A genuinely working class bookfair, really…?

Some thoughts on the Oxford Working Class Bookfair, by Karl…

On Saturday 20^th June 09, the first Oxford Working Class Book fair was held. I was manning the Housmans book stall by myself most of the time, and so unfortunately could not go to any of the talks and debates, and am therefore unable to comment on them. Here are my thoughts on those aspects of the book fair that I was able to experience though.

Being called a ‘working class’ book fair, for me conjures up feelings of a particular class identity. Unfortunately, the majority of the stalls did not fit this feeling at all. There were mostly political groups including; the communist party, the socialist party, and some international Bolshevik bollocks, all peddling their own material about why you should vote for them. The Oxford Catholic Worker and Class War stalls, although not encouraging you to submit your will to them, were merely advertising themselves, although their literature detailing their history was a bit more in keeping with autonomous working class identity. The Bookmarks’ stall, a socialist shop in London, from what I saw, had mostly left-wing books critiquing the world as is it, along with enough books by Marx to bore me to move on.

Housmans, the non-partisan left-wing bookshop from London, was a bit better (trust me I am not being prejudiced just because I do volunteer work there, that would not be the honest thing to do). Their books about radical East London history were definitely more in keeping with the theme, as were magazines like Direct Action, product of Solidarity Federation, the British section of the International Workers’ Association. For me personally, the best stall was by far the Bristol Radical History Group. Their pamphlets encapsulated for me entirely what the event was (meant to be) about, as they had produced what you could call ‘people’s history’. Their pamphlets contributed greatly to the feeling of a separate identity, opposed to the traditional understanding of our past imposed on us by the class system that is designed to maintain the status quo. Other stalls included A World To Win, Mute magazine, PPSUK, and maybe another couple stalls and socialist parties who’s names I cant remember.

Apart from Class War and the Catholic Worker, there was a lack of anarchic presence. This will surely be rectified for the next Oxford Working Class book fair, but I can make some suggestions in advance. The anarchic groups would do well to promote the separate worker identity that they have been a part of, and still are, instead of presenting their ideas as the only solution for workers. Maybe I am being a bit biased as a history student here, but presenting the working class history of independent resistance, solidarity, and self-management helps to highlight continuity in past and present that is something to be proud of. The IWW could easily fit into this theme, as could Solidarity Federation, and other anarchic organisations if they presented themselves correctly. Local and area specific organisations, like Action East End, would also do well.

To sum up: less political dogma and more autonomous class identity please.

Chomsky on libertarian politics and conservatism

Here’s a nice video for you all, courtesy of Karl. It’s Noam Chomsky talking about the real meaning of libertarianism. Enjoy…

more about ““Let’s Keep Everyone In Their Cages” …“, posted with vodpod