Pages added to the Struggle site in 2002
This page is an archive of items added to Struggle before those that
appear on the 'What's New on Struggle' page
which covers the last three months. This is the index for 2002, there
is also an index for 1998,
1999, 2000,
2001, 2002 and
2003.
November 2002
- Workers Solidarity No 73
Latest issue of the Irish anarchist paper
- PDF file of Workers Solidarity
No 73
Download and print out your own copy
- Stop
refuelling at Shannon warport
Despite the supposed neutrality of Southern Ireland the Irish
government has been involving us more and more in the
imperialist adventures of the US military. Shannon airport has
become a key refuelling facility for US war planes en route
between the US and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
- Shannon -
Direct Action against the War &endash; Activists on the
runway!
Instead of pleading with the government to not allow the US to
use Shannon, people had acted directly to show there would be a
price to pay and to inspire others to realise that with numbers
we could make it impossible for the government to continue this
action.
- Stopping the
war
While a march of 5,000 or even 10,000 in Dublin won't effect
government policy, similar numbers tearing down the fence in
Shannon and taking over the entire airport would. With those
sort of numbers we could physically stop Shannon being used and
physically dismantle any war planes we caught on the ground
- Review:
Refueling Peace
http://refuelingpeace.org
A web site with the very specific purpose, to "monitor and
stop US military flights refuelling in Ireland".
- Clerical
rapists and the Irish state
Given all that we now know about the organised cover-up of what
happened in Catholic institutions, churches and hospitals it is
fair to say that if any other organised group were guilty of
the same offences there would be charges brought of
"conspiracy to pervert the course of justice".
- Become a supporter
of this paper
Over the next year we hope that at least a couple of dozen
people will become supporters of this paper. In that case we
will be able to expand production to 8 issues a year each with
a print run of 8,000.
- Corruption in
politics
The Flood Report will, by itself, change nothing, except,
perhaps, to induce more caution to the thicker element of the
ruling class, but it does provide one useful service: it makes
it clear that the wealthy have a dominant influence in affairs
of state
- Libertarians Against
Nice: Requiem for a Dream
LAN fought the campaign on many fronts. From Limerick to Louth,
Kinsale to Kildare, Dundalk to Donegal the battle raged. Even
in Dublin we put up a fight. 50,000 (count 'em) leaflets were
distributed, hundreds of posters of various types went up.
- Workers
Self-management in Argentina
Details of the occupied factories and neighbourhood assemblies
in Argentina
- Review:
Berlusconi's
Mousetrap
In July 2001 over a quarter of a million people gathered to
protest against the G8 in Genoa. The Italian state responded to
these demonstrations with violent repression. Eighteen thousand
cops were drafted into the city; they beat and gassed thousands
of people off the streets, arrested hundreds and shot one young
Italian man in the head.
- Review: Anarchism
and Anarchist Communism by Peter Kropotkin
This is one of the most excellent introductions to Anarchism,
putting paid to the usual objections to the system, synonymous
as it has become, wrongly, with disorganisation and chaos.
- SIPTU election
changes nothing
The big lesson from this contest is how weak the opposition in
SIPTU is. 6.7% is not a good vote! There is no opposition
network, simply a number of individuals who are fairly isolated
from each other.
- Grassroots
Gathering Mark III - Another Great Success
The last weekend in October saw over 120 anarchists and other
libertarian activists converge on Belfast for the third
Grassroots Gathering.
- International
News
Short items on envirnomentalist action in the Netherlands and a
letter from a Refusenik from the Israeli army
- Thats
capitalism
Short items on slavery in Brazil and poverty all over the world
- Stop refuelling at Shannon
warport
Shannon airport in offically 'neutral' southern Ireland has been
used for at least a decade to refuel US war planes. This page
details opposition in Ireland to the role the Irish government has
chosen to play in the US imperialist adventures.
- Shut Shannon
Warport
The Grassroots Gathering, an island-wide network of grassroots
activists, has called a protest at Shannon airport for Sunday
December 8th, beginning at 2pm
October 2002
- Mass anti-war
trespass at Shannon Airport [with photos]
Saturday (12th October, 2002) saw the largest anti-war
demonstration to date at Shannon airport. As the demonstration
ended a 50m section of the perimeter fence was torn down and up to
150 people entered the airfield perimeter.
- The Plight of
Carrickmines Castle
Since August the site of the 800 year-old castle has been occupied
by a group of activists in an attempt to stop the extension of the
M50 will almost totally obliterate and eventually condemn to
memory the site, which is of vast archaeological significance
- SIPTU General
Secretary election results
The counting is over, SIPTU has a new General Secretary. Joe
O'Flynn (the current regional secretary for the south west) has
been voted into the post. He succeeds John Mc Donnell who is
retiring.
- Anti-racist no
campaigners outraged by media smears
Over the last days a lot of attention has been focused on Justin
Barrett's links with "an extreme right-wing party in Germany which
the authorities there believe has "Nazi characteristics" (Irish
Times). The media have attempted to use this story to imply all No
campaigners are racists
- Libertarians against
Nice support ATTAC picket of the referendum commission
The Referendum Commission has been refusing to provide information
critical of the changes to Article 133 in the Nice referendum.
- Libertarians
against Nice to protest at Shannon Airport
Members of Libertarians Against Nice will take part in tomorrows
(Saturday 2pm) anti - (Iraq) war demonstration at Shannon Airport
called by the 'Irish Anti-War Movement'.
- "Freedom"
and Freedom in 1945
At our last meeting I said that if our comrades were imprisoned,
we who remained free would continue the struggle against the
forces of repression now active in this country.
- Fortress Europe and
the Nice Treaty
Successive agreements, treaties and 'action plans' have led to the
creation of Fortress Europe, causing thousands of deaths of
refugees and asylum seekers and as well as criminalising and
marginalising immigrants within the EU.
- Nice and the
corporate agenda: The changes to article 133
One notable feature of this Nice referendum is that for the first
time corporations are openly involved in calling for a Yes vote.
There has been almost no discussion of why these bodies are taking
such a prominent position by the media
- Peace and
Justice paramilitary group is organizing
Peace and Justice along with members of the Federal Army and
Public Security, intend to come in and dislocate us from our
above-mentioned community.
- Theft of
corn
a group of soldiers from that organization, who are from the
Sibaca' Ejido, went to harvest corn on the lands of a member of
this municipality
- Denuncia issued
against landowner Eli Rodri'guez
Don't allow the residents of the village to be dislocated through
any means, since they have been in possession of it for 5 years,
and the land belongs to those who work it.
- The facts,
all the facts
Today, as yesterday, we are being subjected to threats,
militarization, death and persecution
- They have
killed a companero of ours who was participating in the process of
autonomy
No one has the right to take away the life of anyone who is
fighting for their people and for life.
- Planned attack on
Zapatista check point
The plan of action is to destroy the Quexil checkpoint with high
powered weapons.
- Paramilitaries
from the Amaytik Ranch killed two companero authorities
Today, the bad government, along with their paramilitaries, are
following through with their death threats against our peoples who
are in dignified resistance.
- Vote No to
Nice on 19th October
The text of the Libertarians Against Nice leaflet. 50,000 have
been printed for distribution before October 19th
- RTS on Baggot St. a
great success [with pictures]
Over 1,000 people took part in the four-hour party. Despite
attempts by the Gardai to whip up a panic because the organisers
refused to meet with them in advance of the party the day was
trouble free and very good humoured.
- Sept 28 anti war
demonstration in Dublin [with pictures]
Two reports from WSM members of Saturdays anti Iraq war
demonstration.
- An Irish
Anarchist in the Northeast - Reflections on the North American
Anarchist Movement
In May Chekov Feeney of the WSM went on a speaking tour of the NE
US and SE Canada for the North East Federation of Anarchist
Communists (NEFAC). These are his reflections on the tour as
published in their magazine.
- Press
releases from Libertarians against Nice
An archive of LAN press releases
September 2002
- Workers Solidarity No 72 PDF
file
Print out and distribute the latest issue of this Irish anarchist
paper
- Workers Solidarity No 72
Latest issue of the Irish anarchist paper
- A bosses Europe or an
anarchist Europe?
The Nice treaty offers us a bosses Europe, we want an anarchist
Europe
- Reclaiming the
planet - building a movement in Ireland
The libertarian movement in Ireland is growing, the Belfast
Grassroots Gathering gives us a chance to meet up
- 'Libertarians against
Nice' launched
LAN is a network of groups and individuals across Ireland
campaigning against the Nice treaty from a libertarian
perspective
- Lindsay Tribunal :
The Cuts That Killed
A deliberate decision was made that it was acceptable to risk
killing patients in order to save a few bob. Properly screened
blood products were more expensive. So, the BTSB didn't recall
products which they know to be potentially deadly.
- "Did you see what
I did to those anarchist bastards"
In 1927, two Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and
Bartolomeo Vanzetti were judicially murdered by the State of
Massachusetts in the USA, having been framed for two murders
they didn't commit.
- Getting
involved
What we have been doing and what is coming up
- Nice and
Nationalism
We desire a global world where national boundaries are of as
little relevance as parish boundaries today. We oppose all
forms of nationalism that try and set the people of one country
above the people of another.
- The anti-bin tax
battles
According to the council's own figures less then 50% of people
paid any part of their bill last year. With the growing success
of non-payment only around 20% have paid something so far this
year
- That's
capitalism
Shorts that reveal just how bad capitalism is from Ireland to
Africa
- Factory worker takes
on SIPTU top brass
A radical shopfloor worker has put himself forward in the
election for general secretary of Ireland's biggest union,
SIPTU. Des Derwin, an assembly operative at the Mouldpro
plastics factory in Dublin, is a long-time union activist and
independent socialist
- Dunboyne Sacking
- Union Failed To Act
This dismissal raises many questions for teachers about the
role of religion in Irish primary education. Even further it
raises serious issues for INTO members about the failure of the
union to defend its members from bullying and intimidation by
the unaccountable 'owners' of the schools in which we work
- Why does the US want
war with Iraq?
Like most other wars, this is about control of resources.Wars
are also good for the economy, and the US economy certainly
could need some help at the moment.
- Review: Cuban
Anarchism - The History of a Movement
Frank Fernández first gives a detailed and well
documented account of how libertarian ideas first took hold in
Cuba.
- Libertarians against
Nice
Offical homepage of the Irish Libertarian anti-Nice treaty
campaign
- PDF
file of LAN Nice poster against Fortress Europe
- The Nice
treaty, the EU, militarism and Ireland
The Nice treaty provides for the non-NATO EU states into the
military alliance by transferral of defence responsibilities,
including 'peacemaking', from NATO's WEU to the EU
- The Nice
Treaty and globalisation
A look at the corporate agenda behing the Nice treaty and in
particulat at Article 133.
- Fortress
Europe and the effects of the Nice Treaty
If the Nice treaty is passed decisions to impose sanctions on
third world countries if they refused to cooperate with
"migrant management", would have to be accepted by all
member states once agreed by the European Council by qualified
majority.
- The Nice treaty
and the extension of police powers
Given the growing spying by EU police on globalisation activists
and the oppression of immigrants the is reason to be concerned by
the extension of police power in Nice.
- Bin tax picket of
Dublin corporation meetings [with photos]
Monday night saw another picket of the Dublin corporation council
meeting to protest the continuing attempt to impose bin charges on
the cities population
- The anarchist movement in
Ireland
Index of WSM articles on the anarchist movement in Ireland
- Anarchist oppostion to
war
An index of historical anarchist anti-war texts
- Coming
to Grips with The War
by the (Swiss) Federation anarchiste romande (1939) - "
Perhaps the tragic hour could have been postponed, but there
was no hope that it could have been avoided."
- Anarchist
Activity in France during World War Two
Notes on Jean Rene Sauliere was one of the anarchist
participants in the French resistance to the Nazis and their
Vichy collaborators during World War II
- To
All Intellectual and Manual Workers
Translation of a text written by anarchists in Marseille in
1943. Between 3,000 and 5,000 copies were printed in Toulouse.
- Death
to The Brutes
French anarchist poster from1943 - "Thousands of
proletarians of all countries are dying, while men of finance,
politics and war, brutes that they are, congratulate each
other"
- Some
Further Notes on Left-libertarian Opposition to War
Anarchist and libertarian socialist opposition to capitalist
war goes back to the beginning of the twentieth century
- Capitalist
Democracy -Why It Must Fail
Tor Cedervall write in 1937 - "The slogan of each group
resolves itself into--keep Capitalism, but keep out Fascism!
"
- Anarchist
Opposition to Japanese Militarism, 1926-37
anarchists in pre-war Japan constituted a core of opposition to
militarism until the state destroyed their movement in 1935/6
- Manifesto of
the International Anarchist Conference... 1948
Two blocks of States stand facing each other, and war
threatens, The hopes which the peoples founded on technical
progress, material abundance and the unity of the world have
been ruined
- Additional
Readings on States, War and Opposition
A list of suggested further readings on war
- Reply to the SWP Open Letter
on Nice
Issue 180 of Socialist Worker contained an 'open letter to the
left' which argues that there should be one united left No
campaign rather then four separate ones
- Shannon
demonstration against refuelling of US war planes [with
photos]
Between September 2001 and July 2002 a total of 535 US warplanes
have refuelled at the airport
- Song for the
Luddites
By Byron for the loom smashers of England
- The World turned
upside down
About the Diggers, one of the early communist groups arising from
the English civil war.
- Only our rivers run
free
Irish republican but open to libertarian recycling
- Long-haired
preachers
The IWW used to have long-running free-speech fights, whereby
towns would only allow soap-boxing and collecting by groups like
the Salvation Army
- Solidarity
Forever
We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn
That the union makes us strong
- Casey
Jones
Thanks to the TV programme, Casey Jones is probably the world's
most famous scab.
August 2002
- PDF file:
The
tyranny of the structurelessness
Classic pamphlet on organisations
- National Declaration
by Ireland relating to traditional policy of military
neutrality
The relevant parts of the Seville EU council minutes on the Irish
governments declaration that it hopes will help get the Nice
treaty passed the second time around.
- International anarchist
discussion lists and boards
Listing of anarchist email lists and boards that are set up for
global discussion to take place
- The fight against
capitalist Globalization
Articles on the struggle against capitalist globalistion that
should be of interest to anarchists
- Anarchism in the
USA
An index of USA anarchist resources and contacts on the
internet
- I dreamed I saw Joe
Hill last night
Lyrics of the song about the executed IWW organiser
- On lies, lucre
and land rights
There is no limit to the provocations, just as there are no limits
to the lies which divide us so that brother will be set against
brother
- Acts of
provocation and homocide attempts
We are speaking to you in order to denounce the movements of
paramilitaries from the town of San Antonio Escobar
- Attack by
presumed paramilitary against Polho woman
The attacker pushed her into a ditch among the undergrowth, all
the while threatening her with a knife
- Holding the
governments responsible for the incidents of injustice and
violence
Yesterday, a support base companero was unjustly detained on
orders of the paramilitaries
- On repeated
military-police incursions in La'zaro Cardenas
We do not need soldiers nor Judicial Police coming to take care of
us or scaring us every time with high-powered weapon
- Communique
from released zapatista prisoners
we had already served our sentences in accordance with the Penal
Code and its minimal requirements
- Response
to killing of Zapatista compa Jose' Lo'pez Santiz
Great is our sorrow, great is our thirst for justice
- Violent
incidents provoked by the paramilitaries from San Antonio
Escobar
to refute a series of false accusations against us which have been
made public in the media
- Summing up the Kaiser
strike and lockout 1998-2000
Union Leaders Fear A Self-Directed Rank And File More Than Defeat
- No to Nice (Ireland)
co-ordination list
For co-ordination of opposition to the Nice referendum in Ireland.
- Rebellion
in San Salvador Atenco
One, Two, Many Chiapases ; campesino direct action getting the
goods
- Anarchist PDF files on the
internet
A listing of anarchist PDF files on the internet
- Authoritarians,
vanguards and "anti-capitalist" movements
A critique of calls for the anti-capitalist movement to embrace
Leninist forms of organising.
- From
Riot to Revolution
An anarchist analysis of events in Argentina and how they could be
developed towards a social revolution.
- The
hypocrisy of democratic capitalism...
A short exposure of capitalist dismissals of the popular
assemblies in Argentina.
- Argentina
and the left
An analysis and critique of two Leninist accounts of popular
self-organisation in the crisis in Argentina
- Encuentro
for Peace With Justice Concludes in San Cristo'bal
More than one thousand participants agreed to defend the San
Andre's Accords and to direct all civil struggles towards creating
the conditions for peace in the state, regarding human rights and
the building of democracy
- New road
benefits rich, government & military
We completely reject this highway project, since we, as
indigenous, first demand that the federal and state governments
fulfill the San Andre's Accords
- Toledo and
the Zapatistas: In Praise of Silence
It has been more than a year now since the zapatista comandantes
returned to Chiapas, since Marcos and his companeros retired to
the Selva Lacandona and maintained silence
- Same strategy,
new techniques?
The members of ARIC are once again offering themselves up, and it
is the federal government which is directing it.
- Military
harassment which we are continuing to suffer
Several communities complain of an intimidating visit from the
army
- Speaking from
a place where we do not belong
We are prisoners here, not for being bad, but because we are like
little stones in the shoes of the bad government
- We, as support
bases, deserve these lands
Denouncing the federal and state governments for attempting to
effect the evictions in those predios
- The federal army
has increased their patrols
We have seen more soldiers, more tanks and more painted soldiers
equipped with backpacks arriving every day lately
- Bear witness to
the incidents
There is much movement by the military and the Public Security
police, by tanks and large new army vehicles.
July 2002
- Read Workers Solidarity
7online
July/August issue of the Irish anarchist paper
[Download and print out WS71 as a
PDF file]
- Irish taxpayers
to subsidise clerical rapists
PRIESTS, nuns and Christian Brothers beat, molested and
raped thousands of young children who were sent into their
"care". Education Minister Michael Woods signed a deal
whereby the state will pick up the bill for all compensation.
- Sectarianism
deepens in North
The results of the 2001 Life and Times survey in the north of
Ireland confirm that sectarian attitudes are spreading and
deepening.
- Keeping the struggle
going in Cork
The CPA is in existence for over a year and brings together
oppositional campaigners of various hues in a non-hierarchical
group which campaigns on numerous issues
- Drogheda ain't
paying
Less than 50% of Drogheda residents have paid any of the yearly
260 Euro charge
- Sellafield
protest against MOX ships in August
The two ships which were sent to Japan to collect the MOX fuel
shipped with falsified will travel up the Irish Sea around the
end of August.
- International
Libertarian Solidarity (S.I.L.)
At the last Workers Solidarity Movement conference we took the
decision to join a new international anarchist network,
International Libertarian Solidarity
- Direct
Action
Every time somebody puts a brick through a window or organises
a minor protest there will almost inevitably be someone else
who describes it as direct action.
- That's
capitalism
A number of short items highlighting the insanity of capitalism
- Get
involved
What Irish anarchists are up to
- Garda investigating
Garda
After the Garda complaints complaints of excessive police
violence at the RTS protest, it was announced that an
independent inquiry was being set up to supposedly investigate
the events of May 6th.
- John
McGuffin
John, was a very independent anarchist who is perhaps most well
known for providing the single anarchist element within the
People's Democracy group of the sixties and carrying an
anarchist banner (himself), on the Burntollet civil rights
march.
- Sacked Belfast
Airport security workers speak out
24 "randomly selected" workers were handed suspension
letters and after a disciplinary hearing three days after that
were sacked.
- SIPTU General
Secretary elections
Readers of Workers Solidarity may recognise the name of Des
Derwin, one of the candidates for the General Secretary of
Ireland largest trade union, SIPTU
- They Call It The
Law
If anybody was under any illusions that the 'law' treated trade
unionists fairly, or was in some way neutral when it came to
trade disputes, the events of a few weeks in late May/early
June should have been enough to rid them of such silly notions.
- REVIEW :
www.StopTheBinTax.com
Anybody curious about the arguments against the introduction of
bin charges into Ireland, please familiarise yourself with
www.StopTheBinTax.com
- Kashmir&endash;
another legacy of British Imperialism (this time with
nuclear weapons)
George W. Bush is not the only leader to resort to a war to
deflect attention away from his bankrupt domestic polcies.
- Review:
The Bolsheviks and
Workers Control
The Bolsheviks and Workers Control is a detailed book
that shows firstly how Russian workers took over and managed
their workplaces, secondly how they wished to extend this
control to the entire economy and thirdly how it was wrested
from them by the Russian state.
- Irish Glass Bottle
workers occupation
Workers at the Irish Glass Bottle plant in Ringsend have been in
occupation of the plant for the last couple of months. The plant
is closing, making some 375 workers redundant.
- Anarchism and the
fight against fascism
An index of articles about historic and current anarchist
struggles against fascism
- The
Arditi del Popolo in Italy - the first anti-fascist organization
(1921-22)
The anti-fascist organization had at least 144 sections with a
total of about 20,000 members. As it was being founded, its first
successes arrived - the defence of Viterbo against the Perugian
blackshirt attack - and at Sarzana where about 20 fascists were
killed.
- Sir Bob Geldof and Carlo
Giuliani - Two types of protest movement
The embrace between Irish pop millionaires Sir Bob Geldof and Bono
with G8 leaders Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin in Genoa on Saturday
evening shows that there are deep political divisions between
those protesting the G8 summit
- PDF poster Remembering
Carlo Giuliani
Carlo was murdered one year ago on July 20 - print out, copy and
display this poster to remember him
- Women in the
Spanish revolution
"The demonstration of what women can achieve is effectively
forgotten - which is one reason for documenting and analysing such
periods" - an old Solidarity text by Liz Willis
- The Lordstown
Struggle And the Real Crisis in Production
An attempt to document some important tendencies developing in the
motor car industry but which are relevant to modern production
as a whole - another Solidarity text
- PDF booklet:
The Orange Order
& sectarianism in Ireland
for you to print out and distribute this
- Mark Barnsley released from
Whitemoor prison
Miscarriage of justice prisoner Mark Barnsley was finally released
from Whitemoor prison on the morning of Monday 24th June 2002
- The Seville 2002 EU summit
protests [with photos]
An Irish anarchist reports from the European Summit protests in
Seville
- Interview with
anarchist refusenik
An interview with an anarchist jailed for refusing service in the
IDF
- The
Anarchists of Casas Viejas by Jerome R. Mintz
Review of the excellent book on the Casas Viejas revolt of 1933
- The
CNT in the Spanish Revolution (vol. 1) by Jose Peirats
Review of the best anarchist book on the Spanish Revolution
- Wrong
Steps: Errors in the Spanish Revolution by Juan Garcia
Oliver
Review of a pamphlet containing the section from Oliver's 1978
autobiography on the events of July 1936
- One
Step Forward, Two Steps Back
A lengthy review of "Imagine" by the Scottish Socialist Party
leaders Tommy Sheridan and Alan McCombes
- Technology,
Capitalism and Anarchism
An anarchist analysis of technology.
- Don't Vote,
Organise!
A lengthy discussion of why anarchists argue for direct action,
not electioneering
- Syndicalism
Its basic ideas revolve around organising all workers into the
"one big union", keeping control in the hands of the rank &
file, and opposing all attempts to create a bureaucracy of
unaccountable full-time officials.
- The Marxist theory of
the State....an anarchist reply
There is no one Marxist theory of the state, different currents
within Marxism have developed their own variants. However all
share the idea that the State can, and must, be used as a means
towards achieving the classless society
- The failure of
Marxism
There is much of use within Marxism, I do not propose to throw
away the impressive economic analysis for instance, but as an
ideology, as a tradition and as a guide for the future it has
failed; and failed on a grand scal
- Religion and clerical
control
In Ireland organised religion, especially Catholicism (with it's
named constitutional position) has worked to limit the freedoms of
all regardless of their own personal beliefs.
- Racism and Irish
Travellers
Anti-racist and anti-fascist work has been a major concern of the
left. However there are still very few groups or individuals even
on the left who identify attitudes to Travellers as Racism.
- Revolutionary politics and
single issue campaigns
Over the past decades, there has been a tendency for activists to
move away from organisations,and organisation on a class basis,
and concentrate on single-issue campaigns. In its lifetime, the
WSM has been involved in many such campaigns
- Leninism and the
failure of the Russian revolution
The Russian revolutions of 1917 demonstrate that a revolution is
possible but they also warn against authoritarian methods of
introducing socialism.
- What's the importance
of the French revolution?
We can examine the French revolution as a prototype of how
revolutions occur and progress. Kropotkin defined it as the
"mother of us all ". The ideas and methods of the French
Revolution were and still have relevance to us today
- Rosa Luxemburg on
socialism and objective conditions
Rosa Luxembourg argued that socialism didn't just entail a change
in material conditions but also a change in relationships within
society, that freedom was a prerequisite for a socialist society
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
- PDF file of Workers Solidarity
70
For you to print out and distribute
- Reclaim the
Planet
Imagine if all the resources and experience available to us
were to be utilised for the common good. Imagine if everyone
effected by a decision was able to have a say in making that
decision. Imagine if we lived in a world where the reason for
working was to satisfy human needs and desires
- From Barcelona to
Seville
Time was when an EU summit was every leader's wet dream. But
not any more. The EU summit in Barcelona over the 9 to the 16
of March saw between 250,000 and 600,000 people take to the
streets!
- That's
Capitalism
The system isn't getting any better plus a parrot joke!
- Getting
involved
What we stand for and some details of our anti-election
campaign
- Anarchism and
nationalism
Almost all of our present nations, and the very idea of the
modern nation itself, are relatively modern inventions. With
the rise of the bourgeois state in the nineteenth century,
ruling classes needed an ideology to make their subjects
identify with the state in which they lived
- Israel/Palestine: Roots
of the conflict
The historical roots of the current conflict in the Middle East
with a statement by
Israeli anarchists
on the occupation
- Review:
Parliament or Democracy?
Modern government is based on the idea that we elect the great
and the good to rule over us, trusting that they have our best
interests at heart and that they are wise and good enough to
know what's needed.
- Review: WSM web
site (www.struggle.ws)
The WSM started one of the first Irish political web sites back
in the mid 90's. It contains almost all the articles we have
published since 91 and quite a few additional reports that were
never been printed as well as lots of photos and PDF files. We
asked Eoghan Ryan to review it for us.
- Politics of the
car
With growing traffic jams, longer journeys to work and
increasing road deaths Aileen O'Carroll makes a contribution to
the debate about how to get out of this mess.
- The Bin Tax &endash;
The Race for Office
Whilst I can understand the will of people to 'make the
politicians pay' for their treachery in bringing in this tax
for a public service &endash; we don't agree with this tactic.
The way this tax is going to be defeated is by building a
massive campaign.
- Morons in
Power
If only these clowns got as offended by hospital waiting lists,
sectarian thuggery, pensioners living in poverty, and all the
other suffering that the Sinn Fein-Unionist-SDLP-DUP coalition
presides over each and every day in the Executive
- Malcontents and
'cliques' ??
The ASTI dispute as seen through the eyes of ICTU
- The Old Head of
Kinsale - Round 5
Mass direct action has shown that we will not tolerate the
violation of our fundamental right to roam. The right of people
to access the beauty of the planet, to breathe the air, drink
the water and walk the land free of hindrance is not for sale.
- Cork Grassroots
Gathering
The second Grassroots Gathering was held over the Easter
weekend in Cork. Some seventy people from all over Ireland took
part.
- Ideas and
Action -- Irish Anarchist
Gathering
From Resistance to Change - A day of anarchist discussion
in Dublin on May 18
- Anarchism and elections
In preparation for the May general election campaign in the south
of Ireland a web page on the elections
- Call this
Choice?
As we get near to the general elections a discussion of the
anarchist arguments against electoral politics and what sort of
campaign we can mount during the elections
- PDF posters on the Struggle
site
A collection of PDF posters for you to print out and display
- PDF Leaflets on the Struggle
site
Various PDF leaflets (1-4 pages)
- PDF booklets on the Struggle
site
Somewhat longer texts from 5 to 24 pages
- Justice for Mark Barnsley -
March 2002
Campaign bulletin in support of this British anarchist prisoner
- Century of revolt
Recommended links to other web pages from Free Earth
- 3
separate 'NON' Protests greet Bertie in Limerick
The media ignored these protests as Bertie Ahern opened the new
sports Arena Complex at the University of Limerick
- Bertie
Ahern gets a pie in the face in Sligo
Two reports on how Bertie got pied during his visit to Sligo town
- French translations of articles
on the Struggle site
Articles on the Struggle site that have been translated into
French
- Dublin WSM branch web
page
this page is just being used for branch specific policy documents
- Protests
against Israeli occupation in Dublin [with photos]
Some 1,500 to 2,500 people marched though Dublin on Saturday
demanding an end to the Israeli occupation and freedom for
Palestine. The demonstration was the culmination of a week of
activity that included a six-day occupation of a tree in the car
park of the Israeli embassy
- People Power Wins
At Old Head of Kinsale [with pictures]
Well over a hundred activists and protesters braved the elements,
hostile private security, newly erected fencing and barbed wire at
the Old Head of Kinsale on Easter Sunday to score yet another
important victory for free public access to the Old Head of
Kinsale Walk.
- Second
Grassroots Gathering in Cork a success
The second grassroots gathering was held over the Easter weekend
in Cork. I Some seventy people from all over Ireland took part.
Areas represented included Cork, Dublin, Limerick and Belfast as
well as a scattering of other counties including Kildare, Kerry
and Sligo.
- Reform
or Revolution which way forward after Porto Alegre
Reform or Revolution on the reformist direction of the World
Social Forum and possible anarchist alternatives
- Does
the WSF have the answers
Anarchist view point on the WSF Cindy Milstein of Institute for
Social Ecology and the Institute for Anarchist Studies first
published in the Village Voice
- April2002
call for a national strike in Italy
After the 2 million strong marches in Italy over Mach 17th/18th
there has been a call from radical unions in italy for an April
general strike translated by Nestor
http://www.geocities.com/nestor_mcnab/
- Information
on Barcelona protests March 2002
Article from the Mexican paper La Jornada with information about
how the massive Barcelona protests were carefully organised to
avoid set piece confrontations with the police
- Which Way Ireland?
An interview with Organise! about the Good Friday Agreement and
the prospects for anarchism in Ireland from 1998
- PDF file of
Solidarity with Chiapas poster
- PDF file of
Irish Anarchism poster
- The Zapatistas, the Montes
Azules Comprehensive Biosphere Reserve (REBIMA) and the
Lacando'n
Details of the conflict over how this unique area is best
conserved including communiques from the indigenous communities
threatened with expulsion
- Land
Conflict with ORCAO in Patria Nueva
A zapatista communique on conflict in a Chiapas community over the
cutting down of a pasture fence
- Using the
church bell to gather together and plan paramilitary
actions
The 17 de Noviembre Autonomous Municipality has taken the decision
to protect the land against woodcutting, against the cultivation
of marijuana and against those persons who are allowing themselves
to become paramilitaries
- Threathening
operations performed by air or within the indigenous
communities
We denounce the establishing of an military control post within
Ejido San Caralampio, the over flyings and that the very same day
a heavily armed military helicopter landed in the village Laguna
Suspiro, close to Laguna Yankis
- Threats
expressed by the PRI municipal government of these
municipality
If something happens to any member of the autonomous council or to
any member of the PRD, we are going to hold the PRI members
responsible
- Violations of the
human rights of our imprisoned friends in Tabasco
These are examples of the sufferings of the indigenous prisoners
from Chiapas, imprisoned in Tabasco, suffering imprisonment far
away from their families
- Solidarity
Brought Electricity to La Realidad
The Zapatista copmmunity of La Realidad finally has electricity.
It took longer than expected, but the turbine from Italy is now
running, just in time to bring news of the 'War against
Terrorism'.
March 2002
- Issues
around globalisation and Anti Capitalism
General issues raised by demonstrations for globalisation/against
capitalism - the movements involved and the tactics adopted
- Globalisation
,capitalism and Ireland
Anti capitalist actions in Ireland and how local campaigns eg
against bin charges also fight against the privitisation agenda of
the WTO, EU etc
- Against War and
Terrorism issue 2
Issue two of this booklet which has anarchist articles on the war,
Islam and Israel/Palestine
- PDF file of Against
War and Terrorism issue 2
For you to download, print out and distribute
- Reclaiming the
Revolution.
A look at the fallacy at the heart of George Orwell's Animal Farm
and a look at the popular revolutionary resistance to Bolshevik
dictatorship.
- Aftermath
Afghanistan after the fall of Kabul, addressing the Northern
Alliance, Imperialist competition, Heroin production, warlords and
the civilian casualties of the Anglo-American offensive
- Global
Days of Action against capitalism
History of most of the major Anti Globalisation/Capitalism
Protests since Seattle
- Recent
pro global/anti capitalist protests
The most recent large anticapitalist protests (mainly focused on
he WEF in New York at the moment)
- Reviews
of Hardt and Negri's Empire
reviews of this leading new autonomist book from anarchist and
other perspectives
- Workers Solidarity
No 69
- PDF file of
Workers Solidarity No69
- Women - still carrying
the baby at work and home!!
Over the last 100 years, there is no doubt that women's
situation in most first world countries has improved
dramatically. Now that we've reached the 21st century, many
would say that sexist inequality no longer really exists.
However, if we take a brief look at just one aspect of our
lives - work - it is clear that there is still a lot left to
fight for.
- Defeating the bin
charges
Details from the campaigns in South Dublin, Dublin Corporation
and Drogheda
- Argentina says
"Enough"
On the 19th and 20th of December 2001, there was a major
popular revolt in Argentina. Tens of thousands of people
demonstrated in the streets. The demonstrations were sparked by
the government's plan to cut public spending as part of an
emergency financial package demanded by the IMF
- Black Hawk
Down
It was reasonably predictable that a slew of patriotic films
would follow September 11th. I will shortly deal with the slack
jawed excuse for a film that is Black Hawk Down but first a
very short trip into history: what really happened!
- Thinking about
anarchism - Referendums
Irish anarchists voted NO in the anti-abortion referendum.But,
I hear somebody say, don't anarchists have an objection to
voting? Anarchists have no problem voting.
- The Sellafield
MOX Blockade
On 20th December 80 Irish activists delayed workers entering
Sellafield on the opening day of the new MOX nuclear
reprocessing plant. I spoke with some members of Gluaiseacht
who were at a second demonstration in February, attended, by
200 which also blockaded Sellafield.
- Scapegoats
required - Only Asylum Seekers Need Apply!
In the past few months, there has been an upsurge of attacks on
asylum-seekers and refugees. Politicians worried about their
re-election chances and about losing their place on the
Dáil Éireann Gravy Train have led the attacks,
unashamedly targeting vulnerable asylum-seekers and refugees.
Physical attacks including the vicious murder of the Chinese
youth Zhao Liu Tao have resulted.
- Low pay = Jobs? A
global lie
A low paid job is better than no job. At least that's what
those supporting corporate Globalisation argue. Big companies
like Nike and Gap pay workers badly, expect them to work long
hours in appalling conditions, buy off or exclude their
trade-unions but at least at the end of the day, these workers
take home a pay packet.
- To break or not to
break? - new union to be set up?
An idea has been floated among sections of the left and among
activists in the ATGWU that a new union - independent of the
ICTU (Irish Congress of Trade Unions) and strongly anti
-'partnership' - be formed
- An American
Addiction: Drugs, Guerillas, Counterinsurgency - US
Intervention in Colombia.
Almost all of the 1.7 bn in 'aid' travelling to Colombia is in
the form of chemical and biological warfare and money that is
given to the military and paramilitaries (almost one and the
same) who in turn are responsible for the majority of
atrocities committed as well as being the main proponents of
narcotics-trafficking in the country.
- Irish Indymedia
launched
After months of preparation an Irish Indymedia site was
launched at the start of this year. James McBarron, a relative
novice on the internet reviews the site to date.
- Abortion
referendum victory in Ireland
Pro-choice campaigners celebrated throughout Ireland as a
referendum which would have further restricted the availability of
abortion in Ireland was defeated.
- No vote
group welcomes mandate to legislate for X case
The Alliance for a No Vote has welcomed the rejection of the
government's proposal in the abortion referendum. In light of the
result, the group has called on the government to legislate for
the X case now. It has also said that a debate is necessary on the
wider issue of abortion in Ireland.
- First
Case against Burlington protestor dismissed in Dublin district
court!
As many off you probably know 14 people were arrested for at an
anti privitisation demo at the Burlington hotel last October. The
first full hearing came up today., I wasn't a witness so I got to
sit through the whole thing and study the machinations of the
capitalist justice system at district court level in great detail!
- Is the emperor wearing
clothes?
A review of Negri and Hardt's book Empire from an anarchist
perspective
- Revolt
in France
New index of articles on Paris 1968 - analysis and
eyewitness accounts
- Paris May
1968
An eyewitness account from Solidarity
- Kissinger
traumatised by Cork experience
Henry Kissinger was reported as being a bit shook by the
barracking he received in Cork. There was massive opposition to
his visit and two good demos.
- Bin tax : Council
sends out threatening letters
Dublin city council have been sending threatening letters to
people who are refusing to pay the bin tax. A WSM member who is on
the co-ordinating committee explains below what the campaigns
plans are and how to deal with the letter.
- Smears against
activists in new york in the run up to WEF demo
An account of some of the nonsese being talked in the media in New
York before the World Economic Forum protests
- Statement from the
Anti Capitalist Convergence in New York
The statement of the ACC who are not there to protest at the
excesses of capitalism but to build a new world
- New York police harass,
attack and arrest protestors throughout Saturday
The cops attacked the protest from the start despite it being
almost entirely peaceful - good account of the march
- Useful analysis of
Tactics by various people just after the WEF demonstrations in New
York
A long attack on the peaceful nature of the protests followed by
different opinions good discussion from NY indymedia site
- Anarchists turn up
the heat after the WEF demonstrations
Article from the village voice talks about some of the anarchist
groups interesting but fairly patronising
- X case march in
Dublin - 10 years on [with pictures]
Around 300 people marched through the centre of Dublin on Saturday
to mark the 10th anniversary of the 'X' case and to support a No
vote in the latest anti-abortion referendum
- Abortion
referendum - get involved [with pictures]
On March 6th there will be yet another anti-abortion referendum in
the Irish republic, the third since 1983. It is vital we turn out
the largest possible pro choice No vote on the 6t
- Five
changes, Five reasons to vote no
Alliance for a No Vote Legal briefing on referendum
- PD hypocrisy
endangers women's lives
Is the PDs' survival in government more important to them than
their liberal principles? Instead of hypocritically putting
women's lives in danger, we should be facing up to the reality of
abortion.
- Bloody Sunday - 30
years on tens of thousands march [with pictures]
The biggest turnout since the 25th anniversary in 1997 when a
similar number marched. Part of the large turnout this year was
probably due to the heightened interest cause by the showing of
two films about Bloody Sunday on TV in the last weeks
- Voices for
Choice
New pro choice web site which aims to details womens experiences
of unwanted pregnancies
- Autonomy and a
Song
An article by a member of the Irish Mexico Group on the
significance of the Zapatista movement in Mexico, includes recent
details of Diez de Abril.
- Restored photographs from Diez de Abril
The pictures below have been inaccesable for some time but have
now been returned to the site
January 2002
- New index: Workers Solidarity
2002
- PDF file
- The globalisation we
demand
Has it ever struck you as a little odd that the same
governments that claim to stand for globalisation are busy
erecting expensive fences along their borders to keep people
out?
- Sellafield's sick
New Year gift
On December the 20th 2001 - Sellafield brought radioactive
plutonium into the plant in a move to open up a MOX
reprocessing plant for dirty radioactive materials.
- Spanish
Anarcho-syndicalists demonstrate in Madrid
A figure of twenty to twenty-five thousand demonstrated on
December 2nd in what is the largest so far of a series of
mainly 'black-and-red' demonstrations carried out in Madrid and
other Spanish towns over the last few years.
- Chaos - Thinking about
anarchism
The media constantly tell us that anarchy is just another word
for disorder and disorganisation. Whether it be the Star or the
'educated' Irish Times, the same misuse of the word occurs with
monotonous regularity. Not all of this can be put down to lazy
and careless journalism.
- Sectarianism in
North Belfast
As an Anarcho-Syndicalist, living in North Belfast I was
interested to see Gregor Kerr's recent article, 'Sectarianism
and North Belfast' in Workers Solidarity.
- Vote No in
government's anti-choice referendum
As we face into campaigning against yet another abortion
referendum we are taking this opportunity to detail why we this
is such an important issue for us.
- Abortion
rights - It's up to you and me
Media 'experts' and commentators have been saying that the
progressive changes that occurred around contraception, divorce
and equal age of consent for gays in Ireland in the early to
mid-nineties were a natural result of modernisation of Irish
society and occurred because liberal politicians decided to
push for these changes. We are supposed to feel that only our
rulers can change things, that the rest of us are pretty
powerless. Well, it's not true.
- An open letter to
a Fianna Fáil hypocrite
Noel Ahern is the Fianna Fail TD for Dublin North West, and a
supporter of the referendum to deny suicidal women with crisis
pregnancies the possibility of abortion
- Grassroots
Gathering - The Important first Steps
People attending were all coming from an activist background -
and we could all learn from our different experiences. There
was also a good display of mutual respect for differing
opinions and tactics
- Murdered by
Fortress Europe
The discovery of the bodies of 8 asylum seekers in a container
in Wexford in late November shocked everyone. For those
concerned with the plight of asylum seekers the deaths were not
only a disaster waiting to happen but just the latest
instalment in an ever grosser tale of human misery and
exploitation
- Bin Tax Victory - Court
orders Corpo to collect non-payers' bins
After a marathon protest and despite the jailing of seven
activists from our campaign, Cork Corpo's strategy of bullying
the people of the city into paying twice to have their domestic
rubbish collected, ended in disarray.
- The Euro: the root of
all evil?
It makes no sense for us to oppose the EU on the basis of some
sort of return to national sovereignty. Rather we must look for
ways to create our globalisation agenda out of the process. The
protests at the European Summits are proving one way of doing
this
- Getting involved
and news of the WSM
A small group of anarchists have been publishing Workers
Solidarity since 1984 in a variety of formats. We do so because
we think it is essential to not only tell people what anarchism
is really about but also to provide an honest alternative to
the bosses' media.
- Thats'
capitalism
NAFTA's right to pollute upheld, Ryaniar profits, 23 million
dead in war
- Blowing hot air over
Sellafield
We must take a lesson from our own past (Carnsore) and from the
highly successful anti-nuclear movement in Germany. We must
recognise that the British government, far from being willing to
consider closing Sellafield, wish to expand it. The only way they
will be forced to retreat from this position is if we push the
political and economic costs of keeping Sellafield open way up.
- PDs accused
of hypocrisy over abortion referendum
Is the PDs' survival in government more important to them than
their liberal principles, or concern for the welfare of Irish
women?
- Abortion
trial in Portugal - it could happen here
The mass trial in Portugal of 17 women accused of having
abortions, of the nurse who performed them, and of 25 other people
who assisted in the getting of abortions is a foretaste of what
could happen in Ireland if the Government' s referendum succeeds.
- PDF file of Red and Black
Revolution Number 6
For you to print out and distibute
- Some opening
comments
Welcome to the sixth issue
- Crime and community
policing
The term 'community policing' has been much abused in recent
times, most particularly in the North of Ireland where it has
become shorthand for vicious punishment beatings and shootings.
In this article Gregor Kerr takes a look at the issue of
community policing - what it is and more importantly what it
isn't. The question of what levels of real community policing
would actually be possible or allowed under capitalism is
looked at, and the debate about crime, anti-social behaviour
and reactions to it in an anarchist society is touched on.
- Bakunin's ideas on
revolutionary organisation
The Russian revolutionary Micheal Bakunin is often presented as
the 'founding father' of anarchism. He was a larger than life
figure whose disputes with Marx in the 1st international form
an essential role in the clarification of the role of the
vanguard and of the state in the revolutionary process. Yet his
concrete ideas on anarchist organisation are not so well knowm.
Andrew Flood takes a closer look at them.
- Bashing the Black
Bloc?
In the wake of the G8 protests in Genoa, Ray Cunningham, who
took part in the demonstrations there, looks at the future for
the Black Bloc and the 'anti-globalisation' movement.
- Max Stirner
Max Stirner was an obscure prophet of individualism living in
nineteenth century Germany. many anarchists today including
anarcho communists also consider themselves Stirnerists and a
Stirnerist tradition lives on in places like Glasgow. Conor Mc
Loughlin examines some of Stirner's ideas.
- The media and the
war
Terry Clancy, of the Free Earth website, examines the 'free'
press to find out why we shouldn't expect them to provide
neutral or impartial coverage, especially during a war.
- Belfast anarchist
on Sectarian Intimidation and North Belfast
As an Anarcho-Syndicalist living in North Belfast, on the
Limestone Road/Newington Street/Duncairn Gardens interface with
the Loyalist Tigers Bay, I was interested to read Gregor Kerr's
article in the last issue of Workers Solidarity
'Sectarian Intimidation and
North Belfast'.
- Launch of
legal opinion on 'Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy'
Bill
As well as denying abortion rights to the most vulnerable, the
Government wants to criminalise abortion - including women who
induce abortions themselves. A twelve year jail sentence could be
handed down to a woman who self-aborts, or to anybody who aids,
abets or counsels a woman in procuring an abortion.
- Alliance
for a No Vote Launches Legal Opinion
Calls for Dangerous and Misguided Referendum to be abandoned.
- Report on
Defend our civil liberties meeting
About 35-40 people turned up mainly non-party political. Firstly
the video was shown of the Burlington anti PPP demo and the
attacks by the cops. Pretty disturbing stuff much more so when you
view it in the cold light of day.
- High Court
decision shows referendum is flawed
The Court has recognised that there may be legal and
constitutional flaws in the Government's referendum proposals, as
the ANV has argued from the outset.
- Discussion about
Platformism
Articles about the strand within anarchism sometimes known as
'Platformism' after the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian
Communists
This page is an archive of items added to Revolt before
those that appear on the 'What's New on
Struggle' page which covers the last three months. This is the
index for 2002, there is also an index for
1998, 1999,
2000, 2001,
2002 and 2003.