Re: Reply to Sabri and Gavin on response to Xxxx Xxxxxx: it ain't me babe

[David Amis <daveamis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Paul asks: "All very well, Jurriaan, but can you tell me just what sort of
politics Mick Hume & Co believe in these days? As someone who used support
his erstwhile group, I am utterly at a loss."

As an ex follower of his group I will endevour to answer your question as
best I can although there are times when I am left at a complete loss when I
read the missives of Mick Hume et al on 'spiked'
<http://www.spiked-online.com/>

When I was last in contact with the group in the late 90's (before I got
involved with Internet Freedom* who while loosely connected, were at arms
length from them) there was much talk of 'rescuing the subject'.
Essentially, there was a perception that for a number of factors, people
were losing the ability to act independently and collectively to fight for
change and social justice. Instead, the growth of victim culture was leading
instead to claim victim status and plead for help from another agency, often
the state.

The above is a crude synopsis of their stance but space does not permit a
longer exposition of the argument. At the time I went along with this
analysis because it did correspond to my experiences of being a political
activist in that period. Even now, there are some aspects of the analysis
that still make sense - if anyone wants to question me on that, I'll be
happy to respond to any posts you make on the issue.

At the time, the issue of 'rescuing the subject' was talked about as a
precursor to working out how to rebuild solidarity. I specifically remember
Frank Furedi making a point about the need to work on the issue of
solidarity. That made sense to me - effective collective action can only
happen if the participants have a strong sense of their power to achieve
change.

Of course nothing ever turns out as planned and while you will find plenty
of talk about individual subjectivity and responsibility on 'spiked' there
is absolutely nothing about the deeply untrendy issue of rebuilding
solidarity. I can only imagine that issues such as working class solidarity
don't have much appeal to 'spiked's' trendy but shallow bourgeoisie
audience. It would seem that the lures of the media careers have become too
much for Mick Hume and his followers and that what was a means to an end -
journalism - has become a very attractive and comfortable end for them in
itself.

So where does that leave me? Currently politically homeless (the downside)
but having the freedom to start asking awkward questions (a definite
upside!).

Dave A

* For the record, the association with Internet Freedom has also completely
finished.


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