Search

Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton

Mr. barton your labour candidate, will see what he cando... in hay’s car: day hay glances across at barton’s set face. barton is very shocked and recoils from the barton's flat: night barton throws pen down.

Dangerous Liaisons

we've been banned from our facilities.' a and here we come to the poll-tax crisis - that vacuum left by the communist party and the labour party has been filled by the ultra left, for whom the campaign is subordinate to their selfinterest. It is a reminder of the hybrid that is the new model labour party with old-style structures, traditions that live on from the past, together with modernisers who are the voices of new times, for sure, with their eyes and ears plugged into the video screens and opinion polls, but who are often alienated from activism, whether it's the poll tax unions or comic relief or women's aid.

SPECIAL FEATURE

You satisfy people’s needs to see issues like the angry brigade or the class nature of justice discussed in a bright and provocative way, but at the same time, just when yo u ’ve been allowed to make them think about these things, in your guardian article or in the standard, you assure them that there is no credible revolutionary ideology. culture in britain and in the widest sense o f the word: written, visual, lived; culture in terms of people's beliefs in things like fairness, justice, the attitudes to violence; all these things have a profound political importance, and obviously this is ingrained in people.

Colluding in the backlash? Feminism and the construction of 'orthodoxy'

Soundings 20  soundings issue 5 spring 1997 colluding in the backlash? feminism and the construction of 'orthodoxy' rosalind gill rosalind gill argues that to talk of feminism as an orthodoxy is to play into the hands of those who call us 'femi-nazis' or 'political correctness thought police'. Interestingly, there seems to be no consensus among these feminists about the nature or content of 'feminist orthodoxy'; for example, protagonists in different camps of the pornography debate routinely claim to challenge it, while, in discussions about the status of mothering in feminist theory, some claim that feminism has been preoccupied with it, while others claim that it has been virtually ignored.

Colluding in the Backlash? Feminism and the Construction of 'Orthodoxy?

Soundings 20  soundings issue 5 spring 1997 colluding in the backlash? feminism and the construction of 'orthodoxy' rosalind gill rosalind gill argues that to talk of feminism as an orthodoxy is to play into the hands of those who call us 'femi-nazis' or 'political correctness thought police'. Interestingly, there seems to be no consensus among these feminists about the nature or content of 'feminist orthodoxy'; for example, protagonists in different camps of the pornography debate routinely claim to challenge it, while, in discussions about the status of mothering in feminist theory, some claim that feminism has been preoccupied with it, while others claim that it has been virtually ignored.

Clarke's Unhealthy Obsession

Even people who abandon the public health service for private care clutch at the nhs as a symbol - our last one perhaps of a world in which caring, public service, need and equality take precedence over competition and making money. Mr clarke's reformed nhs will be run by a newly authoritative management applying strict criteria of patient throughput, value for money and presti- 'once popular for his insouciant good cheer, he has become suspicious and jumpy, quick to give and take offence' tures of closed schools and delayed commuters hardly fit the image of the new, caring, public employees.

The General Strike In The North East

general strike all railwaymen to cease work to-night transport workers, printers and metal workers to follow general council's arrangements for general stoppage the front page gives news of readiness for action in the area, of local councils of notion going ahead, and of union executive committees following the lead of the general council. The bodies of men at his disposal were the various government officials, the organisation for the maintenance of supplies (3), other strike breaking bodies "composed mainly of middle class persons", the fascists one of whose organisations had an arrangements with o.m.s., the special constabulary, (1) "traffic circulation on the great north-south arteries running through durham and northumberland was completely stopped by the implacable tourniquet of the miners' mass picketing"; a. hutt, post-war history of the british working class (gollancz, 1937) 150-1. (2) it was printed in labour monthly (june, 1926) without mention of the place concerned; it appears also in r.page arnot, the miners: years of struggle (allen & unwin, 1953) 436-9. (3) set up in september 1925 ostensibly as a voluntary and non¬ governmental agency but handed over to the government from the outset of the strike.

Reimagining the inhuman city

processes which he conceived of this as a right to direct and internalise the shape the character and direction of the city spacial inequality of through forms of participation and appropriation cities' which are distinct from, and transcend, the right to property and the right merely to visit the city.9 expelled from the centrality of the city by the omnipresent walls of property and the enclosure of public spaces, and also expelled intellectually and symbolically from the representations of the city which pervade and structure official decision-making processes, marginalised groups find their ability to form this 'meandering cry and demand' crushed. the argument of gramsci, that advanced capitalist societies depend for their legitimacy on the 'spontaneous consent given by the great masses of the population to the general direction imposed on social life by the dominant fundamental group' can inform our ways of thinking about how social/political movements can challenge and reshape this direction.3 dominant groups elicit this 'spontaneous consent' by constructing hegemonic power relations which, through a complex interlocking of political, social and cultural forces, diffuse their own lived system of meanings and values throughout the whole of social life.

Reimagining the Inhuman City: The 'Pure Genius' Land Occupation

processes which he conceived of this as a right to direct and internalise the shape the character and direction of the city spacial inequality of through forms of participation and appropriation cities' which are distinct from, and transcend, the right to property and the right merely to visit the city.9 expelled from the centrality of the city by the omnipresent walls of property and the enclosure of public spaces, and also expelled intellectually and symbolically from the representations of the city which pervade and structure official decision-making processes, marginalised groups find their ability to form this 'meandering cry and demand' crushed. the argument of gramsci, that advanced capitalist societies depend for their legitimacy on the 'spontaneous consent given by the great masses of the population to the general direction imposed on social life by the dominant fundamental group' can inform our ways of thinking about how social/political movements can challenge and reshape this direction.3 dominant groups elicit this 'spontaneous consent' by constructing hegemonic power relations which, through a complex interlocking of political, social and cultural forces, diffuse their own lived system of meanings and values throughout the whole of social life.

Commitment in cinema criticism

this is the point where the hard work of writing a criticism of the exhibition is smoothly side-stepped; instead of pointing out where mr. steichen fails to measure up poetically to .the texts he has chosen, raymond dismisses the text themselves, and with them an aspiration which has long found a place in the hearts of men, and still does today. Universities & left review spring 1957 vol.1 no 1 commitment in cinema criticism lindsay anderson* instead of starting with any theoretical discussion about the nature of criticism, it may be useful to clear the ground by considering some aspects of its practice at the moment.

Baa-Baa Zapped Sheep

Focus baa-baa zapped sheep a year has passed since fallout from the chernobyl cloud contaminated grazing in northern britain with radioactive caesium, but the ministry of agri- culture fisheries and food (maff) is still finding high levels in sheep and expects this year's lambs to be born contaminated too. the original ban on move- marxism today may 1987  focus cumbrian crisis: the sheep that fell victim of chernobyl ment and slaughter of sheep, imposed two months after the chernobyl rain, was expected to last just three weeks, after which time the minister 'firmly believed' the caesium would disappear.

From El Salvador to The Falklands: a strategy in disarray

To her joint-declaration with mexico on el salvador, france added the sale of helicopters, patrol boats and (in some accounts) other weaponry to the sandinista government of nicaragua.  12 june 1982 marxism today 'authoritarian' and 'totalitarian' the reagan administration's difficulties in enlisting overseas support for more ambitious military involvement in central america and the caribbean were compounded by mounting domestic concern at the nature of the regimes that were to be 'saved' in the region. when the us public was informed in 1981 that el salvador was now the 'number one' issue in us foreign policy, an unsurprisingly large number of newspapers and tv networks sent reporters and camera crews to inspect the place. All these exercises were intended to be interpreted as preparations for the imposition of a naval blockade of cuba, with or without an invasion of either or both cuba and in the context of the reagan administration's own project for intervention in central america and the caribbean, the non-invasion of poland was highly disruptive grenada.

INTERNATIONAL

c a p ita lis m and u n d e rd e v e lo p m e n t in latin a m e ric a andre g under frank 55p for th e l ib e ratio n of b razil carlos marighela 30p g u a te m a la : a n o th e r v ie tn a m thomas and m arjorie m elville 55p r e v o lu tio n in th e r e v o lu tio n ? regis debray 25p t h e t w e n ty latin a m e ric a s marcel niedergang two volumes 60p each these titles are available from your bookseller or, in case o f difficulty, from j. barnicoat (falmouth) ltd, po box 11, falmouth, cornwall enclosing price o f books required, plus 5p per volume postage 10 or the communists the shooting of a maoist at renault was a result of provocation by the ultra-left. phil beyer, 22, a bricklayer and a former shop steward on a mowlem site, had just applied for a job on woodgate valley site a. this was a particulary difficult and unorganised site, because bryants had shunted all the blacklegs there after october’s victory on site b. even though bricklayers were needed, beyer was refused work.

Fighting the Cuts - the Lambeth Experience

At the annual general meeting of a local umbrella group9, the leader of the council, ted knight, said that lambeth council would not accept any cuts in lambeth, but that to make this effective would require strong support from the people of lambeth. however, when soon after the government announced the 2.5% cut in the rate support grant for 1979/80, the labour group imposed a 4.5% reduction in budget on all lambeth's services across the board, making a projected saving of £2.9m. the decision made was immediately disputed in the trades council, who sponsored the formation of what came to be known as the lambeth fightback campaign. 18 may 1980 marxism today central government: the eminence grise fighting the cuts the lambeth experience jeff rodrigues introduction the election of the tory government in may 1979, committed to the pursuit of monetarist policy, and especially, to a major reduction in public expenditure, presented an immediate political problem for the labour movement in general, and for labour local authorities in particular, because of the immediate effects of the cut in the 1979/80 rate support grant, 1 the amount by which central government funds the local authority.

The Class Struggle in Local Affairs (part 2)

in the next, nine years, up to the time when" the policy of disunity in the national labour party led to the exclusion of communists from, the labour party and the disaffiliation of those labour parties who, like bethnal green, refused to throw out their communists, the bethnal green council shows a remarkable record of activity in the interests of the working class. for general reading and reference webb, sidney and beatrice i english local government - parish and county ditto ditto manor and borough hammond, j.l. and barbara: the town labourer, 1760-1832 (esp.chap.ill & v) smallie, k.b.i history'of local government engels, ft condition of the working class in england in i844 parliamentary papers referred to in this pamphlet report of select committee on vestries s 1830, iv report of poor law" inquiry,'1834 (cambridge evidence report of select committee is in vol.xxviii) on parliamentary and municipal elections, (evidence) 1868-9, viii report of select committee on hours of polling, 1877,xv, and 1878,xiii.

The Painful Path to Health

whilst almost every citizen will get appropriate emergency medical care when it is needed, if necessary by transfer from one part of the country to another, routine services and even some lifesaving facilities are not evenly and nhs crisis the painful path to health the guiding principles of the national health service are no longer workable. This will permit the department of health to divert a proportion of profits into nhs services, to rationalise research, and to use the industry's links with nhs professionals to promote government priorities in medical care.

HOME

3  7 days 8 march 1972 exploitation in th ird w o rld the films black burden - m an s china - legacy of unvanquished - murder by empire - the n egl e ct + gl a ub e r morte s & terra rocha's em antonio transe s e mi n a r s/ di sc u ssi on s - b ri ti sh , u.s. overseas free sample copy from: the institute of race relations 37 jermyn street london sw1y 6du (01-734 4606)  7 days 8 march 1972 power cut scandal how the cegb conned the people andrew cockburn he central elec­ tricity board spoke of the “calculated risk” it was taking on march 1 when the government breathlessly announ­ ced that it was lifting practically all restrictions on the use of elec­ tricity.

A Commitment Dialogue

It might be disastrous for you as an artist to be heavily engaged in the kind of detailed political work to which you are probably temperamentally completely unsuited; but the act of identification is important to the labour party, and i would have thought that actual identification was important for you as an individual, and even probably as an artist, because surely one of the difficulties which has been discussed in u.l.r. is this whole question of saying: "well, we must make a positive act of faith here; but the minute you talk about economics, sociology, politics, the artist says "this doesn't concern me'!" One doesn't join the labour party because one agrees with its policies —one joins because it is in this realm, the realm of the labour party movement, that ultimately we must act, and if no action takes place there, then everything else is futile, even though the labour party may not be doing the things that we as artists think are tremendously important.

Letters Reviews, Notices and ads

It’s important that Red Rag gets feedback

RED BRIGADES

RED BRIGADES The Red Brigades, Italy's largest left wing terrorist organisation, suffered their biggest

ARTS

french speakers r a n v i e r , member of the commune l issa caray, national guard l ongue t , member of the commune v ajllant t hei sz members l eo f r a n k e l i of the se r r a i l l t e r commune andrieux arnaud d e l a haye, member of the labour committee cournet, member of the commune c a m e l i n a t , director of the mint e u d e s , member of the commune joffrin, delegate from the 18th arrondisement a 22 d m i s s i o l e moussu, commissary of public safety bours i e r , member of the cemral committee engli sh speakers dr . k arl m arx h a le8 m ilner w es t o n m cd o n n e l j o h n s o n b o o n m it c h eli. p u b l i c m eetin g will be held in st. g eo rg e s h a l l , langham place, regent street, u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s of t h e members of the international, the democrats of london and the refugees of the commune, on monday, march 18, 1872, at fichi pm., to commemorate t h e social revolution of paris.

Reviews

Now it is true that the communists are further from the neutrals and nearer to the fascists on the t scale than they are on the f scale: but again how is it possible for so dedicated a follower of measurement as eysenck to produce the thesis that both communists and fascists are highly tough-minded? a further study by eysenck on this theme using both middle class and working class members of the liberal, labour and communist parties has been criticised by rokeach and hanley (1956). 3 more vessels under construction ghana’s national line cargo and passengers services: from west africa to u.k. - continent united states of america - canada - mediterranean and adriatic ports london office: audrey house annexe, 2-4 houndsditch, london e.c.3, telephone: avenue 1981, cable blakstar, london e.c.3 central office: 28th february road, p.o. box 2760, accra. telephone: 64951-52.

SPORT

It t h e r e f e e l in g s o r r y fo r y o u r s e l f ! an n u al c o n f e r e n c e p a l e s t in e s o l id a r it y cam paign saturday, february 5, conway hall, red lion st., london wc2.

INTERNATIONAL/CAPITALISM

f ig h t t h e s e l l o u t in r h o d esia d em o n st r a te su n d a y 13th f e b r u a r y meet speakers corner (hyde park) 1 p.m. march to trafalgar square for rally 2.30 p.m. platform will include: bishop m uzo rew a, chairman african national council, rhodesia m ic h a el fo o t Y r u l e su ppo rt t h e s t r u g g l e of t h e zim babw e p e o p l e rhodesia emergency campaign committee anti apartheid movement 89 charlotte street, london w1p 2dq.

Pickpocke

brown-red rich under rain and melted snow. “Yes father.” The boy stands on the