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Introduction to the WOMBLES J 1 : '_,--- 847 introdutnon to the Email: [email protected] eeiebsite: eaction.mrnice.net Newswire:www.womb reaction.mtrnice.netlnewswire Tojoin uremail listp ease send a blank emaii to: i emaydaa» aihiteoveralls-subscribe@yaho0groupsxom -.___..--_ \ = e have weekly open meetings every wednesday, 8pm at: Sebon Street fiommunity Centre, ebbon 4"“---__-I---|---.+___ Street, elsiington, Lorndrl N1 [nearest tube Highbury -I-“-—‘-4--L-._._____ & lslington] -—..-..,_- i' _| *3‘: —:*-— "" 0 '4. —n---...,__,_,.___ . '-|. ,_ A _ __ _ " -_. -- -._4:. - >-_. -- .. -I.--.1—_;-._.. - , _ ' - ;'_—“;-.; '- __ _. " I .| _ I ? I "‘ ll.“-1--__-. ' - I ' . ?- ch ' '-".1-=-'".' ;.. -.,', J. 0- . ___, ' '.i-_..-.'-' - _ - ei? é. fix “ii fig?” -5 »4;_,i___ -—-—..-|_ . .1’ - , Q‘ ". 1 "‘ * 7;-'1' ., *.\'=,..-I .1}. - '- ___ J .fl.ib- I'M ¢- I ' . _ ~| -' "r _ 1--.' . ---=.- ._ ¢_ ' ' -c .- * * '-"*"""'i€'*l-wt-11* =|--:- - ' - ".- "E --.-1 . , '5:-v - 4 - " .. _' '. 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""-'v:J"'1' - 1;‘ .' _ *'-*1 H -"1 __.g1s_\'__ -35¢; _' .- Eff ctrve Struggles -—----i'-~-=-;-.-"L-;_,,.__ \ -a 1|- 1v- -‘Q __."'r I '-'--_-_~- .--_---. ,|-*¢_ r_--‘- 1 '-H-'_"tr-.-_-_I "-4- " ' ?.'_:',- . 4 - I .1-,1 _*,=; lcn LES‘ , ~—..-_~:- ;.-'.-- _- September 2080;: having experienced the delights of Section B0 orders in London on the N30 and Mayday 2000 actions, many anti- authoritarians went to Prague with a sense of foreboding. But the explosive power of the diversity, courage and ingenultyof the demonstrators that city galva:r1i;sed a new sense of confidence and faith in themselves. Throughjoining the battle on the bridge with the white overalls, chasing around the valley below, dodging the blast bombs in the main square and creating effective affinity groups, some questions had to be answered. How to create effective actions in the UK, how to confront increasingly repressive police tactics, how to protect ourselves and each other from state violence. One of the answers was to form the White Overalls .l‘viovemerrt Building Libertarian Effective Struggles. The idea was simple. A large padded, well organised blockusing protective shields, formed as a barrier on mass actions that could be capable of repelling attacks by police. The constant challenging of ideas and perceptions and traditions has led us to become la diverse group of individuals involved in many different issues all united through a horizontal organisation, direct action and a desire to fundamentally change society. -g—-——-——-ii We initially wanted the vvombles to he an anarchistllibertarian communist organisa- tion with new ideas and to continue developing ways on how we could support struggles for social change. Our openess on our ideal-ogical ha-ckground made us distinct from the white overalls It movement in Italy as they had created it not to be specific to any tradition.but for .¢..-5% ','-'-LL‘!.-1.53-;-','.;'-"Vi". iii}!" _ -_._._.\:-._.~;;_i,=_£§l£I_l_:_-:9‘;_ '"~ ._-1'“.:_-IrI.-I . ‘ -'=‘=r-1=-=*<:-.;, -.- ‘civil society’ to legitimise civil disobedience against institutions they saw as illegiti- -'-.-L:,,_.1t.-___.- mate. With this new movement, a new language was also born, which came from a ._.-.| \ __-__ Q ~ J. W ‘legal philosophy’, a people's legality that could communicate to an institutional _ "-‘I“A _.-_-at1'.__;-_ J-1|-I‘ . ;n-__j. legality. This process went hand hand with the particular development of the italian white overallsfYa Basra! movement. To legitimise their actions they continously de- illI-1 _-in....._..._._.-.-_.-___. legitimised their enemies actions, therefore creating a clear form of struggle, mani- V gig: festing itself in most cases in mass demonstrations against detention centres, bio- technological conferences, transnational business conferences essentially the infra- structure and support systems of the new world order of capitalist globalisation. ‘git-. These were some of the aspects weatternpted to try out here in the UK to varying decrees of success. The tactic, social centres, inclu- sivity. _ * in italy where there is a strong social ease of radical activity, primary revolving around institutionalised and non-institutionalised ‘social centres’, there was already a culture of resistance that in cases were cross-generational, something in the UK [apart perhaps from old mining communities] we had lost. This proved difficult in terms of mobilising ‘civil society’ due to the lack of connections peole had with radical activity. Q We therefore attempted to occupy empty ibuilings initially for the purpose of having a space to organise and then to create a social basis and service to the local community. We found that the nature of our actions affected the safety of liberated spaces and have led —-I1-tn-4_—|r-:—- to several places being prematurely closed by police. The cormbination of political activity linked with social activity in the context of ii creating social centres have proved to he difficult in this current climate. | l We never had any ‘official’ connection with the white overalls movement in ltaly, nor did we thought it was neccessary to considering our belief in an autonomy of action and that we had developed from our own political culture in the UK. There was also many criti- cisms of Ya Basta! which made up ta lare proportion of the white overalls movement, mainly the hierarchical discipline and authori- l l tarism on actions. This was seen first hand Genoa at the G8 actions where some Ya Bastal stewards attacked anarchists and people i who smashed ta few windows near there march. Whatever view you have of property damage, it is completely unacceptable to physi- i cally attack other comrades who have other-‘ways of attacking capitalism. There has been a continued dis-association in part with ele- ments of the white overalls ;move ment after Genoa but the aspects which we are trying to develop here in the UK are still as relevant s l as ta year ago. The creation of a social basis connected with radical activity, the do-legitimisation of capitalist institutions “Ii through education and direct action and the self-critical nature, therefore non-dogmatic outlook to’ political and social activity. L-II-Jun-.: Underground, Overground, Wo:m%bling free! , 1 -O-C- \ . ‘s ' , 0 l 1 l 27 April Mayday Convergence Centre opened by SEPTEMBER - ZOOO t’ll.O.llfl.B.L.E.S. underground crew. Over a hundfed people “No one has the right to tell you what to do. if some attend it over the four days that it was Open. Included 28 Sepitlilihi-to Overalls affinity groupjoins-the ~YellowtBloc to Shut down-international Monetary Fund and 0-fie PAS-l?@5 ll@l-l_fll'~<>l-lt?I1- (ll -all flilymhb fll llllllle TB-l"llll*-1'1" talks and workshops from NEFAC [North American liliorld Bank meeting in Pragiue, Czech Republic. Sllailml halill‘-’-'_"fll|l‘-‘Al fill-ill YB"-l illfim ilalllb 5° 9° Federation of Anarchist Communists] who talk about on, fuclung hrt me. l’ll let you.‘fou‘ll get hnackered, and their experiences in Quebec ami_F-[AA actions OCTOBER i’ll get stronger".
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