It’s your world too, you can do what you want”: the role of subcultural activism in stop the city protests (1983-1984) and its implications for political protest in Britain’ (original) (raw)
Related papers
SAGE, 2015
On April 9, 2014 the media reported that the court had found one of the alleged murderers of PC Keith Blakelock, Nicholas Jacobs, not guilty of murder and manslaughter. The police officer in question had died from multiple stab wounds during the 1985 Broadwater Farm Estate riots. 1 As the story hit the headlines, the stormy relationship between the youth and the police, racial tensions, urban decay and urban riots surfaced yet again. This paper examines what many perceive as a recurrent problem in urban Britain: so-called "race riots." Indeed, these eruptions of street violence and protest generally take place in inner city neighborhoods-deprived areas with poor ethnic minorities. The last riots spread across England in August 2011. The final report, compiled by the independent Riots Communities and Victims Panel, pointed to a number of issues to explain the level of violence: such as few opportunities for young people, a lack of confidence in policing, racial discrimination, the feeling that the government was not doing enough to address systemic problems, and that decision-making at both the state and neighborhood levels did not involve a large section of the citizenry. 2 The first real riots of this type in postwar Britain occurred in Notting Hill (a West London borough) in 1958, that is to say during the first great wave of non-white immigration. For almost a week young neo-fascists and West Indians clashed. 3 Similar disturbances were observed
This chapter focuses on the role that alternative publications played in the cultural, political and ideological practices of the British anarcho-punk movement between 1980 and 1984. I explore the way these ‘zines disseminated the central ideas of anarcho-punk and the way that the editors mediated a shifting notion of anarcho-punk. In doing so I seek to move beyond the simpler notion that ‘zines acted simply as channels of communication, but to the idea that discourses of resistance and defiance are constructed and reinforced through the embodiment and undertaking of ideological work of ‘zine editors as ‘organic intellectuals’ and thus represent cultural work. This raises some interesting questions about the role of ‘zine editors/producers as key agents in articulating the perceived central tenets and identity of a subcultural movement. Previous studies on ‘zines have alluded to the role of editors but little emphasis has been placed on the way that these ‘zine authors take on leadership roles and perceived positions of authority. As punk emerged in the 1970’s ‘zines soon became one of the central methods of communicating the developing ideologies, practices and values within this new musical and subcultural movement as they have historically been regarded as an alternative to mainstream publishing and being independently representative of the ‘underground’. Early protagonists of anarcho-punk, such as Crass, sought to reinforce the personal politic of being responsible for one’s own authority and actions, and the political agenda of anarcho-punk came to embrace notions of anarchism, peace, libertarianism, animal rights, feminism, anti-capitalism and anti-globalization. In doing so I examine how DIY fan production practices, through the articulation of specific and at times oppositional ideological positions, contributed to the construction of the musical, cultural and political boundaries of the anarcho-punk movement. Therefore this analysis explores how these discourses of political position, authority and identity were mediated and the sense of an anarcho -punk movement that they constructed.
This paper deals with the question of how oppositional movements can adapt their protest strategies to meet recent socio-spatial transformations. The work of Lefebvre provides several clues as to how an alternative discourse and appropriation of space could be incorporated in such protest strategies. One of the central themes in Lefebvre’s work is that the appearances, forms and functions of urban space are constitutive elements of contemporary capitalism and thus that an alternative narrative of urban space can challenge or undermine dominant modes of thinking. What exactly constitutes the ‘‘right’’ kind of alternative discourse or narrative is a matter of both theoretical and practical consideration. The paper analyses one case: the May Day protests in London in 2001, in which a protest group, the Wombles, managed to integrate theoretical insights into their discourse and practice in a highly innovative manner. Since cities, and global cities in particular, play an ever more important role in maintaining the consumption as well as production practices of global capitalism; they potentially constitute local sites where global processes can be identified and criticised. It is shown that the Wombles effectively made use of these possibilities and appropriated the symbolic resources concentrated in London to exercise a ‘‘lived critique’’ of global capitalism. Since the Wombles capitalised on trends that have not yet ended, their strategies show a way forward for future anti-capitalist protests.
Kick It 'Till It Breaks: The Socio-Cultural Revolution of Britain's Angry Brigade, 1967-72
This research paper is a study of the British social libertarian grouping known as the Angry Brigade, who committed a series of bombings against industrial, political, and military targets that destroyed property in and around London, 1968-1971. This research engages with the historiography of the global “Long 1960s” as well as studies of revolutionary militant violence. Analyzing a collection of press communiqués issued by the Angry Brigade as well as media portrayals and transcripts from the trial of those charged with the bombings, this paper fits their actions and rhetoric into an overall theme of socio-cultural revolution based primarily upon the ideology and practice of extra-parliamentary working-class insurrectionary direct action (e.g., wildcat strikes, sabotage, occupations, et cetera) and Situationist International critique of late capitalist society. The Angry Brigade’s rhetoric will be considered in conjunction with the Society of the Spectacle to illustrate the influence of that revolutionary ethos upon their actions. In addition, a psychogeographic analysis of the depressed north London communes from which the Angry Brigade emerged will elucidate the influence of the environment upon their revolutionary militancy. The Angry Brigade used the violence of the bomb to expose and disrupt what they perceived as the violence of an authoritarian system as well as shock out of complacency an alienated and commodified society. A central premise of this research paper is the Angry Brigade were not terrorists because they did not use violence in the pursuit of political goals but instead engaged in violence as an expression of their revolutionary goals in themselves.
Echoes of protest: untold stories of the 1984–1985 UK Miners’ Strike
2017
This journal article will take a look at a collaborative project by artist/filmmaker Esther Johnson and filmmaker/writer Debbie Ballin titled Echoes of Protest. This research investigates the legacy of being involved in significant protest movements from a child’s perspective and seeks to understand the role protest can play in the lives of children, and to explore its aftermath. This article will draw upon oral testimony transcriptions and photography undertaken for this project to highlight a perspective of the 1984-85 UK Miners’ Strike that has seldom been explored. The stories collected are from adults remembering what it was like to grow up as a child during the Strike. They articulate the experience with a maturity they may have been unable to express at the time. The text will follow the research methodology, findings, discuss the editing process and invite contributors to reflect on their participation. Key words archive; cross-disciplinary research; documentary; exhibition;...
The Party's Over? The Angry Brigade, the Counterculture, and the British New Left, 1967–1972
The Historical Journal, 2015
ABSTRACTThis article analyses the emergence of politically motivated acts of left-wing terrorism in Britain between 1967 and 1972. Through the case of the ‘Angry Brigade’, an ill-defined grouping which claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against property between 1970 and 1971, it analyses how protest and political violence emerged from discourses and events in the British New Left, the anti-war protest movements, the counterculture, and the underground press. Against common interpretations of ’68 as a watershed of naïve hopes that waned into inaction, this article identifies a consistency of political activity that developed beyond traditional party and class politics towards a more internationally aware and diverse network of struggles for civil equality. Among the shared political and cultural commitments of the counterculture, campaigns around squatting, women's liberation, or the necessity of ‘armed propaganda’ each became possible and at times overlapped. It anal...
'They've got a bomb': sounding anti-nuclearism in the anarcho-punk movement in Britain, 1978-84
Rock Music Studies, 2019
This article explores the links and tensions in Britain between a musical subculture at its height of creative energy – anarcho- punk – and the anti-nuclear movement, including the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. It identifies and interrogates the anti- nuclear elements of anarcho-punk, looking at its leading band, Crass. At the center is an exploration of the sounds of Crass’ music and singing voices – termed Crassonics – in the context of anti-nuclearism: if the bomb changed music and art, what did the new music sound like?
The party's over? The Angry Brigade, the counterculture, and the British New Left, 1967-72
The Historical Journal 58.3, pp. 877-900
This article analyses the emergence of politically-motivated acts of left-wing terrorism in Britain between 1967 and 1972. Through the case of the ‘Angry Brigade’, an ill-defined grouping which claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against property between 1970 and 1971, it analyses how protest and political violence emerged from discourses and events in the British New Left, the anti-war protest movements, the counterculture, and the underground press. Against common interpretations of ’68 as a watershed of naïve hopes that waned into inaction, this article presents a consistency of political activity that developed beyond traditional party and class politics towards a more internationally aware and diverse network of struggles for civil equality. Among the shared political and cultural commitments of the counterculture, campaigns around squatting, women’s liberation, or the necessity of ‘armed propaganda’ each became possible and at times overlapped. Through the development, actions, communications, surrounding media discourses, police investigation and criminal trials of ten individuals for involvement in the Angry Brigade as a brief-lived axis of these overlapping points, it relocates their neglected historical significance among the wider political militancy of the late 1960s to early 1970s, and accounts for their lack of popular support and obscurity since.
'Rise Like Lions After Slumber': Dissent, Protest and (Post-)Politics in Manchester
This article aims to improve our understanding of post-politicization by examining the role of 'ordinary' urban protest movements, using the example of a protest in Alexandra Park, an inner city park in Manchester, UK. The critical literature on postpolitics has improved our understanding of exceptional, large-scale protests, but we know much less about how smaller scale protests emerge and in time wind down. Our research is revealing of the post-politicizing tactics of the city authorities in containing protest and of how the protesters lost momentum, focusing on contesting techno-managerial processes for consultation and undertaking scientific surveys. Whilst universalizing claims were made about democratic enfranchisement, the authorities were able to counter and diffuse these.