The meeting

There's a nice skit by Diarmuid Breathnach over at Cedar Lounge Revolution riffing on a recent meeting. Nice to see a bit of humour based on actually noticing things rather than quoting Life of Brian...

Rabble.ie hits Dublin

rabble.ie, a new non-profit newspaper from the city's underground, is now out. Can be picked up across the city or viewed online. There is some pretty decent content in the first issue from a range of social movements and grassroots culture - from the Garda Ombudsman's abysmal response to the Rossport rape recordings via street art to people's experiences as interns. Here's their blurb:

"Those behind this effort know each other from alternative media and street mobilisations, from raves, gigs and the football terraces, or by just living in the village that is Dublin. We range from people raising their families in the city, to community and political activists, to artists, messers and mischief-makers.

With this paper we will do something more than join the ad rags and mouthpieces for power that comprise most of the city’s freebies. We want to draw stories from the harsh realities of the city and sketch paths towards building Dublin as we’d prefer it. Consider this an effort to breathe new life into journalism in the city, as well as a space for emerging writers. Down the line, expect original story-telling and explorations of the boundaries between photography, new fiction, journalism and art.

rabble stands within, and with, Dublin as it struggles from below against the ghost of the Celtic Tiger and the state it left us in. We support those who fight with a new world in their hearts and encourage those who create cultures that seed hope in bleak times. Try to imagine a newspaper acting like a melting pot of connections, not just between emergent cultural scenes and everyday life, but also between social movements and power structures.

We’re going to offer an alternative look at Ireland after the boom and help contribute to the popular imagination of what is possible. There is a new generation surviving on the dole, engaged in a mundane struggle to maintain, as power force feeds us austerity. Too many naively celebrate the creative side of the recession and utter non-committal grumbles about how we got here.

We’ve no qualms about what side of the fence we sit on. Expect a sharp, non-dogmatic eye on our gracious leaders and power brokers. We aim to uncover the incompetencies, the facts and realities they want to lock away in the closet.

rabble is in process of getting its shit together at the moment. Times are tough, finances are tight. The rabble collective is doing this completely off our own backs. We need to hustle to survive. Look us up online to hear about how you can muck in to keep us afloat. If you are an ideas person, a ranter, a barstool polemicist, a daily scribbler or an inspired illustrator but most importantly, a doer rather than a talker – then get in touch.

Over the next while we’ll be running events and fundraisers to keep us going, so come along and support us. We promise a healthy blend of culture, politics, society and humor, bursting with ambition to re-shape our city with a no-hostage attitude to calling a spade a spade.
This is a space for beginnings. Join us."

Anti-globalization movement endures

A good post here on the Dissent website about the continuing presence of the alliances and networks formed in the anti-capitalist movement, and of the movement itself outside of the US (one of the few countries where "9/11" nationalism broke up some of the key alliances). Not so much news to activists as to those who rely on mainstream journalism for their news, perhaps; but important nonetheless.

Mapping local social movements

There's an interesting piece here from AREA Chicago outlining an approach to mapping local social movements and their practical strengths and weaknesses. Not the only such model, of course, but sufficiently doable to be worth a look.

CEESArrrrrrrrrrrrr

By happy coincidence the first day of this year's CEESA course is International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Friends with long memories will remember that we launched the course last year with a Masked Activists Ball.

Those with longer memories will remember the Jolly Roger flying over many a European squat - an image recalled by Ramor Ryan's Clandestines: the pirate journals of an Irish exile.

The truly historically-minded should have a look at Marcus Rediker's site for some great material, especially of course Villains of all nations: Atlantic pirates in the golden age - by some margin the best Marxist analysis of the Jolly Roger.

As for the rest of us:

Egypt: how a civil resistance was built to win

“On February 11, 2011 Egyptians toppled dictator Hosni Mubarak. Blogger and viral video producer Aalam Wassef was one of the many people who worked for years to make it happen. This is the first in a series on the daily life of Egypt's revolution. It's a manual on how a civil resistance was built to win.” Online here.

There's a good interview with another Egyptian revolutionary here.