Peadar O'Donnell and the Spanish Revolution

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Peadar O'Donnell (1893-1986), the novelist and political activist, is a major figure in the history of the Irish left. Born in Donegal, he left teaching (and a prominent role in the Donegal branch of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation) to become a full-time organiser with the Irish Transport and General Workers' Union in 1918.

Biotechnology - confusion, fear and protest

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On the 26th of June 2000 researchers announced that they had finally created a rough map of the human genome - almost 3 billion DNA letters. In December 2000 British MPs voted to allow scientists to collect cells from human embryos and to substitute a nuclei from an adult cell into embryo cells for research purposes. These sorts of developments leave many people confused and frightened. The BSE, and Foot and Mouth, crises have left people wondering are scientists and governments to be trusted in these areas. There has been a consumer revolt against Genetically Altered foods and activists have rushed to pull up genetically altered crops. So what's all this about? Is it any use to anyone or just another example of big science and big business going mad at our expense?

Anarchism and Elections

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We are all used to the scenario. You don't see your local political 'representatives' for years and suddenly when an election is called they're all swarming all over your neighbourhood like flies around cowshit - the politicians and the wannabe politicians. It's a scene which is going to be enacted all over Ireland - both North and South - shortly as general elections loom on both sides of the border. Yet again we'll have the great choice between Tweedledum and Tweedledumber as to who we want to sit in Leinster House or Stormont for the next four or five years - even though we know that it's not really going to make any difference.

Revolutionary Anarchism & the Anti-Globalization Movement

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Riot police battling youth. Armed forces locking down a major American city. Tens of thousands under anti-capitalist banners. Western youth and workers physically battling the WTO and imperialism. These potent images of the 'battle of Seattle', November 30, 1999, were seared into the minds of militants the world over, inspiring millions upon millions fighting against the class war from above that some call 'globalization'. Followed by further mass protests in Washington and Davos, and two massive international coordinated actions on May 1, 2000 and September 26, 2000, Seattle marked, by any measure, an important turning point for the global working class and peasantry.

Review - Globalise this!

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Globalise This! is one of the more important and informative books to come out of the Battle of Seattle. Published by Common Courage Press ("Our Goal is to turn pens into swords") the thrust of the book from the very beginning is towards the activist and 'the citizen' interested in doing something about what is wrong on this planet. As the blurb says "The WTO, World Bank and IMF must - and can - be stopped. This book tells us how."

Globalise This! - The Battle Against The WTO and Corporate Rule by Kevin Danaher and Roger Burback (Common Courage Press )

No Logo - Naomi Klein review

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The publication of No Logo was perfectly, if unintentionally, timed. Just as the N30 demonstrations in Seattle made headlines around the world, No Logo arrived to explain some of the reasons for that movement. So although Naomi Klein has made it clear that she is not an 'official' spokesperson for the movement - that this movement has no official spokespeople - at a time when observers (and even some participants) wondered what was going on, No Logo provided some answers.

No Logo - by Naomi Klein (Flamingo Press, ~ €14/stg£8.99)

Some notes on the original design of Workers Solidarity

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This page contains information on the design of Workers Solidarity from late 2001 - 2005

Anarchism in South America

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There is a strong history of anarchist struggle in South America. Anarchist ideas were first brought to South America during the 1880's and 1890's through the influence of european immigrants. Anarchist ideas found fertile ground and during the first two decades of the 20th century anarcho-syndicalism was the most important current in the latin amercian labour movement.

Building Anarchism in Ireland - 2001

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Look at the world. There is so much wrong with it. Africa is being decimated by AIDs. Children are dying in Iraq because they can't get basic medical treatment. Millions of people worldwide daily live in the shadow of poverty, millions of people fall through the cracks. Even in Ireland, rich in comparison to many places in the world, the best most of us can hope for is to spend the most of our lives working for somebody else.

Anarchism in Africa

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We traveled in Africa for just over a year and, whenever possible, tried to meet with anarchists in the countries we visited. In Africa the organised anarchist movement is quite young, starting with the formation of the Workers Solidary Federation in South Africa in 1995. Unfortunately due to internal problems this organisation disbanded about 2 years ago. The people we met from the old WSF were now involved in anarchist publishing organisations as well as being heavily involved in struggles such as the anti-privatisation forum. They hope one day to reform the WSF.