Bristol Anarchist Bookfair

Higher education students are back behind their desks for another year, joining school & college students, and the Anarcho Series is back too, although the two are not in any way connected.

Almost a year ago, on 10.11.10, a large student demo in London unexpectedly turned into the beginning of a series of confrontations that has continued ever since. Students and youth of all ages sparked off a series of countrywide protests, occupations and actions against higher fees that spread to include a much wider range of demands – from resisting the abolition of EMA to opposing all cuts generally, and challenging the authority of the Coalition Govt. and the state. Now the students are back with demos and protests planned for the autumn, with a major London protest on 9 November, and ever increasing links with the wider movements against austerity measures. Continue reading →

Well over 18 months ago the south west’s local and green free paper The Spark published a shortish piece on Anarchy, a basic introduction really. To be honest we weren’t that impressed, its seemed fairly weak and wishy-washy, as if the politics of anarchism had been watered down for the The Spark’s more touchy-feely readership. This was surprising given that we knew who the author was, and had a lot of respect for both his practical implementation of his anarchist ideas, and his writing ability. So in due course we got our hands on his original and longer unedited article, and unsurprisingly were much more impressed with what had been written. We’ve been sitting on it for a while, but present it here as part of our ongoing Anarchy in the UK – AnarchoSeries. So here’s ‘Anarchy in the UK…but not as we knew it’, by N8 (images & editing by bookfair editor).

Anarchy in the UK…but not as we knew it

In Summer 2009 the Bristol Evening Post lead with the headline “Anarchy but only in a nice way”. It was reporting on the squatted ‘convergence space’ that formed a base for people taking part in ‘Bristol Co-mutiny’. Continue reading →

One of the most positive aspects of the growing Bristol anarchist movement (or ‘scene’ as some prefer to call it) is the fact it is self-sustaining and self-funded. Unlike some groups or projects in some cities, or indeed the whole scene in some places, it is not in any way dependent on the generosity of 1 or 2 well-off people or trust-funds. Continue reading →

Bankers made to pay it all back? Don’t be silly, politicians don’t live in the real world!

It is now nearly a week since all politicians united in defence of a system based on inequality, and determined to defend and expand it. From their terrified moments of early last week, when the cops lost control of the streets and the ruling class wondered if they were safe, the political elite has launched a concerted counter-attack using every single weapon at their disposal.

Was it all just training for London 2012?

With a display of almost unbelieveable hypocrisy around issues such as morality, democracy, community and criminality, the political elite has trampled over any sense of justice or understanding with an authoritarian paramilitary street presence and conveyor belt legal processes designed to criminalise any and all forms of dissent. It will get worse as they engineer an atmosphere of divide and rule and revenge – as sure as night follows day their class priorities and slavish devotion to economic inequality and injustice will return to haunt them. Whenever there is repression there is always resistance, however unpleasant and brutal a form it may take. The ruling class seem incapable of understanding this, as they continue slaughtering and enslaving their way around the UK and the world.

The mainly right-wing media of course is loving it and egging the politicians on to ever greater acts of stupidity, whilst the liberal media wring their hands and retreat to their comfy enclaves. So much has been written, and so much is absolute and utter bollocks. As anarchists we try hard to understand the conditions and experiences around us, to participate is daily struggles, and to apply our core principles at all times. We also discuss and debate amongst ourselves and in the wider communities we live in. We offer up here some collected reflections and links, mainly from other anarchists but also from some other useful sources. Continue reading →

Here’s part 3 of our AnarchoSeries, and its a recent piece written for The Independent on 12 August by Boff Whalley, of the collective Chumbawumba, better known as an anarcho-rock band (or more recently an anarcho-folko band!). It was posted up on UK Indymedia, and its well worth a topical read. The Chumba’s may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but they’ve walked the talk for nearly 3 decades now, and have supported many other anarcho projects and initiatives along the way – Bristol’s Kebele social centre for example got a big wedge donation off them back in the late 90′s when it was getting going.

Also here you can read more Anarchist perspectives on the UK Riots.
(Images in this post come from The Free Online. Thanks folks.)

In Defence Of Anarchy

ANARCHY SPREADS!” So ran the front-page headlines of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail this week. Add in the Daily Star’s “ANARCHY IN THE UK” and The Sun’s “ANARCHY” and you have the print media’s current (and ongoing) favourite catch-all word: anarchy. Just the ticket for a spot of lazy demonising.

I became an anarchist, gradually, after seeing the Sex Pistols on our black-and-white TV in Burnley in 1976. Thirty-five years later, I still label myself an anarchist, albeit with various philosophical explanations and political definitions. For most of those 35 years I’ve played in a band – Chumbawamba – whose crowning moment (according to the demonising press) was chucking a bucket of water over the deputy prime minister John Prescott at an awards ceremony. Continue reading →

The Free is a novel, a thriller, set in the ongoing breakdown of capitalist society, through the post-capitalist transition, and into…freedom?

inside front cover 1986 edition

The Free is an easy to read long read, an exciting introduction and explanation of anarchist ideas and social revolution.

The Free is about anarchy and love. Repression and resistance. Learning the hard way, and the easier ways. The Free is a work in progress, just like anarchism. Feel Free to stay up all day and all night reading it, or dip in and out as your time allows.

You can read it as a pdf here: the-free-2011

You can also read The Free Online, chapter by chapter, and there’s much much more there to read too – news, graphics, ideas and ways to go.

A very short ‘History of The Free’, by it’s author M Gilliland:
The first version came out in 1986 in Brixton. Published by Hooligan Press. from the gang who ran 121 Anarchist Bookshop, Brixton Squatters Aid, with its revolting paper The Crowbar, and Sth London Stress among others, linked to both Black Flag and Class War. It quickly sold out and was reprinted in 1992.

In 2007 I began to update it and realised it needed a rewrite. Inspired by the Barcelona anarcho-squatting scene, where I live, this new edition is 3 times as long and 10 times better, with lots more humour, sex and triumphing alternatives.

AnarchoSeries No.2, with more to follow…

Well what an explosive week!

Suddenly the word anarchy is being used all over the place, but as usual the actual meaning of the word is being badly misinterpreted. So a few of us involved in the 2011 Bristol Bookfair have returned to our keyboards a little earlier than planned, and we’ll be posting up an irregular series of articles explaning what anarchy, and anarchism, really means.

Of course even amongst anarchists there is ongoing discussion and interpretation of the meaning, which is as it should be with any progressive political evolution. So to kick things off we’ll start with a flyer produced by the 2008/9 Bristol Bookfair Collective, a simple and concise explanation in a flyer format. Read on….

Continue reading →