Comment
After a long absence we are back. It is nearly two years since the
last edition of RBR, and although the delay has been longer than
anticipated, the fact is that a number of important changes have
taken place within the WSM. Firstly, our newspaper
Workers Solidarity is now a free
news-sheet and appears 6 times a year. With a print-run of 6,000,
this means a huge increase in the number of people here in Ireland
receiving information about anarchism and struggle for change. Just
as important, has been the increase in the numbers of
people who take bundles of
each issue to distribute at work, in their neighbourhood or to
their friends. A second change is that we have simplified the process
for joining the WSM. Although the
basics still hold &endash; you have to agree with the WSM's
democratically decided policies and you have to agree to work for
these &endash; joining is a lot more straight forward. If you want
details on this just write or email us. Thirdly, we have increased
and improved our presence on the Internet. This move has been
prompted by the enormous success to date of our web site and
resources. In March of this year alone a quarter of a million pages
were downloaded from the (Struggle)
site which includes our pages. This means a vast number of people are
now looking at and reading about our anarchist ideas. Furthermore, we
have made our papers, magazines, posters and some pamphlets available
on PDF format &endash; allowing for
material to be downloaded in pre-set format, to be sold or
distributed free right across the world.
***
Over the last period there has been considerable change on the
world stage of struggle, but in another way little has changed
&endash; this is reflected in the content of the current edition. The
rise of a new anti-capitalist or anti-globalisation movement is
discussed in the article Revolutionary
Anarchism and the Anti-Globalization Movement and in two linked
reviews. In terms of what is still the same: both in the North of
Ireland and in the South, parliamentary elections are forthcoming.
This is the subject of Anarchism and
Elections - looking at the real reasons why anarchists won't be
participating. Turning to other pressing issues,
Biotechnology - Confusion, Fear and
Protest looks at the crucial business of gene modification and
how it fits in with the anarchist view of technology. Finally as part
of our ongoing commitment to building up more information on
libertarian aspects of Irish history we have an article about
Salud, a little known account of a brush
with the Spanish Revolution by one of Ireland leading leftists in the
1930s, Peadar O'Donnell.
While long in the making, we hope you find this issue enjoyable,
provocative and, of course, useful. But don't forget, if you feel you
have an article or book review that could be included in the next
issue &endash; get in touch.
Editorial group
(no 5, Summer 2001)
