Occupations – do they play in Peoria?
It is the classic question of American marketing - will it play in Peoria? And now, it seems, we will have an answer. Of the many occupations expected to launch…
United for #GlobalDemocracy
This statement was written in advance of today's global day of occupations. It has already been signed by a number of the people's assembies at various of the occupations, and…
Kill electoralism, not the NHS
So that's it then. It's all over (bar the committee and third reading). The lords didn't save the NHS. Despite all the petitions, all the tweets and hashtags, despite adopting…
“Let All Indignados in all the squares join together”: Beginning From the Beginning
The Occupation of Wall Street is entering into it’s third week and things are heating up. The large Transport Workers Union has pledged it’s support, echoing the much-vaunted ‘Teamsters and…
Lower Than Vermin
Maggie, Maggie, Maggie! Die, die, die! This was one of the most enthusiastic chants I heard outside the Tory party conference on Sunday; two decades later, protesters in Manchester haven't…
Does the action of the Sparks herald a return to militancy?
Two years ago a wave of militant industrial action swept across the UK. As the global financial crisis unfolded, neo-liberal capitalism seemed to be in crisis, banks were nationalised, and…
Wall Street was already occupied
Sophielle writes from the Wall Street occupation Insofar as its empty tarmac has most often been lined with standard portable steel fences and policemen, Wall Street has not exactly been…
Sweeping Up Glass
"Whatever the apparent cause of any riots may be, the real one is always want of happiness" Tom Paine, Rights of Man. I watched London consumed by fire on Monday…
Apocalypse Now
By Anna Perkins This week I pace around my South-West London home and feel the same sensation I’ve been feeling since Monday: vague panic, helplessness, and a strange kind of…
From Tottenham to Oxford: time to listen
The list of complaints is a mix, but it isn't surprising: Anger that millions are being spent on the Olympics, but none is seen to benefit local young people. Local…