It's all bad

UK politics

First, a few blogs that have caught my eye, of both local and non-local interest.

London Masala and Chips is the blog of a Labour-supporting British Asian mum who lives in South East London. Her election coverage has been good, and touches on lots of the same issues as we have here.

Michael Harris is one of the new Labour councillors in Lewisham Central and Hither Green, but he also blogs occasionally at the highly recommended Arguing the World.

Not local, here is election analysis from Datacide: The “Radical Left” in the British General Elections.

Good analysis of the new intake of MPs from LFF

Other issues

Two from Terry Glavin: Marg Bar Diktator: General Strike In Iranian Kurdistan, Silence In The West; Speaking Truth To Power In Palestine.

Lots more from Modernity.

Comments

Dave Semple said…
God almighty Bob, I thought that stuff from Datacide really was wank - I never thought I'd see the day you were linking to ultra-left bollocks which basically commits its own crime of fetishising electoral figures simply to smack the other Left parties about a bit.
bob said…
I think that the conclusions at the end of the Datacide post are wrong - I clearly do not go along with the idea of "a communist movement not participating but denouncing and fighting politics" and nor do I see the Trots as the “left wing of capital”. Your point about them following in the fetishisation of the figures, which I hadn't thought about before, is also right.

However, I found it a nice, concise description of the state of the left of Labour left in Britain today: the oppurtinusm of the SWP, the reactionary politics of its various alliances, the reactionary-ness of No2Eu and the fact that TUSC was little better, and the embarassing performance of the Trot grouplets who stood.

I think the sooner the far left escapes the "Leninist cloud cuckoo land" that leads to these disasters, the better. Of course, leaving it for an ultra-left cloud cuckoo land will be an advance in some ways but a step forward in others.
Hey Bob:

I'm compiling a list of sources for a possible course on ethics and resistance. Any valuable suggestions you may offer will be welcome. Fiction as well, if you know of any. Sorry too interrupt the flow. Best, Noga
bob said…
Resistance and ethics! That's a big topic!

Initial thoughts. Jacqueline Rose The Last Resistance is probably, I hate to say it, useful. You might be interested in the review here [pdf], which I think comes from somewhere similar to where you are coming from.

The other thing that spring immediately to mind are Army of Shadows, the existential J-P Melville film about the French resistance, which is well watched alongside Camus.

Oh, and have you read any of yehuda Bauer's recent work, where he talks about Amidah (defiance?). I've only read reviews - see here.

I'd love to see what you are thinking about. If you want, e-mail me at bobfrombrockley at googlemail dot com
Anonymous said…
You may want to include the Rosa Parks hairdresser in Ladywell Road
Mike Harris said…
A big thanks Bob for the link to my Dissent posts - much appreciated.

Although our local politics may be quite different (emphasis on 'may'), I am an avowed internationalist and enjoy your blog greatly.

Mike
Raven said…
Hey, thanks for the nice mention which I was totally surprised to see while reading your great blog.
Anonymous said…
i've always felt l'armee des ombres (army of shadows) was only contingently, or accidentally about politics, but was basically about the refusal to accept one's fate and the courage to act in a seemingly hopeless situation. in fact, how action, i.e. defiance, resistance, creates a space for hope.

or better, resistance and ethics makes me think of that line from rene char, the poet who fought with the maquis in provence:

"the light has been banished from our eyes. it is buried somewhere in our bones. and we are seeking it, to restore its crown."

or,

"at every meal that we eat together, freedom is invited to sit down. the chair remains vacant but the place is set."

les

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