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Reclaim the Street Party - Mayday

Me | 14.04.2010 21:39

Saturday 1st May 2010, 4pm

!RAVE AGAINST THE MACHINE!

!STREET SOUNDCLASH!

!RECLAIM THE STREETS PARTY!

Spread the word and invite your friends!

Location to be confirmed... Waterloo/Southbank/Se1 London

Reclaim the Streets! Fuck the Election!

 http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=115953691749777

Hopefully we can build some momentum behind this, so there is something interesting happening on mayday.

Me

Additions

Poster

14.04.2010 22:29

Poster
Poster

Poster

Poster


THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RECLAIM THE STREETS

15.04.2010 01:36

BE WARNED

THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RECLAIM THE STREETS

OlD RTS


Clerkenwell Green to Trafalgar Square Mayday Rally

15.04.2010 14:49

As well as this and Meltdown there's also the traditional Mayday March and Rally from Clerkenwell Green to Trafalgar Square. Complete with organised speakers including Tony Benn. Likely to be a less raucous affair than Meltdown and This bring you own booze street rave.

See, there's something for everybody. So take your pick or organise another alternative.

 http://www.londonmayday.org/home.php

Mayday


Comments

Hide the following 21 comments

why we protest

14.04.2010 22:14

yeah, as long as theres a party thats all that matters.
none of that boring politics or changing the world stuff.... thats boring
most of us are just looking for a party. Thats why we protest, its a social thing to meet people and have fun

Sophie


Uhh

14.04.2010 22:49

Street parties can be a legit form of protest...

Better than just nothing happening.

Howard


you're making it up!

15.04.2010 00:06

you couldn't make it up better if you tried - let's focus our politics around, um, the police, and er, booze... Did you all notice the words on the poster?!!! How low can you go... And if the focus is on having a ruck with the police, which it seems to be, how fucking stupid is telling people to bring booze!!

Party can be a legit part of protest, but organising street parties took quite some, er, organising, not just making a facebook event and knocking up a poster for Indymedia!!! And it was never just about the party, or the police, but there's was a whole load of politics, aims, thought....

"bring booze"......If you had only two more words to use on a poster, is that all you can come up with.

boozer


Response

15.04.2010 09:28

What's with this bullshit?

First 'Anarchists' claim event's are not anarchist because a select group of people aren't involved in organizing. Then a legitimate event to celebrate mayday is delegitimised as "not being connected to Reclaim The Streets". Anyone under 25 probably doesn't even remember the old RTS parties and anyway it's a tactic, there is no ownership by RTS inc. No one owns the right to the title.

What is with people at the moment. Has everyone forgotten what autonomy and solidarity mean? You don't have to agree with everything everyone does but that doesn't mean we should be opposing peoples efforts. There is a bigger battle to be fought.

“There are no such things as superior forms of struggle. Revolt needs everything.”
-At Daggers Drawn

How long are these fractured attitudes going to last? Worst of all it seams to come from people with long term involvement who should know better. Will you not be happy till you make young anarchists feel as alienated and marginalised as you?

And whilst I agree that drinking heavily round the cops may not be a good idea, since when are people not able to make up their own minds? If people want to party and drink let them, if they have more sense to keep their heads in a tense situation then all the better.

Tom


...

15.04.2010 10:02

Howard:
"Street parties can be a legit form of protest...

Better than just nothing happening."
The alternative isn't doing nothing! The alternative is hard work, organising in our workplaces, communities or colleges. But the alternative actually achieves something, street parties do not. All they do is serve to give maybe a couple hundred of young politically radical people a chance to have fun, at the expense of giving left politics a serious recognition. This kind of event is extremely alienating to the vast majority of the working class population, and serves to give anarchist (or whatever else) politics a bad name. I don't think for most people some student types (nothing wrong with being a student, students are still part of the working class, but a small segment of it) dancing is likely to engage people with working class politics - the politics of the International Workers' Day.

Also, isn't there already a similarly badly organised, quite pointless London based activist-y thing going on Mayday? The Election Meltdown Carnival thing? Why we need two of these things is a mystery to me!

Tom:
You fail to give one reason why
a) this will achieve anything
b) criticism is not useful.

Some of the earlier criticism includes the lack of proper organising going into this, that is constructive and we get no response to it.
Besides, I doubt libertarian communists and anarchists like myself and the rest of the organised anarchist movement (AF, SolFed) do have much in common with the liberal "anti-capitalist" politics behind these types of events. Anarchism, other radical left politics, and workers' day must be about class struggle not dancing if we want to build a genuine fighting force to confront capitalism.

(A)


@ (A)

15.04.2010 10:54

I'm not condemning class struggle in the work place but at the same time you are just creating splits in the movement by condemning other protests like you are. Further more if you can't have a bit of fun occasionally I certainly wouldn't want to live in the kind of society that you want to create which would probably be anarchist in name only

Anarchist


Response to (A)

15.04.2010 11:10

But why does hard work, organising in our workplaces, communities or colleges have to be an alternative. There is plenty of room for all these things to take place, and they should. The working class is a diverse and undefinable group of people and no one form of struggle is going to grab the attention of each and every demographic. It appears that some anarchists have some stereotype of the working class in their head, dreaming that one day under the right social conditions will rise up. This stereotype is totally counter productive when in reality our diverse communities cannot be painted with one set of values.

I am not suggesting constructive criticism is not useful, we should always attempt to provide analysis for our actions but it's not helpful when that criticism is unnecessarily hostile, not constructive and from a group which paints it's self as some sort of elite who knows better than others rather than from within those organizing in this way.

This event provides a visible aspect to anti-capitalist/anarchist organising the likes of which has provided the anarchist movement with new faces for the last decade.

I couldn't agree more that real organising is crucial and there are obvious areas where this mobilization is lacking. But constructive criticism would be to make positive suggestions about how to make the event better not criticise it's very existence. There are many things that this event can achieve (redefining public space, empowerment, disruption of capitalist infrastructure etc etc) from an anti-capitalist perspective but I think we probably will ideologically disagree on these.

I would argue that this event differs from the Meltdown event in that streets parties are more spontaneous and egalitarian in nature than some bizarre form of street theatre (which without aiming to contradict myself I believe is alienating to most people). I'm not suggesting that the meltdown should not take place but it's not something I would support personally.


Tom


could someone remove that addition?

15.04.2010 11:51

the point of reclaim the streets is that it was a replicable tactic, regardless of the particular milieu that organised it. i dont see the relevance of it not being organised by the same people.

good luck comrades!

@
- Homepage: http://rts.gn.apc.org/sortit.htm


Calm down

15.04.2010 12:36

Have read with interest most of the comments and agree with much of what has been said. I do however think that the comment that this is not an RTS event is in part a valid one. London Reclaim the Streets never had a monopoly with either the name or concept, rightly so, however what they had was a clear message and through trial an error great organizational skills, admittedly with a certain degree of luck. My concern with the forthcoming event, which I will attend is the message the flyer has with confrontational graphics and messages like bring booze. Yes usually when I attend a party other than my 3 year old niece, I`ll bring a few cans. This flyer falls short in my opinion very short of any Reclaim the Streets flyer I have ever seen from anywhere in england of the world. Sorry.

Ivor Had-Enough.com


Point made in general terms

15.04.2010 12:41

and not to be taken as a specific criticism of this event.

The way I see it drugs and alcohol are not particularly useful when it comes to political activity. It is just possible that the consumption of such substances by a large part of the population actually help to maintain the status quo by negatively impacting on our ability to think critically. This is aside from the cash that sales taxes on alcohol provide for the state.

My particular bias is that I was forced to stop taking alcohol and drugs since I am completely incapable of taking them in moderation. Richard Sennett once claimed that radicalism in the UK was particularly high in the 18th century fermented by roudy gatherings in coffee bars. With the subsequent expansion of the gin trade and public houses everything calmed down again.

party pooper


what a bunch of

15.04.2010 13:37

Bloody 'ell.

"Anarchism, other radical left politics, and workers' day must be about class struggle not dancing if we want to build a genuine fighting force to confront capitalism"

Yep, we want serious talking, not fun and kicking it off with the cops. You'll never get those working class types dancing and fighting. It's such a distraction from the 'class struggle'.

party poopers


ELECTION MELTDOWN

15.04.2010 14:20

There's already a party with a real political point to make on May Day.

 http://meltdown.uk.net/election/Election.html

Election Meltdown


Booze

15.04.2010 14:21

I agree with the comments about booze but come on, people are capable of making up their own mind what is right for them.

Tom


if i cant dance

15.04.2010 17:35

I dont want to be part of your revolution ( or words to that effect).
Reclaiming space is a political act, dancing is a political act.
Capitalism dictates how, when and where we can relax, dance, rave and how much these activities should cost.
Its mayday, a day of celebration and workers relaxing. In this country and around the world we spend more time working than we do just relaxing and being happy.
Class struggle doesnt just take place in our workplaces, or in the dole office, or housing office, it occurs everywhere we struggle and in the post criminal justice act society the struggle occurs everytime we seek to reclaim space for a free rave.
Solfed and afed types not approving of activity like this only further alienates me from these groups. a bunch of middle class pseudo-intellectuals telling us what class struggle is or isnt just pushes me futher away from so called "class-struggle" organising. Workplace organising is important yes (buts let not forget that many working class people in this country dont have jobs), community organising is important too, but real class struggle takes place everywhere and all the time, and particularly whenever we gather en masse and give authority and the legal system the middle finger.

emma goldman


ok...

15.04.2010 18:04

I was the person who posted the first comment under the (A) name.

Tom and others: I appreciate your point that having fun is important. I think where we differ is that you find political content in these street parties, where I find... street parties. On the other hand, I recognise that the original RTS protests were relatively effective and did help mobilise a generation. However, I think these must be very much the sub-heading to the major story, which is not as "party poopers" would have it, sitting around in heated academic debate, but instead organising around the issues that affect us all as part of the working class.

As a specific event, this is absolutely fine, and could well be really fun. I guess my reaction was to the more general trend of activism. You can say that this is just complementary to other stuff, but in practise we've seen a great deal of activism along these lines from the anti-capitalist/anti-globalisation scene, but it has translated into not a huge amount in terms of upping the class struggle. My other concern is that this kind of thing is the image that anarchism gets in the public image, and this can be alienating to many (see the poster, a hugely alienating advert), and certainly this kind of thing is not the main point of anarchism (working class self-organisation and class struggle surely are) so is misleading.

Some of the alleged pro's of holding this:
- Empowerment. Empowerment is a great thing, and you get it from taking collective direct action with others, especially on an equal basis. Reclaiming space can give this. So can an EDL rally for its members - I'm sure smashing up Asians areas was empowering for the people at their demos. The point is that empowerment should be a fortunate by-product of doing effective action, rather than an end in itself.
- Confronting Capital. Really? For one thing almost certainly no damage will be done to private property. But more importantly, if it were, then what would that achieve? Almost no cost damage compared to, say, a strike would be caused. And without a supportive working class it only serves to further the misonceptions people have about our (or mine, if you're an insurrectionist then I suppose then there is no real misconception) kind of politics, which will only help the cause of capital.

(A)


Time to party!

15.04.2010 18:27

Yep, all this theory is a bore. I consider myself an anarchist communist, but people have to live and be on the streets to come alive now and again. Why not have a party? Have a good one, and if you're drinking or likely to be filmed so much as sticking a finger up at the cops, keep your face covered! Have fun!!!

Krop


Don't trust them

15.04.2010 19:06

Trust your instincts and those around you who you know to be true xx

scouser


Response to (A)

15.04.2010 22:40

I also have some dislike for 'activism' ( http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no9/activism.htm) but I would consider activism to be the more liberal single issue projects aiming to influence government policy, essentially asking for authoritarian measures to be taken - in essence not libertarian. Sure it may have it's place but it's reformist in nature, not revolutionary. It should be said alot of class struggle Anarchists do participate in reformist tactics - not that I am criticising this work.

To me anarchist revolutionary behavior (or at least in some cases) is where people come together to determine their own conditions. This can be in the workplace, though there is less pride or craft in the workplace now(a symptom of the global capitalist condition) so people tend to just hate their job and feel apathetic towards it- maybe not a bad thing), it can be in our communities both geographical or social/cultural or it could just be a group of people redefining a space, having fun together and finding joy in a world where so much of what we do it predetermined for us.

As for empowerment, I understand what you are saying and it would be hard to comment further without discussing power dynamics to a length I don't wish to get into here.

As for disruption to capital. That doesn't require smashing windows, just taking space can do that. But your right a strike would be much more effective so lets do that to!

I feel as though I have said enough here now. Essentially, our arguments aren't so different, which was my initial point that we should be supportive of diverse forms of anti-authoritarian struggle, even if it doesn't fit our understanding of how social change takes place. There are larger battles to be fought.

Towards anarchism without adjectives.

Tom


deadend

15.04.2010 23:00

I consider myself an socialist anarchist with communist ideals. This party is self-destructing towards a society where everyone can live without borders. I think we would be better served to form a protest rather than alienate the uneducated public.

Such an automonous move is benign when the hangover is over. We need to reflect on what has been done before and build on it rather than just partying. If you're just there for a good time, then you aren't really interested in what happens in the bad times. Alcohol and drugs are distort reality and only offer a false sense of security.

Support other brothers

communist libetarian


festival of ideas

16.04.2010 00:30

i like the comment by emma goldman

a respected comrade in the right to work group  http://www.righttowork.org.uk says now is the time to be building the revolutionary centre and i agree. he said to me today that wider leftist/workplace organising community should get involved in anarcho-communist meltdown and/or the street party.

he likes meltdown's idea calling for the setting up of democracy village for the 6 days to election day in the square.

can we drop our differences and pull it off?

why not put out invitations to all the different groupings, if we work together we can bring people forward from different leftist/libertarian struggles & share in a festival of ideas, the real parliament in the square. let's meet on mayday week to share, create a space for bridge building, ideological exploration in class solidarity (from below) and express something includes but also goes beyond theatre/ party and helps to create new connections for the future. maybe we can inspire more people to so something different on election day; what about amassing at town halls or come down to parliament square.

for people interested in the right to work campaign there is a resist anti-union law meeting next thurs 22nd 7.30pm NUJ Head Office WC1

and if you don't like the way meltdown organises, come to the next meeting - this sat 17th@ the foundry 3pm

power to peoples' assemblies

no-one
- Homepage: http://www.meltdown.uk.net


patetic

16.04.2010 15:10

all this comments are fuking stupid....evryone like to bitch about the others but no one does nothing ..ho im anarcho communist so i think this way . ho im anarcho sindicalist so i think this way , or im anarcho whatever so no thanx ..What fuk guys do you actually know that all of us we need to be united and fighting against goverments , capitalism , animal abusers , cops etc etc etc ..fuking stop bitching and fight .... yea is a party and ?????????? go there have fun , meet new people , get ideas from actions ..have beer do whatever you want thats the reason that so many of us we think in libertarian ideas and communities....so many good people are in jail for fighting for us to have better world and you guys are fuking bitching about party ....fuk everybody who cames to this site to bitch about partys , actions , demos ,,,,,, if you guys are so called anarchist where are you guys when awesome squats are evicted ??? where are you guys when comrades get nicked and need support (example g 20 prisoners, riots for palestine rights, antifa , squatters and many many more ) have fuking life and stop bitching .... the world is big the streets are ours .....unit and fight

no name


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