Community activist groups can be a significant force in local politics, as experiences in both Haringey and Tower Hamlets show.
Solidarity at the doorstep
Tag: community organising
They started the revolution without you… but you are welcome to join in
Easter weekend I was transported to a vision of the future. Not in some vague, William Morris, utopian way (although, all power to that!.. we definitely need more utopian visions to counter the pathological cynicism of dystopian fun-sponges), but in a very real, practical and inspiring way. The host for our latest DIY Alliance (DIYA)
Haringey Solidarity Group: A Celebration of 30 years of radical ideas and campaigning in Haringey and beyond
May 11th 2021 was the 30th anniversary of the Haringey Solidarity Group in North London. To celebrate we held a special online event looking at some of the activities and struggles the group has been involved in over the 3 decades since its foundation. Those attending contributed some memories and reflections, and some views on
Northumberland: Alnwick Community Larder forced to close following ‘vandalism’ allegation
Alnwick is a town of around 8,000 people in north Northumberland. Although historically it’s been a relatively prosperous market town, we also have a food bank that has seen a massive increase in use since the start of the pandemic. A mutual aid group sprung up last year too, and one of our main initiatives
Crops NOT Shops: Growing the Mutual Millennium
Last month I suggested that there was good reason to believe that we were witnessing the birth of the ‘mutual millennium’. Austerity, socio-economic polarisation and the shuffling incompetence of the zombified neoliberal economy had already seen a slow and steady stream of grassroots community innovation as the wages and social securities of the poorest were
Save Sinjajevina: Herders and activists protect unique Montenegrin pastures from military occupation
After a mobile blockade lasting almost two months, a small group of traditional herders and activists has successfully repelled NATO and the Montenegrin military’s efforts to occupy the territory of Sinjajevina in Montenegro – the largest mountain grassland in the Balkans and the second in Europe. In an archetypal David and Goliath encounter, Sinjajenivan herders
Don’t despair, organise!: Affinity Collective
Immense urban belts are encroaching unrelentingly on the countryside, replacing flora and fauna with concrete, metal and glass, and enveloping large regions in a haze of atmospheric pollutants. In the mass urban world, human experience itself becomes crude and elemental, subject to brute noisy stimuli and crass bureaucratic manipulation… Years ago, the French students in
Poland: Anarchists successfully stop allotment gardens eviction
Anarchists from Rozbrat squat in Poznań, together with other groups, have successfully stopped the eviction of neighbouring allotment gardens “ROD Bogdanka”. The allotments are a part of the city’s green belt and have been used by the community since 1953. For decades, the land belonged to the state treasury. In the early 90s, it was
Shunning Treesponsibility: South Yorkshire still a dangerous place… if you’re a tree!
Learning absolutely nothing from the 8-year-long Sheffield Tree Felling Protests, South Yorkshire’s Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC) have been busy implementing their own legally dubious plan to fell 64 healthy lime trees on Middlefield Road in the Doncaster suburb of Bessacarr. The unfortunate trees have been targeted because of suspected root damage to pavements and
From Mutual Aid to Food Co-ops
It has been almost a year since Cooperation Town came into being. In December 2019, Labour lost yet another election and Corbyn was out of the game. Surprisingly or not, depending on your conviction, the electoral system failed to deliver and it became clear to many on the left that continuing to invest energy and
Recent Articles
Fire and passion: The life of Ukrainian anarchist Maria Nikiforova
On the anniversary of Maria Nikiforova’s execution at the hands of the White Army on September 17, 1919, we present a translation of Anatoly Dubovik’s biographical sketch of this unique Ukrainian anarchist ~ Anatoly Dubovik, translated by Malcolm Archibald ~ Maria Nikiforova is perhaps the most famous female anarchist who operated on the territory of the
Museum of Neoliberalism closes as building knocked down for luxury flats
The anti-capitalist tourist attraction played with the perceived factual authority of a museum ~ Gavin Grindon ~ After five years as Lewisham’s premier anti-capitalist tourist attraction, the Museum of Neoliberalism closed its doors for the final time on 15th Sept, as the building is being sold to a developer.
Billionaires in space
Elite tourism is not ‘paving humanity’s way to the stars’, but elites’ escape from a dying planet ~ Andrew J Boyer ~ Jared Isaacman has become the first billionaire to space-walk, in a successful Space-X mission titled Polaris Dawn.
Disruption and police aggression at Melbourne arms fair
Up to 100 protesters injured by police during Disrupt Land Forces picket on 11 September ~ Gabriel Fonten ~ The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre was surrounded by confrontational anti-militarist protests between 8–13 September; 42 people were arrested in connection with the protests, and human rights groups have condemned the excessive use of force.
Jury refuses to convict Palestine activists
No verdict returned after judge rules out any lawful excuse for April military firm raid ~ Cristina Sykes ~ A jury at Bradford Crown Court today refused to convict four Palestine Action defendants who shut down an Israel-supplying military electronics firm in April.
