Ecology and Counter-Culture

Murray Bookchin’s distinction between (single-issue, narrowly conservationist, socially conformist) ‘environmentalism’ and (critically systemic, socially radical,) ‘ecology’ is a useful mind tool in counter-acting the abundant blind spots, taboos and myopias of conventional ‘environmentalism’. In his pivotal text Post-Scarcity Anarchism, Bookchin merges the liberatory essences of traditional anarchism and the modern youth culture by way of a socially creative interpretation of the science of ecology:

What is desirable is also necessary. Man’s desire for unrepressed, spontaneous expression, for variety in experience and surroundings, and for an environment scaled to human dimensions must also be realized to achieve natural equilibrium. The ecological problems of the old society thus reveal the methods that will shape the new. The intuition that all of these processes are converging toward an entirely new way of life finds its most concrete confirmation in the youth culture.

 

For full article about the relation between ecology and counter-culture follow the link: http://bit.ly/Q3MJRq

 

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“The assumption that what currently exists must necessarily exist is the acid that corrodes all visionary thinking.”, Murray Bookchin (‘The Meaning of Confederalism’, 1989).

 

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“Now I know – you know, we all know – that the fans were right.”

 

With the recent revelation of the true events of the Hillsborough disaster, new accusations are flying…

‘So, former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie has instructed solicitors to demand an ‘apology and recompense’ from South Yorkshire Police over the newspaper’s discredited reporting of the Hillsborough disaster’ writes Granville Williams on the CPBF web site www.cpbf.org.uk . ‘It really is the most amazing cheek for him to portray himself as a ‘victim’. Disgusting in fact…’

 

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Despite the Sun is an investigation into one of Rupert Murdoch’s scandals back in 1986:

In January 1986, Rupert Murdoch moved his printing operation, News International, from Fleet St to Wapping in East London. Over 5,000 print workers, clerical staff, cleaners and secretaries were sacked in one day.

 

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20 days to go!

“If we do not do the impossible, we shall be faced with the unthinkable”, Murray Bookchin (‘The Ecology of Freedom’, 1982)

 

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Another book review of Pa Stāvu Liesmu Debesīs by Filips Rufs

Another reviewer, Viktors Dabolins has written a review in Latvian about Philip Ruff’s book, Pa Stāvu Liesmu Debesīs – translated into English as On A Towering Flame To Heaven.

An English translation is soon to come, but click here to read the full review in Latvian

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Plebs and Peasants

Despite the Poll Tax

In September 2012, Mr. Mitchell, Chief Whip said to a policeman:

“Best you learn your fucking place…you don’t run this fucking government…You’re fucking plebs”.

Wobbling off on his bicycle he called over his shoulder.

“you haven’t heard the last of this”

From official Downing Street police log.

In June 1381, King Richard II retorted to villagers:

“You wretches are detestable both on land and on sea. You seek equality with the lords, but you are unworthy to live. Give this message to your fellows: rustics you are, and rustics you will always be. You will remain in bondage, not as before, but incomparably harsher. For as long as we live we will strive to suppress you, and your misery will be an example to posterity”

As described by one contemporary chronicle.

Nothing has changed in seven centuries.

Interested in what happened in 1381 and its consequences nowadays? Check out our documentary Despite the Poll Tax:

If questioned at all in the media most of the discourse about the inequities of poll tax concentrated on its economic injustices. Despite the Poll Tax however dug deeper into the largely ignored social and civil liberties implications of a colonial tax system whose earlier versions were considered unacceptable in the middle ages, leading to the Peasants Revolt of 1381 and were the original basis of the Pass Laws of apartheid South Africa.

 

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New Metropolitan Mainstream at its end?

The term, New Metropolitan Mainstream, brings together different processes leading towards an increasing economization of urban life: gentrification, urban regeneration, forced upgrading of neighbourhoods, luxury transformation of entire inner city areas, privatisation of public goods and spaces, instrumentalisation of flagship projects and international events in order to attract international investments and people with a high income.

Was the financial crisis the end of the New Metrolitan Mainstream? It seems it was, at least for the investment in prestigious cultural flagship projects in the US.

A study of the Cultural Policy Center, University of Chicago found out: 80% of new or refurbished buildings of the period 1994-2008 were a product of completely wrong calculation. Some museums had to close down only a few years after their opening. Many concert halls and theatres have huge problems surviving. The “Bilbao” Effect did not take place. And the amount of new buildings in the cultural sector is far beyond new hospitals or educational institutions.

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Battersea Power Station: A Mighty Fall

Jeff Nevil has produced this insightful presentation, exploring and discussing the history and potential future of the iconic, Battersea Power Station.

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2012 London Olympics: Bad for business

The influx of tourists to the city for the 2012 London Olympic Games had caused excitement among businesses all over London, yet statistics show that during the Olympic period, UK retail sales fell and online sales plunged the most in five years.

Shoppers – both online and on the high street – were said to be distracted by the Olympic Games, causing an unanticipated drop in sales. Economists predict further falls in UK retail sales due to inflation and weak consumer confidence.

For more details, read the article on the Bloomberg website

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Mark Saunders talks at reART in Zurich – 26th Oct

Spectacle’s Mark Saunders will be discussing East London and the commodification of local culture at reART in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday 26th Oct.

reART:theURBAN is an international conference that will revolve around the question of what art can do for the development of the urban society and the city itself. The conference takes place from the 25th-27th October this year, with talks from a number of international speakers, including Slovenian philosopher, Slavoj Zizek and Charles Landry, an urban thinker from the UK.

To find out more about the conference, go to the reART website and for more about Mark’s talk, click here

Click here to buy tickets

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