Let´s discuss the recent UK riots and the possibilities for left politics. Not focusing on one text in particular but here is some recommended reading:
The Commune - Don´t moralise, don´t judge, don´t take pictures - it´s time for the riot to get radical: http://thecommune.co.uk/2011/08/09/don%E2%80%99t-moralise-don%E2%80%99t-judge-don%E2%80%99t-take-pictures-%E2%80%93-it%E2%80%99s-time-for-the-riot-to-get-radical/
Socialism and/or Barbarism - On open letter to those who condemn the looting
Part 1: http://socialismandorbarbarism.blogspot.com/2011/08/open-letter-to-those-who-condemn.html
Part 2: http://socialismandorbarbarism.blogspot.com/2011/08/open-letter-to-those-who-condemn_10.html
University for Strategic Optimism - #riotcleanup or #riotwhitewash?
http://universityforstrategicoptimism.wordpress.com/2011/08/10/riotcleanup-or-riotwhitewash/
Slavoj Zizek- Shoplifters of the World Unite http://www.lrb.co.uk/2011/08/19/slavoj-zizek/shoplifters-of-the-world-unite
And some interesting videos and more texts can be found here: http://www.metamute.org/en/news_and_analysis/riot_round_up
Some questions that we might like to discuss around:
What are the possibilities for the radicalization of the riots when class is no longer functioning as a point of collective resonance for mass action? Are consumerist subjectivities and desires too entrenched, even (or especially) amongst the working and underclasses, to shift into something else; revolutionary collective desire? Is the Left in the UK too weak to build on the possibilities of the hegemonic rupture created by the riots; too hesitant to seek productive connections and alliances with the anger of the rioters, and lacking the coherence necessary to present an offensive front against the dominating right-wing discourse? What can be done about the huge repressive power of the state (in the form of police, army, weapons, courts and prisons) when it comes to mass uprisings?
