When movements take up arms

Mike Gonzalez’s Arms and the People: Popular Movements and the Military from the Paris Commune to the Arab Spring is scheduled for release in December, but is already proving quietly compelling. With Tuesday’s article in the Socialist Worker, commenced the first rumblings of  interest in what promises to be a fascinating, and greatly-needed book for those contemplating, and those engaged in popular resistance around the world.

Obviously, as the publisher we would say that, but why not read the article below for a second opinion… (You can also access the original version by following this link.)

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Mike Gonzalez argues that armed struggle is sometimes the only possible response to state repression.

For many, popular uprisings go wrong the moment those fighting back pick up a gun. Any sign of “militarisation” marks a turning point where a brilliant rebellion turns into a tragic civil war.

More in sorrow than in anger, it will be argued that the

The arms fair and the media

It has now been six days since the main day of action called by the Stop the Arms Fair coalition against DSEi –the world’s largest arms fair- held in the Excel Centre in East London. The dust will always take a little while to settle after big campaigning days such as Tuesday, but enough of a picture has emerged to process it through the word mill.

Firstly, we were not successful in shutting down the arms fair. If this sounds like too much of a pipe dream to have seriously been considered a possibility, it is always worth remembering that a concerted campaign by peace activists in Australia did bear this very result. Though we are unsuccessful this time around, we can take some comfort from the fact that it has been achieved before, and will be achieved again.