by Brian Bamford
'Woke' is increasingly used as a byword for social awareness.
'Woke' is increasingly used as a byword for social awareness.
EARLIER this month Helen Steel and some other women were thrown out of the Manchester Anarchist Bookfair for distributing a leaflet with which the organisers apparently disapproved. This leaflet was not as was initially claimed - a so-called Terf leaflet attacking transexuals, but rather was a considered argument against what the leaflet described as 'The Curse of Identity Politics'.
The authors of the leaflet offer a critique of the current thrust of anarchism in the UK, as is shown in their introduction below, but should this be accepted as grounds for their exclusion?:
'Anarchism in the UK is a joke. Once symbolising hard-fought struggles for freedom, the word has been stripped bare to make way for narrow-minded, separatist and hateful identity politics by middle class activists keen to protect their own privileges. We write this leaflet to reclaim anarchism from these identity politicians.'
Northern Voices may disagree with some of the contents of this leaflet but it ought not to be grounds for the exclusion of those putting forward these ideas. Indeed, we seriously consider that there ought to be a mix of diverse views at bookfairs that profess to be anarchist or libertarian.
Whatever else the authors argue for authors which would seem to include Helen Steel are right conclude with the following statement:
'Final note. To us anarchism is cooperation, mutual aid, solidarity and fighting the real centres of power. Anarchist spaces should not be for those who merely want to fight those around them. We have a proud history of internationalism and diversity, so lets reclaim our politics for a genuinely inclusive future.'
wokeanarchists@protonmail.ch - wokeanarchists.wordpress.com
To read the leaflet that Helen Steel and the others were chucked-out for distributing go to:
https://wokeanarchists.wordpress.com/
https://wokeanarchists.wordpress.com/
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