04 red pepperoct/nov2007

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contents

regulars

03EDITORIAL Many arguments, many opinions 06LETTERS AGONYSUBCOMANDAUNTIE 08PLATTITUDES Steve Platt 10PHOTO STORY The first Red Pepper, USSR 1923-1926 17DEMOCRACYNOW! Going local

29TEMPERATUREGAUGE Voices of descent 62GUERRILLAGUIDES Pitch battles 64NATURALBORN REBEL Richard Wilson 65ASYLUM WATCH Save the children 66BOOKTOPIA Jo Brand 67REARVIEW UKurban exploration

culture

49HYPERTEXTHEROINES Feminism is back – and this time it’s hypertextual. LAURIE PENNY reports on the new women’s spaces on the web 52BLACK, BOLD AND BRITISH According to an old skinhead chant, ‘There ain’t no black in the Union Jack.’ PAUL GILROY reclaimed that phrase as the title of his classic work on race and culture in Britain. In these extracts from his new book, Black Britain: A Photographic History, Gilroy documents the changing images of black Britishness in the post-war period. These beautiful, angry and startling photographs show glimpses of the struggle and everyday practices of black Britons throughout the country’s difficult process of becoming post-colonial

www.redpepper.org.uk

Forinteractivedebates, podcasts, blogs, polls and exclusiveweb features

Contributors this month on ‘Whatever happened to theLabourleft?’include Jon Cruddas Jon Trickett Seumas Milne Neal Lawson

Comeand join thediscussion!

HYPERTEXTHEROINES

56REVIEW: ARUN KUNDNANI’STHE END OFTOLERANCE Racism in Twenty-first Century Britain 57ACTING OUTOFCURIOSITY In the past 40 years, from Joint Stock, through the Royal Court to his touring company, Out of Joint, MAX STAFFORD-CLARK has been a life force to theatre as a powerful stimulus to political curiosity and a provocateur of public debate about the way we live. He explained his philosophy, his method and his future plans to CASSANDRA HARWOOD 60REVIEWSROUND-UP Red Pepperrecommends oct/nov2007 red pepper

05

features

12NAOMI KLEIN: AFTERSHOCK From Poland to Iraq and from China to New Orleans, neoliberalism has risen on the back of what Naomi Klein calls ‘disaster capitalism’. She spoke to OSCAR REYES about her new book, The Shock Doctrine, and new forms of resistance 15ORGANISING FROM THEBOTTOM By the time Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans the Wall Street Journalwas reporting that the rich white elite was already planning its new vision for the city. TAMANNA KALHAR talks to local black activist Curtis Muhammad 18POWERTO WHICH PEOPLE? The government is promising ‘devolution right to the doorstep’ as a means of reinvigorating local democracy. A pilot participatory budget making project has been running in Salford. STEPHEN KINGSTON questions its credentials 21ACLASSACTIN OXFORD A small left party has been winning council seats on Britain’s largest council estate. ZOËË JEWELL reports

ACLASSACTINOXFORD

24IT’SAPLEASURE All too often, the case for green politics is presented in a way that suggests a duty rather than a pleasure. KATE SOPER argues that, on the contrary, doing the right thing ecologically can bring its own sensual rewards, but these alternatives are up against a ceaseless pressure to consume and an intensified work ethic

COVER STORY

30CAMPAIGN FOCUS: AGENCYWORKERS Earlier this year a government minister sabotaged a private member’s bill to give agency workers more rights. DAVE RENTON examines the position of the casual workers who make up a growing proportion of the UK’s workforce, while MATT FINNEGAN reports on a trade union victory for casual workers that is of wide political significance 34CHINA’SPOLLUTION SOLUTION With China now leading the list of global polluters, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) play an increasingly important role in tackling the country’s environmental challenges. LUCIA GREEN-WEISKEL reports from Beijing 36AGRO-FOOLING OURSELVES EU and US targets and subsidies are fuelling a growing demand for ‘agrofuels’. Far from being a sustainable energy source, the increased cultivation of crops damages biodiversity and even contributes to global warming, argues OSCAR REYES 38GYPSIES, TRAMPS AND THIEVES Despite centuries of repression, the lure of wild and nomadic freedom has never left us, writes JAY GRIFFITHS . The spirit of nomadism is burnt deep into our origins and our identities

AGRO-FOOLINGOURSELVES

42ESSAY: WHATBECAMEOFTHELABOURLEFT? ALEX NUNNS inquires into whether after 10 years and more of a concerted attempt to silence the left in the Labour Party, there is still life in this vital challenge to the power of the executive? LIZ DAVIES then responds and opens up a debate on the Labour left

ESSAY FEATURE

Contributors and columnists

AlexNunnsis Red Pepper ’s political correspondent, a role he balances with the demands of rock ‘n’ roll – see myspace.com/deadmonroe Cassandra Harwoodhas been acting at the Old Vic and Hampstead theatres and working for the Stop the War International Peace Conference DaveRenton’s most recent books include When We Touched the Sky , chronicling the anti-racist campaigns of the 1970s-1980s LauriePennycurrently indulges in political campaigning, cross-dressing, comic books and eastern philosophy

Paul Gilroyis professor of social theory at the London School of Economics JayGriffithsis a writer, author of Wild: An Elemental Journey , described by Bill McKibben as ‘a major book by a major writer’ KateSoper’s latest book is To Relish the Sublime: Culture and Self-realisation in Postmodern Times . She teaches at the London Met University Lucia Green-Weiskelis a freelance writer and studies Chinese politics at SOAS. She does editorial work for Energy Intelligence and Global-Politics.co.uk

MattFinneganis a freelance writer on trade union and local government issues Mel Jarman’s new book Climate Change has just been published by Pluto Press SteveKingstonis founder of the Mary Burns Community Group, which proves support for grass-roots media – notably the Salford Star StuartWeiris director of Democratic Audit at the Human Rights Centre, University of Essex ZoëëJewellstudies history and German at Oxford, where she edits various student publications