red pepper issue143 july 2006

contents

features

Local power to the people 19The government is talking up local democracy, but what does it really mean in practice? Hilary Wainwright introduces a series of articles on its plans and bringing local power to the people

Art attack 20The ‘OpenCity’ project of the Manchester-based design collective UHC is one of a variety of initiatives stimulating debate and alternatives to the business driven ‘regeneration’ of our cities. Jonathan Atkinson and Jai Redman explain the project and explore the critical role of art and design.

Acting globally, profiting locally 22From ‘co-production’ to the ‘proactive de-concentration of deprivation’, the government’s regeneration policy is stuffed full of jargonised platitudes. What they all add up to is a bigger role for international capital and the market. Dexter Whitfield reports

Putting the public in public ownership 24Alternatives to privatisation take a variety of forms. The residents of Marsh Farm Estate, Luton, aretesting the limits of a government commitment to ‘community-led’ regeneration with plans for community control over publicly owned services. Glenn Jenkins explains their plans and then answers questions from Matt Little of Third Sectormagazine and Kenny Bell from the Northern Region of Unison

What’s wrong with human rights 28The left should be suspicious of abstract legal rights, says Andrew Sanders . The alternative to authoritarianism is not to put our faith in human rights culture, nor to deny the shabby way victims of crime are often treated

Cover image by Jai Redman at UHCCollective

regulars 04Letters Agony Subcommandauntie

06Activision Around the left in 30 days – UK Natural born rebel: Tayseer Arbasi Asylum Watch: Desperate measures Red Hot: Street markets v Supermarkets Know your enemy: Liam Byrne, immigration minister Temperature Gauge: The camp at the end of the world Guerilla guides: Something borrowed, something green ...

13World Around the left in 30 days – World Iraq: Moqtada Al Sadr’s not-so-barmy army Colombia: Fizzy pop and music – Super Furry Animals’ diary (see pic, right) Venezuela: Doing the US’s bidding

38Infrared David Osler: We need wildcat strikes to tame wildcat bosses

39Rear view Pablo Alcantara: Air traffic pollution

Are you now or were you ever an evironmentalist 30In the wake of the US ‘war on terror’, nonviolent campaigners are increasingly being caught up in a ‘Green Scare’ that defines them as ‘terrorists’. Janie Goodwin reports

review

Jenin’s theatre of resistance 32Juliano Mer Khamis’s first documentary, Arna’s Children, won two film festivals and shocked audiences with its verité footage of Palestinian street fighting. Arthur Neslen talked to the actor, director and self-proclaimed Palestinian Arab Jew as he took a break in London from rebuilding the Jenin Freedom theatre

34Book reviews Arts reviews

july 2006 red pepper

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