysis of why global uprisings are 1990s and 2000s are a vital reference point solidarity economies in Spain and Greece. It and those just interested in seeing taking place is also valuable, not so much for contemporary waves of resistance. would be wrong to dismiss the powers and for pointing out the ongoing role of a pro- interests arrayed against these movements. what anarchists think. This brings us to the book’s second weak- nounced crisis of capitalism as for detailing But in 2011, unprecedented in its scale, pace ness: it’s analysis of ‘why’ it’s kicking off. To the particular features that make the revolts and development, the genie of transnational an extent, Mason has hit upon the uptake of somewhat unique this time around. These solidarity escaped from the bottle. As the social media, emphasised its use as the new particularities include the intra-elite me- conditions for provoking revolt remain, so factor and, in doing so, just confirms what he chanics of austerity policies and currency too does the potential for that solidarity to initially expected to find. Alternative empha- manipulation, the role of speculation in rais- evolve into something more potent – a fu- International Anarchist website with news & ses exist. What if the emergence of horizontal ing food prices (central to the Arab Spring) ture worth constructing. discussion from all five continents. forms of revolt is not the product of commu-