Anarchist Bookfair 2009

[Rod Sleeves]

Nothing in the london bookfair about current struggles on these islands?

Er the Reel News one featured Visteon and Vestas.

I quite enjoyed the bookfair, there was a really good and productive meeting on the postal strike, with quite a bit of input from postal workers, and the Liberty and Solidarity meeting was pretty productive as well.

 

[Rod Sleeves]

I didn't think it smelt that bad this year, but I did smear my face and neck with CK One before I arrived which may have drowned it out.

 

[DeepStoat]

What was the Greece one like? I meant to go but ended up in the pub at that point, oh dear.

She didn't cover much about the reasons for the uprising in any detail but there was mention at a latter meeting about the amount of propaganda distributed at schools previous to kids taking to the streets too.

TBH I had leave as it was getting interesting as I'd just come form the pub and was gagging for a piss.

I think some of the people I spoke to wanted to hear a road map that they took to get the insurrection, which they felt was lacking.

Personally, I was trying not to piss my self.

 

[butchersapron]

....oh and apparently we've become Class War, which was nice.

What?

 

[DeepStoat]

What?

You 'eard.

 

[butchersapron]

I heard but what do you mean?

 

[IC3D]

The sexworkers meeting got very lively at the end, with some anarcha femminists rowing with sexworkers. Basically prostitution is rape ..er so is it ok to rape prostitutes then hmm, it seemed a bit clueless and patronising to ignore the views of the sexworkers, I guess cos they are part of the system. Really big meeting with shouting and a few

 

[butchersapron]

Holy fuck, are you serious? Anyone else on here at that meeting?

 

[IC3D]

That wasn't exactly how it was presented but it was pretty obvious that was the position, there was one woman who gave a short talk early on who left after, I guess refusing to hear the sexworkers, then at the end it kicked off. The chair said let the nutter speak which was highly entertaining if a bit rude, I think though am not sure that a few of the women that stormed that beauty pagent a few months ago were in the audience because there was some walking out after after laying into the sexworkers who in fairness gave a firm response, it carried on a bit in the hall after too

 

[Rod Sleeves]

Holy fuck, are you serious? Anyone else on here at that meeting?

No but I heard about it afterwards, including from someone I know and trust politically.

There was a panal of speakers talking about organising sex workers, including sex workers themselves from the ISWU and the English Collective of Prostitutes, and some rent boys as well.

As soon as they finished talking and it was opened to the floor, some liberal feminists (that was what two different radical anarch(a) feminists described them as to me) launched into a massive attack claiming that organising sex workers was glamourising sex work, and that we should be organising to get sex work outlawed and criminalised more than it already is. Understandably the majority took offence at this and responded with a bit of a row.

Personally if I'd been at the meeting I would have argued for the physical removal of the opponents of organising sex workers as their view does not deserve to be heard at a meeting about organising sex work.

If you're not starting from a perspective of the right of all workers to organise to improve their conditions and extend their self management then you shouldn't even be at the anarchist bookfair, and you're not a radical or anarcha feminist.

I was told that the majority in the meeting were overwhelmingly in support of organisation and decriminalisation.

 

[butchersapron]

Cheers rodders, reminiscent of the SSP's debate on sex-work.

 

[butchersapron]

That wasn't exactly how it was presented but it was pretty obvious that was the position, there was one woman who gave a short talk early on who left after, I guess refusing to hear the sexworkers, then at the end it kicked off. The chair said let the nutter speak which was highly entertaining if a bit rude, I think though am not sure that a few of the women that stormed that beauty pagent a few months ago were in the audience because there was some walking out after after laying into the sexworkers who in fairness gave a firm response, it carried on a bit in the hall after too

Ta, if there was one meeting where i didn't think it would kick off this would probably be it.

 

[chico enrico]

shit, i wish i'd gone to that. 'anarcho feminists' were nut-jobs 25 years ago and sounds like they haven't changed much since then.

still, i did get a nice button badge off their stall with the words 'lesbian action' on it. something i am most in favour of

 

[Rod Sleeves]

shit, i wish i'd gone to that. 'anarcho feminists' were nut-jobs 25 years ago and sounds like they haven't changed much since then.

still, i did get a nice button badge off their stall with the words 'lesbian action' on it. something i am most in favour of

Most of the anarcha feminists opposed the "nutters" as the chair described them though, so I'm not convinced this incident illustrates your opinion.

Lesbian Action would be a great name for a political group though, I bet their journal would outsell the first issue of CW

 

[chico enrico]

the English Collective of Prostitutes

actually, as i recall, back in the day, none of the ECP were actually prozzies. they were just a bunch of dippy cows who took on this mantle, just as you used to get 'political lesbians' who adopted this as a radical label, whilst being in relationships/marriages with men and never actually bumping puss.

in around 1982/83 their big action was when the ECP squatted a church in Kings Cross , ostensibly to provide a drop in centre for the working women who did business in the area, holding press conferences and attracting lots of media attention. the result being that the prostitutes who worked the streets in the area, and had done so for years with a fairly hands-off approach from the old bill, had to go further afield to more dangerous and risky areas, where one was shortly after murdered.

Right On, Sister.

 

[butchersapron]

It used to be said none of the ECP were either english or prostitutes.

 

[chico enrico]

Lesbian Action would be a great name for a political group though, I bet their journal would outsell the first issue of CW

i believe some other 'journals' have already been published exploring this. Try your local newsagents; top shelf.

 

[chico enrico]

It used to be said none of the ECP were either english or prostitutes.

yea, they just got the idea from the French Collective of prostitutes who were largely working girls and did do a lot of good work/actions in the early 80s. They published a book called 'prostitutes: our lives'.

the ECP were just cynical, careerist opportunists.

 

[Rod Sleeves]

i believe some other 'journals' have already been published exploring this. Try your local newsagents; top shelf.

If you do a google image search for Lesbian Action it gets some interesting results to be fair.

On the ECP, the criticisms may be correct I dunno, but again it does not act as evidence for the majority of radical or anarcha feminists being loons. The ones I know - including some involved with No Pretence are really sound, excellent activists on a wide variety of issues, and are definitely pro worker's self organisation - and some have done really good work along those lines...

I don't agree with all their analysis, but I certainly don't agree with a lot of the criticisms of them either, and I think they actually get a lot right, especially about the role of women within the class struggle, and the social movements.

 

[IC3D]

Most of the anarcha feminists opposed the "nutters" as the chair described them though, so I'm not convinced this incident illustrates your opinion.

Lesbian Action would be a great name for a political group though, I bet their journal would outsell the first issue of CW

Yes thats right I would describe them more as liberal feminists sorry for not being clear and they would of fitted in more at Labour conference, though the woman that spoke I would describe as more an old school anarcha

 

[DeepStoat]

I heard but what do you mean?

Why?

 

[TopCat]

Why?

Because you were not clear and need to elucidate what you were trying to communicate.

 

[Rod Sleeves]

Why?

It would be interesting to know why you (Cambridgeshire Anarchists?) were described as being Class War.

 

[DeepStoat]

It would be interesting to know why you (Cambridgeshire Anarchists?) were described as being Class War.

We had a meeting with some bods from CW and decided to affiliate with CW.

 

[butchersapron]

Massive massive news.

 

[DeepStoat]

Massive massive news.

You fucking asked.

 

[butchersapron]

Are you, like others from hereford and environs now included in the Bristol CW group?

 

[TopCat]

We had a meeting with some bods from CW and decided to affiliate with CW.

Don't hold the front page.

 

[Rod Sleeves]

We had a meeting with some bods from CW and decided to affiliate with CW.

Cool, CW are sound.

 

[butchersapron]

You fucking asked.

I did didn't i. You made it sound like it was something special though. Congrats, you can now say that you're in Class War.