The return of an old friend

December 7, 2008 at 1:01 pm (anarchism, social ecology, voltairespriest)

Back in my early political years during the 1990s, I used to take great pleasure in hanging around the sale-or-return rack at my local lefty bookstore. Indeed, the demise of these stores is a great shame and a posting topic in itself for those who know more of the history than I. Even in those (relatively) recent years there was a far wider spectrum of journals, mags and papers available than there is now. In addition to the fare that we’d all be aware of from the current left press, I used to spend my hard-earned part-time job wages on a whole galaxy of wonderful, weird and wacky material, ranging from obscure Maoist publications, through the Earth First! Journal to really misanthropic stuff like Live Wild or Die!

One of the mags that I always used to enjoy was the anarchist publication Black Flag. I’d be the first to admit that I’m far from an expert on the politics and history of the UK anarchist movements, and that such knowledge as I had is a good few years out of date. However I was delighted recently (although not that recently, and apologies for my tardiness, folks) to receive an email informing me that the publication had been revamped, which was quickly followed by a review copy in the mail. It’s my pleasure therefore to offer a short precis of the new Black Flag, and some thoughts on its content.

The new Black Flag (issue 228, not the version pictured) certainly has a more ecological bent than its predecessor, reflecting the anarchist movement’s renaissance in the 1990s around the Criminal Justice Bill and Reclaim the Streets movements, as well as the influence had by US theorists such as Murray Bookchin. Indeed the first article in the magazine is an excellent critique of liberal and consumer-driven environmentalism by a social ecologist called “Mark R”. It’s well worth a read, and in particular takes pains to differentiate anti-corporatism from anti-capitalism, a widespread confusion which in my opinion weakened the “New Anti-Capitalism” that arose during the Clinton/Blair years.

There is also a very interesting article by “Kaf” and Paul Stott of the (also revived within the past few years) Class War Federation) about the BNP, which continues the anarchist movement’s tradition of offering analysis of contemporary fascism, as well as critique and criticism of the mainstream anti-fascist movements. It’s refreshing both for its content, and for being devoid of the moronic, reflexive “we hate thuh trots” mantras that I can certainly remember hearing from many anarchist activists in the past. In particular they take Searchlight to task for their weddedness to a Labour Party which has long since abandoned even the pretence of being a party of the working class, a fact that is often lost among Marxists and other left-wingers casting around for any alternative to the SWP-dominated and ineffectual Unite Against Fascism.

They haven’t lost touch with their roots either – revolutionary history officionados will certainly be interested Iain Mackay’s series on “How the Revolution Lost its Way”, a critique of Chris Harman’s “How the Revolution was Lost”. Indeed, even if you generally disagree with both anarchist and Cliffite analyses of the Bolshevik Revolution, the article is clearly well researched as, I imagine, is the rest of the series.

There’s a great deal of other contect as well, reflecting a range of commentators that appears unusual for its breadth in terms of the history of anarchist publications. This in and of itself given an impression of a spirit of co-operation within a movement whose recent history has at times been riven by vicious sectarianism on the part of certain elements. For that, just as much as for the content, I’m happy to recommend the new Black Flag to those who want an easily accessible yet intelligent magazine whose politics have an anarchist flavour.

Black Flag costs £3 and is available either via email at black_flag@lycos.co.uk or in writing from Black Flag, BM Hurricane, London WC1N 3XX.