Last Orders For The Local?
Inspired by the destruction of most of the best pubs in our locality and the increasing difficulty in finding a pub with a bearable atmosphere to enjoy a drink in, Last Orders For The Local? casts a critical eye over recent changes to pub environments and the emergence of Theming as a marketing factor in various fields of leisure and consumption; and ponders how this connects to the balance of class forces and changes in the way we relate to history and memory.
The Welfare State isn’t now, and never was, a “genuine gain for the working class”.
In the 1880s Bismarck's social insurance programs - old age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance - were the first in the world and became the model for other countries and the basis of the modern welfare state. His aim was to undermine the appeal of the Socialists as well as the networks of working class solidarity, and to recuperate and pacify social contestation.
The following is a long leaflet from 1985, produced (for a union-organised demonstration against Norman Fowler's changes in the welfare system) by some ex-members of Workers Playtime and the London Workers Group. It is still surprisingly pertinent, though obviously the names of politicians and the precise policies have changed.
The Politics Of French Rap
This is a small section of a far longer text about music, called "Some Musical Notes" which was originally published on the old endangered phoenix site. It was published at the beginning of 2006.
[i]" French culture combines a highly rationalistic mode of discourse with great value placed upon verbal articulation.
A Critique of Cynicism: Something from Nothing
Written by Isaac Cronin, this was taken from Implications, published in the USA in December 1975. It formed part of a critique of Vaneigem's 'The Revolution of Everyday Life', and was basically an extension of Vaneigem's chapter on nihilism, bringing in post-68 tendencies which still have relevance today. The whole of this text, some of which I will put out in the library, is a far better take on Vaneigem than the silly critiques by various ultra-leftists who superficially dismiss wholesale what he had to say, usually because some of it is implicitly a critique of them.
Something from Nothing
“One masters the world to the extent that one says it is nothing, that it is
already negated.” —Nietzsche, The Will to Power
The Poverty of French Rock ‘n’ Roll by Larry Portis
This is chapter 6 of Larry Portis' book French Frenzies.
Larry Portis died a week ago near Ales in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of the South West of France, and was buried just 2 days ago on Friday afternoon. He died suddenly of a totally unpredictable heart attack, at the tender age of 67, almost 68.
The following is an example of the originality of his research, which, despite its academic stance , is full of fascinating facts and insights, which can form the basis for a more proletarian critique of musical forms. Despite all its faults, it's a really good read. Enjoy!
The advent of rock and roll in France was not a social phenomenon of great depth or importance as it was in the United States or Britain. The abrupt commercial breakthrough of rock and roll in France did not shake up the music industry so much as to create new marketing possibilities.
St. Pauls, Bristol 1980
An unfinished text, written in 2006 (originally entitled "1981 & All That"), intended to be about the riots of 1981, but only the bit about the uprising in the St.Paul's district of Bristol was completed. For obvious reasons, I've decided to put this now in the library.
The introduction gives a flavour of the pessimistic feel of 5 years ago. The last 5 or 6 months since Millbank has changed that, but there's still a long way to go (and a fairly short time to do it) for the new social movements to re-learn the strengths and weaknesses of past movements in order to go beyond them - and this time without a significantly "definitive" defeat and retreat.
1981 & All That
2 petits trucs sur les émeutes de novembre 2005
Réflexions Provisoires de Paris et
Quelques notes sur les émeutes pour tous ceux qui veulent changer le monde
Il m’est évidemment difficile, malgré des conversations avec des amis, en particulier en province, de me faire des idées précises sur ce qui est arrivé ces quinze derniers jours et sur ce qui continue à éclater, de ci de là, de façon plus ou moins sporadique. Mais, je crois que nous pouvons déjà remarquer plusieurs choses.
1. Réflexions Provisoires de Paris
L’occupation du territoire par l’art et la gentrification
« Rien que des chefs d’oeuvre ! La peinture, opérant à coup sûr, en enfante tellement qu’on se voit dans l’agréable nécessité de remuer les tableaux à la pelle, ce qui n’ôte rien à leur valeur.»
- Granville
Cette traduction de l’article « The Occupation of Art and Gentrification » a été effectuée au cours de l’automne 2007. Il fut publié pour la première fois en 1989 dans le recueil « No Reservations », édité à Londres.
New York, les années 80
“Culture en danger?” - si seulement...
Quelques réflexions sur le mouvement des intermittents et sur certains aspects du mouvement contre le néo-libéralisme.
L’Etat ne veut pas que la culture disparaisse.
Au contraire, plus les choses vont mal, et plus la culture est essentielle pour maintenir cette société démente.
Quelques réflexions sur le mouvement des intermittents et sur certains aspects du mouvement contre le néo-libéralisme.
Publié le 20 octobre 2003.
Rebel violence vs. hierarchical violence, UK 1985-86
A chronology of anti-hierarchical violence in mainland UK, July 1985 - May 1986. A bit of nostalgia and/or a lesson in over-optimism? A text from that epoch that covers some of the contradictions of the social movements in the period after the miners strike.
Includes a look at riots in Liverpool, Notting Hill, Birmingham, Brixton, Peckham, Tottenham, and lots of smaller riots, plus riotous strikes in mining areas, at Wapping and prison riots. Also a look at some of the contradictions of football hooliganism, drug taking and other stuff.
Some of it has not come out very clearly, but almost all of it is readable.
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