by Brian Bamford
ON 'START the WEEK', on Radio 4 this week, Tom Sutcliffe discussed a world without work with Daniel Susskind, Suzi Gage, Anoosh Chakelian and Sir John Strang.
Journalist Anoosh Chakelian of the New Statesman, had gone behind the scenes at a new magazines set
up to rival the Big Issue, as she explored Britain's homelessness
crisis.
The journal called DOPE is run voluntarily as a radical publishing 'affinity group', and all the money they make from sales and subscriptions goes back into the cooperative’s efforts, in particular printing more solidarity copies of the DOPE Magazine for street-vendors.
Following the pattern of The Big Issue, these new journals enable rough sleepers to earn money rather than beg, and creates respectable employment opportunities. But also Chakelian troubled about the way in which a country with growing numbers of homeless people is now evolving these industries based upon their suffering.
On a daily basis the homeless vendors turn up keen to sell for more copies, to the point where affinity group has had to limit the number they give to individuals to ensure there are enough to share around. Starting out printing 1000 copies per issue back in 2016, the last issue (Autumn 2019) went up to 5000 copies. Next they want to print 10,000.
The Whitechapel premises has in the past been describe as 'an anarchist hangout', and it has long been used as a premise for all sorts of odds and sods to shack-up. Historically it was the base of British anarchism in times when it was run by traditional anarchists to publish Freedom, perhaps one of the oldest anarchist publications in the world, which was first established in 1884.
DOPE is funded by people buying a copy online, or taking out a subscription, or supporting them on Patreon. It is a direct way of contributing to autonomous and political support of homeless and imprisoned people.
The affinity group claim:
'We’ve reached the point in the economies of scale now where it only costs £75 to print an extra 1000 copies. The cover price is £3, so that equates to £3000 to the people selling it on the street. To us that seems like a pretty good (and cheap!) win-win – anarchist propaganda in the hands of people who might not otherwise have read it, and money in the pocket of people who need it most.'
In 1987, in the town of La Línea de la Concepción at the anarchist branch of the CNT trade union in the Bay of Gibraltar in Andalucia, Spain, a similar attempt was made to help the locals find homes, as I recall the venture was egged-on by the La Línea Social Democratic Party [PSOE]; it turned out to be a bit of a con and the local CNT suffered in consequence.
The new publication, DOPE Magazine is a quarterly newspaper called, is produced by an anarchist publisher called Dog Section Press in London since spring 2018, and is now being sold by homeless people in cities around the country, from Bristol to Edinburgh.
The journal called DOPE is run voluntarily as a radical publishing 'affinity group', and all the money they make from sales and subscriptions goes back into the cooperative’s efforts, in particular printing more solidarity copies of the DOPE Magazine for street-vendors.
Following the pattern of The Big Issue, these new journals enable rough sleepers to earn money rather than beg, and creates respectable employment opportunities. But also Chakelian troubled about the way in which a country with growing numbers of homeless people is now evolving these industries based upon their suffering.
On a daily basis the homeless vendors turn up keen to sell for more copies, to the point where affinity group has had to limit the number they give to individuals to ensure there are enough to share around. Starting out printing 1000 copies per issue back in 2016, the last issue (Autumn 2019) went up to 5000 copies. Next they want to print 10,000.
The Whitechapel premises has in the past been describe as 'an anarchist hangout', and it has long been used as a premise for all sorts of odds and sods to shack-up. Historically it was the base of British anarchism in times when it was run by traditional anarchists to publish Freedom, perhaps one of the oldest anarchist publications in the world, which was first established in 1884.
DOPE is funded by people buying a copy online, or taking out a subscription, or supporting them on Patreon. It is a direct way of contributing to autonomous and political support of homeless and imprisoned people.
The affinity group claim:
'We’ve reached the point in the economies of scale now where it only costs £75 to print an extra 1000 copies. The cover price is £3, so that equates to £3000 to the people selling it on the street. To us that seems like a pretty good (and cheap!) win-win – anarchist propaganda in the hands of people who might not otherwise have read it, and money in the pocket of people who need it most.'
In 1987, in the town of La Línea de la Concepción at the anarchist branch of the CNT trade union in the Bay of Gibraltar in Andalucia, Spain, a similar attempt was made to help the locals find homes, as I recall the venture was egged-on by the La Línea Social Democratic Party [PSOE]; it turned out to be a bit of a con and the local CNT suffered in consequence.
The new publication, DOPE Magazine is a quarterly newspaper called, is produced by an anarchist publisher called Dog Section Press in London since spring 2018, and is now being sold by homeless people in cities around the country, from Bristol to Edinburgh.
Stylishly designed with edgy cover illustrations, its
contributors include the poet Benjamin Zephaniah, musicians Sleaford
Mods and Drillminister, and artists Laura Grace Ford, Cat Sims and
Liv Wynter. It already has a circulation of over 5,000.
DOPE is not the only new publication to rival the Big Issue. Another non-profit underground paper called Nervemeter started up in 2011 under the coalition government, for 'people who may have found that their benefits have been cut: they are skint, they may be sick, they desperately need to make some cash', according to the introduction of its first issue.
Still running, this is a bit different because the vendors ask for donations from recipients for the magazine, with a suggestion of £3 minimum. Yet part of its appeal is also as a Big Issue alternative. 'Nervemeter is not a registered charity,' reads its website. 'We don’t trust registered charities and you shouldn’t either. We are a charitable organisation and are 100 per cent transparent, which means every penny you give us goes on printing and nothing else.'
There have always been grassroots responses to homelessness, but trends like this reflect its scale in the country. The latest count for the whole of England, in January last year, showed a 165 per cent increase in rough sleeping overall since 2010.
DOPE is not the only new publication to rival the Big Issue. Another non-profit underground paper called Nervemeter started up in 2011 under the coalition government, for 'people who may have found that their benefits have been cut: they are skint, they may be sick, they desperately need to make some cash', according to the introduction of its first issue.
Still running, this is a bit different because the vendors ask for donations from recipients for the magazine, with a suggestion of £3 minimum. Yet part of its appeal is also as a Big Issue alternative. 'Nervemeter is not a registered charity,' reads its website. 'We don’t trust registered charities and you shouldn’t either. We are a charitable organisation and are 100 per cent transparent, which means every penny you give us goes on printing and nothing else.'
There have always been grassroots responses to homelessness, but trends like this reflect its scale in the country. The latest count for the whole of England, in January last year, showed a 165 per cent increase in rough sleeping overall since 2010.
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