London Bookfair ‘Won’t Happen In 2018’!!!

 

        To all those who are familiar with the London Anarchist Bookfair will be aware that this year it was different, and seemed to descend into chaos and bitterness, not anarchist objectives. Stories vary of what and when, this and that happened, but what is clear is a lot of it shouldn't have happened in an anarchist environment.

       The London Anarchist Bookfair has run for 34 years, however after this year's outcome, the collective that organises the Bookfair have decided not to do so again. This is sad to say the least, for years it was a wonderful focal point for anarchist ideas, comradeship, renewing contacts and making new ones. We need more of these events, not less. Let's hope that dialogue and anarchist principles will sort this problem out and we will see an even greater Anarchist Bookfair arise from this unfortunate episode, perhaps another city might take up the baton or London will see the re-birth of a greater event.

     This is a short extract form a statement by the collective:

--------We have been accused of “protecting a fascist” and of being transphobic ourselves. All of us in the collective have physically confronted fascists on the streets, at meetings and in print, and we are baffled and upset by these accusations. Accusing a person of being a fascist because you don’t like their views is dishonest and dangerous. We are not going to apologise for protecting someone being mobbed by a group of up to about 30 people, and, along with others, preventing an ugly situation from deteriorating further.

Obviously a lot of people are going to disagree with this, but anyone who seriously thinks that up to about 30 people shouting and threatening one woman, and in the process intimidating disabled comrades and children, was a “beautiful moment of direct action” should consider taking a look at themselves and their politics.

Finally to those who decided to smash and set off the fire alarm, and to anyone who thought it was clever – have you thought about the effect it had on the creche and older kids space, the numerous meetings taking place at the time, or relations with the venue? A number of children having to be led out of the older kids space were crying and talking about Grenfell. They thought it was a real fire and were really scared. This action definitely didn’t make it a safe space for them.

The end

We are unsure how this debate within our movement (and beyond) will work itself out, as there is a wide range of strongly held views. What we are sure of is that next year there are people who would want us to ban those sharing the views of the leafleteers or those who stickered the loos, others who would want us to ban people who were in the group of up to about 30 or those who set off the fire alarm. We are not prepared to ban any of these people, and, while people think the way to resolve their differences is to disrupt and shut down meetings, like the Syria meeting last year, or the whole Bookfair this year, by shouting at and fighting each other, we haven’t the appetite or the energy to organise next year’s Bookfair.

More positively and perhaps unsurprisingly we have had contacts from a range of people who do see the need for debate and discussion on the issues and the events. We don’t think our collective is the right facilitator but are prepared to work with anyone who, like us, would like to look at ways we work these (strongly felt) disagreements within our movement out face to face. If we don’t, the only winners will be capitalism and the state.

Read the full article HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

A Divided London Anarchist Bookfair?

        I wasn't at the London Anarchist Bookfair this year, but from reports I have heard, I don't think I would have enjoyed it. Reports that I hear are all about confrontation between elements within the anarchist movement, hardly advertises solidarity and co-operation. However, like I said, I wasn't there and am going on second hand version of events. What follows is a first hand account, from somebody who was there, that I found interesting, especially the bit about reaching out to the local community. I post it in full, not to knock the London Anarchist Bookfair, but in the hope that others may come forward with their stories and help to address the problems, that seem to have arisen, find answers and build on what has gone before, making the London Anarchist Bookfair the magnet for activists and a platform to further our ideas out to the public at large.

 From On Uncertain Ground:

          This piece has been prompted by our experience on the joint South Essex Radical Media / Basildon & Southend Housing Action (BASHA) stall at the London Anarchist Bookfair – http://anarchistbookfair.org.uk/ – on Saturday 28th October. We went along to this event to talk to people about our grassroots approach to promoting our politics. This year, we produced a special edition of the Stirrer paper to explain our approach and deal briefly with our frustrations with what passes for the anarchist ‘movement’: Here it is… https://southessexstirrer.wordpress.com/2017/10/29/here-it-is/
        The London Anarchist Bookfair has grown from humble beginnings to a large, packed event. The question that should be getting asked every year is this – what should the bookfair be trying to achieve? From our experiences of being on a stall, talking to punters and just generally people watching, our impression is that the bookfair seems to be an event put on by anarchists and radicals for the benefit of other anarchists and radicals. On the one hand, it does provide an opportunity for activists to meet, catch up with each other, swap ideas, debate issues and on occasions, start scrapping with each other (more on this later). On the other hand, if you were a non-political person curious enough to attend the event to find out what anarchism is and whether it’s something you’d want to pursue, would you leave any the wiser?
       From what we’ve seen of the bookfair over the last few years, the answer to that question is that someone wanting to find out about anarchism would more likely than not be leaving not much the wiser. Granted, with the range of groups and individuals attending and speaking at the bookfair, getting a coherent vision of what anarchism is across to a newcomer is a tough call. That’s partly down to the range of interpretations of what actually constitutes anarchism. We don’t have a problem with that – anarchism is something that should be constantly evolving and trying out different strategies and tactics to see what does and doesn’t work. However, we all could be better at communicating the fluidity of anarchism and how it evolves and develops to newcomers.
       For the last two years, the London Anarchist Bookfair has been held in an area of Harringay that so far has escaped the ravages of gentrification and still feels like a community. For the last two years that we’ve been to the bookfair in Harringay, it feels as if it’s an alien presence that has landed in the middle of a neighbourhood but has yet to develop any real connection with it. Given what’s been going on in the area with the Harringay Development Vehicle which is the local (Labour controlled) council offloading housing estates and other assets to Lendlease, a development company, the bookfair should be an ideal opportunity to get local community activists talking to anarchists and vice-versa.
      Granted, some activists we know in the area were pulling out the stops to do that and their work deserves to be applauded. Also with some of the talks and film showings, there was a decent effort to put class politics back on the agenda which has to be welcomed. There were some positive signs at this year’s bookfair of a recognition of the need to engage with working class people if we’re ever going to build a movement that will bring about real change. However, walking back down West Green Road to Seven Sisters station on the way home, the disconnect between the attendees at the bookfair and the people out and about on the surrounding streets was only too clear. If the bookfair is going to continue to be located in Harringay, there has to be a concerted effort from the organisers to engage the local community.
     You don’t need us to tell you that we’re living in uncertain, unpredictable and increasingly dangerous times. The kind of times when the need for a viable, progressive political alternative is greater than ever before. The kind of times when the varying strands of anarchism that make up the movement need to have a sense of urgency and be pulling out the stops to reach a wider audience. The kind of times when some of the navel gazing that characterises certain strands of anarchism and radicalism needs to be put to one side. The kind of times when an anarchist bookfair should be throwing its doors open to the working class community that surrounds the venue by involving them in organising the event so their voices are heard.
       We judge events like the London Anarchist Bookfair on the basis of whether we’d bring along a new, relatively apolitical contact from one of the estates we operate on with BASHA to give them a flavour of what anarchism is about. If we’d brought someone along in the morning and they’d departed by the early afternoon, given what the event was like up until that point, they could well have left with a fairly positive impression. If they’d been around after the early afternoon, they would most likely have been lost to the cause of anarchism for good.
     From what we can gather, there was an ongoing confrontation resulting from a number of radical feminists targeting transgender people. From mid-afternoon onwards we kept hearing shouting and heard anecdotal reports of people being verbally abused, shoved and mobbed, and stalls disrupted. Fortunately, our stall was located a fair way from the main locus of the confrontations and we were able to carry on operating but the deterioration in the atmosphere was noticeable. As we’re mainly class struggle and housing activists, albeit with some green tinges, we’re not well versed as to why some radical feminists have such a problem with transgender people and target them in the way they do. We’re doing some reading up on the matter and the more we read, the more baffled we are as to why, given how charged the whole issue is, material that any neutral observer would have seen as provoking confrontations was allowed to be circulated.
       If I was a curious newcomer to the bookfair, one not well versed in gender politics, and was a witness to what went on with the confrontations, my reaction would have been ‘what the ***k is going on here?’ and my response would have been to walk out and dismiss the idea of anarchism as a viable political option. Seriously, is this the face the London Anarchist Bookfair collective wants to show to newcomers, particularly new contacts we may want to bring along in the future and especially to anyone from the estates surrounding the bookfair venue? What happened from mid afternoon onwards hasn’t done the movement any favours at a time where we have to be focused on drawing in as many people as possible…

Dave (the editor)

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You're Ill, Go To Prison.

        This exploitative authoritarian system can't function without repression and intimidation, that's where the prison system comes into its own. Be submissive or risk being caged. In any civilised society we would see people with mental health problems having compassionate care, support and the assistance that they need. However in this insane society such people are more likely to end up in prison. Figures from Psychiatric Morbidity Among Prisoners In England And Wales, 1998, state that more than 70% of the prison population has two or more mental health disorders. It is likely to be a two edged sword, mental heath problems lead you to prison, and prison creates mental health problems for those incarcerated in these inhumane hell-holes. Suicides in prisons are approximately 15 times higher than the general public at large. That to any sane person tells you that there is something drastically wrong with the way that these people are treated. But then again, it is all about control, intimidation and repression, so I suppose to the eyes of the state's minders, the system is working. 

This from Act For Freedom Now: 

      After this year’s London Anarchist Bookfair South Wales Anarchist’s bus went to HMP Send on Saturday night for a Noise Demonstration outside this women’s prison. People chanted calling for prison abolition and shouted cheers of solidarity. Prisoners waved back, it was great to communicate through the prison bars.
       On leaving the demonstration local screws not in uniform (one claiming to be the Governor) assaulted two women that attended the Demo. The three of them were spoiling for a fight. They blocked the road in an attempt to prevent the bus from leaving but it seems that after they discovered that the Police had no intention of coming, after around half an hour they had to let us leave.
      During the course of their interaction with us, they said to us “”Haven’t you heard them all kicking off on J wing?”” and scolded us with ““Don’t you know how hard it is to control them in there?””. Needless to say hearing them say that almost made their irritating attempt at a citizen’s arrest worth it.
       In addition as being a demonstration in solidarity with Anarchist Comrades behind bars it was a also for class struggle prisoners. As prison abolitionists this quote by Angela Davis illustrates why we think it is so important for us all to show solidarity in this way;
      “”Prisons do not disappear social problems, they disappear human beings. Homelessness, unemployment, drug addiction, mental illness and illiteracy are only a few of the problems that disappear from public view when the human beings contending with them are relegated to cages”.”

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Scott Crow On Circled A Radio.

       The latest broadcast from Circled A Radio, an interview with anarchist Scott Crow. who will be a speaker at the London Anarchist Bookfair starting this weekend.

       Scott Crow is an international speaker, author and story teller who is proudly from a working class background. He has engaged his varied life as a coop business co-owner, political organizer, educator and strategist, activist, film maker, dad and musician. For over two decades he has focused on diverse socio-political issues and the explorations of creating and exercising counter-power to capitalism, Power and unsustainable civilization.

Listen HERE:

 

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London Anarchist Bookfair.

       It's that time of year again, a time when anarchists and like minded people come together from far and wide, discussions abound, stalls display a wonderful array of literature, the air is filled with chat and banter. A great time of friendly story swapping, information transfer, meeting long lost comrades, and making new friends and contacts. A chance for anarchists to recharge their batteries with a new lease of life.

        I am of course, talking about the annual London Anarchist Bookfair.

       The 34th London Anarchist Bookfair will showcase anarchist ideas from around the world and across the UK. As usual it’s not just books. Thousands of Anarchists will gather to discuss everything from Austerity and , Housing to Migration or Workplace Orgainsing. Anarchists from around the world including Greece, Kurdistan, Spain, Czech Republic, USA and the Caribbean will be talking about the struggles in their countries, and how we can work together to strengthen the global Anarchist resistance. Most of all people will be able find out the truth about anarchist ideas rather than the distorted caricatures presented by politicians and journalists from any of the 100 stalls and 60 meetings.

      Key speakers include Janet Biehl on social ecology, Scott Crow who helped organise the grassroots response to Hurricane Katrina and was criminalised for his efforts and John King, author of the Football Factory and England Away.

     The bookfair has a new venue – at Central St Martins  (University of the Arts London)  and as always it will be free with a crèche and older kids space.

For further information see the website. Telephone contact – 07960 668471

10am – 7pm at Central St Martin’s  (University of the Arts London)

Granary Building, 1 Granary Square, Kings Cross, London N1C 4AA

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London Anarchist Bookfair.

       An event worth a visit, meet like minded people, pick up new ideas, new contacts, buy a book, have a chat, a laugh and build solidarity.

 The 2014 London Anarchist Bookfair 

will be on Saturday 18th October
From 10am to 7pm.

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

THE BOOKFAIR.

         From Circled A, a talk on the coming London Anarchist Bookfair, which will be held this Saturday, 27 October, at Queen Mary, University of London. Plus a little bit of a tribute to the soon to be no more Chumbawamba (http://www.chumba.com/) at the start and end of the show.

 

(http://thecircleda.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/circled-a-show-october-23rd-2012.mp3)

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LONDON ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR.

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