Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics

Ruth Kinna, Uri Gordon, Ruth Kinna, Uri Gordon

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317215271
• Subtopic: Political Advocacy
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Successive waves of global protest since 1999 have encouraged leading contemporary political theorists to argue that politics has fundamentally changed in the last twenty years, with a new type of politics gaining momentum over elite, representative institutions. The new politics is frequently described as radical, but what does radicalism mean for the conduct of politics?

Capturing the innovative practices of contemporary radicals, Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics brings together leading academics and campaigners to answer these questions and explore radicalism's meaning to their practice. In the thirty-five chapters written for this collection, they collectively develop a picture of radicalism by investigating the intersections of activism and contemporary political theory. Across their experiences, the authors articulate radicalism's critical politics and discuss how diverse movements support and sustain each other. Together, they provide a wide-ranging account of the tensions, overlaps and promise of radical politics, while utilising scholarly literatures on grassroots populism to present a novel analysis of the relationship between radicalism and populism.

Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics serves as a key reference for students and scholars interested in the politics and ideas of contemporary activist movements.

SECTION 1

Critiques

We begin the collection with a section on critique in order to identify some of the antagonisms and oppositions that animate radical politics. Anti-oppression politics is often used as the umbrella term to describe this critique (Désil, Kaur, Kinsman: n.d.), and this section explores some of its facets. How is oppression understood by activists, and how do their critiques of domination and inequality complement and challenge one another? These are the central concerns linking chapters in this first section.

As it turned its interest in the 1990s to the sweeping changes associated with globalisation, political sociology tended to rest content with the truism that class politics and mass parties had given way to a disjointed ‘politics of identity’. According to this logic, the class antagonisms rooted in material demands and/or revolutionary socialism had given way to a landscape populated by groups seeking redress for ‘post-material’ grievances and demanding equal institutional treatment and sociocultural recognition within capitalist democracy.

The eruption of a globally networked movement against neo-liberalism around the turn of the millennium revealed that other more significant processes had been taking place. On the one hand, movements of rural and urban workers in the global south, who mobilised against multinational corporations and neo-liberal policies, were often integrating their original forms of feminist, ecological and epistemological critiques; hence, while material and revolutionary demands were far from abandoned, they were no longer couched in traditional Marxian formulations. On the other hand, movements associated with ‘post material’ politics – from environmentalism to LGBT+ rights and beyond – had in fact been among the first to articulate how systemic features of capitalism, as well as discrete concentrations of corporate power, had shaped the conditions against which their protests, direct actions and campaigning were directed.

Global activist networks have consequently displayed an increased awareness of the interdependence of their struggles and the intersection among different axes of oppression (Shannon and Rogue, 2009; Jeppesen, Kruzynksi, Sarrasin and Breton, 2014). The chapters in this section clearly demonstrate the traction which these perspectives have gained, even as radicals continuing to focus on particular causes or grievances in their practical work.

In the opening chapter, a collectively written contribution, the London-based Irish diasporic group Speaking of IMELDA reflects on its direct-action campaigns for reproductive rights in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Providing an overview of the group’s history and explaining some of the actions the collective have undertaken, Speaking of IMELDA uses the idea of ‘cutting loose’ to expound a form of radical feminism that challenges gendered cultural constructions of the home state and experiments with do-it-ourselves aesthetics to develop creatively disruptive and empowering actions. Irish republican history is an important touchstone for Speaking of IMELDA’s radicalism, and the discussion shows how the collective interrogate the past and its disappointments to push revolutionary initiatives in the present and for the future.

Will Boisseau offers a discussion of the animal liberation movement, which takes direct action to save the lives of animals while causing economic damage to the industries that exploit them. Having grown rapidly since its beginnings in the late 1960s, radical animal liberation became a significant threat to corporations and its activists were heavily repressed in the 2000s. The chapter considers the movement’s principal concerns and action repertoires, before turning to the main concepts and political theories which relate to animal liberation including ecofeminism, anarchism and critical animal studies. Despite its advances and risks, animal liberation remains dogged with accusations that it represents bourgeois reformism and the preoccupations of privileged individuals. In response, the newest animal liberation activism focuses on concepts such as total liberation and the intersectionality of human, animal and Earth liberation.

In his chapter on antifascism, M. Testa locates its radical manifestations among activists who both reject the ballot box effort to outvote fascism and disdain state intervention, knowing that repression of fascists will invariably extend to their militant opponents. Radical antifascists’ primary political space is on the viciously contested streets of their towns and cities, but while their principal concern is to physically smash fascist mobilisation, they also recognise the need to organise within their communities. Here, the task is to put forward arguments based on class rather than race which show how housing shortages, privatisation and underemployment are not the result of immigration but of vindictive austerity measures. Militant antifascism therefore involves an openness to cooperation with people whose politics may not be the same, but to whom the threat of fascism is no less dangerous.

Chris Rossdale outlines a history of antimilitarism and discusses the politics of a number of antimilitarist groups to demonstrate the intersectional politics of contemporary antimilitarism. Antimilitarism is analysed as a network of institutions, a body of values and a set of practices. It draws on a range of traditions: anarchist, feminist, religious, anti-imperialist and antiracist. The chapter shows how anticolonial and antiracist campaigns intersect with antimilitarist peace activism and how religiously rooted pacifism fuels nonviolent grassroots direct action. The chapter closes with two case studies – resistance to US military bases in Okinawa and the Trident Ploughshares movement against nuclear weapons – which show how the theoretical lineages identified earlier find concrete expression.

Bonnie Burstow examines antipsychiatry, psychiatric survivor and mad movements from an anarchist perspective and as part of an intersectional anti-oppression politics. Sensitive to the differences between these movements, the chapter explores their radicalism by (i) developing an antiauthoritarian critique of state-sanctioned professional practice and normalising discourses and (ii) rejecting reforms directed at mitigating the worst excesses of established psychiatric practice. Reflecting on the experience of antisanism activism, the chapter recommends a model of radical activism that synthesises anarchist cultural values with the adoption of strategic goals. And looking at the challenges that antipsychiatry presents to other radical movements, it links radicalism to the willingness to confront the power-relationships that emerge in the intersections of anti-oppression politics.

Leah Temper examines radical climate justice politics – a network of anticapitalist and anti-extractivist movements fighting for ‘System change, not Climate Change’. Climate justice activism includes struggles against oil and gas extraction, coal plants and fracking, organising by the victims of floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, as well as movements fighting for food sovereignty and access to resources. Based on the understanding that those least responsible for the production of greenhouse gases are the most affected by the disruption and chaos they cause, this radical approach draws attention to the colonial and gendered dimensions of the climate crisis. Instead of the false techno-fixes poised to further exacerbate these inequalities, climate justice prompts us towards the proactive construction of a post-petroleum society and a consideration of how the economy, energy, food and transportation systems can be radically rethought and redesigned.

David Pellow focuses on the possibilities for a deepening and broadening of social justice politics within radical environmentalism. Based on data gathered from fieldwork, interviews, archival analysis and participant observation, he argues that while environmental movements have a long and troubled history of racism, nativism, heteropatriarchy and classism (to say nothing of misanthropy!), there are significant segments of these social formations that have invested time and energy into reimagining their work, including the very framing of the problem of the environmental crisis, along with strategies and tactics to address it. The chapter suggests new ways of defining environmental justice politics, and new ways of framing democracy and the polity itself.

In her chapter on radical research, Rebecca Fisher discusses the work of Corporate Watch – an independent research and publishing group which campaigns against corporate power and spreads ‘information for action’. The group approaches its research with a different ethic to the one prevalent in institutional contexts – from academia and media to NGOs and think tanks. This ethic is defined by its commitment to, and position within, struggles for radical social change, and by affirming the independence that permits such an engagement. Rather than provide seemingly neutral analysis, expert advice or compromised lobbying, Corporate Watch aims to take an active, autonomous and non-vanguardist role within radical struggles.

References

1. Désil, J., Kaur, K. and Kinsman, G., ‘Anti-Oppression Politics in Anti-Capitalist Movements’, Upping the Anti (1) online at http://uppingtheanti.org/journal/article/01-anti-oppression-politics-in-anti-capitalist-movements/.
2. Jeppesen, S., Kruzynksi, A., Sarrasin, R. and Breton, É., Collective Autonomy Research Group/CRAC, The Anarchist Commons’, Ephemera, 14 (4), 2015.
3. Shannon, D. and Rogue, J., ‘Refusing to Wait: Anarchism and Intersectionality’ (2009) at http://anarkismo.net/article/14923.

1.1

A RADICAL FEMINIST DIASPORA

Speaking of IMELDA, Reproductive Justice and Ireland

Speaking of IMELDA

Introduction

This chapter situates the London-based, direct-action performance collective, Speaking of IMELDA, within a tradition of alternative feminist Irish diasporic activist groups in Britain who have campaigned for reproductive rights. By contextualising Irish feminist activist collectives in London from the 1970s to the present day, we argue for the political efficacy and vitality of the Irish feminist diaspora. Written collectively by members of Speaking of IMELDA, the chapter maps the actions we have undertaken to challenge the restrictions on abortion in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We further detail our attempts to raise awareness in Britain of the inequity experienced by Northern Irish women, due to the rigid opposition to abortion maintained by dominant political parties in Northern Ireland and the British government’s failure to uphold equal access to reproductive healthcare to all UK citizens.

We frame our actions as being influenced by what we are terming a ‘feminist diasporic political radicalism’ – a form of radicalism that is informed by being ‘cut loose’ from the gendered cultural constructs of the home state, enabled by our geographical positioning outside of the island of Ireland. We further situate feminist diasporic political radicalism as being informed by the untethered freedom of ‘loose women’ within our collective. We theorise the idea of ‘loose women’ not only in terms of the looseness of our methods and aesthetics, but in how, within our actions, this sense of looseness informs the specific approaches we use to challenge oppressive cultural ideals of femininity. We argue that our actions are a messy alliance between art and politics; our loosely framed DIO (Do It Ourselves) aesthetics spill out crudely from artistic representation into the political realm where they demand a response.

This chapter traces the influence of feminist diasporic political radicalism on activist strategies. Throughout the chapter, we outline the strategies we have devised to act in solidarity with the ongoing battle for reproductive rights across the island of Ireland. First, we outline the origins of Speaking of IMELDA and situate our work in relation to the past Irish diasporic feminist activist groups that originated in Britain, in particular those focused on reproductive rights. We then explain how our work responds to the religious fundamentalism influencing legislative restrictions on reproductive rights in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Following this, a discussion of our use of direct action and performance demonstrates the ways in which the concept of ‘looseness’ is central to the methods we use to subvert the constructs of femininity associated with Ireland. Finally, we outline how the positioning of the tactics deployed by Speaking of IMELDA within the intersection between culture and politics upsets the cultural hegemony of both Irish states.

Speaking of IMELDA is a collective comprised largely, although not exclusively, of Irish women living in London. Our collective is comprised of a diversity of women of all ages and from many walks of life, including those working in education, the creative arts, health, social care and activism. Our collective history of activism spans reproductive rights, antiracism, LGBTQI rights, anti-austerity movements in England and Ireland, Irish Travellers’ rights, support for refugees and migrants and formerly challenging the human rights abuses by the British Army in Northern Ireland, including supporting the rights of women political prisoners during the Troubles (1968–98).

The group was initiated by women who had emigrated from Ireland since 2000 with the aim of challenging the legislative restrictions on abortion across the island of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, the Eighth Amendment to the Irish constitution, which equates the life of a pregnant person with that of an unborn foetus from conception, exerts a ‘chilling effect’ on the reproductive rights of women in Ireland (Amnesty International, 2015: 8). In the North, access to reproductive health services is also heavily restricted, due to the failure of the British state to extend the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland, alongside continued political opposition to abortion within the Northern Ireland Executive.

Speaking of IMELDA was formally established in December 2013 following a meeting at which Ann Rossiter was invited to speak about her activist history. A member of Speaking of IMELDA since that meeting, Rossiter is also a former member of Irish Women’s Abortion Support Group (IWASG), a long-time abortion rights activist and the author of Ireland’s Hidden Diaspora: The Abortion Trail and the Making of a London Irish Underground 1980–2000 (2009).

Maintaining Links to the Past: Irish Feminist Diasporic Radicalism

Placing our actions in a historical context has been central to the ethos of Speaking of IMELDA. From the outset, we have sought to retrieve and activate the work of our feminist predecessors. For example, the name Imelda, a common girl’s name in Ireland, recalls the work of IWASG – a group of activists who provided support to women travelling from Ireland to England for abortions between 1980 and 2000. IWASG, discussed in more depth later, used Imelda as a secret code word for abortion. This code word enabled Irish women travelling to England for abortions to keep their plans secret so as to avoid stigma and, up until 1992 when the right to travel for abortion was implemented, criminalisation. We use IMELDA as an anagram for ‘Ireland Making England the Legal Destination for Abortion’. We also wear the colour red in tribute to the work of IWASG, whose members sometimes wore a red skirt, so as to be identifiable, when collecting women travelling for abortion at train stations and airport terminals. Notably, we also harness the association of red with danger and the deviant sexuality of ‘loose women’. We see maintaining these links to the past as crucial to removing the long-standing barriers to progress on reproductive rights in Ireland. Such connections with past activism also make us proud and give us the commitment to continue the work.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Radicalism: Situating Contemporary Movement Practices
• Section 1 Critiques
• Section 2 Solidarities
• Section 3 Repertoires
• Section 4 Transformations
• Index