UC50 February 1982 by Christopher Squire

beforeany damagecan be done. Radiation detectors of this type are available from the

experienced it for yourself. We can sup 19a wmpkte Bio Feedback package including the Monitor, Skin pads, conductive ,e&, Monitor phone, and full instructions foronly Â 13.95. Freedetailswill be supplied on request. w

you may not know is that the remarkabledevices which have been causing all this excitment are made by a very bright and enterprising family business in Gloucestershire, who are keen on promoting the human technical details too. side of modem technology. We have permission to offer you their lonogen air ionisers at the exceptionally low priceoff37.99each. Furtherdetails willbesu free- justwriteandask. Anioniser for you, car is ako a&k at Â£39.43 It Dukes fftediOeience on (how king. tiring 4 .& d rn&m.mp~%.wq p"-. have missedout onall the newsabout air ionisation, there isan excellentbookon Mrfb~w0ridMktÃ‡JMD)'freen~ If will . probably . have the subject by Fred Soyka and Alan Edmocftfc.Your The Ion Effect on their shelves, but if not WS! cansupply includingpostage.I can thorw&ly reammend this book. so do try to get

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UNDERCURRENTS CONTENTS

Eddies .....................2 Letters.....................6 A Hard Rain's A'Gonna Fall . . . .8

Pfople's News SewicÃ inwtigotion into cimnlcilend biolo#icel warfare

.................12 CND and END. ........... 1982 Acting Up

This is our 50th issue and 10th enniwr-

Community t h w e in Glasgow

sary - frankly we're amazed but happy to be here. The magazine seems to be'in

dmpelgn strewgles for

good shape, though. In independent publishing, financial problems are never far away. The greatly increased interest intheissuesthatwecover-from* anti-nuke end peace rnovanants, to co-ops, anti-sexist politics, community technology and media - is ancounging. It's hard to define the paper, or what keeps usgoing - pet flapsjust the simpla idea that people CAN try to take control of their lives. Yes, we look on the bright side of life as long as the cheques keep coming in. And finally, 9 big thank you to all those out there in Undercurrentshnd who've supported us over +byears.

Planning for Real.

.........

A model method for changing your

miI/Ibourhaal

Disarming Thinking. .......

Bomb politics, b y Mertin H Ryle

Paternal Bliss.

............

Frudrichshof was never like this in tht brochure.

.... Weird stuff bulletin ........ PtuI Diary of a Safety Valve.

Tony Allen mid the anarcho-fascists

Siewkmg on the Zone of Sihnw

In the beginning

.......... -

UndÃˆmrrent came in 8 plastic bag how nelw can you gsti

10 Year's that didn't shake the world.

........... .31

Stephen Joseph o n a dscada o f envlconmenal Ktion

Alternative Technology Revisited. ................ .33 Info update for A T freaks

What's What and When . . . . . . .So Reviews. .38 .46 Classified. Subscriptions. ............. .48 Forth- Loony Doornster .48 on the rampage.

................. ................

...........

UndercUIIentS L t d Is a compan registered under the laws of England no I 1 4 6 454) and limited b uarantee. Tenth year of issue. ISSN 0306 2 U .

DISTRIBUTION: Within the British Isles by Fulltime Dlstrlbutlon Building K Albion Yard, 17 BÃ§lfst, ohd don N 1 (oi-837 14601, except ond don newsagents supplied by DFFICE' 27 Clerkenwell Moore Harness 01274 2288 I n the US by Carrier PI eon Room 309 7kKncÃ§lÃ§st. London EC1R OAT. Tel: 01-3 7303. Boston kkss 6211. Our U^ mailing a ants are Exbdlters of the Printed Word 527 ACCESS: We meet at 7.30pm every ~adls~nftvenue , NOW york, NY 16022. Wednuday and ail friends of tha magazine are wicome. COPY DATE' Undarcurrents 5 1 March will be on sale Saturday 6th closing date for last minute Items Is February 17th.

g arch.

COPY RIGHT] The contents of Undercurrents are copyright: permission t o reprint is freely given to non-profit groups who apply in writing, and cold t o everyone elm.

BULK SELLING: Sell Undercurrents and make an honest profit for yourself or your grou whih you re about it. or bulk purchases of five or mom copies offer a discount of 25% off the cover price and full sale or return. PRINTER: Western Web Offset. 59 Prince St. Bristol 1.

TYPESETTING: Bread 'n ~ o s e sTU) 30 Camden Rd, London N 1 (01-485 ~ 3 2 ) . ADVERTISING: we do not accept advertlsi n that IS racist or sexist and reserve the rlg"Kt to comment Â ¥ d i t o r l i i on ouradvrtliem When repi Ins to ads mention that you saw them In ~n<Â£rcurrentFor further details and advertising rates h o n e ~ i c ~k a n n a on 01-253 7303 or 01-878 6327.

tow

u n c f r c u i ~ * & was brought to you by: Godtrey Boylaand Peter Culshaw (features), Ingrid ~rnsdm.6111Flatman. Nick Hanm (idvertlsing and new). w i l l Hill (coverand mraphlcsl, Stephen Jos.ph end Mlllen (rwiaw), Rowan, Pat sinciair (now), D a v S m i t h (production). Tammy and Lowana veal Illstlms).

Undercurrents 50

YOUTH o m i i u t i o n and young uiwmployd pmopte haw UprÃ‘M outragB at thB Gownm f s p r o p d 'Now Training InitMviT, announcedby Emloynot M i n b f r N o r m TÃ§bbijust bofmChrirtmu. Thm p l m is to upgnda the p m n t Youth Opportunitte pragr&me lalmady c r i t i c i i b y union nchÃ‘ Â¥Â¥hou to a 'Youth Training Sclrn~',to ba i n v o d u d in siltanbar 1983. Thhwill conantoxchnhdy on industrial and commwclil training with uisting mnployn so x-ing the community and environ-

mental p r o l ~ tthat ! am t reiatinly good parts of YOP now. Young people on the new scheme will get only Â£1 per week, compared with the present Â£23.5 on YOP. Supplementary benefit will be withdrawn for any young people not on the scheme, in education or in work. making it in effect compulsory. Reports ere that present YOP trainees em unlikely to haw anything to do with the schema, if they cm help it. Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, it appears that wme form of National Service. wtan-

Government blexing. The'pilot &ma of 4,000 phcÃ drum UP by right wing Tory MP TOW Marlow, with the imp Of NTebbit, is c o m p l f l y different to the hospitalvisiting, conÃ‘rwtlo and xiciil work now organbed bv voluntary bodies. It will tart with a thrownonth induction court* in disused army camps, then move on to t h r u options;environmental work, community work or military t.lning\ The tchema is the latat in the series of idem for m e form of national s w k a produced by various groups of politicians and academia, but the only o m to have got anywhere. Norman Tebbiis predeceaor Jim Prior would have nothingto do with the idea Tebbii himself (known in opposition as the Chingford skinhead) h different. With all thin, one might be tempted to credit Tebbit with originality, if nothing else. But

recession (rising prices, hiah unemployment) in 1647, a similar scheme wa devised. The story Is told in Heskym, 'ThÃ Age of Plunder': 'That the Emlhh regardedthe Ettablishment milof people es little better than staves, existing only to work for the few, is revealed in.. . the m a t 8avagm act in the grim history of English vagrancy lagiskiin, imposing slavery asa punbhnunt for refusal to work". The Act p d unworkable and was rapmtod two y ~ r Ã later, but m H a k y n w s , th* fact that it could bepÃ‘MdataIi8ho the mentality of at tent wrne of the ruling clan. It providedfor branding (with a V for Vagdxmd), for a diet of bread and water and maat that no-one rise would eat. for beating and chaining if necaoary. This pemnal slavery wa to tost two yean; but a N M W y s ~ W could thereafter be enslaved for

.. .

Did you know. The M-X (Missile Experimental) ICBM of which the US plan t o deploy 200 by the late 805, at a stnapring cost of Â£7 billion, will considembly heighten whet Generel Heig recently called "a crisis in strategic materiels" which is increasingly affecting the US. It is ironic that many of these materials will have to be imported because of their geogaphical distribution from countries which could become oossible M-X target! in the future. The approved USAF recipe is m follow: Tab 10,000 tons a!aluminium 24 tons of barlillm 2,500 tons of chmnium 150 tons of titanium 100,000 tons of stwi 2.4 million tons of wmmt and m(i)x thoroughly..

Clear Cut Lead ..-

A campaign called CLEAR which aims to reduce lead pollution in the air was launched on January 25th. In the driving seat is Desrnond Wilson, axdirector of SHELTER and wteran campaigner. He i s confident that CLEAR'Smain objective to cut tho lead conmnt of petrol -will receive 'widespread political support'. Â¥Fomore information write to: 2 Northdown Strut. London N1 9BG. Telephone 01-278 9686.

L k e d Ape ThttMhMloaynwylriMwbut

thm ~ u m p t i o M CMin thmama T h k ~ n to x b* UWthinking Irhkidtictwweun~lmbrinÃ kinchtd by tbo'pro' NuelMr Powr InformitionGroup. In BNFL News it announced the launchingof a campaign aimed at 'women and young people', es distinct from the 'leaders of opinion' which their first campaign supposedly addressed.

ThiÃii in U r n with the curiour

ly m i s t viww of Sir John Hill.

Chairman of BNFL, who wrote in the New Scbntlst 'When additional plant is required, p l a ~ have been held up by objectors who M e found the nuclear industry, bactuse of in remota1 from the man-in-ttx-ttrft, end, perhaps mom important, his wife In the kitchen, en n s y

tsrwt..'

Undercurrents 50

THE ~ovnnunt w p m t o hwe dona a volta face over nuclnr w m dumping in the last month. Whar8m before it was only the anti-nuke ectlvteb who were dally ing @ogiul studia into l u i f b l e spots t o dump the highly toxic wmte, Environment Minister Tom Kin# h u did off the gwlogicai researchusaying thatsurface s t o w is better it t e a t for the first 50 y n or so. This comes in the wake of widely differing conclusions about the rate of radiation leaking into theearth from vitrified waste. This techniqueof disposal involves solidifying the waste into 'glass' before dumping. Research at Harwell by the UKAEA conveniently Put the

figureet 20 times less than recent French experiments. Tony Hughes of the UKAEA interviewed on the BBC World Service on 24th January said that because radiation leakage would take place over thousands of years, precision of figures dona in laboratories could never be exact. Professor Rowley, an economist, pointed out that becauw.of the differing experimental results, further experiments were necessary. Surf ace storage wou Id require constant monitoring end cooling whereas dumping involves a high initial expense, which is perhaps another attraction for the Government trying to keep spending down in the embarrassingly

expensive nuclear programme. When Minister Tom King was asked what the cost of monitoring the waste would be, he replied that the waste would 'only' have t o be cooled for 50 years, but would have t o be monitored for thousands o f vears after that. Ted I Harrison of the World Service, likened this t o the Romans leaving us a radioactive Collosaum t o look after.

Grc~nhanic-Ã‘I I

women's owe* camp at ~Ã§nhaCommon is proparing to fight Nowbury Dktrict Council as Ã‘I as the US Airforw base. On the 20th January the protesters received en eviction order from the District Council who own part of the lend where the women have been camped for the last five months. The protesters think the battle will also involve Berkshire County Council.

A spokesperson for the group Â¥ai that though the base is on land requisitioned by the RAF, the area -as formerly designated mmmonland. They believe this could be the legal loophole which will enable them to stay at Greenham. Whatever the outcome, the first day of Spring will we a theatrical expression of the women's anger at the decision to

The Government's opting for storing waste on the ground where it can be monitored reflects the fact that there still is no known safe way of dumping radioactive waste. The UKAEA seems t o be buying time in the hope that some safe method will beinvented sooner or later. Ted Harrison likened the situation to jumping out of a plane before the parachute has been designed.

PnwCulihaw

site American Cruise missiles at the base. They will be itagirig en a11^ay demonstration on March ~ 1 sand t ere hoping for a massive turnout from supporters.

l For further

information tolephona Alison Whyto on 01-263 49541854617424. Or write t o The Women's Peace Camp, Greenham AI, B~~~~ ~ ~ k ~ h i ~ .

I N THE first few wnk< of this y n r the Now York T i m reported American official! a laying that the Pentagon is trying t o double dc budgm for chemical and biokwcal wewmlh I t was said that the US Administration has decided t o provide over2800m in 1983 for their research and develop ment. This is a huge increase from the 1978-81 yearly figure of about S100m. Although official statement! from the Pentagondeny that these weapons ere destined for battlefield use, one newspaper reports that American chemical companies have been asked, by the army. for enough feedstock t o made 2,900.0001b of mre* on for the new binary weapons system. The same newspaper estimates that this is enough to cover the two states of Maryland and Delaware in a lethal cloud. This latest development together with the news of a security report that suggests Britain should be the European base for these weapons, possibly as a 'bolt-on* attachment t o the Cruise missile system, can only give credence t o the claims of peace protesters that the USA is prepared t o use this particular form of mass murder. See page 8 for full report of the latest developments. Peoples News Sewice

Undercurrents 50

SEVERN BARRAGE: The pro's and cons justifying nuclear expansion. If we did want t o davelop renembles windpower is a cheap and possibly better option. Alternatively, smell barrages on the Dee, Humher, Morecambe Bay, Merseyside, the Wash, Solway Firth, together could generate as much power as the Swem scheme. Due to their geographical distribution, they would be able to supply power continuously, as tides flowat different times. Investment i n the giant Severn scheme could pre-empt other renewable options. More lobs could be created by investing in conservation nationally, without the risk of dislocating the local community.

T h e S w r n Barn* Committm hiconcluded thrtbanf mating Â£5. billion and w o n t i n g 6% of our powr nÃ‘d u technically foible, although there in a need for furthw -an of tho Ã§nvimnmendimplicitiam. Whit w the pro's and con's?

cons Many environmental groups oppose the barrage (including FOE). This is partly because of the ecological impact, but also because they are against the giant mntralised systems that generate electricity for the grid. They argue that we do not need more alectricitv and that conservation is a much more important - and cheaper -option. There is also the suspicion that the barrage would be used mainly as a pumped storage system, storing 'off-peak" electricity from nuclear plants and so

Pros The environmental problems do not seem insurmountable in fact the barrage could offer

some environmental advantages. For example i t seems likely that the flow of silt around the estuary would be reduced. Currently sewage and industrial pollution is dumped in the estuary, but this is not so much an argument against the barrage as one for better controls and treatment plants. Conservation is vital, but we will eventually need new sources of energy and the barrage would be a major renewable inexhaustible source. It would put renewables on the map making a public commitment t o Alternative Technoloov. -. on centralisation, we accent hydro-e1ectric plants, *y tidal? It does not have t o be controlled by a central agency end it would cream a lot of desperately needed employment

far the construction and power enainwrinq industries (2.000 jobs over 10 years). ~ h k would e also be 500 jobs for local people in the service industry. Dma Elliot ANATTA for . .. . , . . - the ~.- network AlternativeTechnology and^ Technology Assessment has launched a research project designed t o collect opinions from local people on the barrage project. As the editorial In the Western Mall (October 9th 19811 put it: ". . . up t o now the naople of weston and Woodspring have not been asked for their vlews by the experts. BY all account the experts haven't even asked the local authorities what they think. ..over two m w o n 'Mums has been spent to tell us that further work on the Idea would be worthwhile. Not a penny of that went t o public consultation". NATTA would like your views. Send to NATTA C/O ATG open university. ~

~~~

CAATALYTIC The run up t o the United Nations Second Special Session on Onarmament 17 June to 9 July

that the production and transfer

of conventional weapons do not net (WriookwI.

Smiling Sun sinks TIr W a d Infornution Suvia

originally donated to the Danish anti-nuclear movement end was iolucconfu~that the movement found imlf with more money than it could use. I n 1975, at Ã§ inumatknul anti-nudwr meting in Mexico, WISE was I : up, the arrangement being tht @Ifthe r o y a l t i would go t o the Danish movement and half to WISE. Siqa then WISE have MtabIMMd t h e m s l w as an international network, providing weekly communkiuM for the madia.Ã§id inforination reioureft on tbe a n t i - n u e k movement, nuclear and alternetiw form* of a m . The WuhiJtuftnand Amrtcrdam offices cornpilea world round-up of nwa which in telexed to theirother offices to be d i i i b u t e d to lubscriber*. A new direction for WISE latterly Im iMW the starting of the KW it in rho Gmund Campaign on uranium mining.

on Emny is i n f lmndal difficultin, which it (damn upontha'bbck nwkming'of the miline nun aM+ W I S E W t o 1 M l budget upon the royaltni paid upon the deign in the previous veer. This has not come up to thÃ expected level, leaving a shortfall of mme Â£10.800WISE are now hoping to continue their UK operation H n g funds from other sources, such as the Manpower Services Commission. The smiling <un design was

Jim SImown AEnqulrlesand d o ~ t i o n to: s 34, GOWJOY RON, oxford.

"You think he's p i n g to be interested in your rubbish when he hears the arms deal I can offer?"

Undercurrents 50

I'll A British enginmar, an exiled South African educator end an Austixlimn agricultunli share this yms'i Right Livelihood A d of Â£29,00 Tha award comes from the Right Liwlihood Foundation, established Ianyear by Jfkob van ~toxku~l, aS d b h citiim lwina on the Ide of Man. H* wants to provide an alternative to the Nobel Prizes because "most

recent recipients hwe not met Alfred Motel's criteria of people who "have best served humanity' and 'made life more precious' Dr. Mike Cooley wins the 1981 Award for his work in designing and promoting the production of socially useful products. Dr. Cooley was Chairman of the team which developed the

ELLIS FUNKS THE ISSUE One of the 'big Â¥ventsof the 1981 'Emray Cilendef which got little mmtion i n the -tab lshfd press w n the unviling i t the Parllgns mating on 23rd Novmbtr, at thÃ H o u r of Common*, o f the SOP E m r w policy by its spoknman Tom Ellii, MP for Wrtxhim. Parligaes is meant to explore alternative energy strategies, but when Ellis eventually got down t o talking about SOP policies, he talked of a commitment to nuclear power; on the nonexpansion of coal and on oil and gas depletion policies and role of the treasury in financing public projects; finally he did mention that 'alternatives' might be able to account for 20%of the country's electricity demand by 1996, end thought that wave energy would be the major source. As an afterthought he remembered conservation. How t o achieve it? Apply a pricing policy. I n a question and answer wssion some of thew ramblings w a n tubsqumtly dissected. On nuclnr: The Electricity Consumer's Council end SOP member Tom Burke (formerly of FOE) wanted to know just what 'commitment' meant. Was it the same as the Government's commitment to a 15GW programme? What were the demand projections? Did they differ from thoseof the official CEGBI Department of Energy's? Tom Ellis responded that the nuclear programme would be 'appropriate'. (Appropriate to

well-known Lucas Alternative Corporate Plan. Drawn up by worken from all trade unions at Lucas factories in their own spare time, the detailed plan listed over 150 socially useful products, the manufacture of which could alleviate the Company's heavy dependence on military production. The object of the plan was both "to protect the right t o work" and t o develop products "useful to the community at large". It was rejected wholesale by the Lucas Management as en unwarranted interference but the Centre for Alternative Industrial and Technological Systems was set up in London t o further the plan's objectives, (Mike Coolev now works part time as a Senior Research Fellow in the Open

what, to whom?. No response from Ellis.) The need was 'based on the belief that the present downtrend of the economy would be reversedl It was, he thought, the proper role of 'the experts' to keep 'us politicians' up to date . On funding mnowables and their viability: Tom Ellis said the SOP would 'respond as a responsible party to any practical new supply technologies. The technological case for them would have to be made first.' (He ignored the vast discrepancy in R and D funding between nuclear's Â£186 p.a. against renewables Â£1m p.a. in 1980.) On SDP favouring kentrelisation: Was it not ironical t o be in favour of such a centralised electricity supply as nuclear? Shouldn't the SOP go for a low energy strategy bolstered by local active conservation measures? Ellis said that favouring decentralisation did not mean ell things must be centralised. One solar panel consultant, who recently joined the SOP, jumped up at this point end asked why Ellis (and the SOP) based all demand projections on the conventional figures. Was the SOP not a radical new party with new visions? Ellis fudged and mudged. The enquirer responded by publicly resigning from the SOP their first defector? - claiming he had bean deceived by a radical seduction that was no more than rehashed conventional wisdom. Bowed head he left, a disillusioned man. Dave Lowry

POLAND: Industrial pollution in the country is so savage that it dissolves the gold on church roofs and eats away steel railway lines says the Polish Ecological Society. A club report examined the southerly region of Katowica (which accounts for only 2%of Poland's lend) found that 650,000 tonnes of particle pollution and 1.8 million tonnes of gas were released there lest year. The region has 20 steel mills, 60 mines and 30 electricity generating plants. Only 53% of Katowice region's municipal sewage is treated at all end only 11% gee proper treatment with the result that nearly two thirds of the region's rivers end streams are unfit for human or industrial use. Westerly winds send the pollution on to Cracow where it Falls as acid rain or 'aqua regia', an mil blend of hydrochloric end nitric acids, which is dissolving the gold roof of the cathedral chapel at Wavel Castle. The region suffers 47% more respiratory disease, 30% more pmours and 15% mom ci~culalory disease than the rest of

Group). The award t o Patrick van Rensburg, a political refugee from South Africa, recognises his work to develop replicable educational models for the Third World. "The present system," he believes, "perpetuates an elite. . .a small minority grabs almost all available resources", says van Rensburg. The third winner is Bill Mollison, founder of the Institute for Permaculture. He defines permaculture as, i n essence, a complete agricultural ecosystem. The chic ken, always a good all rounder illustrates the point; it heats the glass house, forms a pest control for the orchard, provides manure for plants and for algal production in the fish pond, while it gets food mostly from trees end

JAPAN: Currently Japan is the world's biggest food importer relying on imports for 30% of iu total food requirements. But a recent report concludes that the country could become not only self-sufficient in food but also en exporter. Government-sponsored researcher! believe Japan could develop its agriculture without needing trade protection. At the moment financial aids and price support systems have produced surpluses which have caused enormous gaps between consumers' end produer!' prices. Reforms wouldmerge the present tiny holdings of 1 or 2 hectares into more efficient units, but inevitably mean a greater , reliance on the agri-business. Japan already beau most countries in soaking up chemicals. AUSTRALIA: The Australian Council of Trade Unions has decided not t o uphold in practice its four year old antiuranium policy. ACTU's decision t o abandon the policy of action against the mining end export of uranium is a result of 'sheer burn out' after years of hard campaigning and decline of mass support. The government recently loosened safeguards on uranium export, and lest September signed an agreement with the EEC for uranium sales. Fears are that French bought uranium will euentually find its way to the nuclear test sites i n the South Pacific. Once the ACTU's official statement is made on the policy there will be no holds barred t o the multinationals jostling in to take their cut out of Australia.

Sony ~cilh~'mnotthatcufly Mt-trippeddit'scleffrom

youlettertlntyouweiÃ§n' emipie~ntatthei compound foi mot of the -8b-f8r-'dutnctim'usdÂ¥nucbo'i

d a d exwakd with ipootairiety and good h n m o ~ . TayABcn

AHEALTHYREACTION? I AM NOW far too old and grey to be quite in w<np*thy

with Underciurents.the buriy uadMHVlox ten yea old) which

IGNORINGA I READ Kdth Mothenon's letter in VnStrcunmtl49 compldniq about T o 4 A k a ' s direct action atitaT-demo.and1 am odued.Iamnotlittingonthe ftackIaminbothnddsattln ~inetime. I lympatUM with Keith Mothenon, in the dtuation of a UpMtttaf the Pof*(roupft wMttini9emeddly if one b wliotoheutodly behind the (loop decUoa. But, on the other hold, I feel for Tony Alien; 'Better the whole wollupuubtbaaanuOBMtman lefndn&omdoiugumddngto

before its #bockkgdeath lut autumn). Howtwr, tint dmni't at

whichIdi@ritinovsOBM'.*'IIM

(round you atmd upon b Hbelatad. Defend it!' To what extent, thowh, are the'itmctund&dik>nnuken'

1 of too*,which you

lmenwar~ahs.It

ItutIbsmodlt'smpouebnear the haat of Kdth'Mothmon's f w - t h e f t a i o f a b a d p ~ ~ ~ . flodciu. P e h p tbb ~ dl j u t Bundiutw the~WflmdmmIM

democracy h fldn on the gmmd in thil country. Pohive tbeh points of vtew - what the Aide do they want with your? So they cmy on Isnodnx the Keith MoOMcom, and murlghteoudy mppthe Tony Aflem and continue dobig what they want. y0un opmeaedly,

Mkk White

wendnr, Leyburn, N.Yaikt.

him. Firrtly*becameoonisouiattt

you must ficht the nutChofthe' clecbeiwtrichthietnuto utterly dcttroy (unity life. We mastnitontxbiatotlub mothen, d biohh utteily the fata of the miporte i ~ t Ã § tho fled(Ua&hidf-tutod.', leftte&wÃˆy of auoeryand infant teaclwn who mhbk'

REVOLUTIONARY VIRILITY OR REFORM-

ISTSTE RTL~TY?

Democracy b whÃ§ worthy fendnht Kdth Mothcnon b dÃ‡fÃ‡adfaÃ‡dadvoca&ui windbuofabttottoUnder cuneob 49, mpoodklr to my Dieviou month s piece about ~TOKMÃ

occu&Uqi~The

tatter of an wgumeot he does h t c o ~ w a n udecisionnukhgislortmddatoedof txxu bdbtilt about Mxtai. hwÃ

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE THANK you, Nick W Ã ˆ for ~

UowhgÃ§Ã§*ythebhhmkta bdn&toÃ§)rattentionof wider uidlenc* the counter cult. o ~ ~ 0 f ~W ~ W ~ ~~ m t . H ~o w from the manhw &now evn the m t t k phenomenon is ty threatening food production not geographically confined to Â£roinDowtoLyin~RÃ§tl Wat Cork but p e n w t M the We must teB biid watchtf. whole Wet Cout, cneptox up dat-flnnly*ofone thiouih Kw, Cine,G*lwa~. tCOMd.without pmiic*tion. Sko. Donfl and Ldtdm; although udly theit are few tinttheyamnotwanted.Backl must say to them: back to linh between mttlor communCrew Junction;back to Victoria's Itinin th* different countiw. long and dealer plitfwnu where ASaoactiowiwUmtof wdtlda~subuiban tnir main W~lCode06-'77) Ãˆn now a theirw~yilouthwud.Allmtuie (omettanunililmt of North criw out for tbb iwtltution of . Laitrim. conntfr&UKÂ¥DMahflo Â¥ophyoffttiix-to Thirdly,ithdeutoall land. nulewwbg the tarttuuau 0ftlMstete~emtomodvUetlw thatkudu*motbe(topped. woold-be Â¥ttflein North Leitdm. BM*~~thelikMof(/ÃˆÃˆ<Ã Propertyli-w CWnmnbawMrioadyumtoniiiaBd cheaper dun Wat Code; cotthe government's confidencein Ã‘dfiveordxacrefanu~cmb in capacity to go-. thb may had for Â£3,O00?4,OO altbemdeiuld thandone. the climate and soil conditlom BY nay of tepÃˆid the (poodydidnhuhe*W d Ã ˆ y ) a iw*laafaÃand dÃ§UUtath much hulher. Conunwdcatlolu effect you hive had over the and indwtrid development ue yeaa,withaByouatxuid minimal.HencÃ§LÃ§ltrimhmco drivel about freedom and anardly, tobeknownn&Â¥CIndenD you must bemenandhÃ‡o county of& (wen the pump dcÃ§riand loudly now to mMM your eiror, ind tagta to advoote Unu~tadeot). Ill*~llpittas~flÃ§n thexhoit.shipdiodeoffliiu iuan@MKMMttMttecbof g~v~ianient IntUi inua. mediumsabfiirandlum J a m s murt b* rounded up. inua-hddliifin t h e m of ~heycanbekeptinholding 6-15 The (oflimrohwd amps (dlthat jumping on the dofn't eocoum@ the vlhnnt wfll keep thtm niocly m, spot lodilHAofWatCode.Wotk and doubtleÃthey'll laat a week dialing is a important put of the ortwoifthey shareout their aettter economy Â¥londde the @ m a tablet! equitably). A dole and 8 well ataUuhed vegetneat plan m#ht Incorporate the able growen coopenthe. weofHyde*ndRepViPaiki Nudeir funiUM are & the forthm purpoui. noun, altboogh the MX role* may ~,~~~~ bodUArirt006theIfffam~~ bemltructedand wiredinto and more tatÃ‘hi inuBholdinp, the (Metric (rid. b exdinÃ withOrwomen~ittothe faluieitoqoitebutnotfliahy onteo,tealktafpulourand (B<>t,tlwmÃ§ÃˆedÃ§lnÃˆwo loutnglociriucoddtheabe and betoÃ *coupsput to (OHM uwful patpot. stumtUng towudi the commune They wantexerdwTThenlotthe idad, although no-onehm been 'them have it. , lost to a nlifiolu movement. Butbtfluratofwbespmd Thb pa will be mniembtred for many thhp; the belt mmmer h c e '76, the crookedcuioln, the Therehmontomyplan. inuouing circulation of the But j u t now I am buy conduct- North Wwt Newdetter, the kip to ItK a p d to ferret out tho- of the WWOOF conference in your wntributor who ue not Kilkenny;andofcoune'tludrug fully committed and lo* raids' which squÃ§hÃthe action idmhmofdie~rincerof that the wttter need know Wa. It may bÃ nine of you nouliagofrtftautituOom waver on thk su-. If to,1 on dole d*y. except duBbamtowetoit thateven mmmm before the you are herded 62 Evenhot R a d , toget& and wt to ttÃ§tin the

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Undercurrents 50 WHAT IS ILLICH TALKING ABOUT? I WOULD like to comment on Illich's depressing, pessimisticand muddle-beaded theories. I confess I c o d not imagine what he meant by "gderless' but I will do my best to dismantle the rest of his argument. In 'traditional' societies, children didn't need to go to school became they muld learn at their parents' (and aunts', uncles', neighbours' and grannies') knees how to support and comport themselves asadults. Industrial society requires a higher level of literacy and scientific ddlls to operate and advance its machinery and to service the operators. This education is by no means 'gender less' in any mme I understand, nor Is it ever assumed that both sexesare "made fo workand have them needs". To cite 'scarcity'as a reason for the desirability of education is a red herring in an age of high unemployment even for graduates. On the whole, education is the only way (apart from luck at tilth) to avoid ending up with the molt soul destroying jobs the captains of industry are able to mete out. . Yet these awful jobsare not

...%

quite as awful as they were in Dickens' time. Is this due to the goodwill of our representatives in Parliament? Or the philanthropy of mill and mine owners? Rather, it is became of the hard struggle of the employees to force better conditions for themselves, not least women mill- . workers, in the h i t century. Illich lays, "Up to now, no good willand no struggle, no legislation and no technique have reduced the sexist exploitation characteristic of modem society" and "sexism can be reduced only by economic shrinkage". The suffragetteswon us the vote (although it proved that access to Parliament Is not access to power), we have legislation for maternity leave, equal pay, abortion and against sex discrimination. These reforms are a drop in the ocean and do not change the oppressive structure of society, but they have been successful struggles, and our lesson from them should be that we can fight to win. I for one am not ready to give up and go back to the bronze age. Those who advocate abandoning the modern technology of washing machines, tampons and vacuum cleaners, are never the ones who do the washing, menstruating or cleaning.

Wch is interested in 'scarcity' and has evendefined economics as 'the science of values under theassumptpn &nucity'. I prefer my dictionary's definition: 'practical and theoretical science of the distribution of wealth'. So keen is he on scarcity, in fact, that he would have us all subsisting at the level of the 'poorest nations'. This might reduce pollution, but disease, famine, overpopulation and war would be inevitable. Yet at no point does Illich wonder why some muntries are rich and some poor. Or why some of the poor countries are ruled by some of the richest people in the world. Could it be that all over the world factories are belching chemicals into the ail, forests are being cleared for cash-aops, animals in darkened cages are being stuffed with grain, whilst 'unemnomic'food is kept in 'm?untainsl and 'lakes' (or even thrown into the sea)? Could it be that this is not done for the purpose of feeding, clothing, housing and entertaining humankind, but only for the benefit of a few multinational companies and their directors? What possible other 'reason' can there be for such unreasonable husbandry? If the motive wasn't simply to

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make a fast buck, industry ( 0 wicked word!) muld be cleanly run on renewable power sources; the repetitivejobs muld be given to robots without throwing anyone on the dole; deserts could be rec1aimed;every locality muld grow what they wanted to eat, rather than receiving Government grants to please the futures market; reversible sterilization and other contraceptive methods muld be researched, without fear that profits from the pill would decline. And oPwurse, if we were all running the whole world for ourselves, there would be no need for the nuclear family as a (male) workforce servicer and producer - women would never need to be dependent on kind-hearted MPa for sexual equality, nor would the South need charity from the North. There is no truth in the rumour that the world cannot feed itself -it's just a question of who's holding the (silver) spoon. S Grumble London . I HAVE just received the new Undercurrents, it is definitely an improvement, I hope you will keep it up. Rene k n u m Belgium. Letters marked with an asterisk have been cut.

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Undercurrents 50

IF YOU thought the Geneva Convention outlawd chemical and biological warfare, you'd

be right. But if you thought OUT rulers take much notice, you'd be wrong. People's News Service reports.

CIVIL servants from the Ministry of Defence went back to work after the Christmas holiday having to deal with the controversy erf America's continued effort*% base diemiad weapong on tills Britain is the ideal site for these arms

to keep theii B i i e miaules on US bases in this country; this suggestion came after West Germany's refusal to allow these weapons in their country. Since the early 1960s the British governments have kept to the policy of not stockpiling or dowlng chemical

e need for constant vigilance from the public w@ hinted a t by Julian Perry Robinson of Sussex University's. Science Policy Research Unit who is one of the leading figures in the study of chemical weapons and their control. He add of British policy, 'One would hope that If this policy is being dunged it wiU have been with full consultation, including Parliamentary consultation'.

Seeds of death Last y e a another incident gave an indication of government policy on chemical and biological warfare (CBW). In early October a message was sent to Scottish newspapers. Part of it read. 'By thetimeyewftowreadtftto statement the campaign will hose

started in earnest. The first delivery will ham- been made. And where better to tend our seeds of death than to theplace whence they came?

Then soon followed MI unsuccessful hunt for the senders of the letter, and condemnation (romthe police and Ministry of Defence officials. Perhaps more importtntly, it focused public attention on the island off the west coast of Scotland that to been treated with indifference by British governmeets since 1941when experiments with anthrax deliberately contaminated the land. The anthrax spores were brought in by sdentiste from the top secret Chemical Defence Establishment (CDE) at Porton Down, Salisbury. Although anthrax is easily treated in humans it is deadly to livntocfc. The

cattlecake infected and ready to be

start of the massive binary weapons

Undercurrents 50 factory in the Ural mountains exploded and as a result 1,000 people died from pulmonary anthrax which is seldom found in nature. There are other reports of Soviet use of chemical weapons in Afghanistan and against the pro-US peoples of Laos and Cambodia. In Afghanistan these weapons are said to be used against rebels in parts of the hfll country that Soviet forces sts who have been to the hospital camp say that they have seen no victims of this kind of weapon, although they do suggest that Russian forces may be using a harassing agent similar to CS gas.

Yellow rain hi Cambodia gas is described as being sprayed from planes in the form of a 'yellow-rain' by the Communist Vietnamese forces after the ousting of the Khmer Rouge government. The International Red Cross has confirmed that it has treated people for poisoning on several occasions but has not identified any toxin. Experts say that this yellow rain is a naturally occurring toxin that has been developed by the Russians. The effects of this rain we said to be almost immediate death after profuse bleeding from all the body's orifices. This suggested poison is a developed strain of the same fungus that caused many deaths in the USSR during 194347 after bread was made from grain that had been left out during the winter snow. Both the USSR and USA have been working on such haemorraging mycotoxins for 30 years, but the development of such weapons remains shrouded in secrecy. Other reports come from the Meo tribes peoples of Laos who say that green, blue and yellow rains have been used. Evidence of the use of these gasses, blood samples and affected vegetation, are being sent to the US to be anal+. However, despite frequent allegationsand the production of revealing congressionalreports, the US has not one concrete piece of evidence that the USSR or Its surrogates are using CBW. Nevertheless US arsenals grow and are trying to find a home on Western soil.

m i n a t i o n attempts The US perhaps should analyse its own and its allies conduct in the use of CBW. During the 1960s the CIA developed numerous toxins with a view to assassinating foreign leaders. Fidel Castm was a prime target and the US government's obsession with destroying Cuba led to the successful introduction of African Swine Fever t o the island in 1971and

3 Ă&#x192;

Ă&#x192;

in the CBW arms lace, but neither is the USA the angel that it might have us believe. In Britain, opposition to chemical weapons has grown over the past two years and, although not a mass movement, it is likely to gain attention from the media by its make up. The Russell Committee Against Chemical Weapons is part of the Russell Peace Foundation and this leading campaign lists among its members Julian Perry Robinson, and Steven Rose of the Open University. The campaign plans to make the public aware of the dangers of chemical weapons that are now being developed and stockpiled for further use. The Committee has shown that such defensive preparation is based not only on unsu tantiated reports ofthe enemy'S k e of CBW, but also on imaginative estimations of their capabilities in this arena. t <-

Gross estimates

n'"kiT

For instance the US military estimate Soviet stocks of chemical warfare weapons by deciding how much agent would be needed to supply all the weapons systems of the USSR that are capable of delivering chemicals. A factor taking into account Soviet military doctrine is then added. Although it's not known with any certainty, it is suggested that the Soviet military would exploit such weapons to the maximum on battlefield targets. This method of calculation assumes that the Warsaw Pact forces would use toxic chemicals on all fronts and, in response the US rages western forces to have a capability with margin of error. These estimations are made even less id* credible by western intelligence sources' admissions that the only front where Soviet forces have chemical weapons stored is in East Germany. They also concede that the use of such weapons is controlled, as in the west, at the very highest levels. A Joint Chiefs of Staff report says that the use of such weapons by Warsaw Pact forces is subject to authorisation by tWPolitburo. Autborisatjon by US forcesis by order of the President. the resultant death of half the pig popul. Historically, in the amis race most of ation (see box). Furthermore, the US the daims of rival superiority are based was responsible for the most savage use on facts that are very hard to substantof chemicals in the Vietnam war. Agent iate. An example of this was British Orange not only destroyed the land, but daims during World War Two that also killed people directly and caused Germany had a far greater capability in innumerable genetic deformities. chemical weapons. Consequently proThere have also been reports of the duction and development of retaliatory use of CBW by the allies of the USA in arms was stepped-up during the second South Africa, Chile, Guatemala and El part of the war. Salvador. Indeed the opposition FOR in After the collapse of the Thud Reich it was found that although Germany El Salvador are at present trying to establish the identity of chemicals had massive quantities of toxic chemwhich have killed many of their country- icals, a weapon system to deliver them - -had not been perfected. The end result people. -- - was that Britain finished the war with a The USSR is of course no innocent

Undercurrents 50 vast quantity of poisonous chemicds (later dumped in the Atlantic) and

of declffsification, show thĂ&#x192;Â§ Britain

would not have been lift undefended. One document Is titled Prouision of Nerve 6m to the United Kingdom, a d although it is dated 1963, It can be assumed that supply would continue. Production and the use of such gases inwartimeisgovernedbytheGeneva protocolof 1925. This statement, to which a handled states, including all NATO and Wnsaw Pact countries are signatories,was d e w from curtominternational law which prohibits the use of poison or matertals that cause un the next step, ~ ~ t , ~ l l u u y . the countries have kept tee right to use chemical weapons in retaliation. This means that all 'defence' reeearch is allowed as is the production of small quantities of gases to facflttete this research. Other problems include the USSR's reftttd to let western officials cany out on-site inspections of Soviet installations. There is also contadon over what is prohibited by the Geneva protocol.The US is claiming that herbicides and CS gag are not ruled out; hence the we of Agent Orange in Vietnam.

some completed experiments. Gruinaid Island was one of these experiments.

Room to manoeuvre

Experts believe that any future British move in the CBW field will follow a US lead. Britain has said a number of times over the past two years that it has no plans to arm this country with chemical weapons. The Committee Against Chemical Weapons points out that these assurances in the House to questions by MPs are always wonted in the present and so leave room to manoeuvre at any future time. Nearly every answer quotes the 'masalve offensive capability' of the Soviet Union; Dome answers go on to say even though the US has started to develop a new class of weapons there are m plans to base them here. The position on biological weapons is much dearer; this government has said that 'in no circumstances would we consider developing, possessing or (King biological weapons'. The reason for this unequivocal stand stems from their uncontrollable nature once let loose/If a bactdal or viral weapon were used it would be difficult to immunise one's own population,and once a disease is passing from one person to another it is possible for It to mutate. Therefore biological weapons are considered too unstable for use, except on animals (see box). Chemical weapons are much easier to handle and Britain'! oast record hag shown a readiness of use them.British . interest, apart from a brief period during the Crimean War, dates back to 1913 when the Foreign Office dbcovered a loophole in the Hague Dedaration which outlawed poison gas missiles. The War Office then started woric on an teitant gas artillery shell, but it . wasn't until the use of chlorine (OK by the German forces at Ypres in 1915 that Britain moved into full production of nerve gas. As a result, British forces haw used over 14,000 tons of chemical weapons in Europe and Palestine, and a small amount during the Russian Civii War.

Inthiacountiysr-nroanmmes fordefencepurposesarecuriedoutat government establishments,universities and colleges.

British research

Chemical weapon development The next large scale research and development of these weapons was during the Second World War when stock-. , piles were increased an estimated 50 fold from 500 tons after intelligence reports about similar arms available to the German forces. These gases were researched at Porton Down and manufactured at Nancekuke in Cornwan. And although development of an offensive capability at Porton ceased in 1957, documents appearing in America now, as a result

the

In her book. Rage Against bying, Elizabeth Sigmund lists some of the places carrykg out research in 1968. These included King's College, London; Middlesex Hospital, and the universities of Liverpool, Southampton and Wiles. Initialin om by Peepha News Service show that Porton Down's CDE is at present giving reieurch fun& to Liverpod Polytechnic for work on the abtOTDtion of onnoic ohomhates on carbon doth under the supkvision of Dr.G.G.Tnpn at the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department and Binningham University is workingon the central inhibitory processes of taUnne under the direction of Dr,W.E.Davies of the Neurocommunicattonsdepartment. There is still a large amount of work carried out at Porton Down on defence equipment. The estatriishment is frequently used to test equipment made by British companies at least 60 of whom are involved i the CBW industry. One such firm The Charcoal Cloth Company. Theirmaterial,ad madeof 100% charcoal fibres was developed at Porton by Dr. Fred Mag@ who worted there until Ms retirement. The cloth was originally developed to cover mffitary personnel bom exposure to nerve gases and, although the manufactuiera list its other uaes as

Coflage: Will Hill

Undercurrents 50 -

medical bandages and for use by industry to protect workers born toxic chemicals spills, it cannot be hidden that the premier market is the military. loaned Â£100,00 the National Research Develop ent Corporation and the cloth looks as though it will be a huge success. Managing Director Michael Turner believes sales, some no doubt overseas, will add up to millions.

Exports at any price Hie export market is one of the present government's obsessions and in the field of CBW protection equipment this country is one of the leaders, together with Switzerland. In 1980 the British Embassy in Washington sponsored a display of nuclear, biological and chemical defence equipment. This was the first ever display of this kind, and invitations were sent out to US military leaders, private industry, public officials and the press. Over 300 people attended the fair, with the highest turnout being born the Army and the Marine Corps and including a total of IS one and two star generals. The value of such shows can only be estimated, but Britain's 'reputation' is secure and is growing. One of the more noticeable contracts in this field, awarded in 1981,was to Primary Medical Aid, a company that manufactures medical kits to combat the effects of a nudear, chemical or biological

THE CHEMICAL warfare areoml contains a wid> niKM of weapon*,mwina from &&ng riot <uch al CN and CS, t o Ã§ lethal rxrv ax-.It i n d u d n antiplant w p o n such as Agent Oram, e 1:l mixture of 2.4-0 and 2.4.5-T. which w~ und i n ~ i e t ~ lh& m . dm oxkt non-lethal l ~ i t a t i n agants g such al BZ. a wchochamical with similar Â¥ffic but many tim& mom powerful. to LMhd and incapacitating-nit data from Wortd War O m whm wch i 1 mufrd. ph-w, ad>in!ite i n d hydrogen cymida ~f uÃ‘d They intert a n with bodily function! including rumintion and vision. and causa i m ,and, i t & c i t a t i o n , pwma~nontd if In wffkient quantity, death. Hownmr chemical weapons denloped during World War Two by scientkte in Nazi Owmany, the G-agents, larln IGB), m a n IGDI and tabun IGAI, and latar thf V-awnts. VE. VM and VX. am i n f i n i f i mom (hngaroi~.lhiv am o~gmoph~phonii writ* that inhibit a vital body enzvma called acetvchollnaterase which aids the transmission of mesagas through the nervous system. MHIignm quantitim ere fatal within m o m k and would ba dallvwad by n r a d or I n bomb*. According t o a US Army manual, the ' qmptorns of m m (M poisoningam of c h i t , dim'running now, tightof villon, pinpdntlng of eye puplb, dlfflculty i n brnthing, 8XcÃ‘i iwnting, m a , vomiting, cnmpi, involuntary d d ~ c n i o and n urinitlon, twitching, jerking, <t*gg*ring, haadache, confusion.

attack. The order was valued at $600,000-the customer was Iraq. Ironically Iraq is supposed to have received its chemical weapons from the USSR and is reported to have used them in its present conflict with Iran. Other companies whose products are sold abroad include the Leyland and Birmingham Rubber Company. Their S6 respirator is considered the best in the worid and the company is quoted in their parent company's annual report as contributing a large amount t o the group's profits. Another British company, Bondina, received a contract as a result of the Washington tail t o supply 200,000protective suits to the US army; these are held at US bases in West Germany. An order worth Â£1million was given to Thorn electronics in the same year to supply its Nerve Agent Immobilised Enzyme Alarm and Detector (NAIAD) to the British army. It was also tested at Porton. This work is done on a repayment basis. The advantage of this to companics is that they don't have to pay upkeep costs on such a well equipped research centre. The advantage to the government and the military is that any work done at Porton is guaranteed to stay secret. Whilst CBW preparations remain shrouded in secrecy and companies and universities engage in comfortable and profitable research and arms trading, weapons of horrifying effect join the drowsiness, coma, convulsion, cessation of breathing and death'. Or J P Perry Robinson ustimates that the USA hat 19,000 tons of nerve gas in itsstockvita. The USSR undoubtedlv has a; 1 sen quivalant capacity, though M t l m f s vary. OM 500 pound bomb from either side could wipe out a city of a million noovla. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS can even mom dangerous than their chemical brothers. ~ x a m d a s of lethal weapons are virsuch al Â¥(tar aquim imohalitis, tick-borne enphalitis and ydlow f w r , rickettsiae such at rocky mountain spotted h e r . aoidamic tvuhus and 0-favar. and bacfria such M %hnx,chdara. PMUmonic daw,tulammia and typhoid. ViruÃ‘car not w i l v cultured for mail production of w a p o n ! b w u r they cannot nplictta indapandontly of living omaniirm. For field ur live chickm a m b w a i n fertile MMK have been innoculatad t o product thw weapons. RickatsW d i i , c u d by ommnisms intumfliata tn s i r b e t w ~ bacfria n and virum. are carried by inuct vectors: the fnsibility of cultivating and infecting tW inaaets has b a n damonstrated i n the s u m labomtorial of fha world's dwre-nca Ã ‘ t a b l i i i n n t s Bacteria am nlatiwly eaiy t o grow in bulk cultural and a n be dawminated i n virulent nrofois. OM droplet of an aorad containinn onlv 25 bacteria of an -M such al t u l h n i 8 could be an Â¥ffwti d m . I n fact, tha amount of m n v biological WNOOIK n q u i n d t o o n m i d m t k effects is vrv low: milli. - v

collections of the military ghouls. Only a concerted campaign on the level of the CND can increase awareness of this issue. Mike Osbome and Rob Paton PNS have considerable files on the subject and are engaged in active research on companies and organisations that are involved i n this form of warfare, both i n Britain and worldwide. Please write t o them i f you require or can supply them with information. They would also be dad t o held individuals research comphes in their own area. Write t o PNS, Oxford House, Derbyshire St. Bethnal Green. London E2 (01.739 36301. -- -

References Rage Aaaimt the Dying. Elizabeth Sigmund. 1980. Pluto Press. Chemical Weaoom and US Public Policv. 1974. Binary k p o n s and the problem of Chemical Disarmament. 1976. Reports of the American Chemical Society. Guide t o Germ Warfare. Desert Publications. Technical manual used by the US Army and Air Force. CBW - an introduction anda bibliography. J.P.Robinson. 1974.2nd ed 1980. Centre for the Study of Armament and Disarmament. Yellow Rain. Sharling Seagraw. 1981. Evans. Oppose a new chemical arms race - Briefing notes on the scientists' appeal against chemical rearmament. 1981. Russell Committee w i n s t chemical weapons. CBW: analysis o f recent reports concerning the Soviet Union and Vietnam. 1980. ADIU Occasional Paper Series. Problems o f CBW. SIPRI, 19716.6 wls. Taylor 81Francis. SIPRI have produced many other books on CBW. gram auantkies of 0-fever could. if even!; distributed, infact the whde of the world's population. Other biologicals could be u r d t o destroy an ecoiiomv. It has been claimed that thÃ 1981 epidemic of dengue fever and haemuraging conjunctivitis in Cub* was brought about by US agents t o stretch the raxourcax of the island and that they haw been preceded by attacks upon sugar and tobacco crops as well as the vid vooulation. Certainlv f u n d awGsLch at rusts of wh~at.&and sugar could bÃ used t o promote aeonornu disasters particularly i n societies dependant on one croo. het toxic products of pathogenic organisins am another class of CBW a-t. Toxins of certain bacteria have a p&nq a million-fold that d even the most lethal wrve gas. A faw milligrams of botulinus toxin. vroduced bv a food poisoning organism; could destroy all human life i n t h a w . F o r t u n f l y this potency could only ba raaliud if the toxin v& taken orally or injected, but they do make vary efficient aoafonation tools as was shown by the death of the Bulgarian defector G e a w Markov. He was killed by an umbrella with a toxin in the tm. ~ e n kmngjmarmg i rants the further possibility of producing Biological weapons f a which there exists no naturally occurring immunity. Even the spectre of a racially selective disease has been raised.

Undercurrent* 50

Community Theatre: A bit of local entertainment, or it there more to it?Paul Yeoman, of Artworks Theatre Company, now tempomriiy off the road, discuses his work.

'Roll up, Roll up. L@ei and Gentlemen, boys and girls, cats and dogs, budgerigars and goldfish, Roll up fox the gnateat event in your own history. Gasp M the acrobats fly through hoop of fire. Scream with laughter at the clowns. Take your seats and watch your very lives fly past you. A celebration of comedy,a tearing down of tragedy.. It weren't wrote by Shakespeare,but ita better.'

Got the picture? Community tbeetle. No, not painting kkb taces and shoving them on atage to stumble through a can-can, or do a sketch. A teal show, drama and Intrigue, thrills and spills, a cart of nundiedl and a celebration of everything that holds a community together.

few shops at pub, and a w i t no community amenities, the Bke of which I have never wen in England and which have Third Worfd qualities about them.

Political theatre A lot of actor*me politics as a channel for their sUlb and energla& That's the wrong way round to my mind. They adopt a came to atisfy thefr dramatic hunger, and it all comes out wcondhand. Accidentalhth Of An . Anarchbt wts for me& example of this, food thoiKfa the q acting i

Artwork! is icompany mobile thKni&outScofland. The oomniky & NellCuueron'John Bolton &d myelf. Neil cad John have about ten years experience apiece. I came upon them two yen* ago and have had the good fortune of an apprenticeihip with two martera. Why community theatre? Really because its the most difficult, exciting and rewarding. We work in very bard working-clusareas where our 'Clients' haw never been Inside a theatre, let alone acted In a &ow. Glasgow and

society's got some devious way^ of dealing with anything that locks the boat. People say our tbow don't seem overtly political. But they an.'@b . politiciii in where the show an performed, who by ood for whom, and the fact $Wthey're d F t 8 4 .

Our shows D We do different project!, but l'I concentrate on large-scalecommunity musicals. The projects are usually four or five week!long, ending In about three perform&nce*.The emphasis Is not on fanporing strange and Inaccessible Ideas on a community (the concent of a theatre show is &idly enough), but lather on mvldlnff a ~btformfor the talent and -&rgy that h s t s there already. Thromb whatever contacts we have we many people as pogrible and fromtheir ilewsand ideas write a scenario,e pbt that usually revolves around shething threatening a commufiity'ilivelihood which Is #wuted by their united em-

&tw

*ngth.-

form ttat has been ridicultd by the bourgeois, but the Scottish working dais connect with it absolutely.

on Earthly Powers * D.M.IHOMAS on The WHITE HOTEL * KATBE KOLLWITZ Two Talks * ART & ARCHITECTDHE Seminars Exhibition Conference * NOTHCTG BUT THE TROTH Four tallcs on Cinema Verite and the TV" series Police * PLUS FULL CIHEMA,TODEO,TEEAEiE and VISUAL ABTS PROGRAMME Telephone for details 01-930 3647 Institute of Contemporary Arts

...

A cast of hundreds We write a cast-list no-one Is ever refumdapart,whichIswhy thecast list Is usually between one and two hundred people. We locialize a* much . as poulble to find the rbht people for the main rob, then we rehecne each scene, lmpiovlse i d Inflnitum, and eventually come up with a script of Unei that the characters have actually said In improvisation. So everyone writes their own lines. At

or iome o

venue iato a theatre,

goes on wagei, all matร ยงtUhave to be

Undercurrents 50 scrounged or borrowed, surprisingly easy if you're "doing a show with poor deprived kiddies". The musk Is normally my j b, and whereas people will warm to f nds or family wrpsing on stage, the music has to be spot on. Often we can we lo@musicians, at Priesthill in Glasgow, for example; there Is one of the finest orchestras inthe country at the local seoondary school.

~hambolicdress rehearsals There are constants in nearly all the shows: an extended family, a circus, large groups of kids singing get numbers, and a show-down stunt fight. The three of us direct different sections, whid only come together at a sharnbolic drek reheard. The first night, thou is miraculously watertight. The shows are a certain winner, with such large casts we're assured of houses full to bursting point. Whatever our direction leaves to be desired, the intense will to succeed of the participants ensues that the shows are very good and block spots off anything happening in the bourgeois theatre. Few people are doing this kind of work, especially in Scotland, and demand outstrips supply. We do not directly receive moneyfrom any funding bodies, excepTfrom the British Council to go abroad a couple of times. The communities themselves pay for the projects, which ensures their resources and energy me on our dde, but means we have to work very quickly and cheaply. In two years we've done 22 full-scale projects and shows, 160 performances, involving 1,600 local performers and a

times be limiting. Government monies are getting very tight and what there is is unbelievably badly directed and spent. Glaseow is my main area of experience of this. The pressure to succeed The Community Education Dent Is a Most ptkple who aspire to this Had sad joke,m d g 'community &ntm1 of work Bud themselves emptOyro6nt that are always empty, running adult with rot centres or YOP schemes or to education classes when most of thetr the social work department because deserving 'clients' can't read the that gives them artistic, financial or, notices, and employing people who emotional security. have a qualification but no ability or But I don't think these set-ups can desire to work in rough, run down every adequately service 'multipiyareas. No one is ever sacked, but if deprived' areas because there's too much they are totally inadequate and dissecurity and room for failure -61interested, they get promotion to a though admittedly the pressure on us job with more administration. continually 'be successful' can at

total audience of around 25,000. Sounds like the numbers game but It shows $he score.

Too fat salaries And while I have great admiration for various individuals of insight and commitment in the social work deoartment, onthe whole the staff have b o fat salaries a n d 6 6 slim undertandinss. The higherthe nluy, the less abifity * to do good practical work? Haffotthe toouble6the age old principle of dealing with the problems of a community ratter than trying to develop the healthy aspects of a community's life and eradicate the causes. Some people think that what I do is not so much inadequate as misdirected, that it just staves off the inevitable civil strife by making people happier, not with, but in their lot. Sometimes I waxier.But to my mind the Theatre of Optimism Is eventuilly the itrongwt. Paul Yeoman If myon8 h I n u r x f d or Inwlvd in s i r n i b work. nt In touch. My Ă&#x201A;ÂĽddreh: Flat 212,217 St Andrnwi R o d , Polbckihkid*, Ghnpv.

Undercurrents 50

LAST YEAR'S massive demonstrations haven't actually stopped the bomb. So where do we go from here?Simon Mellor describes some of the plans for '82.

FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES it might have been the year of the SDP and the Royal Wedding, but 1981, for me, was the year of CND. Along with Brixton and Toxteth, the continued resurgence of the nuclear dhnnament campaign was one of the few beacons of popular resistance in a year of political and economic gloom ;not just a quarter of a million at Hyde Park in October and a string of conference resolutions, but the sense that things were moving across Europe.

this latest round of war games. The response by these institutions and the public to Hard Rock should provide the dearest sign in 1982 of the strength and resolution of the peace movement There should also be some interesting action at the party conference. David Steel and bis friends will be doing their best to overturn last year's historic resolution committing the Liberal Party t o opposing the installation of Cruise missiles in the UK. Word is that opposition to Cruise missiles is rather stronger at the bottom of the SDP too

But while the issue, if not the cause, of nuclear disarmament has received more publicity than ever before, there is little to show for it. True, the Americilia and the Ruffians have been forced to start talking, but zero options are still finnly embedded in the realm of statistical debate. The missiles are still coming, and the Government remains intransigent. 1982 will have to show something different to persuade me to echo the bravado of those campaigners who declare that popular resistance is such that the Government will physically not be able to install the new missile systems.

National peace week National CND will be working determinpdly in 1982 to strengthen the regional base of the campaign. By the end of the year there should be full-time paid workers in seven or eight regions, responsible for the co-ordination of activities across Britain. As a result we should see much bigger and better organized CND events happening more frequently outside London. The first focus for these will be the week leading up to Easter (April 5-11),which has been declared National Peace Week. The autumn provides a genuine opportunity for CND to prove itself. The Government is holding Civil Defence manoeuvres, codenamed Hard Rock and CND hopes to provide some tangible evidence of that civilian unrest expected by the Government in the days prior to nuclear war. 'Nuclear-free' councils will be urged t o stand by their promises and refuse co4peration. Pressure will be put* and unions involved, particularly NUPE NALGO, to persuade them to 'black'

than its leaders let on. Still, they'll probably get round that problem by shelving discussion of policies for a year or two.

Glastonbury festival The only CND festival definitely on is Glastonbury (18-20June), although mom can be expected, including some- , thing, possibly, in conjunction with the GLC, who have declared 1982 London Peace Year.By the way, those of you who feel that a stroll through London once a year is the most that you can do for nuclear disarmament, should note that the National Demonstration in London in 1982 will happen not in October but on Sunday June 6. June 6 is the day before the opening of the United Nations Special Session on Disarmament, when, no doubt, much will be said by the es of Thatcher, Reagan and Brezhn on the virtues of disarmament; and ev more forgotten. This I fear will be one of the great hot air events of all time, but it will, almost

certainly, be the major focus in 1982 . for all the various peace campaigns. The strength and maturity of the European disarmament movements will, I believe, be increasingly important for the success, or otherwise, of our own domestic campaigns. For this reason the activities of END in 1982 will be significant. It is a smaller organisation than CND and is more concerned with fostering links with European disarmament campaigns than organising major events in this country. It should, however, become more visible in 1982. I t will be boping to encourage support for the peace camps being established at prospective Cruise missile sites, for instance, orgadzing exchanges between the women's peace camp at Greenhem Common and the one being set up at Comiso In Sicily, and between the groups resisting the expansion of NATO facilitiesin Iceland and Stornoway.

Women's peap march There will be another women's march for peace. This time it leaves Amsterdam at the beginning of June and alms to reach Vienna on Hiroshima day (August 6). Its airid initiates Europe's first Theatre of Peace, a grand three day antinuclear Festival in Vienna, to which performers and protesters from all over Europe will be contributing. END will be co-ordinating the British contribution to these European events. It will also be organizing a number of activities in this country. These will include speaker!' meetings in major British cities and a supporters' conference in April. What I hope will be an important . went in 1982 is the publication of The Alternative Defence Commission's report. This 20 strong body was set up early last year by The Lanabury Trust Fund and the Bradford School of Peace Studies under the chairmanship of Frank Blackaby, I t has been looking in depth at non-nuclear defence proposals, some of which were reviewed by Paul Smoker in the last issue of Undercurrents. The report is expected in the autumn, possibly under the title Defence without the Bomb, and will hopefully go a long way t o filling a noteable gap in the arguments of the nuclear disarmament campaign. There is enough happening in 1982 t o satisfy the most ardent peace campaigneis. This round-up is, remember, only what has been definitely planned by the national CND and END workers. Much much more will be going on all over the country. If it is to have any meaning it must be well supported. Even more Important is that more people become active in planning and organizing these events. What are you doing in 1982?

Undercurrents 50

AFTER the Revolution planners will probably be shot first. Tony Gibson says why wait? After all, people can change the neighbourhood themselves.

gin and tonics the lack of appreciation displayed by residents in all the painstaking preparatory work the professionals have done. Further down the road at ONCE I collected a dozen object- used, or denied on the grounds of the public bar, some of the residents shrug their shoulders. The only refermisplaced economics, then the policies ions to public participation ence to anything practical was dismissed thrown up by planners and others which affect them can be openly by the chairperson because "we are questioned, and the opportunities to from their own bitter experience: here to discuss the broad picture, and obscure or camouflage the real issues can't deal with particular cases". It can threaten elected Members by . will be reduced. This caricature is not far short of the But how do you create this working appearing to by-pass their role in tmth as many of us have experienced it relationship? representing the community. One approach which often proves to on one side or another of the great I t may diminish the role of local divide between the professionals (who government officers in defining options be a false start is the conventional public consultation meeting. At one end have the gift of the gab and a commandand advising on priorities. ing position) and nearly everyone else of the hall there is a platform party, It seldom begins until official prowho (with a few semi-professional; backed by imposing maps and charts posals have already taken shape. It is said to be costly; and slow. (in bright colours and very small print), activist exceptions), find words difficult and flanked by piles of glossy pamphlets. and using them in a public place intimiIt may require 4p&participation skills' The chairperson introduces the team dating. which are normally confined to "an Over the past four yeais I have been that has been doing 'a lot of homework intellectual class'. to set out all the information on which concerned with some efforts by Discussions are likely to be domincommunity groups and by professionals we want to consult you*. One expert ated by pressure groups. 9 develop alternative methods of 9 Key issues are dodged because the after another gives forth. c o m m u d c & o n ~ d ~ l v & < Then~t authorities, or hiddencommercial What about my -ing gutter?!' Planning for Heal strategy which was interests, hare already pre-empted In the front two of the audience whore first tried in Dalmamock, Glasgow in decisions. I t involves elaborate surveys to obtain the respectable sit there are appreclttive February 1977,and since then in Moss nods, just to show how with it they ie. Side. Manchester, the Raleigh Street and relevant information from residents. In the middle rows howvw, before long, Radford areas of ~ottingham,Derby; Policies remain unaffected. Leicester; North London: Swindon: and they are nodding off. Finally, in the I t attracts mainly middle-aged, more intensively over an 18 month. back row, one individual can suffer the middle class, white males, with axes to stream of verbiage no longer and erupts period in North Birkenhead and in the grind. with pent-up feeling, "What about my Broomhall area of Sheffield.2 And the talkers always win. The initiative can come from the local gutter?!' At this point communiBehind some of these objections lies -ing authority (as in the Wirral) or from a a legitimate suspicion that consultation cation has effectively ceased. When the meeting ends the platform community group backed up by the may be used as a cosmetic to disguise local authority (as in Sheffield). In party adjourns and laments over their the red power conflicts. 'Participatory schemes initiated from the top are often concerned with the management of conflict through the ability to anticipate events, the absorbtion of oppositional forces, and the imposition of consensus ideology. '1 All these objections seem to me valid, but not insuperable. The only reasons for not trying to overcome them would be if it were true that residents have nothing worthwhile to say about their needs and preferences; or that planners are too thick or too complacent to take it in. If, on the other hand, a working relationship can be developed in which there is a real exchange of expert knowledge and experience, in both directions,

Undercurrents 50 either case what happens is a combined operation open to everyone in the locality, providing opportunities to contribute on a level footing, to most of the planning process. This is a tail order. How can you expect people with widely different kinds of knowledge and experience to act together on the same level? They don't even speak the same language!

Non-verbal communication The answer might lie in providing a means of communication which does not depend wholly on wolds, and which links many different kinds of knowledge and experience -like the central piece in a jigsaw, puzzle which keys everything else in. The key takes the form of a model of the neighbourhood, not an architect's pin-money model, resplendent in balsa wood and perspex; something much more rough-and-ready. The first Planning for Red resource pack was devised with the help of residents in Dalmamock: Other users of early packs bare added their own improvements, and we now have it in regular production. It enables any group to put together alayout on Boor or table tops which represents anything up to half a mile squaw of their own neighbourhood, in a 3D version covering an area 8ft square or more. The materials can be assembled, if desired, by several different groups each working on a patch they happen to know well, but using street outlines marked out beforehand.

The local authorities There is more to this than merely saving time. Residents are reminded that they are in their way authorities. Young or old they go to school, to work, @ tee shops and the pubs, and they see daily what is happening to the environment -how much woise (or better) it is becoming; where die rubbish alate~,the vandalism or the traffic congestion occua. Whit they produce is a factual statement: the model shows the neighbourhood as it is, warts and all. Its mere display attracts attention. It is hually made up la lightweight sections (folded strips, ready printed to represent buildings, on 2ft by 4ft polystyrene sheets,with a cardboard or hardboard backing for easy transportation). ~tgets around: in primary school foyei at a time when parents are waiting to collect their children; in supermarket precincts; bingo halls, and church halls, on the pavement; or even on the back of an open truck going up and down local streets stopping every 50 yards like an icecream van for a little .crowd to gather round.

Wherever it goes the people who

most people expect.

surround It make nonsense of the old Other groups may be concerned with 'platform-party/audience'division. traffic flow, housing, shopping facilities People ale rubbing shoulders around the and so on. Each group can consult the

model, like bystanders watching a construction gang at work. Everyone is recalling places and situations they know at first hand; identifying them with the representations on the model. If, in the light of first hand knowledge, there is not enough grot shown on the waste ground they can say so; and put things right, what's more.

Cardboard cut-outs The model represents thineg as they are, at this very moment. But alongside it is displayed a whole range of 'options'. These are cut-outs to the same scale, which anyone can place anywhere representing proposals for zebra crossings,or police foot patrols, paved areas for old people to sit out in, adventure playgrounds, area benefit offices, chemist's shops, mobile library sites, sheltered housing. You name it, it should be there. If not there are cardboard, scissors, and felt pens with which anyone cen formulate a fresh suggestion, and put it where it's needed. At the preliminary meetings when the model goes the rounds to places people normally frequent, there may be some tentative placings of options on it: people experiment with alternative positions. Since everything is moveaUe there is plenty of scope for second thoughts, or even third thoughts. A week or two later the main public meetings are convened, usually in schools or communitv centres. and local government repkentatik, (elected members and local government . officers), are invited to job in. The preliminary displays ensure good attendancesat the main meetings. Within the first half-howit is likely that

- ~-

~-~

down some option cut+@. The model is littered with them. On was occasion, we couttted 16 adventure playgrounds onthelayout! This is the cue to take stock. Groups begin form according to the weight of Interest representedin different subject fields. Seven! people ale concerned about whentan playgrounds, kickabout areas, toddlers' play faculties, so they gather in one comer, including in @e@number perhaps some people whose concern about adventure playgrounds is that they don't want within a mile of them. The group's job is to narrow relevant suggestions down to the one or two on which most people agree .(Incidentally, experienceshowsthere is a great deal m o e m e n t ip practice than

professionals present for technical, financial, or legal advice as and when needed. The way in which these groups form and develop is crucial to the whole scheme. If all goes well, this is an organic process, not just a piece of administrative machinery whereby the statutory requirements are met, information is presented and responses noted by patient officials.

A shared experience We set out to create a shared experience. In the first instance, the experience everyone shares as they rub shoulders around the model, considering the place as it is, its needs and its potential. Standing beside the model almost anyone might be your neighbour; conversations start easily. People get wise to each other. A working relationship develops between professionals in different departments; between local government repreeentatives and residents; between residents of different generations or in different parts of the neighbourhood. I say 'working relationship' because whatseems to be happening, for much of the time, is that people are viewing the model and considering it, and the problems and opportunities it begins to reveal, together as a group. Later on the model is used less often; all the members of the group have it in mind and know what they are talking about. They may not see eye to eye all the time. For instance in Sheffield.one group was much concerned about prostitution around Havelock Square; its implications for traffic flow (stop ping Sue kerb crawlers); and housing (denying prostitutes the opportunity to me derelict houses as their ports of call). This group had wide divergences (mainly a generation gap) in attitudes towards toleration and control.

Headlights kicked-in During one evening's group meeting a resident relieved his feelings by going outside and kicking another resident's headlights in. But the point was that both residents continued to attend the group meetings, without coming directly to blows. A working relationship which can survive such conflicts, containing them but not evading them, deserves consideration. It was interesting that in Sheffield. where such group meetings were particularly successful, local government officers and local councillors took a full part throughout. But an outsider observing the group

Undercurrents 50

at work would find it difficult at fiat to identify which were the visiting professionals and which the residents. Everyone present was an expert in his or her own right; the shape of the -up (a circle or a hollow square with no special position for the chairperson) reflected this. In other schemes, such as the one in Birkenhead, the professionals joined in from time to time. They, too, observed changes in themselves and in the residents which grew out of this shared experience where, as both sides often said, "it was no longer Us and Them". As one officer in the W i d put it: 'Somehow a kind of understand& has arisen: not a new language as

such, but just a general understandin# from both tides of the strengths and weaknesses and the problems that each side hm.Problems that we have in developin# schemes and making commitment& lem from t ~ o j Z z Je Z ' E take on a level of responsibility and a level of iwotoement There's something thaw, a feeling of confidence that w m ' t then before."

...

The confitbnce works both ways. Residents and professionals both hive a better idea of what each other is getting it,and a better undentanding of each other's expert knowledge.Thte usually leads to some positive mutual re~ussment. Officers with abrasive experience of previous encounters with the public tend to feel themselves tea under attack. Reaidente, whole previous effort# to influence the bureaucracy had left them feeling humilitted, ignored or pushed around, begin to fed Oat at last they are being listened to, and that their own special knowledge and experience counts.

Does it really help?' For how much does it count, when all's said and done? Is it a confidence trick weare talking about? Is the whole consultation process a manipulative device, like setting up a royal commission, to give the appearance of concern whilst the same old and inadequate routines continue in force behind the scenes? The Planning for Real model represents, literally, what is common ground. The neighbourhood has resourcesas well as needs, and improving the environmerit, means making the most of them. Consultation reveals what there already is - the waste space, the digused buildings, roads and housing and amenities which need repair or re-

location. Consultation oufht also to reveal the gaps,and'the obrtada* in the way of effecting the improvements which both sides see as urgent and nece~sary.Sotheprocessshouldbean eye-opener, the very oppoiite to the evasion and concealment for which bureaucrats and politicians ate so often Named.

Resources for change But consultation does not in itself provide the resources with which to efftx-t change, and this needs to be nude plain born the very beginning. In both tte W i m i and in Sheffield the lodiauthority had a good reputation in encouitgIng consultation,and had cone to some trouble to identity mouifces which could be brought into play in response to the proposals that the residente and the planners produced between them. In Sheffield several NOB were voted by the relevant Council cqmmittees beforehand, to be fpent within a few

months of the consultation period. In the W i the authority intended to allocate resources to meet probable needs - Ă&#x201A;ÂŁ65,00for an adventure playground, for instance. But soon after residents' proposals had crystallised and a draft Local plan was in preparation, the Tory Government took office. As a result of Government pressure the Council imposed economies which knocked out some, but not all, of the residents' main proposals. At fiat the Council deferred the adventure playground proposal and finally dropped it altogether. As one senior officer pointed out, the decision on the adventure playground wag taken within conventional departmental budget terms. The Leisure Services budget was cut, so the money was no longer available. Yet this ignored the cost to the Housing budget in terms of rebuilding

howei.andthecattothe

Sodri 8orvices budget of putting Idd~ in CM*. The working relationihipbetween

iMrofesilonalsthatPImniiiffaRd koungeddid not extend to bringing dmatm&headstoMtbertomake tinnseescow. EquaBy important, process of sorting out the cardboard cut-outs which options for neighbourfaood ImproTOBBnt stopped short when a conwnsus had been readied

about what wereteemost urgent

ed, we can see now in hindsight, to include consideratlon ofthe trade-offs which might here to be negotiated if there proved to be fewer resourcesavailable thin the Authority itself had anticipated.

Establishing priorities la fact, the we of Planning for Real tends iteelfto this ktnd of negotiation,

because there is nothing fixed or final about the option cut-outs. You can go on moving them around, in order to work out contingency plans, and to establish priorities In time: 'We would rather have this now, even if it means delaying that until later." Working out prioritin in this way need not mean losing sight of all that has to be done. Planning for Real is a tool which is meant to be available for me by all sections of thecommunity and which does not need an elaborate managanent structure. It is not intended to be monopolised by one side alone, as a public relations device for a local authority; or for Hut matter, as a weapon of attack by a @ure group; though at times it c m lp either. Indeed it is not a great deal of use unless it becomes a joint operation in which both residents and professionals feed in their own expert knowledge, their experience, their sensitivities.

ing schools or in-how couma. Something h Ãbrought you into dole enough contact with people who may not easily find the word* to exessential planning requirements,'but prove to be very good indeed at showing what they mean. Such communication only works at ground level, where any neighbourhood scheme must take root if it is to survive. Its success depends on build@ congenial working relationships and alliances between thepiofefdonals in different departments, and between the profession& and the rest of the community (councillon included). Alliances work when there is something that can be done together, an activity which binds, with results which an immediate and tangibte. This means that it is vital to be able to deal with . low cost, short tena options,without in any way losing sight of longer term objective!.

Neighbourhoodknowledge is vital This latter, the intutti* undeistanding of what is like& t 6 in tw@ !* ular neighbourhood, too oftengets .-, overlooked Yet lack of thisunderstanding has caused some o( the,blundeis that ardiitec**,@mmd housing djiecton ham perpetmtut, It cannot eÃ§Ube implanted at tettO*

The long and the short term The short term options -landscaping,

beyond that short term goal. But in the process of getting small things done, people become leu noncommttal, more confident of their own ability to effect change; more aware of the extent of potential support, in the bureaucracy and in the community, when the time comes to do baffle. When problems are identified it means that both sides can go on worrying at them, instead of riving them up as a bad job and blaming the consequences on 'Them'. Planning for Real is needed because in the long run neither side can afford to ignore the other.

Copies of the full flanning for Rwt Report, from which this extract was taken, can ba obtainedfrom Education for Neighbourhood Change, School of Education, Nottinoham University, Nottingham NG7 2RD, prim Â£3.5plus ponage and packing. #

R~T1. aatfÂ¥Â¥sprtOri Chris Miller on Arm maMsnagamut: amgniimn, in NewWe uf @dw&m, p , , e i p & ~ , mdcmmWe of community buildings, encourage- ' uxf A*. LOO h k h & h i d JOW, ment of maAi-ntcommunfw initicttves RB KP, 1981. to develop work schemes or cue by the ~ Ã § p ~ ' w m 2. ~ t u d y SQlOTSOl-thow that both the a~thority of ihs G Ã ‡ n pubtiihod ku ducti ion for -rho& Change. andtheiestdenti mean bushiest. But

dead*w

don't commit anyone to anything

N"ttingham UnlÃˆÃ§rÃ§i

of manchester limited

Inewtonstreet

picadilly, manchester

Undercurrents 50

THERE'S more to the disarmament than adjusting the military balance. Martin H Ryle, author of The Politics of Nuclear Disarmament, dncuuM the wider implications. THE OTHER DAY, the representative of a local nuclear dliannament organisation, asked by Radio Brighton whether her position was not 'airy-fairy' given the levels of Soviet weaponry,replied: T o disarm will, Iadmit, be an act of faith.' This aniwer kept her clear of the strategist*' labyrinth, and invoked the essential dimemion of moral choice (if ever an h u e ghowed the absurdity of trying to disinfect oolitic* of moral 'contamination', nuclear -ent is that hue). But to many Ustenen it muat hive uemed a bald retponw; seemed, too, an opting out of political debate. I felt that the nuclear dhrmament movement, ntming the corrupt term of its advenulei, must develop forum of u p n m t which, while retaining the force of moral conviction, alio ihitt the dhcuulon onto new political tonta. ft It time we nt up, and nurie explicit, ow own pr*mlĂ&#x192; for future ngunMBt.

Evading Parliamentary control

The nature of nuclear war

In doing so, we are certain to invoke democratic ideal&We are going to appeal over the heads of the elites to the nun of the people certain victim* of any nuclear war. Recent dbclosures have highlighted the extent to whichthe nuclear dechion-makingprocess has evaded such measures of democratic-parliamentarycontml as do exist (I am thinking of Callaghan's Gang of Four approving the Chevaline programme, and of the cruile misille decision nude 'on our behalf, but behind our backs, in Brumeli). It i.i-also -. clear ISM Hew Statesman. 2 and 9 October 1980) . that ' ~ o m e h f & dplans are being developed which will allow our politid-military leaden to help themielvei, if war mms likely, to the most totalitarian measures: appointment of unelected Controllen, use of tmopi to cruih demonstraton, strict state management of all news and information, and retreat of Top People to heavily guarded secret bunken where they will be able to implement the holocaurt without being inconvenienced by the mob whom it will deitroy. The distinction between the rulen and the ruled will here be given the noit absolute and concrete expreuion. To publlclse and prevent thIt there nee& to be a resurgence of democratic forces. The disarmament movement must appeal to, and totter, thh democratic wmdowneu. Another theme of the coming ttruggle will be the creation of European solidarity in realitance to the threat of nuclear war. The politic! of disarmament are impUdtly internationallit -nowhere more 10 thin in relation to the unilateral nuclear dlwmament which the movement in Britain will be striving to impom on its own government. I believe that these two themes of democracy and internationalism are intimately linked. In what follow, I try t o indicate their interconnection, and to sketch some lines along which the neeenmy political argument! may be developed.

Until recent times, win were fought between speciallied groups - soldiers; and military convention, M expressed for Instance in the code of the International Red Cross,obliged thorn loldien to respect the neutrality of civilians. Pillage, iape and indiicrimlnate slaughter often enough made a mockery of all that; still, an attempt was made (though the phru* bbaona its own abiurdit to kee wu humane. ~ & h in tIn dertroctTb* l o a m i n power of weaponry and a-c6owponding erodon of the principle of the neutrality of dvillani. This double proceii, which an be traced through the s a t m t b n bombing of Europea and Japanese cities, reached ita satanic culmlnatIon . . at - Himahima and N d . Since then, with Its defoliation of great tracti of land, its merdleu blitz of Hand and Haiphong, and its muuiVe UM of 'anti-penmnel' (anti-people)weapom agalnrt the population of South-But Asia, the USA military has maintained the tradition of 1946, and ha* demonstrated that when the modem 'advanced' itate goes to war, no notion of distinguishing between combatants and non-combatants will fetter its pumult of victory.

The victim* of 'collateral effects' In the theatre war of the nuclear strategist's fantasies, one heap of c o w , on the piaim of Germany or Poland, will be trow, legitimate' targets; but another, far bigger, will be Victims of 'collateral effects'. When we compare this with previous waa, we see a difference not of degree, but in kind. Armed forces can no longer be laid t o protect or defend civilians; imtead, they plainly threaten the civilians of either ride with a violence agaimt which then It no defence. Indeed thermonuclear war invert) the old relation of civilian to military 'penonnel', for while

undercurrents 50 the citizens of either side would be helpless, in the event of such a war, beneath the hailof bomb and missiles, those who visited this fate upon them would at least enjoy some meagre Protection. The flesh of soldiers. If war happens, will be lost tosight beneath protective clothing (see Radio Times, 11October 1980; and Sanity, October 1980). The bomber pilots will scream along the stratofphere while the earth blazes. And the ultimate controllers will be buried beneath layer upon layer of concrete. The relative immunity of the Top Brass is naturally a I established ~xinduleof war: no milltarv tradition is more significant. What new, today, to the &e on which the Generals are oreDarine to sacrifice their victims: we are talkins Â¥bouthe dekhof tens or hundreds of millions, at the bidding of perhaps half a dozen. Furthermore, the High Command no longer nee& people to fight i@war;a handful of picked men can prepare the warof destruction are already heads, press the buttons (the en* built); and the multitude are called upon only id that other role, the i d e of target, which has dways been the least advertised aspect of a conscript's duty. In one sense, this means the military have terrifying power but there is another side to the matter, and U is here that space hai perhaps been cleared for for hut& change in human $oia&ousneiis: fot war now

'cow#dice'). ~ow'thatthere is no need for conscripte, the

redgtance has to take the form of political and social struggle.

Alao,It ham to be#n, and succeed, before war starts.

mtofallwehuetograsptheparadoxthatwe(themass of the people) are responsible for asituation in which we are deprived of responsibility. And if that seems to leave us powerless, we can only seize power back by asserting, and demonstrating, that we ^ready have it. But this must not deprive us of today's liberal truth, and today's slogan: We are many (those of us who have our fingers on no button), while they are few (those who might destroy us all). Democracy and the bomb One objection to the dogan 'We are many, they are few' would begin from the daim that we (in Britain) #re already exercising our @tical control. It is we who chose MB Thatcher, with her Trident missiles and herappearances in ftiH-page arms a d w ~ m e n tisn the WanStreet&m~(see MY Mirror, 8 act. 1980); we may not have our fingen on the buttons, but we pay the salaries of those who do; we pay tor the subs and the bombs,and we are fellow-unionists with those who design, build and service themTherefore don't the Poles (for instance) have eveiy right to see us mate&d in Trident a n i - i i e s (. and don't we, for our part, have a more than equal light to speak of the threat*from the Warsaw Pact nations, since there dqw't appeal to be iff sign,in the East,of popular dissent from Soviet defence policies)? In answer to this, we must cerialnly point out that the

Warisdonetous um~lietechnical'-whichhaverendendoÃ§irpaitidPrtio superfluous,andwnichmemthatwar(ifithap~co8)wlBbea Normuttweforgetbwthereriityofpolitic*!conflictis matte? of our computeoly acquiescencein our own destruction, obliterated in the media fiction of 'consensus'. Highly controshow war clearly as something that is done to us. The mags of venial decisions, provided only that the government has made the RiBsian or Polish people would no more be active agents, them, are announced, prior to any debate on them, with all at the crucial moment, than would their counterpartsin the dead objectivity the TV voice can muster (gee E P America or Britain. In the new context, where they are so visibly no more than victims, millions perceive an old truth: that the enemy is the military machine itself, the controlling elite and the structure which supports it. TOtis does not absolve us. We are anything but innocent, since it is we who maintain that structure. ColldÃˆdy internationally, we are potential vic&p of our own machinery of niurdei. It is we who must dismantle it. lidsleads us team the military to the political realm. War has hitherto, andbcreafindy, teen reds* by conscxipto (whether f o r d y , as conscientiousobjection ot dxaft-catd buminf. or in the less articulate modes of desertion and

Thompson, Writing by Candlelight,Merlin, 1980). So long as we are silent, we are assumed to assent; and it takes 260,000 of us to fill Trafalgar Square betoea swelling 'volume of protest merits two minutes of the News'. 11, the consensus does support the adopted policy: Independent British deterrent (though a ieeent poll showed 70% opiuxed. anomalously, to Trident); tuU and aNATO membeiship; and general willingness to act as an unsinkable USAF aircraft carrier. This,it win be said, is what we voted for; this is our collective choice, and the outcome of our

power. Before pursuing this argument, let us consider these two propositio~:

RoyalAmenal Co-opepattw'Soctoty

Supports unilateral nuclear disarmament 'The development of international co-operative organisations helps to create the environment for world peace" Briash Co-operationtArnold Bonner. PoliticalSecretary,Glenys Tpornton.

Royal Arsenal Co-o ratlve Society, 147 Powis Street, London SE1 .854 2000.

Undercurrents 50 m

The threat of nuclear war is growing every day. It is vital that communicators in dl media find ways topresent the argument against nuclear weapons. I n this country Parliament has attamptad to keep rational debates to a minimum and the media has, to a large extent, concurred. The debate has been targefy instigated by the hundreds of small anti-nuclear groups that how spmw up ell over the country and by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and its Eurmeen counterpart It is within this debate thu I h a v a p r o d u c e d p h a o m o n ~for Hie last eighteen months. The m o n t w t have been constructed to Of used in a variety of contexts and to of available as a resource, en ima&ank, for the anti-nuchw m w w M n t The nuclear industry has not rwealed its destruction potential to the documentary camera since we sawphotoyaphs of the VKtims of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The photographs we see today in thepress illustrating an aftkte eboutBritain's 'deience'system are now likdv t o be o f Trident missiles looking like innocuous space rockets or Cruise missiles looking ba placed next to a p i c k m of the Defence like friendly little siremft. T l n n wou~dprofufrly Minister whom blend face would not d that mother part of thesocial frvicas IKĂ&#x192;bĂ&#x192;Ë&#x2020;n ddtmved in this country m pay f o r s w o r n syium whkh was ainwd at destroying the LIecWIi of another country. I am constructhnmontam In an ait-t to turn these disparate d a k n t s into a +a/ la&#e of opposition.

I 1

1 1

(a) Britain is a democracy. (b)At any time, the decisions of perhaps half a dozen people (not necessarily British, for what that's worth) could lead to the mass murder of 'enemies' we have never met, and to the mass murder ('pre-emptively' or in retaliation) of ourselves. Now proposition (b) is the case. It is easy t o rehearse the 'justification' for this: we must be ready to respond instantly to a Soviet attack; military hierarchies are never democratic, that would make them hopelessly unwieldy; their leaders certainly won't take time to consult the populace as to whether it wants the holocaust; so our 'security', the defence of our 'vital interests', forbids such consultation on the part of our leaders.

Nationalismis a trap Here we see very dearly how nationalism traps the people of both sides within a reciprocal/mutual logic -a logic, too, which ('defence' being at the heart of the modem state) feeds back into the entire political structure, fostering and 'justifying' the intensification (in-the East) or the extension (in the West) of state power. And we also see dearly how this justifying logic could be destroyed unilaterally by the peoples of onebloc, or (as a first step) of some part thereof, taking control of the defence of their own country which currently lies in the hands of leaders'. And unilateral nuclear disarmament (for there is no sense in which the H-bomb can be a 'people's weapon') would be the sign that such a conquest was effectively being made. Racing ourselves again within the frontiers of our own country (though we should note here bow our arguments cannot remain within those frontiers), what ate we to make, given the truth of (b), of our first proposition -that Britain is a democracy? We can only say that the implied definition

P t e r Kannard

of 'democracy% ofa peculiar and narrow (though perhaps widely accepted) Hod. Popular power is reduced t o the point where it becomes a matter of choosing our leaders. In place of any continuous exercise of control, we acquiesce in a process by which our collective authority is from time t o time handed over to represen-tatives who are then authorised in principle to take even the steps which will lead to the destruction of those they represent. We have seen how these leaders then push the process of delegation further and blithely infringe even the limited definition of democracy within which they have won power: they hand on 'our' authority to the Gang of Four,or to NATO. We have seye& o o t, i<thiriii%pto war, those in power would isolate themselves physically from the pressure of public opinion -from us; and it can be argued that the totalitarian procedures which would then be instituted are the extension of existing tendencies. Our 'democracy', as perceived by those whomit has put in power, already offers the political and ideological preconditions for a suspension of normal routines. Even within the setup, there are countervailing forces. It is not fortuitous that the challenge, within the Labour Party, to the supremacy of the NATO apologists (Hedey and Owen were both in the Chevaline Gang; as for Rodgers ...) goes dong with, or indeed takes the form of, a determined struggle t o rewrite, within the parliamentarian arena, the definition of democratic control and accountability.

Parliament can't be ignored Nor can any radical movement turn its back disdainfully upon Parliament and what it represents: power does lie there, and also the electoral system amounts, historically, to a genuine and vital extension of popular power. Within its limits, it does constitute a form of democracy.

Undercurrents 50 But it is at the same time clear that 'defence' offers the most glaring instance of a tendency where Parliament is becoming the instrument, not of our control over the state, but of the State's control 'over us. It is this tendency, I take it, with its concomitant official secrecy and official (dis)information, to which 'Hiompson refers when he speaks, in Protest and Suruiue, of the degeneracy of our political culture under the dead weight of 'deterrence'. Now it is within this deformed culture that we chose Mrs Thatcher, and that we have been choosing our whole defence policy. It is stupid t o write oft (as 'false consciousness' or whatever) the popular will as expressed in general elections: part of our struggle is a struggle to change that will, and then to oblige a more accountable Parliament t o enact it. But it is worth reflecting on the truth in the anarchist graffito: 'Whoever you vote for, the government will get in'. 'Voting for the Government', if that is all we have, is not enough; and i t is a profoundly degenerate democracy whose electors are deprived, at the crucial moment, of the choice between life and death. We are entitled t o ask, when we think of Thatcher's government and of its majority at the polls, how far the specific choices we make are affected by the narrowing of the horizon within which all choice is made. A truly democratic society cannot by definition be one whose people cannot choose between life and death. The nuclear disarmament movement will be striving to politicise and democratise our culture - t o give people the sense of theit own power. We must show how Home Defence means nothing less than the reinforcement of the elites in their theft of our most vital right; how its hellish 'scenario' depicts a whole population powerless to avert its own extinction. And we must explode the fiction which is implied, the Tory-bureaucratic fiction of our impotence: we must assert our power, now, before it is too late.

CONSERVATION MEANS DISARMAMENT MEANS SURVIVAL ! Environmental Stickers and Badges Green on a yellow background with red lettering Bright and attractive

Internationalism begins at home However it is also necessary to establish an international movement for disarmament. The premises of the argument h favour of this are too plainly a series of truisms, truisms repeatedly proved impotent in the past. 1.War brings no advantage t o the troops, or the great mass of the civilians of the combatant nations. When the war ends, millions of them are dead, and almost everyone is poorer and hungrier. 2. The political-financial-militery-diplomatic elite not only runs the war; it contrives t o prevent any common initiative for peace which ordinary people may be making. 3. These elites in part owe their power to the disposition of economic and political forces within the state, but a crucial role has also been played by the ideology of nationalism, which has blinded the people of one side or another, often of both, to the truth of (I), and by which we have endorsed the credentials of the most bellicose 'representatives', and tolerated the erection of vast military machines. 'We' have needed the military because 'the enemy' have had it, or because we have believed 'we' could gain by destroying 'the enemy'. More extraordinary, nationalism has sometimes fired the murderers/victims of the carnage with an enthusiasm for their own inhuman role. t It is with this last factor - the ideology of nationalism that I am here concerned. I believe that the nuclear disarmament movement should make nationalism the target of a sustained counter-offensive.

Wars begin in consciousness There is a real sense in which wars begin in consciousness. I am not so naive as to ignore the connections between capitalism/imperialism and war, or the economic pressures which have in that sense 'produced' war. We know that the military might of the superpowers guarantees their control over client states in Europe and elsewhere, and that the whole globe is the scene of struggle between rival interests, a struggle which currently takes the form of war in many places. But this does not mean that capitalism and imperialism have led to war of themselves, by an automatic 'law' which we can do nothing to affect War involves a complex of human agencies, and has crucially included the willingness, in the end, of soldiers to fight -a willingness which now political acauiescence becomes, as I have armed. - . a eeneralised t o state--. policies. . To the extent that it is oreciselv their relianceon militarism and nationalism which allows the elites their purchase on international power, those elites can be expected to subvert and neutralie international initiatives. The demand for unilateral disarmament is an instance of just such real internationalism. Thatcher's administration clearly cherishes the belief that to promote a Cold War will be well worth the arms 'investment': it win make it easier to sell vicious class policies to the electorate, and to distract attention (as Tony Benn argued in Trafalgar Square) from the disastrous failure those policies are encountering. ~

5'' Sticker 1%" Sticker

1%" Badge

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Alexander Croal, 11 Leaside A h . , London N 1 0

- -~

Nationalism seriously threatened But the nationalism to which Cold War rhetoric appeals has never rested on weaker supports. It probably flourishes as noisomely as ever in certain 'influential' quarters, well frequented by military gentlemen and other VIPs. But here, as elsewhere, the Tories may come to regret that they have cut themselves off so effectively from contact with the mob, who fought the last war, and who may have holidayed since then in Italy, Germany, Yugoslavia; who have seen their football team play against Russian or Czech sides; who insisted on watchine those beastlv Moscow Olvmoics.

Undercurrents80 Everyday facts like these k dissolving the basis for nationwhich, as always, Is ignorance. The idea teat British self-intereat is justified by the innate superiority of the Briton does not stand up to the experience of international travel, the development of electronicmedia with their leaping of map-drawn boundaries, and the growth of cultural, academic and sportlng links. The nature of modem weapons itself renden militaristic nationalism absurd. And it is directly challenged by non-governmental international meetinga (such as the forthcominginternational conference of mineworkeis, in London this June) which mike disarmament and peace their primary concern. As well as developing m a t s against natkmalhl, the nudear diwmgment movement should be demonstrating how tar nat@nalism is h d y dead.-Of coune, thereis && to it than that. The paaingoTaKSfmsive natfaniltam in Europe is only the precondition for the birth of interattinnaitan, The population;, anii not just the posieuing chum, the 'developed' worid, and quite particularly of the U enjoy a hl~matZi&3tan3% of life? a y u l t ofaworld economy which plu a milBons intistarvation. In thissense, their lilies benefit fromthe joint n&Jeu-&gekoney of tee superpowers -we benefit, when we a t meat ten* or four times a week, turn up our central heating, drive around one to a car. . A European popular movement based solely on common sodilayt-ri common terror will g o b e d d n u t n g itself explicitly to the globdi&justices from which Jhmpems collectively do so

alism

the Thatchers, Healeys, Brezhnevs and Cartels whose decisions --ttmaten our humanityBut I am at once aware of the problematic elasticity of that phrase: 'those who control the weapons*. Here, mighthot a Marxist want to gay, 'But it is the bourgeoisie as a whole, the State on its behalf, which controls them*,-from which it follows that we must demand nothing less than the overthrow of the state.

Disarmament is a revolutionary project However, to put the argument In those tains is to reject the partkipation in the

disarmament movement of thousands who do not believe tbenuelvm to

be-revolutionaries, yet -

are e m i t t e d to the stmggle against nudear weapons. To appeal, on the other hand, to the principles of democracy. and to moral feding, k to accept termi, *hi& have, (among the working dau u m u c h i among the middle dm),far gkter cuirency than do the tonuofdÃ‘war.TUima teem opportunistic, but it b dear that a nicceuful CUBsign on the issue of nu-& weapons will have to confront, and defeat. the power of the State, or at least of entrenched elites within It. To that extent, diminas are engaged in* revolutiou reject willy -!!Y. -Y Ymaiiae it as such. When Ian Devison, vice-chairperson of CND; spoke at Trafalgar Squaw . in October.1980, he a d , 'If we cannot bring the Eitablkhment to see sense, we dull have break the Establishment'. And that remark was greeted with the afternoon's loudest On the other hand, ilitary spending (Â£260,000,000,00 and most sustained applause. for 1980) Is itself the actor which more than any other Internationally, the recognition of common humanity distorts the worid economy, and in that sense any move which halt* and revemea the aims ace makes for a less huntry wodd, ("They have children too') is dearly a bads for relations between the British and Soviet peoples; just as dearly, no and alio begins a precess (in consciousness as well as in the such basis can be found in the mutual tenor which the economy) which can lead to global internationalism. weapons engender, and which is maintained by the diplomats A class issue, or a human issue? in their multilateral non-initiatives. The growing movement which calls for an end to weapons ' As CND again becomes a miss movement, it is inevitable, and of HUBS destruction responds to the imperative of simple right, that this win provoke political discussion on the left. passions: love (for one's lover, children, friends), and the fear The debate, which has already begun, revolves around the question of whether, or how tar, nuclear weapons can be of death, their death and one's own - a fear made unmmageconsidered outdde the framework of clam relations. It will be aide because nudear death means death, too for the history apparent that I am of Thompson's view, and agree that t h e and culture without which we cannot imagine ourselves or our descendents. In that sense -in it* relation to our deeped bomb is not a class issue: It is a human issue'. The left has long been ambivalent about invocationsof our physical and psychological needs disarmament, like hunger, common humanity, or of our 'rights'; references to 'ordinary Is a dmple issue in a complex world. Whatever else it is about, people' (rathra than to the proletariat); the (rank use of the struggle is also about saving, and extending, human life morally laden tarns; a stress placed upon the stuff of experitself. ience itself (suffering and deprivation, or for that matter Martin H Ryle joy and love). No Nuclear Weapons by Ric Sissons The objection is that such language, just because it appeals and Peter Kennard is a CND/Pluto Press bock, and-- to what people have in common, obscures the central role of The Politics of N ~ c l e a r D i ~ s ~ mby e nMartin t H Ryle (to be class, and leads to confusion and vacillation about the nature reviewed next issue) is &o published by Pluto Press. of the enemy. Certainly, too, we need not waste time appealA different version of this article hm appearedin Ridicil Philosophy. ing to the 'humanity' of those who control the weapons -

-a

Undercurrents 50

PATERNAL BLISS' NICHOLAS ALBERY found patriarchy alive and well and living in Austria at the Friedrichshof commune. Here is his account of daily life with 'guru', Otto Muehl. on it" I reply. Such cheek is not per~ h m our ~ first~ night, . ~~~i~ mitted. "You're dangerous, you're a and I settle down in the big politician, how long are you here for? visitors' dormitory, with 60 Perhaps you should leave" and he asks mattresses joined together in "Who is with this man?" Rosie confesses two tiers, and I listened, intirnthat she is. and when Otto finds out idated, to the chorus of groans we've been together 6% years, he says that's too long and suggests t o and pleasure noises starting up around the room. and our neighR??!e.th!shed~~~%

Saturday.1 attend m f l r a t children's parliament, which takes place each day at 3pm, with Otto presiding and video cameras in attendance. The children sneak on each other's misbehaviours. Two children, Natalie and Puts!, accuse my son Mark, aged 6, of having hit them earlier In the day. Otto tells Mark t o come In the middle. Mark refuses and Natalie is sent to fetch him. Mark quite bravely says "Hit me" and takes his arms away from his chest. Otto gets the other children to drag Mark screaming into the middle. "He's aggressive but his father is too" says Otto, signalling me for my permission to continue. I know that it's Puts1 who'd hit Mark first, but I nod my head anyway, knowing that a taste of discioline will orobablv do him no harm. To my surprise, Otto then tells the children to stroke Mark, which doesn't help, as he still struggles and

7 Â hours on the next bed puffing away like steam engines. We set to ourselves, rather nervously, and soon it's an unexpected thrill, joining the choir and approaching orgasm in the dark, in the company of so many strangers.

Friday. At lunch, it's the turn new arrivals to sit in t h e ' f r o n t w opposite 66 year old Otto Muehl, 5 the commune's leader, with the 70 permanent residents and the 260 visitors all crowding around, and $ Otto's every Interaction, as always, i? videotaped for posterity. Anne Marie, the leader of the French visitors' group, stands up and denounces two visitors t o Otto - Marcus and David have been "behaving lewdly and feeling up the women". Otto replies that such behaviour is to be expected with Greek8 like Marcus and Jews like David, and he gets the women who feel aggrieved t o come and slap their faces, and then suggests to one of the women that she pisses on them - first uking us in the front row what we think of this proposal. Everyone -professen delight as the idea. I shrug screams to be let go, &d after a my shoulders. (Otto:) "If one of you couple of minutes he is allowed to Is against it, I can't do it." return to my arms, and Otto gives each child a piece of cake. 'You piss on them" This night, new French people "You pits on them It you're SO keen join our visitors' group, and our

midnight club guide had them introduce themselves. The two most beautiful and lively are m u d e and Francoise. Francoise has to do a striptease and Marie Claude has to pretend she's beloved by a god in a Greek myth who sends down a rain of gold, in order t o entice her to lift her skirts to catch the gold and to give us and the god a good view. Sunday. Sunday is treated no differently from any other day, it's the same hectic ~roa-amme.visitors UD at lam.

again. He criticises a chubby young woman for acting sullenly towards him and for taking up a Buddhist meditative posture when he presses her for a response. First pretending to get permission from the psychiatrist of the commune, he throws 'holy water' a t her, and then drags her up on the table, stripping her clothes off and simulating a fuck, grinding her breasts till the veins stand out and slapping her ass red. At this point the girt gives up and dutifully repeats after him "I want you Otto" while he gets her to pose for the video and for the photographer. (Next day I am amused to find the transcript of this lunchtime session billed in the official record as 'The Healing of the Catatonic Woman', and wonder whether Jesus acquired his miracles by such a simple process of exaggeration. Otto has prudently sent the girl home, so there is no way of checking how miraculous she felt this compulsory healing to be).

The meaning of life &onday e ~ n i n g . T h eEnglish groupL except Rosie and f, pay Â£2 each, a real rip-off, to sit in the front row facing Otto. I sit in the front row the other side of the attic theatre in the round, and it seems to me that all they get for their Â£2 that I don't Is a plastic mug of wine. . Otto leads an Incredibly boring discussion on the meaning of

Undercurrents 50 lifa. He's too bosgy to succeed with the Socratic style of questioning he pursues (he finally lets It out a couple of evenines later: "the meaning of life is to live"). After three hours on bard neat*, we are released for a brief s@ of dandng before bed. Wednesday. Atlunch 0% behaves ldviougly t o w d s a very striking new visitor, Monique, whose Africanstyle appearance and quiet dignity Intrigue him. She contrives to turn the table* on him and starts Inquisitloning him on hii role as guru. Otto claims he's not a guru, which Is ridiculous, given that the whole commune woahip him ecftatlcally, and crowd6 around him wherever he goes and applauds his every gesture. "I'm merely helping people develop their five lenses and their powers of ' art and communication". I Intervene wcmtkally: "You certelnly.have the most Important quality of a guru feet of day. You an 80 extreme and crazy In some directions that nobody can follow you to the end, and BO ev learn to be their o

thing he ordered, however wild and stupid. Friday. Qlta our guide aaki for Ideu on howtorote vim killlngpeopto, with Anne Mule as the volunteer model. David can't stand Anne W e , and gleefully suggests horns pulling her apart. Even little Mark has now picked up the art of wycbodramaand does a very good imitation of his playmate Jimmy whining to his mum for his lost ihoeg.

Pleased to leave Monday. I itand upto *ay the tradit10~-

f l u i i f a r e w e l i to 0tb;'iinihave acriticalipeechInmind,butdIcan do Is blush and mile, m he rants w at me. "You should stay h e n for ever. Stop writing letter to Margaret Thatcher. Look for the Marfiuret

look rather like PrinceChariel to me. I can tanigine you pliylng polo." And as I blush deeper "No, rather like Lady Diana. Yes, you must Ã§tahere for everw.But I WM very pleased to be leaving, and spent 8 days camping beside Lake Constance with Rotto and Mark, movering. On returning to London, I discover the London commune has been told by It* Friederichihof guide to take dm* action against It* couple*. Couplea ie now expected not to sleep together for u long M their 'fixation' lute. This cold turkey treatment take* anything between two week* and one year, I'm told. Long live couple*! My preferred solution Is for both p a b e a to h e a primuy couple relntloniblp, whilst milntalniag Ã‘pqat domidie*, and able to haw other relationship* to avoid becoming too 'fixatd'and dependent. And Otto's right, it help to live In a tribe, to find out who you are and how others we you, but for me a friendly new village or homing co-op that lunrÃme with mme privacy would #uffJce. It Filederichihofi taught me anything it's the imoortince of tendemen.

romance, magic, spirituality,loyalty, all the qualities that are looked down on there. And long live we parent child special relationship. Those few children without their parents In this commune are like orphans, lacking aomeone to treat them Individually u extra specially loveable, and to pay biased attention to their developmental need*. Society Is at one claustrophobic nuclear family extreme and Friederichthot Is at the grotesque opposite, with strict @oup norms and obedience to the whim of the tribal chief. But f a the vidtor &I the standard ten day coune, Friederichihof is an experience not to be missed, stringer than time travel, cheaper than a brothel though about as unerotk, and more cathartic than watching tolevialon the trick Is not to take the (dace too lerloudy and to bring your crutche* with you. Whenever the place became too much like being back at ichool, I was always grateful for my Illicit stock of

vodka.

NIck Albery For dctÃ§liof the vlsttorprowÃ§mmwrit*

to Frhdorichshof, A-2424 Zurndorflbgld., Austrlm.

I R A R E L Y get nervous before a gig, but recent1y Inear-henna'ed me Y-fronts during a gig.

Late last summer I was stood on stage at the Lyceum, Drury Lane bathed in a green spotlight and clutching on to a hand-held mike with both hands, facing a seething mob of 2,500 wild kids: punks, skinheads and boot-boys, all decorated with an assortment of studs,swastikas, peace signs, union jacks, anarchist @s, band ensigns and each other's saliva, with a good few of them well-glued and letting fly beer cans, plastic glasses, gob and abuse in my direction. Was it something I'd said? As it happens, it was. My opening lines: "Fucking hell! 2,000 punks. Ithought you lot went out with the 70s. What is this? Nostalgia night at the Lyceum? Spirit of 76?" seemed to successfully unite them against me. Ten minutes later Iwas off, and they were chanting "Joke! Joke! Joke!" But they weren't after an encore from the comedian, they wanted the band Killing Joke, who had paid me 20 notes to wind-up their audience. Bizarre job, mine, with an element of masochism and a regular fix of adrenalin (a natural high, produced in the privacy of your own central nervous system). Poison Girls Having discovered the punk revival, I start to renew my Interest in the whole punk sub-culture, so when NoNukes Music approach me in October to do a national tour supportingPoison Girls, I agree immediately. The Poisons are unashamedly anarchist, their lyrics provocative and political, their delivery passionate, and the music, although driving and decidedly new wave, Is inventive too, and there's great care taken to get the vocals across clearly. Exciting stuff. For the past two years Poison Girls have been teamed up with Crass, the Stalinists of Anarcho-Punk, and as a result are still pulling a hard-line, Cnsstype audience - no easy little raps with ripples of applause on the witty oneliners with this lot, and no wind-up . either. My brief i s a 20 to 30 minute set. Twenty seconds into my first set of the tour and I'm getting heavily heckled by some fresh-faced fifteen-year-oldin a union jack T-shirt, who keeps calling

me a queer for some reason. It's more larky than vicious, but he won't shut up. As soon as Iget anything approximating to a sympathetic laugh from one of my put-downs, Isurprise even myself by jumping off the stage and launching headfirst into a one-to-one exchange with him. Suddenly I'm one half of a double act alternating the straight-man role. The only subject matter that commands any interest is sex, race and violence and both him and the rest of the audience can spot bullshit three fields away.

I get a feeling that homosexuality Is probably more his obsession than mine, seeing as he's the only one out of 200 who's shouting about it, and so we move on to his T-shirts. It transpires that he's in the British Movement and we go into that for a bit. He's resilient, responding well to my jibes and maintaining his wit. Can this be the faceof British Fascism. This bright young kid, more ready t o smile than sneer? Where's the Reichian character armour, the vacant eyes, the one-track, brain-washed, rap? Later, after everyone's pogo'ed and sweated for an hour or so t o Poison Girls and absorbed their healthy agitprop, the arguments continue in small knots around the hall. Iend up in the same camp as the BM kid discussing truth and free-will with a bunch of spikey young punks quoting and mis-

quoting Nietsche from a tatty Xeroxed broadsheet - The nihilist manifesto. Later still, when the caretakers are pulling rank and the organisers are dearing up, me and my new comrade are drunk -arms over shoulder exchanging addresses. He even enlists his gang t o help load up the van. As we leave, this would-be queerbashing little fascist comes over, gives me a big hug, kisses me and wishes our anarchist roadshow a successful tour. Iwas very moved. If he'd seen my tears, he'd have known for sure Iwas a poofta.

- rabble without a cause?

For the next gig we rig up a follow spot and a long mike lead and I really begin t o enjoy the debates - primitive as most of them are. Ieven get a bit pissed off when I'm allowed t o get on with my set unchallenged. Local bands supply the support on the tour, often the ones producing the liveliest audiences are the revivalist punk and Oi bands - a sklnhead/punk hybrid, white, male and aggressive and heavily into alienation. It's the sub-culture of the post-riot unemployed street kids and the ideas barging around this scene are pretty hairy. Lots of the punters are, of course, reasonably sussed, but many seem to assimilate (be it superficially) anything delivered with oomph! - lyrics, band manifestos, fanzines and sundty chunks of political rabble rousing of both extreme left and right. Doubtless there are heavyweight Nazis in this country. But they're not, as a rule, to be found enjoying themselves at punk concerts. As for laying that overused tag on white 16-year-olds ferreting around the fringes of pop culture insearch of an identity, no way. They're just ideological easy lays. I didn't understand it at first but one brief exchange early in the tour clarified everythingfor me. "What s with the union jack and the swastika on your shirt?" "NF! I'm British and proud." "1 see, and what's with the @ on the back o f your leathers?" "I'm an Anarchist - against the system." Now where's the rationale behindthat? Well, who directly oppresses these kids? police, parents, teachers and maybe probation officers and community workers (plain or plainer clothes social workers). To be out on the streets late at night looking at bit sus is enough to get the law down on you. An @ daubed on your back is enough to wind up Mum and Dad. They have apoplexy - "Our kid's an anarchist! Arrgh! Where did we go wrong?" Then intoschool.. but the leftie teacher is an understanding "Ah. you're an anarchist are soul

. ..

Undercurrents 50 you? I'm a libertarian socialist myself, would you like t o borrow m y Peace News?" The kid's really phased, but next day he struts into school with a swastika on his chest and that seals it.

No platform for racists

During the hustings for election to some national committees or other an arrogant young jerk, in an expensivelooking red, white and blue pullover, stepped t o the mike for his 60 second spiel and quickly became the focus for Liberal reforms create racism numerous points o f order, stoppages, Now, most o f these kids aren't against slow-hand-claps and booing. The chair blacks and asians per se, they're against allowed him t o speak, but it took the system, which includes leftlliberal nearly a quarter o f an hour. As far as I teachers, etc and nothing freaks out a could hear he had nothing to say apart soft-cop more than a kid wearing a from the fact that he hadn't been swastika. allowed t o say it. (An interesting footnote t o the The whole scenario was repeated Southall riot focused around the shortly after when another election Foreskins' Hamborough Tavern gig: the was brought t o a standstill and this two support bands o f that night recently time wasadjourned; a Monday Club played an 01against racism gig i n Leeds, candidate being the new bogey. The the Foreskins having split (sic), two o f NUS has a policy o f no platform for them claiming they are anti-racist and members of racist or sexist organiswere unaware o f their manager's BM ations, and clearly those raising their membership. The other two have formed a new band: October Rewlution. One of Lord Scarman's more dubious recommendations, in his long and overpriced report, is the notion o f positive discrimination i n favour o f ethnic minorities. A t street level the subtleties o f racial disadvantage are not recognised and positive discrimination is seen as a half-arsed and clumsy liberal reform condemning no-hoper white kids to their own little ghetto at the very bottom o f the shit heap. It follows then that Oi bands have names like The Exploited and The Oppressed and quite understandable that membership o f the National Front and British Movement is largely among the young white have-nots. THERE'S a very odd, possibly unique, Bulldog, the broadsheet o f the area o f 300 square miles which attracts young NF (and fortunately a hopeless falling objects, andwhere - according failure), consequently strong on t o Werner von Braun - the ozone layer National white identity, but doesn't protecting us from ultra-violent rays is give too much space or,in-depth study to the subject, mainly because England's almost non-existent. 900 million years ago it was under water (the Sea o f racial and cultural heritage is one, Tetlis), 260 million years ago it was boring; two, upper class; and three, full forested, and now it's desert, scattered of close connections with all these with thousands o f rocks which NASA damned foreigners - even the royal informsusare 13,000 million years old family is full o f Greeks and Germans. - twice the age o f the sun. Recent attempts to launch the The scenerv is lonelv and unreal. Viking Youth have been greeted with apparently lifeless except for cacti and indifference and bewilderment. So hardv, weeds. But marine shells live Bulldog's main thrust, along with lies under the sand, joined seasonally by and smears about black birth-rates and hibernating turtles, weighing about 45 behaviour, is red-bashing - 'The redpounds, with yellow eyes and no tails. scum support immigrants and IRA Modern Mexicans call it the Zone o f terrorists before they support their Silence, because radios don't work (a own kind and must obviously be pleasant change after Mexico City). Moscow-backed commies.' It's a Hertzian waves refuse t o operate. The logical conclusion for a blinkered zone is in northern Mexico, bounded by nationalist. the 26th and 28th parallels, where the ~ ~ l lmain d selling ~ ~ point, ' ~ howstates of Chihauhua, G d ~ u i l a a n d ever, is that it's 'The paper they tried t o Durango meet. ban', always a surefire circulation ' I n 1970 von Braun came here t o rebooster. Which brings me to an incident trieve an Athens skyrocket h ~ n c h e di n I witnessed at the NUS conference at Utah which had crashed and was leaking Blackpool.

S T U F F

interminable pointsof order were technically correct. But just what are these despots going to say that will be so unanswerable? (Especially i n the hallowed confines o f the NUS conference.) I've yet t o hear a fascist come out with anything but abject nonsense on the subjects o f race and sex. Having been banned from various forums myself, I have a bizarre sense o f solidarity with these gagged and vetoed reactionaries: the syndrome feels familiar. The more they are censored, the more they believe they have something to say and consequently those who were merely going t o allow them a hearing end up defending and even supporting them. It's one o f the aberrations o f democracy. Tony Allen radiation. According t o the few inhabitants, meteorites regularly fall at night, like a rain o f stars. They collect them for sale t o visitors, as well as tending a skimpy herd o f cows which feed on cacti around their settlement o f Lilas. Some o f the meteorites are o f considerable size (such as one i n 1968 named Allende), and display the purest crystalline material even seen. According t o Ugo Premate, writing i n the Fort Worth Texas} Star-Telegram, March 1981, thanks t o Dennis Stacy), "The rocks are composed o f virgin and unknown elements. Nothing like them is found anywhere else on earth." Space experts have taken a great interest, and samples are displayed at the Smithsonian, as well as at Houston and Moscow. Russian space scientist Natalia Kostenko, and Richard Downs, Director o f NASA's space physics studies, have both paid a visit. Research findings remain unpublished, perhaps through embarrassed bafflement. What is it that rises above the desert and 'sucks' down rocks? Premate speaks darkly (or maybe uncomprehendingly) o f an "electronic vortex", or a "magnetic field" which "inexplicably" does not respond t o magnets. "Other scientists" put it all down t o "a huge sea lying underneath, a vast deposit o f natural gas, and the 'bodies' o f thousands o-f m e t e o r i t e s ~ t i n gwell below the surface." It occurs t o uFthat directly below the Zone o f Silence, on the other side o f the earth's crust, lies a patch o f land under the Indian Ocean about 700 miles north-west o f Perth. Perhaps there are 'star-rains' here too. . The Zone o f Silence can be visited with the help o f the Tourist Office i n Torreon, Coahuila. It's on Esquina Avenue, at Morelos and Trevino. Paul Sieveking

Undercurrents 50

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Undercurrents 50

IFY O U ~ ever E wondered how Undercurrents even got started - never

mind how it's lasted ten years then read on. Godfrey Boyle was the founding editor of Undercurrent* way back in 1972, and now reveals how it all began. THERE'S A THIN dividing line DECENTRALISATION between satisfying readers' On coming to London in 1970,I was legitimate curiosity about the turned on not only by the more people who produce a magazine, famous "alternative" papers like Oz and that narcissistic selfand IT, but by other obscure specialised periodicals: Real Time with its indulgence typified by some criticisms of the computer industry, American publications in their and Red Rat with its criticisms of regular "Letter from the behavioural psychology, are two I Publisher'' columns. I hope I can remember. Other things that can stay on the right side of that seemed interesting included the work narrow boundary. Still, once on video and computers being carried every 10 years is probably about out by John Hopkins and others at the right interval between bouts the old "Arts Lab", and the first of behind-the-scenesrevelation. Whole Earth Catalog, from California. And anyway, as Oscar Wilde It was an era of the inauguration of should have said (but didn't): the British branch of Friends of the Earth, and of the British Society for "If there's one thing worse than Soaal Responsibility in Science. I talking about yourself, it's not talking about yourself." Undercurrents came to me in the bath. Yes, really. The name, I mean. For months I'd been trying to think of a good title for an "alternative" science and technology magazine and then suddenly, as I wallowed amid the soap racks, the loofahs and the rubber ducks, it came: Undercurrents! It was 1971 and I was working as a journalist in London on an IPC paper called Electronics Weekly, writing mainly about communications. But the idea of producing an "underground" science and technology magazine had, I think, really begun te form in the back PU~ their ideas on decentralisation: they of my mind in the late 1960s. introduced me to the writings of an At that time I was coming to the obscure economist called Schumacher, end of a somewhat, er, chequered and showed me a pamphlet about the career as an engineering undergraduate work of an equally obscure group of at Queen's University, Belfast. I'd spent US scientists called the New Alchemists. a lot of my time (probably too much) But the idea of publishing a magazediting a student science magazine with ine covering all these subjects (and the uninspiring name of Spectrum. more), though it continued to simmer I'd developed an interest in the paranormal, altered states of consciousness, in my head, might well have gone unorthodox philosophies, "disreputunrealised for the simple reason that I able" phenomena like UFOs and the didn't have enough capital to get the strange occurences chronicled by first issue printed. Then I came across Charles Fort, and libertarian political Ann Ward. ideas. These enthusiams were strengthAnn was a Labour councillor in ened when I visited the States in 1966. Southwark who, with the aid of some Like many students a t the time, I money she'd inherited, had installed was also impressed by the criticisms in the basement of her house a litho that were being voiced, especially printing press, complete with plate,after May 1968, on technology and making and typesetting facilities, the technocratic society. More than which she made available virtually bee once I launched into print in the to non-profit group. students press with Quixotic onSo the f i s t Undercurrents (subtitled slaughts against the engineering pro"the magazine of alternative science fession for which I was being trained. and technology") was produced for

little more than the cost of paper, with the aid of Ann Ward and of one Pat

f O ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ w ~

cajoled into helping usprint Undercurrents. He stayed. MAG I N A BAG

The format of the first few issues of Undercurrents was a little unusual. It consisted of various separately printed leaflets and articles, put together and wrapped in a re-sealable polythene bag. (We got a lot of stick from the environmentalists about the polythene, even though we kept on pointing out it wasn't meant to be thrown away.) The bag was supposed to act as a "common carrier" for lots of different material, printed by the authors themselves and sent to us for inclusion. The idea was, I suppose, inspired by the concepts of decentralisation, variety and networking that I'd become keen on. When the first issue appeared, in January (or was it February?) 1972, we hawked it round the London "alternative" bookshops, sent out a press release and got a few plugs in places like Time Out and New Scientist. The subscriptions started trickling in. About the time the first issue hit the streets (so to speak), I got a note from a certain Andrew Mack'inop, inviting Undercurrents to the f i r t ever conference on "Alternative Technologies" whicil he and Peter Harper were organising in London, at University College. Needless to say, I eagerly went along, and discovered that there were dozens of people interested in the same ideas: they included Kit Pedler (now, I'm sad to say, the late Kit Pedler), George McRobie of Intermediate Technology and Robin Clarke. Robin presented a seminal Dawr

Undercurrents 50 -

for a Rewarch Community" which we publiihed In the next Undercurrents and which Kt out iome of the ideas behind the foundation the following year of the BRAD (Blotechnic Research and Development) community In Wales. From then on uveral of these enthuslutstor "AT" (the exiÃˆ(MÃˆl had a fresh ring to It then), moat notably Peter kpsr, got Involved In Undercwrentt. It wu also about then that someone called Sally Maloney offered to help with graphic dedgn -and ended up with a &mgn commlttment than she'd bargained tar. The United Nation* WM holding a big Conference on The Environment In Stockholm that June, and mnuone had the bright idea that we ought to go abpg and spread the AT QoipeL Peter Harper hadInany cue been asked to do a "People!' Technology one of uveral Exhibitionu then, i "altunativeU events planned by the Stockholm eco-freab to ginger up the otherwiw unutterably boring official UN proceeding!.

DISSOLVING PARLIAMENT

Soon after we got back, the aPeople'~ Bo"*" u@* bit t b f r o n t P W of the l o n d o n ~ < Ã § (which l ~ reported its denunciation by flat Joseph Rotblrt, who dtod It at a confernceuadireexample of k ~ n u * l a f ~ ~ ~ * nmight get into the wrong ban&. Then a n o w *people wen touchy about toiorlim and some thought that we were acttally In favour of thh

ARMAGEDDON FOR BEGINNERS So we Ã§eto work and managed (just) to get lime number 2 of the mag ready In time to catch the train and boat for Sweden. It contained what WM to become Undercumnts mod notorious article: "Towards a people'^ Bomb", written (and printed) by Pit Coyne. Pit WM then a bruh young nuclear phyda postgraduate. His article purported to show how anyone, limed only with a (mattering of atomic theory, a couple of kilos of hijacked plutonium and a dncere deitre to be destructive, could if the entire Ciblnet and Ho Commom merely by depoiiting a dmple box of M e trick* In one of the left luggage locken at Wing Q-ouitation. It was one of the fir& articles to draw attention to disquieting (or tantalldng, depending on our point of view) fact. turned out later t 1a of amateur Armageddon were Uttk more complicated t toween, but the emntlal point i* now accepted: nuclear weapon1 proUfuation i* easier than you might think, and the Big Power can't count on retaining their monopoly of tenor. A H ~ Y . of the while t b time bomb WM ticking away, we spent a merry fortnight In Old Stockholm enjoying that &ort but magical Swedlih summer when the nun never quite goeÃ down, and pedaling around on the white bicycle8 which the UN WM lending bee to journaUrts.

~~~

Branch and MI6 (that ibould count for a few monthsremiuton when they lock me up). the "People's Bomb" (care, thtogB quietened down a bit. By the time UC4 came out, In eady 1973 (yes, we bad a leisurely "Quarterly" schedule in thou days) the magazine was being profdonally printed though we did the typewttiog and and the nmg layout o-ks, rtlllInabag. Around that time, we ware alao pubhhtag a duplicated Newsletter for subicriben only, called fddje*. On* of the fint Eddies icue* (cored a "IOOOp" by publishing, for the 5nt time anywhere, detail*of Stafford Beer's extnordlnuy computeriwd Information and control lystem, which he w u then but Installingfor the Ul-fated Proddent Salvador ~llende of Chile. The Observer immediately picked up the dory and iplaihed it on the front page, much to Beer's annoyance. Though hi* project hid become common knowledge In various diclei, Beer hd mated to keep it out of the public eye until he Ã§nady to unveil hli creation. But many people had misgivings about its potentkl for Â¥bur M we decided to publith and be damned. We did, and w WM. Biit back to the bag. By thls time It Ã§obvlom that It wun%working. People we reluctant to go to the bother (and expenx) of printing Itern for Includon; and bookellen wen reluctant to stock the awkward package on their shelve*. So from UC6 onwardswe changed (a little regretfully) to a conventional magazine format. By the end of 1973, I'd become tired of working for IPC and felt eager to n t a job writing about the things I really believed in. So I decided to quit my job withEkcfrontet Weekly and try to edit Undercurrents u a full-time, or at lent put-time, job. With the help of a few hundred pounds In loans and donations from sym hiaeri, and a small iubridy In the no of a short-term contract to write an "Environmentw column for Time Out, I convened the fint meeting of Undercurrents Limited, a

Parliament.

mi Iring opened Our telephones In the Opera T a m in Cownt Wen tapped though without any real At that meeting, eddence. MÃˆylww wie ju* p ~ ~ n o l d .In January 1974.Chris Hutton-Squlm M-ne During the entire 10 ywn that Under-@, although up to help curr~ntÃ the businen Ale Of the new enterplies wepvehad our a@-. from t h e to He mmed to know what he w u talking a*e* we've JWI my bw b u t , ao we e k e d u a member, indication*of State surveillance. This What happened after that b another either mÃ§anthen h u n t been any, or eln it's a tribute to the uiet ddlli)of Godfrey boyle 8pMkl that ftw body of DM?, (EMof pan on*?)

Undercurrents50

UNDERCURRENTS and the environmental 'movement' hit the streets almost together ten years ago. Stephen Joseph surveys what happened than. the time of writing the long-fought TEN YEARS ago, the environbattle over heavier lorries turns on a mental movement was at an Tory rebellion in a Commons vote. all-time high. The Ecologist Furthermore the National Parks published Blueprint for Survival, have little protection against wouldwhich added a note of urgency be destroyers; in particular the to debates about ecology, and extraction industries. Consequently presented a political programme the Peak District suffers born the for action. The Limits to Growth extraction of raw materials to make stiiiy, on which Blueprint drew, non-returnable glass bottles which was published too; the publicity are cheap to the consumer, but generated was enormous. Even 'expensive' to the National Park. The Times produced a considered Internationally, key resources, wildlife habitats and undisturbed areas editorial asking if the end of are suffering born destructive growth was in sight. development and exploitation. The newly-formed Ministry of the Nevertheless the environmental Environment responded with new organisations, old and new, have environmental controls, for instance achieved some things. Their principal on toxic wastes. The United Nations achievement has been to make issues held one of its giant all-paper, noout of accepted tacts of life', to action conferences on the Environquestion not just the site of, but the ment, in Stockholm. The new pressure need for, new developments such as group Friends of the Earth was just power, new roads, intensive getting into its stride, with its campaigns nuclear and reservoirs. When Friends on non-returnable bottles and on RTZ's fanning of the Earth and the Conservation plans to mine copper in Snowdonia. Society first questioned nuclear power, in about 1978, few people Competing for column inches doubted the existence of 'atoms for In short, 'the environment' was peace'. Now, several battles and the news. But was it much else? Like all Windscale Inquiry later, surveys show news stories, it quickly became boring, that half the population has doubts and settled down to being another about nuclear power and those interest, competing fbr column inches supporting it have to be more defenswith nudes, TV, politics and other Similarly the roads programme and ive. causes. Still, as the high tide of Fleet heavy lorries have been challenged in Street interest receded, it left behind a more direct way - through the groups and activists determined to 'public inquiry' system which makes keep pushing the importance of the Department of Transport judge and ecological issues into the public eye. So whathave they achieved? Well; as you may have noticed, there are still a few little local ecol@cal difficulties. There is still widespread loss of important wildlife habitats - not just the "Sites of Special Scientific Interest". but more humdrum hedges and ponds and moorland. Rivers are still polluted -one Thames salmon does not make an eco-summer. Toxic waste control regulations have recently been relaxed rather than strengthened, and oil pollution of the sea continues to Increase. Air pollution controls remain weak against the big offenders like the London Brick Company, and Scandinavia still suffers. The nuclear power programme remains. And at Police defend the Nuclear St&, Torn-, 1980.

jury in its own cue.Widely puhlidsed distruptlons of these inquiries, led initially by John Tyme, gained widespread public sympathy. Agribusiness has come under attack from'several directions; over health, animal welfare and habitat loss,and there are signs that some of this mud is beginning to stick.

Challenging the accepted order In practice these challenges to the accepted order have meant arguing for new directions, in effect widening the debate. Instead of planning to meet existing energy demand through the existing grid, conservation of energy and decentralised energy systems are promoted. Instead of meeting current demand for road transport, environmental groups have argued for reducing the need to travel, by better landuse planning. In other areas, environmentalists have shifted in the debate: conversatton of water instead of new reservoirs; recycling waste instead of burying It; changed food habits instead of intensive farming; rail and canal freight instead of lorries. In each area, the direction and control of development has been questioned and alternatives put forward. The shifts of debate, of the paradigms within which people and institutions work, have I think been larger than environmental groups sometimes recognise. Small is Beautiful has marcheda long way through the institutions; so has the concept of conservation, helped powerfully by the oil price rises. Recycling, ynservation and AT have conventional capital-

Undercurrents 50 Strategy bunched in 1980are likely

to renuin on paper, lacking any offenshe challenge to those whose deddons

tat advmtagei -they cm create prom (the's an outfit at l&uichMter Bullnen School called Profit born Waste). The other led achiewment of the environmental movement hi* been the build-up of b e d groups and local actlvities. The general groups Friend* of the Euth, Civil Tnut, and nrfcnu nature conwrMtbn organl>ations have itnngthened their lo* tptworb and for Friends of the Euth puticuburly the local group*,some 260 of them now, are it* main ibength. Both In ampdgdag and In pmctlcal activibs like the Ecostreet in UC43), thesem p s have been consistently inventive. In addition special organlutlom have (prongup on tpedflc issues.Cycling groups now exist in most major cities, the Truuport 2000 organbation humany l o 4 branches, and most widespread has been the mushrooming of antinudear/ alternative technology groups,alliances -and networks. Punks and pensioners unite Beddes thk there has been the really heartening environmental action by people and groups with no formal connection to any specific environmental orgadatton. TUB action Ma been of two type^. Firatly, the agaiut outrageous local am* development proposals. Even In the bite 6013,with the dump, there were good example* the Southwufc Town ml cunjlaign, wbkh Inmlved telwts, trades councils, punk*and peMfonen -and many mom showed thisBut more Important in a way have been the new pcftical activitie*: tree piniting, community bus rnrvlceÃ§dty (unM, neighbourhood insulation proje&, adi-mlsecampaigns, d use8 for unuwd hmd and bulldtng~have been more and more a feature of W zeddento*and other groups' activities. C o n m t b n projecti now creep Into the programme! o f

apparently comerÃ‘th organisations like the Women's Initltutei, the Scouta and G u l d ~the , Young Faimen. ~he*e projecb an more important y . thux they m y Mem. In ~ m i CAW, they cm reduce alienation from the tool environment, encourage demand* for greater control over that environment and most Import*ntly -build confidence anumg people who are (muled to being able to control anything ta their own Hw.The communtty pow idng -land and building* t a w been putlcularly useful in definingand meeting real local needs in echo of the national ampalfni agalnit nuclear power and roads. OK, w If the enilronmentalbts ham done all this debate-widening and bullcHnf up local groups why haven't they achieved more? In put, lt's a problem of political knowledge,and wet liberal cornpromI r s , whm camudgns and battles were eaenttaL The Mduging industry, for example, hi* effortlmdy redited environmentalist onslaughts. FOE found ItMB smilowed In the Government's Waste Management Advlanry Council;then the glÃ§indurtry uwd 'bottle hula' to diwrt attention (rom non-retunubb bottles.

affect conservation. No doubt on many issues cornprombe Is inevitable under exirting political systems,but there fho-dd be no ceuefbe before the fighting has begun. l b be fair, the recent tattle over the Wildlife and Countryside Bill showed more political nous and effective use of the media, Ã§ympathetlpoliticians and the public than many previous campdpps hw. There's another political criticism I'd make too -that environmentalists have remained too much in their own cosy ghetto. They're not meking enough alliances with other non-party groups such as the fernintat, poverty, play, housing,health and dvil Hberties organisations. Instead, they tend to demand that everyone come t o their corner. Even If envikuental facton are all-important, lomething more in needed than putting up candidatesat elections to convince people of the fact. The local activities involving people In their own areas, uing their own ueu,udng their local knowledge, oMte more ecoactlvirti than any cffldldatas or aU the conference* pwaching to the conthat environmental gmqm an fond of Impoitant that envlronmentaliobmy wmathhg relemt about unemployment and other problems faeing people, lather than thorn faeing animals. One paper recently attacked the urban intelligentste for being concerned only about superficial problems inch u bad housing, poverty, unemployment and wdal issues instead of the really importint one* like depleting raw material*and habitats. Such radical departure from most people%exilting prioritiÃ§(or from common =two?) doe* no cause any good. b^&iculaily

The next ten year* A brief survey like this is bound to leave out and ddm many important (the activities, issue*and Vested interest* spread of environmental education in and out of schools Is one positive factor Theteomment' hubeen dmr to I haven't mentioned). The development naHie that th* Government is not a cutedge of a huder amUteieJtod IUD* between different Intei-ts, that flu Apiculture, Industry, to the environmental movement as a whole (not necessarily to every Energy and Touuport Minirtiies see organintion) wÃ§ma priority for the their t u b as flfhttaig for t i r intoreit* next ten yens. Ai well as Influencing oftarmen,laduitrUlrti,th*audeu indiutry and mad8 reqwctimly. Afimt decision-maker*, we need to be Involving people in improving and that lot the DOE,Coantiyitde shaping their own surriwdhgs. (kmmhdon and the 0cudOIml Without till*. I fear that all the wnenlightened miniiter en do little on venation strategies, 'wbe saws and tw own, WWOU~ ~ C public W modem Instance!' will remain p b ~ pnuure. Without such picture grand I n i t t e t i ~like ~ the World Conservation

THE ONCE-NOVEL field of "alternative technology" has changed and expanded enormously since Undercurrents first began. Peter Harper who was our original AT guide and bibliographer, recently returned to his typewriter to compile a new, improved AT Guide for the new, improved edition of Alternative London, due out soon. Here, with a few amendments and additions, is an exclusive preview.

TEN YEARS AGO alternative

ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGY technology all seemed pretty ORGANISATIONS obvious. The focus of attention T h e p naturally differ in style and wag on symbolic bits of hardware ideology, but are cheerfully tolerant of each other on the whole. that you could see, photograph, demonstrate, make, own: solar NATTkNetwork for &bm&e Technology and Technology Assesspanels on the roof, windmills ment) c/o Alternative Technology made of bike parts, woodburning Group, Open University, Faculty of stoves, methane digesters and Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, chickenshit-poweredcars, gemlesic o l onh c eT Bucks. Vo untary organisation, aiming domes, "autonomous houses" and to promote AT development, attract and coordinate funding, and publish the whole catalogue of selfassemmente of "official" AT projects. It sufficiency gadgetry. also runs conferences, lends out slides. The purpose of it all was, and is, clear provide* speaken and produce* a Newsletter evmrv two months. Much the enough: self-reliance, decentralisation, best way to keep up with AT news simplicity, minimum environmental though very much focussed on energy. impact, renewable resources and so on. It's hard to quarrel with these sentiments, but in practice they turn out to be vague and contradictory. What you gain in one direction you tend to lose on another, perhaps without even noticing. And a lot of the stuff doesn't work all that well, and isn't cheap yet. But perhaps we don't need to be so hung up on "technology" as such. There are surely many other ways to get where we want t o go, fitting in the technology as seems most appropriate in each case. . . . Somehow, though, the AT dream remains, and there are journals, books, conferences and societies dedicated to the evolving idea. The general motivating values remain the same (more or less), but the interpretation has changed: a tram hardware towards software an emphasis on processes, skills, organisation and attitudes; a from the small to the medium and large less obsession with the individual and domestic level, and a recognition that community, regional or even national scales are often appropriate; a from consumption towards production - more emphasis on meaningful and effective work, as an active part of the wider society rather than in an alternative limbo.

Centre for Alternative Technology, Pantperthog, Machynlleth, Powys, Wales. The largest and best-known AT Ă&#x201A;ÂĽorganisationfounded to research and demonstrate AT to the public. Over the years i t has become a flourighing community, and thousands of visitors come every year to look a t the site, which has displays of solar collectors, windmills, water turbines, organic gardening, fish culture, woodland crafts, electric vehicles, low-energy houses etc. They run courses and conferences and publish well-researched theoretical analyses as well as countless DIY pamphlets on technical topics. A similar centre is planned for Bristol. Contact Hugh Barton, 3 Windsor Rd., St. Andrews, Bristol. Alternative Technology Group, Faculty of Technology, Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA,Bucks. A university department devoted t o AT research "to advance and disseminate knowledge of ecologically sound techniques, and of their application in socially equitable ways". Strong on wind.~.*bikea.recycling, coop*. smaUholding8 and energy studies. A lot of remarch oublicatiom and OU-atyle educationalkaterial. CAITS Centre for Alternative Industrial and Technological Systems, North-East London Polytechnic, Longbridge Rd, Dugenham, Essex RM8 2AS. A unique organisation, run jointly by the Lucas

Aerospace Combine Shop Stewards Committee, and NELP. Provides research back-up for corporate plan initiatives of the Lucas kind - tecbnology for socially useful production. Works on' both detailed technical proposals (such as the road/rail vehicle) and also general issues such as worker coops, health care technology, market appraisals. Journal CAZm Quarterly and many publications, notably Workers Plans (1980). Will assist workers proposing alternative products or new methods of production. Schumacher Centre for Technology Choice. 9 King St., London WC2 8HN. Set u p in 1980 "as a focus for new ideas and initiatives in the field of appropriate technology". Aims to include the Intermediate Technology Development Group (see below), and to promote AT in the UK - -particularly local enterprise trusts and local energy groups". ATIG Alternative Technology Infor- ' mation Group. Flat 10,85 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6QS.Run by two professional information workers and offering a "where to find out" service. Occasional newsletter and various other publications. Commonwork. Bore Place Farm, Bough Beech, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 TAR. A@ experimental cornmunity/demonstration centre for organic fanning and various other AT principltn. intended to be run

Undercurrents 50 a8 a proper commercial venture, but thh aim agreeably confounded by attempt* at cooperative work atyleiand an embarrming e x c m of venture capitaL Earth RoourcÃ HaÃ‘arch 258 Pentonville Rd., London N19JY. Rwearch group affiliated to Fhnda of the Earth. W a b g on alternative energy "Ã‡cenarioÃ for the UK, and vaiou* other project*.

REGIONAL A.T. GROUPS Urban Centre for Alternative Technology, c/o Hugh Barton, 3 Windsor Rd., St Andrew, Bristol. New Age Accew,TÃ§n Yard, C f f l ~ ~ t eHexhun, ., Northumbeiland. AltenrUve RÃ§Ã‘rcc/o N i f l Mortimer. DÃ‡u*rtmenof Phyrical Sciences, Sunderhad ~olytechnic, Cheder Rd, Sunduhmd SRI 3SD. Altfanithre Technology Group, Hull College of F u r t h e r Education, Bruuwick Avenue, Hull HU2 9BT. Southport Alternative Technology Society, Michael Smitluon, 40 Cardigan Rd., Birkdale, Southport, MeneyUde PR8 48F. ECO 3000, c/o Ken Penney, Department of Economic*. Uniwrdty of Exeter. Renou D r h , Exeter EX4 4RJ. See below for other groups. For mma*orguijutiom fee NATTA't World AT Survey and the excellent coverage provided by TRANET. NORTHUMBRIAN

ENERGY

fiddl, with l o b of detail.Oriente-d to-

PERIODICALS Undereurrente, 27 CiTkenwell dor, London EC1R OAT. monthly, Â£71~1

ThegrmdoriginalATnugwhichha8 ranffed wide and wider over the year. &now corering mote or IÃ anything you might call "dternaU~e"but itill with a lot of "technology". -- Anything might happen. CoEmlution Quarterly, Box 428, S d t o CA 94966 USA. Thh 8plendid magazbia *theforemoat reanEim*tor ofnew t h o w t and action in North America. Barn, 2270 t<W Irving, Portland, OR 97210, USA."A journal of appropriate technology",which mrva an area climatically dmilar to OUB. Always a good md. Appropriate Technology Intonnedimto Technology Publication*, 9 King St., WC2 8HN.bimonthlr. Factual. Ã§ober concentrating on Third World application*. ATINDEX, PO Box 450. Brighton, Emt SBN18GR. hentially for IibrailM and compiled by profÃ‘iona librarian*, it ia a quarterly indue of article* culled from 2400 periodic*]!. Each entry I* indexad by author, abject and geographic location. AT Timu National Contra for A&d i v e TMhmlogy, Box 3836, Butte, MT 68701, USA, $lO/yr. Good co~iafe of AmÃ§ric appliatiam in ill

Lir-Incorn*group and local enâ‚¬erpnse Alternative Research Bulletin. Energy Woduhop, Department of Phyifcal Science*, Sunderiand Polytechnic, Chatw Rd., SRI 380. Ainu to put in contact thou with rewarch idem and thou with the wherewithal to c a m them out. Science for People. 9 Poland Street, London Wl. Bimonthly journal of the Britimh Society for Social Retpon6ibiUt.y in Science, with frequent AT-telated material from a more or lew Marxist P-ptcttve. Other journal* with a atmug interest in AT include: Natuml Energy and Living (aee below); SERA New (9 Poland St., London W1V 3DG); Future Studies Centre Newsletter (16 K e h Rd., Leeds); Resurgence (Ford Houe, Hartland, Devon), Ractieal SelfSufficiency; Peace Newt (8 Elm AvÃ§. Nottingham); WISE and SCRAM Bulletin.

BOOKS

Golden oldid: Small it Beautiful, E F Schumacher (Abarau). Bit* of thu appeared originwhen he really ally in the mid-*ixtiÃ§( w u a lonely voice. Still i m p i i , more recently complemented by A Guide for the PerplexedandzodWork. Alternative Technology and the PoUtics

wind turbinesand water pumps

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tochoolocy. To& for Conviviattty Ivan Illteh. (Fontan@. Like Â¥ Illich'n work thin ia not logically or empirically comtructed, but the memage come* out between the line* if you know what he's toying to Â¥ay

Fielde Factories and Workshops Tomorrow, Peter Kroptkin (Alien and Unwin). The great clusic, brilliantly edited and updated with contemporary material by Colin Ward. Radical Technology, (2. Boyb and P. Harper (E&) (Wildwood HOUM1976): aTtil*bb from Undercurrent* chew). A valuable Ã§uiveof alternative tech&xi poÃ‘ibilitie from a variety of viewpoint*. The Next Who& Earth Catalog. Probably the most valuable source book for AT idem and r ~ o u i in c~ a developed country. It*editor and the At wctton editor ham abo oroduced an AT antholofy cdted Soft &h (J. Baldwin and 8. Brand,PoBCute/ Cornohtion Book* 1978). Paper Herow by Witold Rybczyndci DouUeday 1980) h uuntid reading or any would-be thÃ§OH of AT. A tough-minded, vicioudy witty iddcr's critique, with extea m o m for hippiedom and the 'altarnative' movement.

Stepping Stone*: ATand Beyond. Boyn* 1979. A collection of article! originally published in Rain, with a wide interpntatton of the *ope of the Ã§ubiect

Totfonb an Bcote#hiSociety, Murray Bookchin (Black Row Book* 1980) A book of enayl by the doyen of ecoanarchbta, eanyine on when be left off WPoft-sCarcityAnmchum. (Wudwood, 1W4)

Community Technology. Kail Hen (Harper and Row, 1980). A candid account of struggb to get technological ject* under way on a neighburhood in the Inner city.

TTn Archipelago of Conviviality, Valentina Boirrouir (Ed) (Library Journal). A collection of four unoortant says on AT conceived in a so&, libahtory ~ t u etogether , with the editor umotetfd bIblioera~hv - - - of Convivial Tools. Small a Poui'b&, Oeoige McRobie, (Cape, 1981). A gentle perhap* too gentle -introduction to AT by one of the field'Â@agmt-Mrving p d t i o n e n . Both devlopcd wad developing counta-iu an covered, with exfndve Urt* of organiaation* and publicadom. Technology for a Changing World, John Davte. (Intermediate Technology Publication*,1978). Concentrafe on the economic and buiinem dde of AT production in Britain. Community Technology, Godfrey Boyle, (Open Univerdty Pmm,T361 Unite 10/11,1978). An extendedstudy of the fedbility of running more or l e i everything a t the community level. The Politics of Technology, G. Boyle, D.ElHott and R. Roy, (Longman*

wettom devoted to AT.

The following are detailed and practical: Technological self-sufficiency,Robin Clarke. Fruit* of the author's experience in an experimental AT community. The Self-SufftcientHouse, Brenda and Robert Vale, (MacmiUan 1980). 'DIY techniques for saving fuel, heat and money' by two practitioners, based entirely on their own research and experience. For the last five yearn it's been their paid employment to monitor every detail of their own selfsufficiency. One of their wry conclusionf is that you need a good job to be able to afford self-sufficiency. Ecolog&tics,Patrick Howden, CloveUy Hall, Mount Hawke, Truro TR4 8DH Cornwall. A fantutic compendium of every small-ecaleem-trick you can think of. hmd-done in the oixtiw freak Too. Do-It-Yourself Plans, Centre for Altornatiw Technology, MachynBeth. Information (heeta on aolar collectors. nmfl windnullg etc. The Integral Urban House, B. Olkowaki, T. Javiti and H. Oikowski, Farallonea Institute, available from Natural Energy Book Service, 50 CuKord Road, N1. A very large and detailed book of domestic urban AT practice. If vw found thia bit of Peter Haroer's AT Guideuseful,you'll find t h i m t of A h m a t i n London quslly informative. So why not order a copy now?. Sand Â£3.6to Otherwise Press, BCM Alter, London WC1N 3XX. Â

. Â¥ndthÃ‡An~Tnd*hmmnvl their Sornlu F o r A M * f i t . booklet (tint publkhmd in 1978). T m i a cowmd in the bookkt

Â¥ion-mlliurtemlo cycle. idthe rnllitarbation of tin Third Work). Priced at 76p, it is waltabh from Campgnn Auimt the A r m Tracte. 6 Caledonian Rd, London Nl.

PracticalATfmakimay ba intmmmd i n rn Armrlmn publication, AtÃˆrmtI Souron .of Emm. The magazine. which is Â¥b d M n t i n g its 10th anniwary,c-n

0 0

FOEhmm*producM* a 1Ã‘fte outlining the m a igilmt the PWR r~ctor. m a leiftet. whichisidnlforftrÃ‘tlÃ‘flt Ing, coin 1 %nch ~ I d MI SAE ifonkringtaittan10)Midil ~ i i a b l from e thÃ abom addma.

0 ~ m t o4cnbtip0ttf arda on wibus aspects of organic amlaning has bÃ‘ prod-dbYth*Hwiry-M* R ~ ~ k r i o n . T a hd e

newdmÃ§lopmÃ§n anMitm8dSÃ‘dSowing;SM

t(r opportunity provided by tn* id* of the MSC inttrwntlon In employment and training should 1cuwltobroMlMiopponunltiM for women, and to mÃ‘ the need* md uoiretlons of indlvidml woman. ThÃ§ o n be contacted through Karen Vaux, NCVO, 26 Bedford Squire, London WC1.

produced 8 booklet which dll. cuuÃ i n d f i l whvwchafund bf~~~~y,W10fltVM&mib of how to cdculau how much For informnlon wnd an SAE to 40TregarvonRoad, London SW11.

ThaDhunnTnnthar . 0 n u m b of amm where p*oplÃ

i n ~ a ~ o Sto frm; ~hnnlata? ~ ~ NO,~hfikt; and OompOtt, Lnlmould Mid aa Ã‘I Ã technical deign* for Cornfray Juice. Each on* araphlcpaxiv* solu heating, etc. Subscriptjom cod 916.50/6 W y r , from Alternative Source* of f o r t h 8 t o f 4,pkuzoppouw Energy Inc., Milam, MInnnotJ (pcnfMfrm for ordm of 20 or 56353, USA. man) from HDRA, Coovint 0 UnkshmbMireiabMitad Len*, Bockhg, Braintrw, E m x CM7 mw. b e t w n a donn co-opwtivÃ‘ c o l h c t h in Brbhton through the formation ofthe o right on b o p n m mGrow. At tha momant the group include* * Infinity Foods, fflmph Suppiin, Primw Community A m ,T r n ~ l Publiations, Br&hmn Voice, Two Plws HoudngCo-op, Merlin, Whdhorr. Brighton Woman's Cmtra, Sunric, Bicydn and tha R ~ o u r c * 0 TinRadftMloPtyme Ctntr*.They h w m u p n a Hwt is a report produced by co-opfativ davlopmont wnw. Worn-)AwmtRiM-* Any i n t f t t t d 00-opt/mlkctiw Â¥rgunrnund in court to &fend should contact Simple suppri. and particularly w a n d rÃ§pbu Geonr St, Kamoton. Brbhton: about r a p within marriage. It or ~nfinityFO& ~ o r t h ~ d , cornisti of evident* submitted Brighton. by WAR to the Criminal Law 0 SHINDIG, the Sharing i n R W l o n Committee, who hw pmviiiomlly rÃ§commendÃthat CXvlopment Group. are a d t v rape within marriage be nude community in dinb burgh who a crime Ihurrahll. Pricedat era involwd in CND. WDM and Â£1.6 + p&p, it is <vil*bk from othar ampaigns mdwho m i Falling Wall Pram, 9 Lawford trying to (Mine whit they do/ St, Brbtd BS2 ODA. stand forIan aiming for. They'd lib to b a r from mom people 0 Along simllu Una b the who are trying to put idma into action. Future SHINDIG protect* mdenngiwn by the womuiOa Cm'Ã‘ofHou-wlÃ‘inOklog am a roof g~rden,mlar pond, allotment and a city farm. They Committn on RM* FMnlona a n be contacted at 26 Glen St, and Immiamion. Thk Puuiilcd Edinburgh. luument, which should b* <p~Ãˆ interest to p*ople working 0 FrimdiofKMEfth in thefieldof r*omdcqm haw iult launctmd - - -- a - n e-.i d cam&n against pollution which m'*ons* how Black, whim and immigrant will concentrate on Iwd, on and do work t o g o b pmtiiidm, chemical poiu~rn and toxic A.a mlhiw dW)b diffmc~.md task, they haw ~roduttda poinu out the cmmo* around for For briefing report abouttheir nmd "itl lBpSAE to to robe Â£16.00 towards thecost of empbyiw a N l u t i o n camhm, Box 287, London NWB. paignw and to produce toma ~ublkatiom on pollution. This report Â availabh from FOE, 0 The ~ ~ mEmployment i u 9 Poland St, London W1, to Protect Group is a group cornpoaed of onuniationi and individ- /whkh rinnatbm for the campaign may Â¥d bemt mhwhoserinredconcernHft

T h a P Ã ‘ Ã ‘ T b cmpdgdngforthÃˆeigh of th* individual to dlwrt ttx p*vn>~it<from the funding of

cm Urn &/or Â¥ph

work in MI atmo-

of(MM*. undmunding,

Mid aIf-MiffId-lev. Tha Of T h n madiche and

WOÃ‘ UÃ

alurmtiu tlwpio is ancourW d In the CMtres. For details w i f to D h n m Trust, c/o Highfield, Jackin Lam, N*vnck, ESUIMX.

1000(edge printed fma Of c h Ã ‘ Ã Hv PrÃ‘a South London thing from fuodnMng >nd Publicity to umpalgning, wyi of working, and how to o w n Informalon. As it b dÃ‘ignÃ D I ' i M b for ~ W dMid l COTMI)unity aroupÃˆ Ã § o ~of n ttr ittw m a bit tliw. b u f t f 4 . 7 6 it b good Ã 8 ~ f e gut&. k ~ ~tii witable from NAYC Publicatbm, 70 St. Nicholas Circle, Leicater.

0 Mushroom h i m republished the tint Auo Atom pamphlet, W i n # N-~/;,on by Howard Cia published in thÃ Chritmm 1977 blue of PN aÃ an ~ - P M >supplement, it dtecuiMtethe lbissop corwwQenceof anarchist, pacifist and fininta theory. It is particularly rdamnt to thon who ~ t h a t m e p n m ~ mint h i m a widir pÃ§nona and politic*! conttxt if it b to (MV any lasting suÃ§cen cornplma with a 1 m 1 postscript, it cot* 86p inc. p&p and k mitoble from Mushroam, 10 HÃ‘thco St, NottlflOMfTI.

a monthly bx@ competition in which M W month they will prim1000ftm~tottr groupwhoÃ‘dorig thÃ§ like bMt.EmriMimMtasubmitud

ha allowd,@ tin design mutt be original, at lent as a badge. Entry forms and inttructiom for art work a n available from Fly Pren, 62 Acre Lane, London, SW2.

Future Tmss is a 40minute video film about tha threat of nuclmr war. Much of the footage show interview with local maidants of Brent -a doctor, MP, CND ~tivteu, t h w #row, old (Mopk but this is juxopo-d with Inwvtow of BrezhWs doctor ind a witof tha MÃ‘ok bomb axpkxion. Tha film (in k e k a n d 40 minuma and is whim1 lit< anilabla for h i n at Â£12fro JOfm Tan Brink. Moonshina Community Am, Victor Rd, London NW10.

0 Haw you Ã§ wondered POW,. ~ o~t i f v how fw you uw from a nuclear is a network which provides a power imaUtlon?The Aminon-hierarchiciKKMw t t i n a N u d Ã ‘ CiÃ‘k hm produced in which a a poitcÃ‘ showing whm all ~OInmoncondition,experience the axteting and propo-d nuclear or concerncan meet. As In other reacton Â¥reas well as other -if-h.io groups them is no nuclear faciiitiw such as Windi wid dktinctlon t a t ~h ~o b fale, Sprin@fhkb and C o r n helped, and there are no thehunt. It b ivalllbto from the d s U or petlent%Ifimmsmd, ANC, PO Box 216, Sheffieldm write with an SAE to PNP, the following price (Inc. p&p):c/o BCM Altw, London WC1N 10/Â£12We2.40; 50/Â£4.w 3XX. 1WlE8.60.

Undercurrents 50

From June '77 to Septem trr '79 a dmiict site i n Count Garden wm tmuformed into a community auxjon. The garden w an imporurn m Ã ‘ t i nplace for the community, as well es Wng uwd for growing vegetÂ¥U and flown Air Conditions Swdui b a 20 minute film , Â¥bouthe project. The film is anilibl* either In S u m 8 from Count GfdMi Allocution. 46 Short* Gardem, London. WC2; or i n 18mm and video from Concord Film*, 201 Felixt o w Road, Ipiwich. Aho millblÃ from the Count Gwdwn

mldl~bthoponwforthe film, the back of which n i b dlabouthowtomupa community urdÃ§n

Cambridge University Alternative Careen Group, c/o Anne Clift: Hill, VIce-PnridentCSU,4 Round Church St. Cambridoa.

FEBRUARY

pWchoÃ‡wly*kdtl

An of Jazz is a cabarat benefit in aid of MIND. Th* (mfonrrno*, which features Fmnkii Armstrong and combinw jazz, singing, reggu and dana, f r t s at 8.30. Afterwrdt, from 10.30 till midnight, thwe it ~ Q Q Ã and reception in the (Mr. It takw Plan at St. Georg*!, 49 T d m l l Park Rd, , London N7 on FÃ§brumr6: tick- con Â£ 1~1.50nudenti & unwwedl and am bookabh on 01-607 1128.

TheCantretarAltTiMthc 0 ~ptCwculw~~no.8 0 Tthoolooy it running a Philob &out capitdbfn,alienation fophy of A l m r ~ t i w cowwi md the constructed rnllty of thi fromF*bnmy6-7.Th*coum Spwmcb, i n which we am offerwill cpmr the hittoric*!-1odthe knirofaworid,nmÃ§ opnwnt end ethnical i?mbof thÃ rertity. It's b thounht-provok. dmrnativw; poetic*) ing Unh pocktbook, Â¥n IS muting nwds 'w if anilabta for 30p line. p&pl andalternative appfrom Box 99, FrÃ‘do Prw, roKhoieÃ§rÃˆniy,food,Ãˆhett 84bWhitÂ¥chw St, work, politic! Ã‡ndHfaWlM London E l . Sukriptiom to Con it Â£40unwufpdrn. S*nd SowttCUIv Tinm a N abo an SAE for further detrib md mmilable at Â£ for mmi bum. bookingc to CAT, MÃ§chynlleth P o w , Tel. 106641 2400. 0 Convention*! treatment for -r cornel uMHir#+mk in 77m C a m EuslrUn and the

Â¥etfen

LomrStaw Farmera holding two wnkmd courm in Februwy. Thty are: F Â ¥ b n r 12-14Yoga M d i o n

&Mau

Fibrwry 28-28 Sitont Rmnt The cot It Â£1per wokand. For further d f i b m d an SAE to L o w ShÃ§ F m . Shaw, nr Swindon, Wllts. or phone (0793) 771080.

Southernw~may lib to gotoo CNGUldayevent in -on F(bruÃ§r13. The dm omiimof wkMn day school d o n s & wprlahop~which mutt be bookel i n Â¥dunce followed by a public mntina at 3.30* w^icti E A T h o m

MichÃ‘ P k , Canterbury, Kent. Tei. 10227160467. Tha~mduia tend othuti) whocm't ttwid th< id- of workiv in the graduate opflingc of the civil service/ mUMmtlonricompenin/nuclear induttry etc. ihould go to the AImrnatm dmÃ‘ day at CanMdgt on Frimcry 13. Sonw numbw of t f l b giving out informtton dona the ume DIM. Tht oonffnca is on February t 3 , f m 10-6,at h W Wi,Cambridge. Further infumttion h wilabla from

0 Wonnn m d Llft on

mfn lint is an noteric bookbt on inumationd comwn lotion, writun pndomhntiy In the m*n ling hnguqe. This, in cm you wondwd, i s a minlkngin which no word it longer ttrn 6 l e t ~ r iand , gmmnw UkÃ on a d i f f t n m mining. Luckily then is a dlctioiury at the bwk for the uninltiÃ§fd If you a n hendk lina iikx/&putpri'y nawn (Â¥dtecti is put M o m noun), mdÂ£to D*vid StingwII, The Solonut Society, 61 Markham Awua, Ctrcroft, DoncÃ‘fr Sth.York8hin.

0 If you live i n the Eot Midland!, you may like to go to a conference on Nuclur DiÃ‘rm* I on Fob6. The con(Brence, oqwniltd by E m Midland! CNO, naru Ã§10.30 at Quwm VWk Community Centre, Nottingham. Most of the day will be spÃ§nin workshops (a choice of 24) K) people can oxidm m d infometion. More dmmih a Ã ‘ i from E m MidlMMfe CND. 16 Gooagww, Nottinnham. Tel. (0602)082661.

Third World P i n t .ctivUt. in thÃYorkshira a m are v i l ma confamnm for sixth-formn the representationof the Third World in the m d i . The next inas am:

Alternatively on Ffbruary 13 you cm venture off to a confw* of the ProfÃ‘jdi for W d d Dinrnumntand Dndopmxit. The day will be divided into several seaions nuclear thread; North-South co-OPeration uconfrontation; r d w of the profwsiom; and the World Disarmament Campaign. There will be speaker! for each Â¥onioand the UN film Nuclear Countdown will also beshown. The conference will taka p l m at Imperial C d i a ~ Exhibition ~, Rd, London SW7, from 10-5pm. Ticked cost Â£ (studenaand unwaged Â£2.50from 678 Somerton Rd, London NW2 1RU. Cheques and PO* payable to Lionel Penroce Trust (PmfeÃ‘ion Conferenct).

0 The Worn's PMCf Alltenu am holding a Women's Sklll-

wllllrootBÃˆttw(~~kTi.The Slurin# Weekend in Nottinghm from ~ i b r m r 26-28. y he c u t at the will be Â£ (Â£2.5 unemployed). public metFor more dealb contact WPA, ing in tha CornvMJHilecture Box 240, P Ã ‘ ~Num,8 Elm Ave, theatre. Detailsend bookingi from Rldurd Norman, 34 St. Nottinam.

ional ~ a t ~ m in& turn and point! out why n c h form b aqurily m dÃ‘tructi to the parson's h*Ã§ltÃ is the cancer itttlf. If Intf-tod in the subject, e n d an SAE to Mr P. Rattigan, 294 Wet Parade. Lincoln.

Earth hw obtained a video copy of the Helen Caldtcott filrnCritrc*/ Man. They will loan lt&t to wor,kshopt for Â£1 lmootilbl*l or corn* with it and* to now groups. The ftim luu 1 hour. Contact Leoni*Cidecott. 14 Wntvilte Ro*d, LondonW12 9DK.

0 The N u r t m FMdCmire am

running a few courm i n February which may be of hlfrgtt to Undercurrend rwden. Then are: F d x w 28-28 Esotoric Studii & Discuttiom - Harold Wood: Winter Landfcope & wildlifeAdrian Wood. Fib28-March 5 Spinning, Dyeing & Weavihg. The Nurtonsaho function* u a QUM home when it isn't running couiw, but it is doMd until February 26. For deaib of couiw (end an SAE to The Nurtoni, Tintern, Nr Cheprtow, Gwmt NP6 7NX. Tei. (02018) 253.

-.,

Undercurrents 60

r e ~ c t l o n ~ i~ y ?e i r e a f n i d n oto-act t

oatthogefutilnwhichyoucdl Â¥fte love'. Yet we mat the freedom

to define our own mxuility. "We mart now mate the distinction between the Ubertine'i Ida of Pomoiniphy: Men pomuiw Women. Pomoemphy and Stttnca, Sums Griffin. UbertytodowamUk-'anda Andm Dworkla Wonrn'i Pur Â£4.96 Wonm'i PnM Â£4.76 TUon of humin 'liberation' " ~ u u~ nr i f f l n oursilence THIS BOOK I* itrong. This book Â¥boopornop-aphy. Confronting ITWmydifficultforustotdk doanst need me to adrcrtlw or panogmphy *s freedom she turns About p o t ~ o f p h yW . e barelearnt 8~1~fflariw i b contento, It doe* that poroogiaphy I* meant to be this on Its head. P o n u w h y is a Bbeiatlng.Yetwhen,asironies, product of mud repramion. She req*metotWDond;tompond nanum,wuaeoffiruea~t didlengmtheugumentth8tItbnot at tb* tnuge* and fantedei, whom it&-QU* Is turned. toytouildentandtheIde-behind just wocnu, bat men too, who are the Thlsiihudtodo,eBpwi*Uyin(hÃ object* of pornographic exploitation. m,they Ãugty, and =wlÂ¥pacof armlow; wdiUy for me, For w h y is put of a complex, oftheirwewefind. line* Dworkin hd& ~y men n well But tow en we expren this-'emotionals exduihre auto fmltuy that pervades n men fully mpomible for culture. She showsbow pornography nuonr'logloUy'and'obtectlvely'; the oppreulon of women. She doeanst how cm we notd your accuatton that is H b tee pwnogfpher, like the racist, places his own Tulneiabfflty,

wel

butInstoadcondemnuinanintriiulc part of the exiiting lyitem of power. I&s@ee,andIthinkIt%aMd l a if uger wta*t pomognphy becomes w Ãˆll-embndn that ffy men are written off automaticallya*enemies, with no potential f a becoming dies. This diugnement helped me to read the book productively;Instead of fining Into the trap of feeling guilty about 'Man', an ihlitcricdOgre, ipedflc and t h m t o r dm@&le relation towomenand toother am. That'iDottouyIteldimabout It. The k k cover the batik I*'angry'prinful artoaUbtng*, . and It'i tar. Xit' cntainly too prinftd torMMidlI80~~Itadeea~ toitopandnunmonaynwveto continue. Dworkin fight4 with pornography, and h a book I* a* bleak and n hard and M faceful a* pornography IW. She doein't explain It, in the sense

vsr

of her writing, ldÃ§ot&Qe with) the wonm in poraognphy; but (he damst accept hex podtton a the one raped, *need, Photogra~hed,read, bought; dm ipwb out. She expwtencw and malm m expMEteace the otocene coherence a d power of pornography, and then pttil&

ihe(peak)out;shetalksbeckatall

the mile inteUectudi, photoiraphen, reader and writon. By quoting tfaeti itorin, mahriinf theli Hittory and ddcribhlgtheirphoto*sheÃ§pow them as cruelly rn they have sxpoced women;but to an entirely ditfmat end. For them, their power over women iÃ a pienure; she s h m that power over women livile. She Insists that

pornography I* not Ãˆfantasy that the woman in a pornographic photo 'is nal end doe* exist and mu$t matter'. She shows pornography to be a night-

mare; ow nightmare. She make*you think about waking up and what that might men. Neil Batlett

Undercurrents 50

bis feelings of humiliation by his own body on thow thathe has power to coated. He luu to constantly recreate Us delusions that women and 'other races' are threatening and undvilised to reaf5rm belief In his reality. "Brery time weraise our eyes fmm the page of pornographic book,we find the same image in the culture that sunounds us. Weeven begin, like the pornographer himself, to confuse these images with reality." She sees all these images as part of a schizophrenicsociety that places. (man-made) culture in opposition to , nature, and so mate both men and women deny knowledge of their led (natural) selves. But what is the natural, we found ourselves Â¥ridngHow can ever discover our own 'true selves' In a reality that is conftructed by 8 p+ graphic culture? We cannot (Mm find answers but we know that we cannot accept pornography. Janet Burley Harriet Wistrich

Innocent Flowers: Women in the Edwardian Theatre, Julie Hollege, Virago, Â£4.6 "Intelligentrepresentationsof women cannot be left to men who, however modem they think themselves, have as regttib women the medieval mind. The stage career of an actress was inextricably involvedin the bet that &bewas a woman and those who were mister attee theatre were men. These considerations did not belong

pure gold. Did you know for instance thatthe(tostcasefoiequalpay Inthe the& Wm fought (and won) In 1826? Can you believe that our Edwardian sisteis used the theatre not just to demand the rote, but abo to question the statue of women's work, the injustic of the muriagela*, men's role in child-care; that they drew on women figures turn history to demonstrate positive and heroic female qualities? Not that the work wasn't Infinitely forgettable by most of UN) mde establWuMBL G*onÃ BeMfdShnr, lucid by bunts, a#m tea point aptly emwghlnhb Cnigdhftr ondo1

----

CnfgtainudeUhnwtftheBMMttamou producerinBtttopeby dintof nova

remain* the moat

by dint of

prodaciogewiythtat."JoUeHollew'~ own production, "Innocent Ftowen",

like the be& of eootempomry temintot writing, reclaim* troth (rom obscurity and gins m anotherinnluabto piece in the jigsaw of tentidst biftory. ~ n just d in cuse you think the book or the (days might be bereft of humour, I conclude with this Edwardian mistress1 servant exchange: Mrs.Holbrook: "A husband and wife an one you know. '' Mrs. Chicky: '*Yes'm.Which one?" . N i c e Singe

Nuclear Radiation in Warfare Thia book examina the wide of methods of exploiting the acute and long-term effects of radiation in nuclear weapons. It d?alumb the various kinds of radiation which remit from nuclear Ã§xplosioo and the facton affecting the biological mpome to radiation. The biological effects of radiation on man are docribad in some detail; and the difficulties of nuking a quantitative estimate of casualties in a nuclear war are explained. Attacks OB nuclear power statiom, radiological warfare, and t e r m activities am alw dl*cusÃ§e as well as other warlike oses of radiation. Written by Professor Joieph Rotblat and published by SIPRI, thu book

provides a reasoned argument afahut the continued existence of nuclear weapons. Published December '8I at f9JO

Children of This is Ãcollection of children's eye-

wttaeuriqm& of the day the bomb

M A P 0 Sam North

RAMAFo

is the mane ofthe

earth-

Was dropped on Hiroihima. The book makes harrowing leading. The original accounts, given by children aged between 4 and 16, have not boa re-written. The very innocence of their stories adds to the full horror of what

happened.

ThetttdGroup? Definitely. But the of actress-manager Ins writingnearly a

the "indirect influence of actresses active in the women's rights u@vement on the playwrights of the time" and ended up a testimony to 400 Edwardian women playwrights, the first 20th century women's theatre froup, the Actresses Franchise League. and the fiat 20th century woman ifirector. Edv Cr*ig. Its metamornhosis means that its form-is a somewhat uneven blend of politics, history biography and anthology. But the material, mined over five years from museums, private collections and newspapers, Is

Books against theBomb

In publishing thisedition, it is hoped that people will be reminded, in thil time of massive expenditure on nuclear weaponry, of the true human cost of atomic warfare.

theearthquakeÃ‘istheroleoa militant and eUttet en t

Published in Awfl '8I at Â£49 paperback and 19.50 doth.

Both boob are available from y o u usual bookseller or direct from the publishers:

real problem& the callous society that created I t Dave Elliott

4 John Street. London WC1N 2ET

Undercurrents50

frequently talks of whit "we" must do as if modem capitalist (and statecapitalist) societies were homogeneous groups of people with the same interests their solutions are perceived in KOpeople who, peihaps, nuke wrong A Betterplace to Live: New Designs for lation ntber than as part of an laterdecisions occasionally, but who will Tomorrow's Comrnunif&sLIchael ultimately act for the of "society" connected system,Is a major came of Coibett; Rodale Press Â£7.60 a s a w ~ l e t t ~ a m ~ n p e r l y the inhunnne and un nettl6MICHAEL CORBETTS book gets off informed. Good ideas, Cxbett seems to ments which today blight so much of toagoodstartÃ§Uhanenthusiasti believe, will diffuse naturaDy throughout urban Ameifca. HisÂ¥onrerliesi society once their Vilboity has been introduction from Dennis Hayes, "aomoDiiate Dbnmiw" and "whoBstic erstwhile director of the US Governestablished. dMbm",. to which planners ment's Solar Energy Research Institute In fact, of cotme, it's not that attempt todesign:vaoed, human-scded -whose s t k m amongst the "solar simple. Modem capitalist societies are envlionmeBtf which foster, rather than conunuriity" was probably e n h a n d , dominated by elites who control a leDBBK.OefBOD&ltfKkHFlh. rattier than diminished, when he was disproportionateshareof land, property, ~ o t h c for h Undercurrents recently fired by the Ragan adminiswealth, resources,political and military reader YOU (ration for refusing to acquiescein power and Information. And although a might rbett's massive budget cuts. book is strong on architecture, planning few experimentalsettlementsmay be established -and even flourish -under 'If Mike Corbett's dream is realised," and ecology,it's weak on politics. says Hayes, "the post-petroleum ditions, the prospect He cites, as fore-runneci of hit ideas, community will be a very attractive favourable of the diffu on of such settlements the 1920sexample of the Regional place in which to live. It will place a throughoutour society poses a threat Planning Association of America renewed emphasis on neighbourhaods, to the existing political and economic (followers of the "Garden City" with their own servicesand organs proposals of Britain's Ebenezer Howard) system and to the elites which mainly of commerce. It will stress the efficient who inspired the development of benefit from it. This threat will probably use and re-use of resources, from water be resisted by opposition, or co-option, Garden Suburbs it Radburn, New to steel. It will return the nutrients of or both. its "wastes" to the soil where they To say that this is so, however, is belong, and will raise much of its own not to counsel despair: merely caution. food. It will substitute communication It is vital that thousands of ecologicallyfo much transportation, renewable based, convivial,self-governingcommenergy for fossil fuels, and perhaps unities, urban and rural, should bloom otjoo of tfte vUen". (my ~nphaak). most important, strive for a higher degree across the surface of our planet dudng The laMtaiwhich Corbett too of self-reliance". that the creation the coming decades. The struggle to Mike Corbett isn't just a dreamer, establish them is just as vital as the -, though. He's an "enlightened" property struggle for democratic control of developer whose housing estate, Village production in the factories and work(daces of the worid. But these two Homes, in Davis California, his been widely praised for its energy-efficient struggles must go lyd in hand if they are ultimately to be succenful. dwellings and its attractive design, at worst actively opposed. I am optimistic enough to beHeve based on ecological principles and la A Bettw Place to Live Corbett that the opposition of vested interests can ultimately be overcome by resolute political action. But the trap of underestimating the opposition must be avoided -an this quotation from , ' Eben- Howard, the otherwise farsichted oioneiiltolof Garden Cities, makes && "One small Garden city must be built as a working model, and then a group of cities. . .These tasksdone, and done well, the @construction of London must inevitably follow, and the power of vested interests to block the way will have been almost, if not entirely, remomd'! (Garden Cttia of Tomorrow, Fuller edition, 1974, page 169) It's just as well that Howard did not live to see the Brixton riots. But we have seen them. and we should learn the lesson that new communities, like Garden Cities, are necessary but not sufficient. Godfrey - Boyle . I

Alton, Colorado

Undercurrents 50

veryeasily. As an example of the book's simplicity, hen is an excetpt.lG&eenthe littleboy and one ofthepVsidenlxz Sir. . dm you imagine na(10ns blowing each other up if they have huge stocks of arms?' 'Yes I can! '

'Csn you imagine nations blowing

each other up if they have no arms at all?' 'No I can't!' "@n how can you sit there and tell me that the way to ensure peace it o w t-

Ofcourseabookofthiskindhasto have finite. Peace is obtained primarily by the book talking to toe Presidents of each country, yet we all know how futile Uwould be to write letters to MB Thatcher or Ronald Raygun and expect them t o s e notice ofqsuddisarm. AlÃˆo some of the text m y abittoosimplisticby

ments an put very simply and at least

like most non-fictionbooks, do not. generally make for light bedside readin& However. The Peace Book is an

while leading it1 felt certain that world peace (without aims) could be obtained

~ uthen,* t peter ~stinovmyson the iwcfc cover:- Children'squestions are often considered stupid by exasperated adults simply because no answers to them have been found. k a n a Veal

All cotton Japanese design hand made n England, orthopaedic support folds n t o seat

55<itfcfwi â 4 5

Yoga mats pillows and floor cushions

monsters ~oinc1 Miracles Fires Antiquities *DÃˆÃ‡t Falls Teleportation Encounters Psi UFOs Science Mysteries & tnuch ntofe

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Write with S A k 10

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2 6 7 A r c h w a y R d , N 6 T e l 340 6 1 2 6 Call T u e s d a y - S a t u r d a y 1 O a m - 6 . 3 0 ~ ~

Undercurrents50

Ape*, Men and Longwise,

Eugen Linden. Peltan Books. Â£2.5

IN THE euiy *ties two briwriouni ixychologiftr, Aim lid Beatrice ~

VteH. Her trriner had wondNed

whether, glmn her coiuidenble puzztesolving ability, (he couldn't ado master spoken iJDfuace. The attempt failed. What the Oudeoen noti* though, was Yield's renmrkable dexterity and gatuni {folty.So tluy chMUHd tack. Instead of perseveringwith spoken lanemfe (for which @imp* physiologically mdadaptedl they

schooled a clump in A

m =

Sign

Language. This was a greater success and they and their chimp, Washoe, achieved notoriety. In train came Lucy, Ally, Bruno, Booee, Sarah and finally the gorilla Koko. 19 train too came the furore of academic disoute. One stand of EuÃ‘ Ã

ently developed, so a/he literally hunt the hniils.Lut of allis the c ~ ofe the

Â .

best where bete Whenhedecidedto

are articulate creatures. From this pceition - one a d o p t d emanyphilosophers of language - many of the 'hard* proofs of the brain physiologists and psycholinguists almost entirely &il to engage with the problem. Of course, this doesn't mean thew are no outstanding difficulties, including, perhw, the central one of the book. itdOMshowthata

these quegtions thanthe-

Â¥Wted.

most

.the thirdtheme.Without uy that If primat-

8 doubt itbright

llfuageuseiz

betnuufcorned. attempt to demooentail a switch from

Darwinfainnparaittentton to ngument than Linden IOMDI able

to muster.

Briefly, then are three kinds of robjectiontothteclaim thatcbimu cai~ muter lancufe. According 6 thtBut.Â¥~~OoufibItbcntaiid

ticated;actictu-tlicknthertluui conveiMtion. BluntestofaDli the second: the chimp cortex b n t luffid-

andueundmtood,vteietpriaato

@tun which (oftenmen lid imtltutI ~ ~ c a p a bof l eplundering and mining

h te mwith thecleanestof COBscience$ shouldn't blind one to Oat. His heart is often in the right place llutkMaofUwcortex.AndifwebeUeve but &is mind could be almost anywhere. thte act of mutualInterprat#bn occua Despite the abundance of Informwith t h e w then they must powew ation gathered in the book, and It a-,ifnot,then tbymmot. would be unfair to disregard or dismiss This~twhythefucioatinginforrnal this, only an exceptionally inattentive tfcountg offered by Jane Goodill and or uncritical reader will get through it Penny Patterson come closest to conwith more pleasure than irritation. -ChrteHuD vindngmifanything-,thatapes

andundentand.Nothinfelseit Mqulnd.Nosyntacticteste.Noexun-

Undercurrents 50

destructive power into people's hands, seem to be on SIPRI's agenda. But little comes out of Stockholm about the things people d o all wet the world to prevent military evil of all kinds. Wherever there is repiesdon them k resistance, and mUituifm is among the wont repmsionsthem is,

sowhynotwriteabitme~often

Nuctear Radiation in Warfare. Stockholm International Peace Rtaetich Institute. Â£9.6 ID UK born Tayla and FranciB.

aboutbowit Havinggo .it just renubu tomHbftHwtear Radlat,

Complitot: fix an Intenutiooal body dovoted to o ~ c iMMrch. e SIMS

fromthemisrnuktMWfback

the growth of third *odd nniel which tontlon, nibbles away at In* national understanding,a patenow

millions of people outri@t to reducing livw, causing deformities, and producing illfor decades after. All this k horrific enough: Rotblat concludes in addition that most defence ggalmt nuclear weapons radiation would bevaludeu.ThereÃ§realio(carypr0 spectehrcdiolofficalweaponryu e g radioactivemateriali but no nucteu explodon although these may be banned. And a nudear strike, or wen a convention*!explodm one, upon a "civiliann nuclear facility like ameatororaiepioceÃ§dngofenrich mÃ§ntplantcouldmakeaneverwore mat, by spreading an enonnous inventoiy of mmaterial about. Ifallthii~~n&horrific,itis. But theÃ§a*ciitoprovide a w f u l cÃ§m pata gold* torthe enemies of nudev W O ~ w o r t h Â ¥ i h r the i f ~potbdlMl~~themattÃ‡rm~Ã§ppÃ‘r

effect*would kt along time and do everythingfrom killing many

hOUMt.

Matte Inee

'mam&bgly d b l e and impoctani baUk..*mrdeis very good. very brave and wry honest.' Fay Weldon, TheGuardian 'Dervla Murphy is opposed, violently opposed, not only -to nuclear w e a m butto nudear energy aswell...thoÃ§ewh

worn*)*, ictonc* war miurn; bununs o w otha anhali, urbin ova runt, aqd f t e otha Metel f that unctorly dimst violentco~fllei?-that ~i HM ~nth*cÃ§ntr of the movmwit optnit nuclMr wonpens? +hat put# emphaili o~~WÃˆlÃ p ~ p t o r8iRa , U r n polltlclini, w dolir, both In oppodiM oppreulve itrueturn and In crwtlng a batta

worn?

Evry f&night Pnc* Nawi k Ã ‘ p &ple Informed of the 1actions, imrrts and lltÃ§rÃ§tuthat make up the mammoth tMk of nonvtolont revolution.

Undercurrents 50

Using Urban Wasteland. Susan Lobbenberg. Bedford Square Press. t2.96.48pp.. ONCE upon a time, radicals thought they had to flee the cities to Welsh hillsides in order t o set up the communed, tmaa and self-sufficient existencesthat would show the way towards Utopia for all. Now it's clear that fantastic, imaginative proN>ct< candxospringupin thedtifthemselves, and pose a more directumtm$ and chfflengetothe gecoodÂ¥hm televisual Â ¥ ~ i i ~ p tmart l a i people uenurtuiedon. The city final, urban nature ! ! E e e . l ~ e n* ~m = ~ . . comumnity prdens and other landhmd projects setting up In ainxrt every tled pffl-ticipaby people in shaping their own enTiroBment a powarnormally thought to have been appropriated by various species of 'them'. Sue Lobbenberg's excellent booklet guides you through the problems of site ownership, planning, liceaces, leues, fundraising and the Manpower Services Commisilon towards such creative uses of the immense reag age

pain from recenionf"

and firmly grounded lead& to anyone Inteiexted intheit own bit of (figging and Ms Lobbenbwf (who btt done

time on the Undies collective) abo looks 8t fte may nuolU--tbÃ§ existence ofurbulWMtoluid,tachidliif* oftendonibzoned urnrather lhan itsactual uses,

---

CapilaUtinFor Beginners. Robert

Lekachman& Bate Van Loon. Writers and hiders. JE1.96. CAPITALISM For Beginnem might more accurately biv* been titled Capitalism For PÃˆopl With Economic! Degrees.It's written by a ftotessor oS Economics from New York, and is hardly likely to send you rushing off down the ~ u to b exniiin 'coat-nuah pressure', 'externalities', 1nve6ment tnulti~lkra'or 'demand-null inflation' to oitf @,bdk (a~ c &thoughts it ~ a n d y o m n u & i n g o f fdown to

ofubaiibaduuls.E'lentiful1ktÃˆof further reading a d uaeftfftiMstfses -

-- --- -- Steve Bell's vision of the Tory Party Conference b hut one of the good Ifainpto Mgiorfe's Form (Penguin,

tioduces wme

aaks the blurb-

writer on the back cover. Having read the book twice over I'm still as perturbed and as pained as I was before I started. The idea of the documeiitary comic i* brilliant, and Writers and Readers demve mud) credit for aommf their books In this series. But with this one most of the illustrationsseemed to be there for the sole purpose of breaking up the text: Whilst this has an admitage in making it eadw to read, it wemi a waste when more relevant graphics would abo have made it easier to understand. Time are two useful diagram@,but even then one o f these, which concerns busmeis cycles, stop short at 1973. What's happened to business cycle; since then? Considering the topical nature of the book, with its numerous reference) to the current recession, they should have done better than that. Francis Rogers

Plain Talk

- David Jarmul. Published

by Volunteers la Technical Assistance

Â¥a awilable from them at 3706 Rhode Avenue, Mt Rainier, Maryland 20822,

___

Â£2.60)a a l e t i a n boa the trips thit .ppe.redin Tim.Out .od City Limits a e r the l i t twoye&&

I.@&

PLAINTALK is a bookabout simple &glUi. hbtitled'OeB Communication

imeducated Third World villagers, the book is probably ineffective M Many villagers do not understand any no matter how simple. But ?61Talk could be a useful tool for people involved in adult literacy schemes in English-epealdngcountries, or e m for infant teachers or adults teaching children to read. I can also think of various other people including some Unde-reumnts writers who could well benefit from reading thisbook. Maybe- would then seÃ the end of the one-sentence-p-h. The book has a useful last chapter on graphic communication, ie. layout,

Undercurrents50

a real &e in China. It regards land tenure as the central issue, but mentions unjust credit, marketing, and legal systems too. Few of us can Imagine what it is like to be terrorised by a moneylender, or forced off land we are squatting on. (It's odd that women workers are seen little-let's-be4ooddve-them-our-food- in the-photographs but their special problems are not mentioned in the text.) surplusad-condoms" line, but the Illness and poverty go together in existence of unjust political and social the third world today just as they did systems that keeps people hungry. in Victorian Britain (and today! See the recent Black PaperInequality and Land for People: Land Tenure and Health). Many so-called tropical diseases the Very Poor. Chile Whitternore. are really diseases of poverty: a better The Gnat Health Robbery: Baby MiÃ diet results almost immediately in better and Medicines in the Yemen.Dianna health. However the poor are indoctrinMelrose. ated with the ideology of curative Both available from Oxfam Public medicine. Affairs Unit, 274 Banbury Road, The Great Health Robbery denounces Oxford. Price Â£1.30 the importation into the Yemen of tand fw-k i#tfae bett book of @&&q#y drugs where the same drugs MOST OF us associate Oxfam with giftunder generic names are much cheaper, shops, jumble sales, and a non-political ito U^Jdnee 36Wbp ftoirw's book the almogt nm-e@nt public health approach to poverty. Those who know Forid ~ f appeared 6 six years ~ service,Mid the 00torioUs baby-food Odam well are aware that it has been ago. It conasptirious land

typography, illustrations, etc. While people involved in design would find this section elementary, it may appeal to others who are interested in how books and magazines are produced. Lowana Veal

on Want, for some time, but has been keeping quiet about It. It's therefore good to see Oriam informing people through its publicattons of what really eames hunger. It's not an absolute shortage of food in the world, nor the failure to implement the "US-has-too-much-India-has-too-

Spaceships of the Mind Nigel Calder. Penguin Â£3.95.144~~

Happier Families by Tim Eiloart and Carole Byring This self-published book brines &ether 'HUMAN beings are the only spades the many alternative wmys of bringing From Profit to Resistance (Peace News that soil their own nests' -so runs up children. Covering pregnancy, home oamphlet. Â£1.26is a booklet about the space colony concept. Why should we birth (briefly) through to adolescence hist-direct action movement a@ht change our ways and set F o u r dirty using excerpts written by children, its nuclear weapons, covering the period industry in space and leave the earth"' main "concerned" topics are punish1967-1967. I t consists of a series of neat -- and tidy to come home to. ment, sexuality and communal short artides written by activists from There's certainly atot assertive chiidcare. the Direct Action Committee Against 'new frontier' thinking behind the It is aconcerted attempt to redefine Nuclear War and its sucwaor, the apace colony ocame. lt's e v e n n o v e r "having children" as potentially both Committee of 100 -the two main some environmental@ in the USA! rewarding and fun. It also contains groups at the time. Nifd Calder las tried t o survey some advice for parents on how to set up I t is interesting bfecause it shows their own self-help pressure group, and of tee thtekinibehind these dreams the relationship between the direct has a useful index of relevant groups 0fescapettomEarth'sproMemin action groups and CND (who then, as sad publications. Available from Tim a book from fils 1978BBC TV series now,were rather cautious about nonof the same name2The ideas are audac- Edoat, Rivermill Lodge, St Ives, violent direct action); reasons f a the Huntingdon, Cambe. PE17 4p. Price ious but not technically far-fetched. biluie ot the peace movement at that Â£2.0 (ash with order), Â£3.6 to book Communitiesliving u d working in tene;thereactions of the state (very @t spue itationin orbit, mining shops. materids on the Duxni^plmi-teand &whds, getting fu$ ttom Saturn and ot more commitment A Critique Of State Socialism by Jupiter.. be dothe same type of Cienfuegos Press But in the-md, @all-seems to be a action-and win. A comic book on all that's wrong with oizy 'technical Ca*ta social problems Ideally, thenextstepshouldbe to socialism,or an anarchist account of Out we really need to face held on. read Direct Action Agginit Nuclear social history; good drawings by Weapon; I d e Legal Limits British Richard Warren. For extended bedtime Af caldeiindicate*, the problem Socialist Legal Group,60p). Unforof teswave distribuBon in the solar reading try Anarchism, arguments For tunately, this bookletiuffem from being system could me8n a shift in political and Against: a booklet. For example, too short to be useful you can% power from Earth to tee energy-rich "Liberty m'thout socialism is exploireally cover the tend details of tation; socialism without liberty is Jovian satellite!such as Callisto. So tyranny" (Bakunin). Comic maybe what's new? Space wars replace earth 76p; booklet price unknown. From wars. Hadn't we better try to solve ever, it does point out thecharges Over the Water, Sanday, Orkney same of our problems here on ~ a t h relevant to occupations, etc. and the KW17 2BL before we pollute the rest of the procedures after arrest. BtlaxV? sssft&y*1 Dave Elliott

- -

Just 5 p a word; box numbers Â£1.25 Copydate for UC51 is February 15th. All ads must be PREPAID please.

PUBLICATIONS HIP wgetarians, budding acupuncturists. f lowering holistic technologists, and others of like mind should e t a for Clear Calm & Company's FREE 20 page, computergenerated, catalogue of Mind, Body, Spirit books especially imported from California, China, New England, India, Puerto Rim, and elsewhere. Clear, Calm & Company, Unit 1, Tan Bank Annexe, Wellington, Shropshire.

RURALResettlement Handbook. Second edition revised and enlarged. 220 pages of practical, financial, legal, social and personal information about rural resettlement. An essential reference book for rural dwellers, aspiring small-holders, armchair resettlers, and everyone concerned with the countrywide. Only Â£1.8 post free from Rural Resettlement Group, 5 Crown Street, Oxford. FREE LAND from livestock for trees. The Vegan Way can be healthier as well as cheaper, when you know how. Send 6Op for Introduction to Practical Veganism, with recipes, and Vegan Dairy article, t o Vegan Society, Department F47, Highlands Road, Leatherheed, Surrey. THE COMING AGE: magazine for the living matriarchial community, 4511Lux Madriena (U), 49, Industrial Street, Todmorden, Lanes.

WORK COMMITTED worker needed to help rejuvenate struggling radical bookshop. Hope to pay wages soon. Write to Grapevine, 186 East Road, Cambridge.

1 HOUSMANS 1 (Please add amount in brackets for orders by post)

How t o make up your mind about the bomb. -M. Neild, Â£2.9 (65p>,Andre Deutsch The Peace Book -Bernard Bemon, Â£4.9 (â‚¬1.20 Jonathan Cape

Pornography and Silence -Susan Griffin, Â£4.7 187~). Housmans Bookshop (U), 5 Caledonian Road, Kings Cross, London N1 Tel.: 01-837 4473 Open: 9am-6pm Mon-Fri; lOam-Bpm Sat.

MANAGERICo-ordinator wanted for wholefood shoplcafe at the Centre For Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Powys. Person wanted t o take wer in March. Shop turnover Â£100 a week, varying from quiet winters t o hectic summers. Involves ordering wholefood, books, and products for sale as well as day t o day co-ordination of shop and cafe, financial control and bookkeeping and responsibility for staff. Salary based on need based salary structure with basic annual pay of E2700and childallowances where appropriate. Accommodation available - ideally commencing March to allow overlap with current manager. Ring Lyn Roberts or Peter Raine at the C.A.T. on 0654-2400.

COURSES

LOWER Shaw Farm Spring Programme: Yoga, Meditation; Silent Retreat; Trees and Forests; Easter Exchange - Learning and Sharing; May Celebration; Writing for Life; Women's Bank Holiday Event. Weekends end Bank Holidays. Informal with Wholefood Cooking. Low cost. Sand SAE to Lower Shaw Farm, Shaw, Swindon, Wilts. 0793 771080.

"STARTING and running a small farm", March 12-14 and April 2-4. Weekends with likaminded people contemplating or starting small-scale farming etc. tutored by PATRICK RIVERS et al. Other springtime courses: Craft for families, Woodlands, Vegetarian Cooking, Painting, Birdlife, and The Esoteric. Also open for private guest house holidays; beautifully situated in 30 "organically orientated" acres overlooking the river Wye, and providing organically grown, vegetarian, wholefood meals etc. Details: Elm and Adrian Wood, The Nurtons, Tintern, Gwent. Tel. 0291833.A stamp is appreciated. BORED?DEPRESSED? Escape the rat ram by becoming a WWOOFERI W O O F is 10 years old. Learn organic gardening and farming at weekends. For further information write to: Working Weekends on Organic Farms, 19 Bradford Road, Lewes, Sussex. SHORT residential courses on AT - technology, ideas and practical skills. Learn with experienced and qualified staff in a friendly, informal atmosphere. Solar Energy, April 2 t o 4; Waterpower, April 16 to 18; Windoower. May 1 t o 4: Self Buildwith Walt& Sagel; May 28 t o 30; Organic Gardening, Mav. 15 to 19: ~.Phildtoohv -- . . of Alternatives, February 5 to 7; Building a Woodstove, May 5 t o 10; Wholefood Vegetarian Cooking, March 5 t o 7; Blacksmithing, March 19 t o 21; Shoemaking, March 19 t o 22. Sand SAE for full details and booking forms to Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynelleth, Powys. ~

THIRD WORLD Field Officers needed for Bolivia, Brazil and Madagascar to administer and develop programmes placing skilled personnel in local development proiects. Fluent Spanish. Portuguese and French are required respectively, a knowledge of the relevant part of the world and its development problems, and Third World experience. Also needed Social Scientist with good Spanish for Bolivian study centre, and MidwifaINur~for Upper Volta. AH postings are for two years min, on modest living allowances. Details from UNA Irrternational Serviw 3 Whitehall Court. London SW1.

CALLING box numbers 104 and 106. Please, please could you send us your addresses!

HANDWEAVING. Pembrokeshire residential courses on organic smallholding. Small groups, individual tuition. Beginners and experienced. Rugs, hangings, fabrics, tapestry, spinning,dyeing. SAE to Martin Weatherhead, Penwenally Farm, Cilgerran (UCI wed.

HEALTH HOLISTIC approach t o children's health/learning/behaviour problems (exzerna; asthma; convulsions;frequent colds1 earache; bedwetting; hyperactivity; readinglspelling problems. Using diet, allergy advice, counselling, educationallmanagement programmes. Allergy advice for adults physicall emotional health problems. DietaryIBehaviouralTherapy. (St. AlbansILondon) Tel: 0727 68333.

PROPERTY FOR sale near Truro, Cornwell: semidetached cottage, secluded, three beds, half acre land. Â£25,000 Tel. Saint Day 820219 (5. to 6). 18th Century Farmhouse and MillIWorkshop with 12 acres idyllic English pasture, no chemicals ever used. Secluded rivervalley, 114 mile frontage. Farmyard barn and outbuildings. One acre hardwood plantation, mature cider orchard. Offers around Â£80,000 Titley Mill,Kington, Hereford for brochure.

HOLIDAYS UNIQUE holiday on organic smallholding with 77 ecresof wooded nature reserve within Exmoor National Park. Sea 4 miles. Eight camouflaged caravans, modern toilets. SAE please to Cowley Wood, N. Devon. Parracombe 200. REAL fresh air - holiday caravan to let on remote and beautiful island. SAE for details to Vicki Coleman, Papa Stour, Shetland. WYE VALLEY. 2 miles Tintern Abbey. Holiday cottage sleeps four. Quiet woodland position. SAE. Sirnpson, Forest View, Whitelye, Near Tintern, Gwent. We've got lots of people trying t o get in touch with you. Tal

Undercurrents 50

r ^ Â ¡ ALTERNATIVE TIMES ^ /

^- I

THE MAGAZINE OF THE RENEWABLE ENERGY CAMPAIGN

Trial sub. Â£ tar t h m luuw or S3.5Op.e.

35 Wodmon St London N19 4RU

CONTACTS ENERGETICdommlated intelligent male Canarkin, 26, laving for grand workingholiday tow of Europe In April, would lib to m n t lady interested In being tnwlllng companion. Photo appreclafd. P l w n write hul, Box 107. BIRMINGHAM. Four people mek ncond man for houÃ‘buyin project. Contact Rosil, 109 SumnMrfhId Cmxwit, Birmingtam 1& Tel. 021 443 4028. COLLECTIVELY run tar* mads extm crow munbtr, preferably with mitim* or Ã ‘ t a r h experiena. Contact CCC, 15 Grnnhtys Rood, Livwpool& COMPANION required for trawl Â¥rounremote Himolyan a m Imoaly Tibetan) N a d to haw t humour, stamina, r ~ p c cand and be my mouraful and adipmbh. Box JK7.

COMMUNAL group, six adults thn* children, with firm and Â¥ho Intwxtod in dMchooltnfl nmds now people. Funlnlst women, anti-Ã‘xli men and children (ospedally 7-10 yr oldd. Send SAE for d m l k t o : BTrifmton Hill, Shrmwbury.

LIVINGMwIting collwtiw in

the

24 YEAR old w o r m l-ki

Coliectiw 8lhUtdd limlan chlldam atc. Actlvltim and . i n t m : mntoninn, building, community politic*; funlnlim, therapy, pubitehing, craft*. High 1 6 4 of sharing. Later poiilbh mow to the country. SAE c/o 38 AÃˆhflÃ§Rd, MÃ§ncheÃ 13.

am Intend but 0

o f humen violence oppom tobacco,

t h am81 fldmed. Box 109. IWOULD like to mnt up with a few other people who era int~rutcd in m i n g up a homing m-opwatiw/mmmunity in or Â¥roun Nottinghtm. Iam Inwrestod in communal child wa,a --non-wxht approachto work and behaviour and ecological/ onvironmenmilifa4yleti'FIw phone, Gill, Noningham Iewn.) 683988 (06021, or writ* to 69, Hendon Rim, Saint Ann's, Nottinghm.

PEOPLE not pÃ§ychbtryAre you inland? Bored?PanicProne?PlychitrimilylwclJily hbelld? Or k n n to MIDm o t s your way7Anyom I&& i n mif.h.ip nr. mtwork ph,. write to: PNP, c/o Ã ‘ Abr, London WclN ax)(. SAC Ã‘ntial TIGER TRAILS; bmutiful animal iwntihirts. Sand 2Op or ~e for d f i l s to Tiger Trails, 2 Bbnheim Crescent, London W11 INN.

I REFUSE to rÂ¥produ b u m alcohol, (port, milgton, d p t bn, nu& support l a p 1 hnh, vnmarbntem, -logy, wilty; and ~k pen Midi. Box 108.

ETCETERA SOMETHING phyabio inspired by Herman HIM'! Glus Bud Gsm. Non comptltiw. A mapping of thought wqutncn. For information write to Dunbar Alklns. 1480 SWA" St.

COMING SOON Subversion on the Airwaves Pirate TV in Holland Feminist Radio Stuart Hood on Television Animal Liberation Spectral Lovers. . SUBSCRIBE NOW!

NEGATIVE IONS POSITIVE HEALTH

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An audio-visual proemmma of t h m 46-frmlt filmstrips or Up> ill&sets, full tackwund thrucauatm comnrnuriuandt h e ~ 4 - p bookletsof W ~ V information. Author: Dr. Michael Flood, Emrw C~nsultantto Friends of the Euth. PTt 1 HARNESSING THE ATOM tat2 RADIOACTIVITY AND THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE F A T BREEDER REACTORS AND THE NUCLEAR ECONOMY Pm3 EACH PART Film Strip Â£6.25a mounted Slid* S f Â£10O l t t m Â£3.60 Ahe Â¥8m

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Through the high paamand B u b w vlltam of thÃ Grand* Kabyih to thÃGrmda Dunn, Chom and Od! Towns of the Siham. Mostly In non-touristic Aiprh. 30 day, 1300 miles cycling, frhndiy woum of 16. Back up which and experienad tourlador. High protMn/ whotofood din. All inclusive price Â£480Varbm dm* from Ftbrmry. SAE full Informion: Dedd Craig, Nan House, Fortrot, Roi~hIm.

Undercurrents 50

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I'No Nuclear Weapons' by Ric Sissons and PaofKennard has been harmed from the Arts Council Bookshop. The I directive came from Literature Director CHARLES

OSBORNE whose secretary said it was a 'political decision', iftough t f f b o p is full of boob by boring Marxist literary critics. Part of the problem is that he is an Opera Buff, and even his stiff admit his knowledge , of literature, art and politics is highly deticitflt. The appNmg men has been in the job at least 15 years and it seems there is no way to shift him. And Ialways used to be opposed to euthanasia. .. Portly born-againSOP autocrat TOM BURKE has been shuffled out of Friends Of The Earth although not from the International FOE Corporation. Big Tom is currently touting the idea of 'Community Environment Wardens' (with himself as a sort of Baden-Powellfigure, perhaps) and is writing a book on how to organise pressure groups. As an FOE minion, newly fired with democratic fervour, put It: 'He should write e book about slimming, and then read it.'. JOHN MAY, ex-editor of the sadly extinct BEAST magazine suggested to unfashionable FOE that they lacked style and should design natty green day-wear for posing -Â¥winPoland Street in. He was given a pat on the head and told to run along. Iwonder why JONATHON COE was being rude about theexcellent 'radical media' mag RELAY recently in CITY LIMITS. It would of course having notMnflto a&vM the fact that his recent bid to become-wrof the msgfailed dismally (Get your copy for 60pffoflftBox 12,2Ãˆ$tPaulsRd,London,N1 The WORLD WILDLIFE FUND rang from Geneva asking to reprint the whole o f Undercurrents 47 8s a book. There's no qountinfl for wit*. Munwhile Director LEE TALBOT (no relationto James Goldsmith) announced to the lucky recipients of his Xmas card that his WWF activities had preventedhim doing as much motor-racing as he'd hoped. Better tuck in '82, Lee. .. and make sure you don't let aII those dull habitat protection people gat in your way.. Illustrator GEORGE SNOW (cover of Undercurrents 46) has been offered the job of designing EVENT after PEARCE MARCHBANK couldn't stand it any longer. He is expected to turn down the job. 'I much prefer working for Undercurrents. EVENT has no streetcredibility' quoth Snow, or something like that. Another reason for rejecting EVENTwas that he was not interested

I I 1 I I 1 I I I

I I 1

.....

I I 1 I I

in L-rey:h~NICK

HANNA has gone to Africa

I to research talking drums. Magazines ere sopassd said Nick. Drums are so much more where it's at. ..

I After ten years of ideological unsoundness, Undercurrents has joined the technological revolution and bought 1 an answar phone. Meanwhile watch for our 10th anniversary beano benefit (we need it to pay for the last one). Cheeriol LOONY DWMSTER

clear FIND O M what you've been missing and help some space In me omce by taking advantage of our cut price back numbers offer. Any ten of the Issues listed m o w cost just so. or, even better, all thirty-two plus a free copy of the index of the first nine years for only SIO.W,surface mall, worldwide. we regret mat numbers Ito 13, 15, 19 and 20 are completely out of print.

14 76

Lucas & AT; Jack Mun&y. Overasas &, HUldde Cott8m: B u i k l i ~& ~ t w energy; d Shuttea desk& hopleb lhbht; NATTA; CUhn*s Ban& G d e n vihies, Trca f&; DIY new towns S z i f - a u f f ~ n c town y howh

bum T e ~Save~YOW own ; d; Computez kyhunUng; 17th century ndical science, Dowdnc; K W h n photokit.

18 AT & the Third W d d . Imlevant t e c h m o l ~ ;!hd clam c a ~ h b nChinrm ; #c&nce; Sup-kar; Gmen IJM. 21 Good muat W e , D w e r s of countemultum B r o a d d i n c Reich; Nuclear policy; Won u o fum; LwrhsWn. 22

A doctor wxitea, Paranoh power (1); Stoneheaue; P r h d t h e m y , Cod wu; F M farmins (1); RWple mvolutionbn~.

E m o t I o ~pI W a Findhorn. CornPoat&comm@);Water power; Oz community radio; Puak The-positive nbotue. AT & the Portuguese revolution; The RudamarenV comirw 26 Boat r e p a h New Age Access; Orbey mofting:Gro-im dope. Soft enemy; h a d politics; Fad breeders;Toola for small farms; 27 Brookho- Ampemand CO-OP The Shakers; DIY Woodstove. 28 Windscale; Tvind; Mondraaon, AT & the State; Camdim AT; Eehdour M&, BIcycIe PIMIIIIU; Urhm wa&luui. Woman & E n e m ; New Cleu Eneasy; Feminish uaind nukes; 29 women & M n m ; womm*ou*t; A U C&~ ~ h a n . 30 Windado; Ecofeminhn; S O W ; AT & the Brithb State; Greeni~ mehbn. ~ Mumle powered ~ o l u t l mmnJhl; o ~ Food pditks; Factory fumiA#; Additives: Wholefood co-ops: 3' & m m a y cam-, camnon awicatpo&y. EeopoHWw BxiW romd.to Ecotopk Lmuc; Nukes & and uniow ~ & k e r s ~ pDIY b , ~ ~ F t n n n n ~Shotton; pr; M h . 33 Phnahs; G a d m dties; U r h ~wuhhnd; Nationd pnks; , S h e W ; Countw lLte.WW00Fb~; AT workshop. CO-OP h a w Crabwple; UNCSTD; Eutbcue; CounterReuolutton Quarterly: Feminiat =ti-nukeh; Encineexhu. 35 COMTCK7& Wave pow-, T ~ m w o r k T r ~ TCunpdcn ~ a t for the N o d ; VIY Woodatove dadan; DecentnWbg AT. 36 W d r e n & Uw ~ T I K O I U D Future R I ~ ; uerfect: City judes; FIyd~eetamm;Ma Gab;Community schoob k axvice& 37 Third wodd e m ; FA0 food confmmnce;Street f&hUn'man; Ecotopoly; Envhnrnentd education. DIY bi-; Anthudmu ~~: Denmark, Seabrook; Guerilla tactics; The E m Eutbquake; The Ruand Nicoh T e h . Commuues: C~-~perative work: C h r h t h h ; Communes & amm&bm; Peame's p o h h US Whdpower Inc. W. Wave power; Viewdata; Deprouunmhu Emropa: ChuUe. Thhd'A'o~ Rip-off: Canals Jobs & Soci~I

a a a 42

tmtopk ComMd compuUng; Muaifeato for the 80% END; NATTA: T W , M s windmUl d e d p ; Pinte RuUo. Bomb b ~ t owindmilk Atoms for p m e ; Lomi reform no thdm Gnemtew& LUe wlthout TV,E m Pmmrhhm

Altanutive &fence; DIY W e r 8 f i l m IlIich m seximw The new west C~0-m -$ om the gabmovement.

1 II

w A',

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT with the publ i i ,Wildwood H o w , we am now abta to offer wr book Radial Technolugy to Undercurrents r e d m at less than half price only E1.95, postpaid!

R d i w l Technol~gyis widely recognised as the standarc comprehensive work in the field. But don't mke our word for it. As Alvin Toffler, author of best-sellersFuture Shod and The Third Wave put it: "For people who still think of the future in terms of mega-machinesand all-powerful bureaucracies, Radkal Technology win be an eyeopener. It proves what many futurists, ecologists.and philosophers have kensaying: There is an alternative. Radical Ted~nologyoffers a fresh way to think about tomorrow. Nothing could be more useful."

". . ...

.this book i s different. I sharp criticisms of swiety a d just about everything else you might think of coupled with the best presentation of 'Visions' of what The only book in this part may be done that I've seen of the culture that I have personally found exciting a d excited." J.Baldwin in The Next Whole Earrh Catalog. .a t~ghtlyp a d 4 compendiu~ of information covering subjects like organic gardening, indirect solar energy, phone phreaking and how to make ymr own shoes Radical Technology is packed with sustained outburst - Michael White in of sanlty about the way we live The Guardian. "The editors of Radial T ~ m l u g have y p r d u w d an important baok that is mlisticand visionary, pramatic and principled, serious and lighthearted, sobering and inspiring." - Rob Paton i n h a m News

. .. .

"..

. . ..

. . ."

". ..

the best single intruduction to the philosophy and hardware of the intermediate techndlogy movement" Dennis Livmgston in Futures .a tightly packed compendium of information cowing subjects like organic gardening, indirect solar energy, phone phwaking and how to make your own s b ~ . R&wI T d t d o g y i s packed with sustained outbursts of sanity about the way we live. MichaelWhite in The Guardian

"..

Radical Technobgy has 304 big pages and indudes more than 40 major artides, only a couple of whi& have ever a m e d in Undercurrents, spanning such topics as Food, Energy, Shelter, Toots, Materials, Community, Autonomy and Other Perspectives. ORDER YOUR COPY NOW! Send just E l -96 (which i n d h UK and overseas surface mail to Undercurmfs, 27 Cterkenwell Ctose, London ECl OAT.

The Dartington .coqference , - . F

Right Relationships April - 18th 1982 13th

Ijartington Hall,Totms,Devon.

Throughout our lives we are all involved i n relationships, some of which may b e unrecognised, each of which gives us the opportunity for exploitation or for caring, for learning and for personal growth.

This theme has been chosen for 1982 because of a growing awareness of the unity of all life; to which each component part contributes, whether aware of it or not.

The Conference will consider relationships in their three inter-related aspects: a) Relationships with the natural world on' which our physical survival depends plants, animals and the earth itself; b) Reiationships with eaczh other, in the family, at work, with friends and in the!, community; c) Relationships with our own Centre or Higher SeK

contributors include: John Davy (Emerson College); Satish Kumar (Editor Resurgence); James Lovelock FRS (Scientist, author Gaia); Alan Dale (Group Relations Training); Lady Eve Balfour (Soil Association); Julian David; Erika Stapleton; Howard Sasportas; . Joan Swallow, etc. Representatives from ten communities.

* .

Details from:

Jennie Pawys, Fairfield, Abbotskersw@ll,Newton Abbot, Devon TQ12 ~ P N Telephone: -0626 21 08

TRAINING POSTS IN COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE for mWws,nur~-tutors, h l t h visitors or &ctor8; a physiothuwphtandoccupationel tharapkt. W R T H YEMEN

- Trainm are neednd to jom an establiskd

wbct in tha mountain mrnmunitim of North Yamen.Tha

m m m r k s with %itioml' m.khvivas and trains frimarv tha only hmlth cam in health mrW, who togather m%kie tha rmion's i 8 0 M villanos. ZIMEAWE - M i d w h , doctors and other hmIth,workers am raquhd to antributm to tho training of a mnga of rural health workers. Tlmy will work fromdisrictJmpimlsand rwal health centres. A physiothwqpistand occupational thempis are required w bin a %lisburv based woiect, training Rahabiliition Admnts.

Call ;or higher inwmes for People a d over 75

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TEACHERS Z I W E ' S mw ruraLww~yschoolsne6dtmchersof a!#icuItuml and buikfina skills, m t m l and physical sciencm and numeraw. Tha scImois tm& formal acndamic subjects and t b skills needed for thadewbpment of tha 8chooIsand tlmir wmrnunitbs. Applicants W u l d b8 qualifiedtmchws or gradutes in a -ct listed above, with teaching axperionce.

right dlrec+lon.

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The degree Is now only oflered - 4 wo-year fulktlme c o u m follbwing or lram the MlMtewx F'olWchnic DIP m a c4 Higher E d u u t h (DWO. 1) y w already hdd a DlpHE or have awroprlate equlvalant quellflcatwM you em ebo welcome to apply. Contact Admlnlona Offlw, IN CSIO), Mlddl-x P o ~ h n l c 114 , Ch- Eldo, London N14 SPN. O l

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TERMS CIIR owrsms workefsramiw full orionatbn and, where medad, hnguaga training. Their 2 - y contracts ~ include besic salaries rubtad t o local l n w m , in8uraw. return a~-faresand 0 t h a l h n w s . If you haw one of the skills we need -and tha abiliw to wmmunicate it -wit* for mom informtion, giving full dmih of your axrmrimnmand qwting r& CIIR OVERSEAS SECTION, 22 COLEMAN FIELDS, WNOON N l 7AF

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From page 1: Undercurrents 50 February 1982 Eddies 2 Letters 6 A Hard Rain’s A’Gonna Fall: investigation into chemical and biological warfare - People’s News Service 8 Acting Up: Community theatre in Glasgow - Paul Yeoman 12 CND and END: Campaign strategies for 1982 - Simon Mellor 14 Planning for Real: A model method for changing your neighbourhood - Tony Gibson 15 Disarming Thinking: Bomb politics: - Martin H Ryle 19 Paternal Bliss: Friedrichshaf was never like this in the brochure - Nicholas Albery 24 Diary of a Safety Valve - Tony Allen 26 Weird stuff bulletin - Paul Sieveking 27 In the beginning: Undercurrents came in a plastic bag - how naive can you get! - Godfrey Boyle 28 10 Year’s that didn’t shake the world - Stephen Joseph 31 Alternative Technology Revisited: Peter Harper 33 What’s What and What’s When 36 Reviews 38 Classified 46 Subscriptions and Froth - Loonv Doomster on the rampage 48

_____________________________________________ THIS is our 50th issue and 10th anniversary - frankly we’re amazed but happy to be here. The magazine seems to be in good shape, though, in independent publishing, financial problems are never far away. The greatly increased interest in the issues that we cover - from the anti-nuke and peace movements, to co-ops, anti-sexist politics, community technology and media - is encouraging. It’s hard to define the paper, or what keeps us going - perhaps just the simple idea that people CAN try to take control of their lives. Yes, we look on the bright side of life - as long as the cheques keep coming in. And finally, a big thank you to all those out there in Undercurrentsland who’ve supported us over the years. _____________________________________________ Undercurrents Ltd is a company registered under the laws of England (no 1 146454) and limited by guarantee. Tenth year of issue. ISSN 0306 2392. EDITORIAL OFFICE: 27 Clerkenwell Close, London EC1 R OAT. Tel: 01253 7303. ACCESS: We meet at 7.30pm every Wednesday and all friends of the magazine are welcome. COPY DATE: Undercurrents 51 (March) will be on sale Saturday 6th March. Closing date for last minute items is February 17th. COPYRIGHT: The contents of Undercurrents are copyright: permission to reprint Is freely given to non-profit groups who apply In writing, and sold to everyone else. DISTRIBUTION: Within the British Isles by Fulltime Distribution, Building K, Albion Yard, 17 Balfe St, London NI (01·837 1460), except London newsagents~ supplied by Moore Harness (01·274 221S8). In the US by Carrier Pigeon, Room 309, 75 Kneeland St, Boston, Mass u211. Our US mailing agents are Expediters of the Printed Word, 527 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022. BULK SELLING: Sell Undercurrents and make an honest profit for yourself or your group while you’re about It. For bulk purchases of five or more copies we offer a discount of 25% off the cover price and full sale or return. PRINTER: Western Web Offset, 59 Prince St, Bristol 1. TYPESETTING: Bread ‘n Roses (TU), 30 Cam den Rd, London NI (014854432). Undercurrents was brought to you by: Godfrey Boyle and Peter Culshaw (features), Ingrid Emsden, Bill Flatman, Nick Hanna (advertising and news). Will Hill (cover and graphics), Stephen Joseph and Antonia Millan (reviews), Rowan, Pat Sinclalr (news), Dave Smith (production), Tammy and Lowana VeaI (listing.).