26.09.1996

Class War calls a halt

Last weekend’s Class War national delegate conference, in a far-ranging review of its politics, its image, its paper, its membership and its strategic direction, decided to suspend the paper and the organisation. Further, should that decision be endorsed at a follow-up conference, Class War will cease to exist.

The organisation feels that it has come as far as it can and is positively unattractive to many exploited sections of the country, not least to women - who, its critics claim, are repelled by the white, boot boy, hooligan image. The critics, who were in a large majority, felt that the organisation had been a paper tiger for some time, almost literally - just being a frenzied monthly effort to produce it and sell it. Despite the criticism, Class War’s readership is very large on the left - in excess of 5,000 presumably happyish readers and subscribers.

Part of the problem has been the activist core feeling abandoned by a largely inactive support periphery, who cannot, it seems, be kick-started into action. What happens next seems vague in substance, though the intention is to call into being a new organisation, attracting loads of unaffiliated ex-supporters, disillusioned leftist activists and individual anarchists and revolutionaries, who, it seems, are floating around the country looking for a brand new Simon pure organisation. Some sort of British anarchist federation seems to be what is proposed, although some sorry sorts seem to be proposing liquidation into the Anarchist Communist Federation, an organisation which, though elitist and vanguardist, makes many democratically centralised teams look like the Green Party.

The decision met with almost unanimous agreement - only Doncaster and London standing out to continue. Indeed the option of a rump of Class War continuing around these groups still remains, depending on the outcome of the follow-up conference.

The decision to stop and take a long, serious assessment of where you are going and why is, I suppose, a heroic one, and one which many would have thought Class War incapable of. The end of the organisation cannot however be greeted by mirth by any except the enemies of working class resistance.

Class War was a dynamic, fist flying, largely city youth activist team who placed action and ‘sticking it up them’ at the top of the agenda. Certainly the most important development on the anarchist left in 50 years. Anarchist politics will now become dominated once again by middle class individualists and born again, holier-than-thou sky pilots.

In truth Class War was dangerous. The state thought of it as the body most likely to, and the anarchist left hated it for siting the working class at the head of every agenda. They were also shit scared of them.

New organisations and groupments are breaking out all over the place on the left, but few have become the new panacea their eager members crave. A collection of tired little left groups into a big tired left group doesn’t seem to take us anywhere. The whole doesn’t necessarily become greater than the parts. Perhaps the Class Warriors, venturing back outside into the wide political world, but bringing their experience and in-your-face fightback traditions with them, will prove the catalyst we are looking for.

A risky business, but one, it seems, that could no longer be resisted.

Dave Douglass