Wednesday 7th April, 7pm
Workers Educational Association, 59 Gloucester St
This month’s topic at the Anarchist-Communist Discussion Group is current attacks on the working class in New Zealand. Before the discussion, you should read the short article on the topic (.pdf format, 206kb). We will have copies available on the night, but reading beforehand and thinking about ideas it brings up will enable better discussion.
The group meets on the first Wednesday of every month and aims to provide a space for the open discussion of anarchist-communist ideas and practice. Each month there will be a short article to read or a short video to watch, that we can then discuss together.
It’s free, and tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided.
The group is a joint effort of the Christchurch branch of the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement and Beyond Resistance.
Anarchism in Ireland
7pm, Tuesday 6th April
WEA, 59 Gloucester St
An anarchist from the Belfast branch of Workers Solidarity Movement, Ireland, will be speaking on the history of anarchism in Ireland, the growth of the Workers Solidarity Movement and how the WSM works in Ireland in 2010.
The Workers Solidarity Movement was founded in Dublin, Ireland in 1984 following discussions by a number of local anarchist groups on the need for a national Irish anarchist organisation. At that time with unemployment and inequality on the rise, there seemed every reason to argue for anarchism and for a revolutionary change in Irish society. This has not changed.
In the years since their formation, the Irish WSM been involved in a wide range of struggles - WSM members are involved in their trade unions; they have fought for abortion rights, and against the growth of racism in southern Ireland; They have also been involved in campaigns in support of workers from countries as far apart as Nepal, Peru and South Africa. The WSM website is http://www.wsm.ie
Presented by the Christchurch branch of the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement
103 minutes
‘One of the five best documentaries of all time’
(International Documentary Association)
Harlan County USA is a classic piece of documentary making: passionate, intense, gripping and absorbing. Barbara Kopple’s documentary unflinchingly documents a gruelling yet inspiring coal miners’ strike in a small Kentucky town in the 1970s. She lived in the mining community, and tells their story in their own words.
The bitter 13 month strike occurred between a very deprived community fighting to survive and a ruthless and powerful coal mining company determined to preserve its profits. It shows how the company attempted to break the strike through using local police, and hiring slimy armed thugs and scabs. It shows how the strikers kept the strike going, how they attempted to blockade scab labour from entering the mine, how women played an absolutely crucial role in supporting the strike, and how they sought support from other communities and workers.
We can learn a lot from this film as to how any struggle against capitalism and authority is won or lost — self-organisation and solidarity are essential.
All welcome
People are welcome to discuss the film afterwards. Food will be provided.
Hosted by the Wellington branch of the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement (AWSM). AWSM is a national organisation working towards a classless, stateless society: anarchist communism, and promotes working class direct action, solidarity and self-organisation to get there.
based on an article published in the Sydney based anarchist paper ‘Mutiny’ in February 2010 by princess mob
Calais in France is the major port between mainland Europe and the UK and it is a major bottle-neck for migrants-without-papers (’Sans-papiers’ in French) who’ve made it all the way to Europe from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Sudan and many other countries and are trying to get to the UK. Sans-papiers travel without a passport as refugees often from war-torn backgrounds. Some of them never had a passport, some cannot get a passport because they are being persecuted by ‘their’ government.
The jungles of Calais
There used to be a Red Cross-run shelter for the Sans-papiers in Calais, but it was shut down a few years ago when the British government put pressure on the French government who put pressure on the Red Cross - because they saw it as encouraging migrants to come to the UK “illegally”.
So at the moment there are about 350 people sleeping rough around Calais – either in squats, in camps in scrublands on the edges of town (called “jungles”, from the Pashtu word for “woods”, which sounds similar) or simply in the streets. Sans-papiers are regularly arrested and often beaten by police (with or without being arrested), and their self-organised spaces are targeted and destroyed. The situation across Europe for sans-papiers is similar. Across northern Africa, sans-papiers converge and try to get to Europe on boats which don’t deserve that name. Very few make it, many get arrested and sent back to Africa, and others die in the middle of the Mediterranean.
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Download issue in .pdf format (1.44MB)
The sixth issue of Solidarity, free newssheet of the Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement. Download the .pdf above, or click below to read the contents online.
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