Radical Migrant Solidarity

A great new zine from friends of ours exploring practical and theoretical around organising for radical migrant solidarity with an anarchist perspective, based on the experiences of those actively engaged in the UK, Calais and elsewhere in Europe.

pdf available here.

Airbrushing in Just Transition

Notes From Below has just published an essay of ours discussing the politics of Just Transition.

The idea of a ‘Just Transition’ is an attempt to bridge differences between environmental and labour movements by seeking to address how workers can be protected as society tries to move away from ecologically destructive industries. As a concept it has been around for close to fifteen years. Despite having clear foundations, in that time the phrase ‘Just Transition’ has taken on a life of its own, in particular among those seeking to avoid antagonizing the labour movement. In this essay  Dónal O’Driscoll examines the origins of ‘Just Transition’ and asks whether it can fulfill those aspirations, or whether it is simply a ‘nice sounding’ phrase allowing campaigners to paper over divisive issues.

To read the article, visit Notes From Below.

Collective statement from some individuals affected by the infiltration of the UK environmental movement

We are issuing this statement in solidarity with all those, in the UK and beyond, who are facing charges or have been affected in any way by the work of the undercover agents recently discovered.

We are a diverse group of individuals who have been involved in radical action, including actions based around the environment, for close to 20 years. This has included organising the Stirling Eco-village, the Camp for Climate Action, Earth First! Gatherings, anti-GM decontaminations, as well as many other forms of social struggle. We have been up trees, down tunnels and on the front line. We have taken beatings from the police and received convictions for the pleasure, and we make no apologies for our belief in direct political action.

The media frenzy that followed the collapse of the second Ratcliffe trial was met with an equally frenetic flood of articles and comments in the alternative media. Many of these were infuriating and/or very depressing, particularly as all the anti-media comments posted on Indymedia seemed to conveniently forget the fact that the site was one of the main sources of information used by the journalists covering the story.

It is difficult to convey what we feel without falling into the same contradiction. Many of us who were very close to the situation wished to remain anonymous and refused to join in the flood of opinions and speculations. This was an attempt to avoid or at least not to feed into the media (and Indymedia) craze. This refusal to take a public position seems to have been interpreted as acceptance or even active participation in the media strategy.

Historically we have always tried to rise above the ‘society of the spectacle’ and it is has proven to be an important strength. We hope that comrades in other countries can comprehend the complexity of networks and political positions within the UK, and understand that the very public position taken by a few individuals in no way represents us all.

The environmental movement is not the only network affected by the recent exposures. We are all involved in different struggles beyond environmental concerns. Many movements, from animal rights, to migrant solidarity struggles have been targeted. Marco Jacobs was connected to the No Borders network, Lynn Watson to the peace movement. Mark Kennedy began to make connections to the animal rights movement, and had a ongoing interest in anti-capitalist struggles within the UK and across Europe. These are just some examples.

Despite this diversity, there is a tendency to refer to ‘the Movement’ without distinguishing that there is a broad range of social struggles taking place in the UK and elsewhere. These struggles often overlap, as is the case with our own activism. It is a mistake to suppose that the environmental movement is capable of representing all of the other social movements that have been targeted by the police in this case, and there has been little recognition of this by the people dealing with the media. This has shown not only a lack of solidarity with these struggles, but has explicitly played into the rhetoric of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ protesters.

Now that the sensation seems to have died down, we are making this statement in the hope that it will undo some of the damage that has been done.

How the ecological movement is being portrayed in the mainstream media

We feel that self-selecting individuals and groups have gone to the media with a strategy that presents a movement of gormless idiots, that is totally ineffective and of no threat to the State, in order to argue that the placement of undercover officers is ‘unjustifiable’ and ‘over-policing’. This is a very dangerous position to take as it facilitates the repression of those who are being identified as a genuine threat. Regardless of the intention behind them, the statements that have been made in the mainstream press appeal to a narrow sector of middle-class, left-wing liberals. Downplaying our radical tendencies is not a way of broadening the appeal of radical environmental demands. If anything, the very opposite is true, as anyone who has done stalls in the street is able to tell you.

We are angry at the way the movement we have been so involved in has been portrayed, with such a profound lack of basic political understanding. We want to be clear we that are not trying to make things ‘a little bit nicer’ or tweak the system, we are challenging capitalism and the dominant ideology as being responsible for the ecological destruction of the planet. The very nature of what we aim for is in direct opposition to the system, and it is therefore no great surprise that the State and corporations target us. The more economic damage that is done, or the more successfully the dominant paradigm is challenged, the more inevitable infiltration becomes.

As anarchists, we believe in solidarity, and autonomy. When we take action, we do so because it is an appropriate response, a valid tactic. We reject, therefore, the way in which several individuals have presented their ‘story’, in connection with infiltrators, as having been persuaded to act by them.

State informers have been used for hundreds, or even thousands of years. We have been dealing with and exposing police and informers as long as our movements have existed. Our aims are radical, and repression from the powers-that-be has always been expected and dealt with. We object to the way history is being re-written.

Relationship with the mainstream media

We are concerned that the relationship with the media is coming to define the eco-defence movement and its actions. It is clear that the media has been given preferential treatment on access to materials and this is breeding distrust (as clearly demonstrated in recent clashes on Indymedia). We reject the notion that the likes of The Guardian and The Independent newspapers can ever be part of the solution to the problems we face.

Our story is strong enough that we will get the media attention regardless. We do not have to change who we are to satisfy the wishes of these for-profit companies and their advertising agendas. High profile liberal journalists are not our natural leaders or spokespeople. While the media is (at times) an important tool for activism, pandering to it is a dangerous spiral to ineffectiveness, damaging the integrity of the movement in the long term for shallow, short-term goals.

Relationship with the police and the State

The tone of many of the statements made to the press implied the need for ‘reforms’ or better regulations for undercover policing. We would like to stress that we do not want ‘better’ or ‘more ethical’ police infiltration.

Some groups and individuals have used the mainstream press to call for police reform. However, in reality, the actual result is an ongoing consolidation of power within the Metropolitan Police who have taken control of the ‘domestic extremist’ units, including those which ran various of the infiltrators. The police exist to protect the State, private property and profits. To do this they use infiltrators and sleep with militants to get information. They also beat people in police cells, and frame people for crimes they didn’t commit, etc. etc. Superficial reforms will never change that. Even if a public relations battle has been won against the police and other infiltrators, they will no doubt regroup and continue their activities. Pretending that they can be reformed is not just dangerous but serves to legitimise their on-going existence.

The victories of our movement will not be won through The Guardian nor in the plush offices of civil liberty NGOs. They will be won on the streets, in our communities, in the fields and in the forests. The ecological defense movement and the other struggles we are involved in have grown strong because they have stepped outside the political campaigning/lobbying box and sought change from multiple directions, such as working directly with communities, taking direct action and causing economic sabotage. Today, lobbyists with very different agendas from our own, are using the space we forced open, and we should stop helping people co-opt our work.

“Those most affected”

The press and others have placed a morbid emphasis on sexual relationships in these cases. This totally ignores the complexity of human interpersonal relationships and the range of emotions and

experiences involved here. We have all had different kinds relationships with one or more of the undercovers recently exposed, and feel very uncomfortable by the assumptions made in statements and actions that took place in the wake of the media frenzy. Attempts by third parties to define the abuses of trust experienced by the people who were close to these infiltrators (often in the name of ‘solidarity’) have been extremely disempowering.

Unfortunately, some people (not just from the UK) have put pressure on people to act and to talk to the media without considering their own personal well being, and the impacts this could have on others. We call for practical solidarity through awareness; respecting everyone’s individual boundaries. We want to discourage people from talking publicly (or encouraging others to do so) about relationships (again, of any nature) without considering the wider implications for others who are also dealing with this. We request that people make no assumptions and only talk from their own experiences.

Moving on

This has been a difficult time, but it has also made us aware of how lucky we are to know so many people who continue to act with dignity and integrity, and to be part of networks of resistance which stretch across the globe. The process of the wave of exposures has revealed many false unities in respect to our politics. We call for solidarity and respect across networks, we need to consolidate our allegiances and to support each other. The State will continue to use surveillance and infiltration, and we hope that valuable lessons are learnt from this process, and not forgotten.

Notes

[1] This statement was put together through a collective process that involved approximately 15 people, the majority in the UK but a number across Europe as well. It includes people who were close to the exposing of various police infiltrators. The point of contact is dysophia@riseup.net – comments & feedback can be sent to this address.

[2] For more background on the story as it appeared in the Guardian see

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/mark-kennedy

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/surveillance

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/activism

[3] There are many threads on Indymedia relating to this, however, some key ‘debates’ are at

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/10/466477.html

http://sheffield.indymedia.org.uk/2011/01/472102.html

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/01/471865.html

[4] BBC coverage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12148753

Dysophia 2: Population & Migration

Now out, the second issue of Dysophia: ‘Population & Migration – anarchist analyses of privilege in a time of climate chaos‘. This collection of eight articles, including four new ones of them especially written for this publication, takes the controversial issues of population and migration as their starting point. Using the lens of anarchist theory & practice they examine these topics within those political spheres where capitalism, nationalism, border controls and climate change overlap. As well as arguing that all these issues are interconnected, the aim is to show how anarchism can negotiate the many dangers that these difficult issues throw at the grassroots activist – that is, the traps where in dealing with one issue we may end up supporting calls which lead to other inequalities and oppression, for example that green capitalism is not a solution to climate change, that border controls are not the appropriate answer to climate refugees. Written to be accessible to everyone interested in these topic without requiring much in the way of background knowledge.

Copies available online, or can be purchased from Active Distribution, AKPress UK or Altnerative Bookshop Online.

Dreaming Illich

An open letter asking awkward question on whether a transformation to a bicycle based economy is practical, possible or even sustainable. Download the pdf here.

Call for Contributions: Anarchist Reflections on Migration, Population and Climate Change

Call for Contributions: Anarchist Reflections on Migration, Population and Climate Change

Increasingly links are being drawn between migration, population and climate change. Mainstream responses are tied up around fears of privilege and social position which go unexposed. However, other than acknowledging these intersections they are poorly critiqued from anarchist perspectives.  As “climate justice” becomes an increasingly common rallying cry, it’s time to create a dialogue between social movements. Anarchists need the tools for countering arguments which demonise migration and resist the inherent oppression in population control.

With the next issue of Dysophia we are looking for clear and informative articles which dissect the areas where climate change, migration and population overlap taking as our starting points anarchists critiques of privilege and social divisions and capitialism. We are interested in having a wide variety of perspectives that include as their starting
points social ecology, deep ecology, primitivism and class struggle, queer and gender liberation politics. We hope this will allow us to move to more critical and informed approaches.

Below are just a few of the topics we are interested in receiving articles about (but don’t be limited by them, or feel that you need to stick to one). Key to what we are looking for are articles that are readily accessible to all and do not assume a large background of knowledge. They can be one page or twenty. Artwork also welcome.

All finished articles to reach us by 19th September, 2010. For submissions or any questions please email dysophia.ga@gmail.com

For previous editions see http://dysophia.wordpress.com/

Possible topics (to inspire)

1. Population and Migration
1.1 How the two are being linked
1.2 Economics of migration and population; key facts and figures.
1.3 Factors affecting population (eg. the energy-population
relationship; poverty traps; social inequalities)

2. The role of Capitalism in
2.1 creation migration and climate change through political upheaval and the politics of resource grabs & neo-colonialism;
2.2 creating privilege and fear of other groups based on that privilege; and
2.3 Why capitalism needs migration.
2.4 neo-Malthusianism and Capitalism

3. Critiques of arguments which conflate migration and population in order to scaremonger
3.1 The danger of the lack of analysis from radical groups.

4. How privilege informs approaches to and fears around migrancy and population.
4.1 Privilege as social consumption (education, language advantages, networks, racism)
4.2 Understanding our own privileged positions and how the inform our reactions and politics, including racism.
4.3 How privilege in post-industrial nations affects responses and fears around access to migrants, resource consumption and attitudes to poverty and population.

5. Anarchism and the politics of migrant populations:
5.1 how we interact wtih those less privilged than us;
5.2 working with those who do not share our politics (gender, sexuality & racism; economic migrancy)

6. Climate Refugees – perspectives
6.1 Resource soverignty
6.2 Climate debt, restoration and other approaches to climate change in the developing world – pros and cons.
6.3 The desires, needs and traumas of migration.
6.4 Issues around integrating migrants and refugees into our community.

7. Addressing fears around migration such multiculturism, integration and “fear of the stranger”

8. Politics and migrants: the challenge of helping those who we disagree with politically.
8.1 The crises of the Left on migration
8.2 Countering rightwing propaganda

9. Framing demands and actions

Dysophia 1: Anarchism & Polyamory now out.

Exploring open relationships and non-monogamy from the perspective of green anarchism, Anarchism & Polyamory is a collection of essays and articles, many new (but a few oldies), designed to be accessible to those new to both anarchism and polyamory. It is examines personal and sexual relationships through the prism of anarchism, including considering some common pitfalls and how society’s hierarchies are reinforced in personal relationships.

The authors are wide ranging, mixing both past and present from Europe and the US, many talking from their own experience.

The collection will be available at UK bookfairs and other events in hard copy for £1.50, but can be downloaded as free pdf here. We are are looking at doing faciliating some discussions later in the year for groups wanting to explore some of the issues raised.

Given the amount of interest and reaction already received from preview copies, we are planning a follow-up publication. So, we are interested in responses, whether challenging some of the positions taken in the articles or covering topics that the authors have missed out. We are particularly interested in material which deals with the problems of being non-monogamous in modern society, of communication with in open relations, challenging hierarchies in relationships and how all this is informed by anarchism.

Dysophia is a relatively new imprint producing collections of writings covering topics of interest relating to theory and practice within the green anarchist movement. All material is available free on our website.

Climate Camp Reader

Dysophia and Shift Magazine have joined forces to put together a Climate Camp Reader, “Criticism without Critique”, published in January 2010. To download it follow this link:

http://dysophia.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/cca_reader.pdf

Editorial

In January & February 2010, the Camp for Climate Action will go through a period of introspection as it works out where it shall go next.  While in some ways the Camp has been a success, it has also come under a barrage of criticism from some quarters within the radical movements that spawned it.

To help this debate we have put together a set of resources and relevant articles to inform and spark discussion relating to this criticism.  Our bias is obvious, though the opinions expressed are those of the authors alone.  Whether you agree with them or not, we believe they are worth taking on board. We hope at least that you feel confident answering their challenges, rather than just dismissing them.

Now is the time for the Camp to examine its politics in more depth, to work out just what it stands for.  This is a cross-roads in its development, to continue down a path of ever increasing liberal, reformist approach, or to be the noisy radical, pointing out all the white elephants in the climate change debate. The future of the movement around the camp is being shaped here.  The decisions being made now will have profound impacts on who is and who is not involved in the future.

The Camp for Climate Action grew out of the radical anarchist and environmental movements, a synthesis of the organisational skills developed at the Anti-G8 protest camp at Stirling, and the ecological direct action movements such as Earth First! The perception that emerges from these criticisms is this has been lost along the way.

We accept that this booklet makes challenging reading and that we offer little in the way of solutions. These, we believe, must come from within the camp itself. However, it is apparent that there is a need for two things. Firstly, a greater visibility for the anarchist roots within the day to day life of the CCA process and proposals. Secondly, and just as important, a more open and explicit critique of capitalism and how it is the root cause of climate change.

If we do neither out of fear of a mainstream media backlash, then we are reduced to being another NGO.   Yet, the power of the Camp has always been the promise of a genuine alternative action in the face of prevarication and obstruction from governments and corporations – now is the time to spell that critique out and use it to build real alternatives, not legitimising the system we complain of. It was the strength of the Camp’s founding critiques that gave it the boldness its subsequent successes have rested on.

Ultimately, the message of the Camp is a very radical one – that radical social change is needed, especially if we are to tackle of the root causes of climate change. The answer is not to water down our actions and our messages, but to be bolder than ever. That is the excitement and power that gives the Camp its life.

New Uploads

Dysophia 0 and Crisis of Crises, Pt 1: the Financial Crisis are now uploaded. Just follow the above links. Enjoy and feedback.