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Comment
Welcome to issue three of "Red and Black Revolution". Apologies for
the fact that we are about six months behind schedule but we hope
that you will forgive us for using the old cliche 'better late than
never'. We hope to be back on schedule with Issue 4 which should be
on the shelves in October '98.
In this issue we look at Anarchism past and present, at home and
abroad. Anarchism is a political current with little historical
basis in Ireland (at least little historical basis that is generally
known about). Fintan Lane's article in this issue shows that
anarchists were active in Ireland over 100 years ago.
We look also at what is happening in Anarchist circles and
organisations in Italy - where Anarchism is enjoying something of a
re-birth, and in South Africa - another country whose Anarchist
history is little known but where great strides have been made by the
movement in recent times.
The need for organisation, the idea that capitalism won't fall by
itself, is a theme which is central to the politics of the WSM. We
return to this theme in an article which challenges anarchists to
face up to the necessity for organisation, and which sets out to
discuss some of the challenges involved in such organisation.
Finally, on the good news front. It is rare in these times to be
able to report on campaigns which successfully involve large numbers
of people in challenging the state and which emerge victorious.
However, just such a campaign has been run in Ireland, and especially
in Dublin, over the past three years. The successful campaign
against water charges was a tremendous victory for people power. It
was a campaign with which the WSM was proud to be associated and our
heartiest congratulations go to all involved. The significance of
victories in single-issue campaigns such as this should never be
under-estimated. All of those involved - whether centrally or
peripherally - played an important role in forcing the government to
back down. Solidarity did indeed prove to be strength, and this
message must be carried forward to the next battle.
