I guess the thing that comes into my mind is, the first thing that comes into my mind, is activism plus going on road trips equals junk food. Activism and an adrenalin rush. The excitement of going on recces in the middle of the night, going past petrol stations and getting junk food to keep our sugar levels up.
It’s sort of like junk food is sometimes quite a helpful comfort food but it’s not part of a long-term sustainableness.
Woman activist
What do I think…
I knew this book was going to be worth reading when the introduction began by quoting this intercept from a police radio report: ‘The clowns are organising. They are organising. Over and out.’
Aimed at activists – particularly those jaded at the prospect of another boring protest, just like the last one, or disheartened at the prospect of handing out leaflets on a Saturday afternoon to busy shoppers – it suggests that we blend art and politics to make activism more ‘compelling and…
Reading the October issue of PN, the pieces about the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the people working on Peace News getting an issue out the door but not knowing whether they would live to put another issue together again, reminds me of the 1980s and that same sense of desperation I had then, lots of us had, that the end of the world could be coming any day, that nuclear weapons were about to obliterate us.
It is a very different feeling today. With climate change, it is almost certainly…
Activism and partying? I haven't really experienced linking these together. If you're talking about a 'regular party', it doesn't really link to my peace activism.
It sounds interesting having those two things linked together. What comes into my head is people with different views who feel strongly about something coming together in a party and discussing things in a casual way.
You have to have music at a party, but I feel it should not be a mainstream band.
I haven't…
It is not enough for the anti-cuts movement to be a defensive, responsive movement. It is not enough to point out the flaws in the arguments for austerity (as the False Economy website does so brilliantly).
If we are going to have a world worth living in, we are going to have to merge together the agendas of the anti-cuts movement, the green movement, the labour movement and the peace movement.
We are already arguing for…
Back in the UK, a group called 'The Intruders' managed to gatecrash two high society events, first giving the former head of the government tax body HMRC a 'lifetime achievement award for services to corporate tax avoidance' on 27 September. Dave Hartnett was accused of being…
Over 700 boats laid 'siege' to the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in Tamil Nadu, India on 8 October, in the latest demonstration by the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE; for background, see PN 2550).
PMANE is demanding the withdrawal of police from local villages (police killed one protester in September), the…
On 13 October, the eight-day 90-mile Drones Peace Walk reached RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire, to be met by campaigners from around the UK, all protesting against the opening of the first armed drone base on British soil.
The RAF's pilotless killer drones in Afghanistan are currently operated from a base in Nevada, USA – they will soon be operated from RAF Waddington.
The walk, which was…
On 10 October, the Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) celebrated a victory in helping to break sponsorship links between arms manufacturer Finmeccanica and London's National Gallery. The news came just days after CAAT heard that it had won a Right Livelihood Award, known as the 'alternative Nobel Prize', given by a Stockholm-based foundation.
The National Gallery ended its long-standing…
Two census resisters had their trials continued in early October, with Andy Manifold due to return to court on 19 October and Sarah Ledsom hoping to finish her trial on 23 November. Both are at Dale St magistrates' court in Liverpool.
400 people in Britain have been or are being prosecuted for failing to fill out the 2011 census.
Among them are a number of peace activists who objected to the involvement in the census of military firms Lockheed Martin (processing the data for…
Well the first I'd say is that when I started going to protests as such, I wouldn't have considered myself to be 'an activist'.
The first protest I went on was on the night of the student fees vote in parliament. I'd never been on a protest before and I thought it'd be quite peaceful and quite orderly.
It didn't turnout that way – we got kettled by the police. It was not a pleasant experience, but I met great people and I wanted to get more involved.
There was a moment…
Questioning France's nuclear arsenal is not quite taboo, but the myth that it enables the country to retain great power status is accepted slavishly by most politicians, and with resigned passivity by the majority of the press and population.
Nevertheless, there is a strong and diverse protest movement.
One strand, closest to the Green party, opposes nuclear weapons as an extension of its opposition to nuclear energy. Just as nuclear weaponry is supposed to guarantee military…
In July, I participated in a Peace News Summer Camp workshop which discussed 'diversity of tactics' — the idea of including violent tactics in our actions and strategies for change. I was a little surprised when my fellow panellists wanted to turn it into a conversation about pacifism and whether violence can ever be justified.
Although I'm a pacifist, I didn't get their point. Most people who participate in nonviolent campaigns aren't pacifists; they choose nonviolent action…
Every time I tell someone about 'anarchist sabbath', they're intrigued, curious, sometimes envious – the conversations start exploring lifestyle, family, personal decisions, community, spirituality, emotional support, political strategy.
This is rather gratifying. So what is it?
Most Sundays, my friend, whom let's call 'Jack', and I meet up in my kitchen and pour ourselves a cup of tea. We take our tea down to the garden pond and sit next to each other without talking for…
On 11 September, leading Muslim anti-war activist Salma Yaqoob announced her resignation from the left-wing Respect party which she had helped to found, and of which she was the leader. Yaqoob made it clear that ‘necessary relations of trust and collaborative working’ had broken down over remarks made by Respect MP George Galloway in relation to the rape allegations against Wikileaks leader Julian Assange.
On 4 September, CND general secretary Kate Hudson had stood down as a…
