Reclaim Brixton movement - meetings and April 25th protest planned

[Gramsci]

well alright, you spell out the class analysis that ought to be applied here.

The class analysis is that the working class are under threat of losing social housing for example. "Petit Bourgeois" shopkeepers are under threat of being pushed out so Capital can maximize profits on the land it owns. As Marx shows the smaller bourgeois are always under threat of being pushed down by larger capital. The list goes on. Its frankly obvious to see.

You either get rid of Capitalism or regulate it by using the State to stop the worst excesses. In this country over past 30 years neo-liberalism holds sway. The ideology that capitalism should be unconstrained. This is why in London in particular people are starting to say enough is enough.

The class composition of Reclaim Brixton is a mixture of (lower) middle class and working class.

Those chanting "Our Brixton" were a lot of local Black people who feel that they are on process of being pushed out. Did not surprise me as its a complaint I hear often.

 

[Pickman's model]

what are you on about?

read the the fucking thread and all will become clear

 

[Citizen66]

As I understand it, "an action" isn't exact - it's similar to the line between "campaigner" and "activist".

Maybe you've heard (and used) exact definitions, but I've heard it used about people putting post its on estate agency windows, standing in solidarity outside an imminent eviction, or occupying (without forcing entry) an evicted property, as well as things which were far more definitely on the unfortunate side of where the current law seems to stand.

All of those things were described to me as actions, which ones would you list as that? Serious question BTW, not taking the piss.

We were discussing the publishing of photos pertaining to the storming of buildings which led to this branch of discussion.

 

[Gramsci]

Well done you for the effort you put in. Big respect.

Thanks.

BTW hands up for being a middle class liberal.

You were right that more happened on the day than I predicted.

It was a day with different aspects. The marches to Windrush sq and assembly there, the shops linking hands, the "reclaim the streets" like party in the road and the attack on Foxton etc.

In all I think the day was success. As long as media coverage is all of it and not just one part of it Im happy. Whether it will lead to anything more is another issue. The various campaigns will go on ( on estates, and the the shops).

The only problem on day was that the organisation that offered to give power for sound system pulled out at last minute. Not sure if it was the police or the Council that they got worried about.So it was a bit unfocused the square. Which is partly why I think people started to do other stuff.

 

[editor]

Don't be identifying people. Let the old bill do their own leg work.

There's at least one video posed which shows loads of faces at the Town Hall/Foxtons incidents - some of which I recognise.

 

[Citizen66]

There's at least one video posed which shows loads of faces at the Town Hall/Foxtons incidents - some of which I recognise.

I know. To which I posted:

'Which twat filmed that '

 

[Gramsci]

As for the police. They are a mixed bunch. When I was stewarding the Guinness Trust march a driver got really irate about being held up. I tried to talk with him and he started to get aggressive. Two coppers came over and had a word with him. They then asked me which way we wanted to go up to square and helped out. They also did not interfere with Windrush sq events.

 

[TopCat]

Thanks.

BTW hands up for being a middle class liberal.

You were right that more happened on the day than I predicted.

It was a day with different aspects. The marches to Windrush sq and assembly there, the shops linking hands, the "reclaim the streets" like party in the road and the attack on Foxton etc.

In all I think the day was success. As long as media coverage is all of it and not just one part of it Im happy. Whether it will lead to anything more is another issue. The various campaigns will go on ( on estates, and the the shops).

The only problem on day was that the organisation that offered to give power for sound system pulled out at last minute. Not sure if it was the police or the Council that they got worried about.So it was a bit unfocused the square. Which is partly why I think people started to do other stuff.

I tend to judge people on their words and deeds. You gain much credit for both. Lets have a pint some time.

 

[Gramsci]

I tend to judge people on their words and deeds. You gain much credit for both. Lets have a pint some time.

Yes I would like that.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I didn't say i don't have one, I said I don't think it's particularly relevant in the context of this discussion.

Maybe I'm wrong on that, so what is the 'class analysis' that I should bring to bear on this issue? The previous population is w/c and the newly arrived are m/c? Everyone who owns a home locally is m/c? Everyone who lives on an estate is w/c? Owners of small business in the arches are ok but of small business in Granville are capitalist scum?

tmm the class issues here are structural and far wider than parochial stuff in Brixton and trying to shoehorn discussions between neighbours into the same mould doesn't really work.

The thing about class analysis, is that you have to make a class analysis, not just pass on the trite banalities, stereotypes and cliches you've farted out above.

 

[ViolentPanda]

You newbie have been batting all day, your wicket has been broken over and over, every over; are you not exhausted?

He's never exhausted, because in his own mind he's seldom wrong, everyone else is.

 

[ViolentPanda]

which is another way of saying you can't.

It's also another way of saying "you're not worth the effort, because it's obvious that you won't pay any attention to what's put before you".

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

what are you on about?

That's the question.
Can you answer it please.

 

[ViolentPanda]

well alright, you spell out the class analysis that ought to be applied here.

It can be as simple or as complex as you care for it to be. At its simplest you can analyse the class dynamic of the protest thusly:
That the majority of those protesting are workers (using the definition "those who sell their labour to someone further up the chain of ownership of the means of production than they are") who are affected by the demographic changes in Brixton.
That those they're protesting against include rentiers, property speculators and those who have homes and businesses bought for them, and/or who have the social capital to borrow in ways that those who are protesting don't have access to.

It's nothing startling. In fact most of it is obvious to anyone who doesn't ignore class dynamics as driving a lot of social inequities and inequalities. It's not about whether you rent or own, it's about what you're required (or not required) to do in order to have that roof over your head, just as it's not about how much you earn, but about whether you have much or any "disposable income" after paying for the necessities of life. "Yuppie" doesn't mean what it did 30 years ago. Now it encompasses what we used to call "trust fund kids" - a virus that used to be found only around Hampstead and Notting Hill, but is now infecting a much wider swathe of London.

 

[ViolentPanda]

The class analysis is that the working class are under threat of losing social housing for example. "Petit Bourgeois" shopkeepers are under threat of being pushed out so Capital can maximize profits on the land it owns. As Marx shows the smaller bourgeois are always under threat of being pushed down by larger capital. The list goes on. Its frankly obvious to see.

You either get rid of Capitalism or regulate it by using the State to stop the worst excesses. In this country over past 30 years neo-liberalism holds sway. The ideology that capitalism should be unconstrained. This is why in London in particular people are starting to say enough is enough.

The class composition of Reclaim Brixton is a mixture of (lower) middle class and working class.

Those chanting "Our Brixton" were a lot of local Black people who feel that they are on process of being pushed out. Did not surprise me as its a complaint I hear often.

Not just social housing, either. The squeeze on working people in private rentals is ongoing.

 

[Gramsci]

One of the groups who supported Reclaim Brixton are the Ritzy workers.

Out of that campaign (Ritzy workers) a new campaign, based on similar campaigns in US, to make Brixton Union town. Unionise all workers in Brixton.

We want to help workers in Brixton to unionise EVERY workplace and fight for decent pay, conditions and jobs.

If you want to know which union to join, or how to unionise your workplace then send us a message or email unionbrixton@gmail.com.

facebook

Twitter

unionbrixton@gmail.com

 

[DrRingDing]

So, when's the next one?

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

One of the groups who supported Reclaim Brixton are the Ritzy workers.

Out of that campaign a new campaign, based on similar campaigns in US, to make Brixton Union town. Unionise all workers in Brixton.



facebook

Twitter

unionbrixton@gmail.com

That man is a #LivingLegend and i finally got the opportunity to say hello.

 

[newbie]

The class analysis is that the working class are under threat of losing social housing for example. "Petit Bourgeois" shopkeepers are under threat of being pushed out so Capital can maximize profits on the land it owns. As Marx shows the smaller bourgeois are always under threat of being pushed down by larger capital. The list goes on. Its frankly obvious to see.

You either get rid of Capitalism or regulate it by using the State to stop the worst excesses. In this country over past 30 years neo-liberalism holds sway. The ideology that capitalism should be unconstrained. This is why in London in particular people are starting to say enough is enough.

The class composition of Reclaim Brixton is a mixture of (lower) middle class and working class.

ok thanks for that. I agree with you, it's obvious to see and hasn't changed hugely over the years. The threat to social housing goes back to at least RTB, smaller shops have been squeezed locally for a good few years now, as the phone shops and other chains have moved in, though it's all gathering pace as the local state, via the council, proves ever more utterly ineffective at regulating and managing capital. So yes, I'd agree with all of that.

It doesn't, however, address what was actually said, which was that there's only a difference between the chants "our streets" and "our Brixton" for those without a class analysis. That is what I'd like someone to address. Although I'm off to bed now and at work all day tomorrow so by the time I read anything that's written the moment will have passed. Sorry about that.

Those chanting "Our Brixton" were a lot of local Black people who feel that they are on process of being pushed out. Did not surprise me as its a complaint I hear often.

some of those chanting were black, some were white, some were local, some, well, I dunno. It's not who chanted, but what was chanted that made me feel uncomfortable. The claim that Brixton is 'Ours'. It's snappy for sure, snappier than something about how Brixton is for the people that live here and not just a cashcow for Lexadon, Network Rail, or Foxtons, or the so called co-operative Labour council. But both the slogan and the insults and putdowns on this thread say quite clearly to me that "Our Brixton" is pretty exclusive. Which is a shame, because that wasn't the general feel of the protest (which was inclusive), wasn't what was being said over the PA and isn't the basis for an effective campaign.

 

[editor]

But both the slogan and the insults and putdowns on this thread say quite clearly to me that "Our Brixton" is pretty exclusive. .

That's just your opinion and I'm pretty sure it's not one shared by many people, if any.

 

[Gramsci]

ok thanks for that. I agree with you, it's obvious to see and hasn't changed hugely over the years. The threat to social housing goes back to at least RTB, smaller shops have been squeezed locally for a good few years now, as the phone shops and other chains have moved in, though it's all gathering pace as the local state, via the council, proves ever more utterly ineffective at regulating and managing capital. So yes, I'd agree with all of that.

It doesn't, however, address what was actually said, which was that there's only a difference between the chants "our streets" and "our Brixton" for those without a class analysis. That is what I'd like someone to address. Although I'm off to bed now and at work all day tomorrow so by the time I read anything that's written the moment will have passed. Sorry about that.
.

The question I answered was this:

please spell out your class analysis in the context of this thread.

In the context of this thread.

As you said so far there had not been one.

I have given you the class analysis.

I don’t know what else to say that has not been covered in other posts.

 

[Dexter Deadwood]

You newbie might think you have achieve your goal and I would agree with you on that score. You played a good game on the elongation thing. I underestimated you; that's my fault but in mitigation, you should have read my mind.

 

[mwareing1]

Reclaim Brixton. I'm confused. What back to the affluent area it was before the 1950s. It seems we for get that Brixton was a place of grandure and decadence. And life did happen before then. Peoples life's where changed then, just as they are now. It's sad that Foxtons has been targeted. Streatham had a Foxtons before Brixton?!?!!

 

[Belushi]

Reclaim Brixton. I'm confused. What back to the affluent area it was before the 1950s. It seems we for get that Brixton was a place of grandure and decadence.

No, that's actually one of the most predictable things people say on gentrification threads.

 

[stethoscope]

It's sad that Foxtons has been targeted. Streatham had a Foxtons before Brixton?!?!!

You're sad that London's 'most aggressive' estate agent business that makes a huge profit at the cost of other people's misery has been targeted? It only got its window smashed ffs. It's beyond parody.

 

[Winot]

ok thanks for that. I agree with you, it's obvious to see and hasn't changed hugely over the years. The threat to social housing goes back to at least RTB, smaller shops have been squeezed locally for a good few years now, as the phone shops and other chains have moved in, though it's all gathering pace as the local state, via the council, proves ever more utterly ineffective at regulating and managing capital. So yes, I'd agree with all of that.

It doesn't, however, address what was actually said, which was that there's only a difference between the chants "our streets" and "our Brixton" for those without a class analysis. That is what I'd like someone to address. Although I'm off to bed now and at work all day tomorrow so by the time I read anything that's written the moment will have passed. Sorry about that.



some of those chanting were black, some were white, some were local, some, well, I dunno. It's not who chanted, but what was chanted that made me feel uncomfortable. The claim that Brixton is 'Ours'. It's snappy for sure, snappier than something about how Brixton is for the people that live here and not just a cashcow for Lexadon, Network Rail, or Foxtons, or the so called co-operative Labour council. But both the slogan and the insults and putdowns on this thread say quite clearly to me that "Our Brixton" is pretty exclusive. Which is a shame, because that wasn't the general feel of the protest (which was inclusive), wasn't what was being said over the PA and isn't the basis for an effective campaign.

Thank you for attempting to introduce a nuanced analysis. The fact that it is difficult to have such a debate here without being shouted down is the reason many no longer post here.

 

[Blagsta]

ok thanks for that. I agree with you, it's obvious to see and hasn't changed hugely over the years. The threat to social housing goes back to at least RTB, smaller shops have been squeezed locally for a good few years now, as the phone shops and other chains have moved in, though it's all gathering pace as the local state, via the council, proves ever more utterly ineffective at regulating and managing capital. So yes, I'd agree with all of that.

It doesn't, however, address what was actually said, which was that there's only a difference between the chants "our streets" and "our Brixton" for those without a class analysis. That is what I'd like someone to address. Although I'm off to bed now and at work all day tomorrow so by the time I read anything that's written the moment will have passed. Sorry about that.



some of those chanting were black, some were white, some were local, some, well, I dunno. It's not who chanted, but what was chanted that made me feel uncomfortable. The claim that Brixton is 'Ours'. It's snappy for sure, snappier than something about how Brixton is for the people that live here and not just a cashcow for Lexadon, Network Rail, or Foxtons, or the so called co-operative Labour council. But both the slogan and the insults and putdowns on this thread say quite clearly to me that "Our Brixton" is pretty exclusive. Which is a shame, because that wasn't the general feel of the protest (which was inclusive), wasn't what was being said over the PA and isn't the basis for an effective campaign.

"our" sounds inclusive to me

 

[stethoscope]

Quick, we're going to need 'trigger warnings' and 'safe spaces' next lest someone gets a teensy bit offended at a chant of 'whose Brixton, our Brixton'.

Christ almighty.

 

[Pickman's model]

Thank you for attempting to introduce a nuanced analysis. The fact that it is difficult to have such a debate here without being shouted down is the reason many no longer post here.

it'd be good if there'd been honesty within his attempt to introduce a nuanced debate. but at least we can appreciate the attempt.

 

[pesh]

'Our Brixton' sounds inclusive to me too, unless you consider yourself to be one of the cunts shitting on everything in search of ever more profit.