Anarchy: a journal of desire armed. #37, Summer 1993 INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST NEWS -includes "Anti-Fascist-Action Edinburgh" by Rachel Rinaldo; "The Anarchist Scene" compiled by Jason McQuinn. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Anti-Fascist-Action Edinburgh Anti-Fascist-Action has chapters throughout England and Scotland and is probably one of the most active groups around these days. They are dedicated to fighting fascists, such as the British National Party (B.N.P.), and nazis, through propaganda and, if necessary, physical confrontation. A.F.A. started the autumn with a successful action in London, where they prevented hundreds of nazi skinheads from getting to a Blood and Honour gig where the band Skrewdriver was playing. I've been involved with A.F.A. Edinburgh for several months, but they formed about a year ago. In that time, they've plastered the city with stickers and graffiti (and wiped out B.N.P. graffiti), as well as held gigs at the Unemployed Worker's Center, had stalls at local clubs, picketed a bookstore for selling a book by a nazi revisionist historian, and written letters to the local B.N.P. members. A.F.A. Edinburgh and Glasgow were also at an annual anti- racist march in Glasgow, which 25 seig-heiling B.N.P.ers tried to disrupt. Most recently, we've put up posters all over town, with a picture of local B.N.P. members and their addresses and phone numbers, urging people to write nasty letters and harass them by phone. A.F.A. members have been known to make annoying phone calls to local fascists and nazi skins at odd hours of the morning. A.F.A. is an alternative to mainstream/liberal groups, most of which won't even recognize the existence of fascism in Britain. Groups like the Anti-Nazi-League are mainly fronts for various left parties and do little besides carry placards at big demonstrations. A.F.A. especially concentrates on rooting out fascism in working class communities, the favorite recruiting place of the B.N.P. The mostly wealthy fascist leadership targets disaffected youth in such areas, turning their anger away from the establishment and towards neighboring minority communities. Not surprisingly, A.F.A. gets a lot of criticism from the so- called `left'. An editorial in the left University of Edinburgh student newspaper called groups like A.F.A. "the violent fringe" and "leftist thugs." Other groups within Edinburgh have sharply criticized the anti-B.N.P. posters and our confrontational tactics. But it is a pipe dream to think that merely by distributing leaflets and holding demonstrations, the fascists will go away. This kind of thinking on the majority of the left has fed the recent rise in fascism and nazism in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and even Sweden, where Jewish cemeteries have been desecrated. Mass demonstrations are important, but the reality of fascists on the streets must be dealt with before they can terrorize the local community and recruit vulnerable youth. -Rachel Rinaldo (from Love & Rage). @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ _The_anarchist_scene_ Compiled by Jason McQuinn EPHEMERA BUTTONS INC. (POB 490, Phoenix, OR. 97535) has a 16-page button catalog displaying hundreds of designs and slogans, including a few anarchist ones. Send four 29=9B stamps for a copy. LOVING MORE Annual Conference on Group Marriage and Expanded Family will take place August 20-22, 1993 in Berkeley, CA. Contact PEP (Box 6306, Captain Cook, HI. 96704; phone: 808-929-9691) for more information. A DISTRIBUTION has moved to a new address at POB 2361, Landover Hills, MD. 20784, and no longer distributes a retail catalog. All sales are now wholesale, while requests for retail catalogs are being referred to Perennial Books (Box B14, Montague, MA. 01351). Send a 98=9B 6"x9" SASE for a copy of Perennial Books' large catalog. EXTREME BOOKS (POB 11704, Portland, OR. 97211-0704; phone: 503- 249-8090) has reprinted the first and only edition of the Situationist International "review of the American section of the S.I.," which was originally published in June 1969. This 46-page review contains short critiques of socialist economists Baran & Sweezy, critical theorist Herbert Marcuse and media-guru Marshall McLuhan, along with other short texts of some historical interest. Copies have a $4.50 cover price, but it's not clear if the publishers are accepting retail orders. AN ENLARGED RANTS ANTHOLOGY is currently being edited by Adam Parfrey and Bob Black, who are still looking for nominations or submissions. "Although this was not, and will not be, an `anar- chist' anthology per se...about 40% of the contributors [to the original edition] were anarchists." Contact Adam Parfrey at: Feral House, POB 3466, Portland, OR. 97208, or Bob Black at: POB 3142, Albany, NY. 12203-0142. NORTHLAND POSTER COLLECTIVE (POB 7096, Minneapolis, MN. 55407) has published a free Summer 1993 tabloid catalog of posters, notecards, buttons and t-shirts. THE MID-ATLANTIC ANARCHIST GATHERING will take place from Friday, July 30th till Monday, August 2nd in Philadelphia, PA. For information on housing & setting up workshops, or to send donations to cover the expected costs drop a line to: MA@G (POB 31889, Philadelphia, PA. 19143). LEFT BANK DISTRIBUTION (4142 Brooklyn Ave. NE., Seattle, WA. 98105; Phone: 206-632-5870) has published a huge new 64-page Winter 1993 book catalog with probably the most comprehensive coverage of anarchist and related titles available in North America. Anyone who reads should have a copy of this catalog! The catalog is free, but it would be nice to send a buck to help with postage. A DISTRIBUTION (84b Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX, England; Phone/fax: 081-558-7732) has published a handsome 8-page catalog of books on anarchist, feminist and situationist topics. LOOMPANICS UNLIMITED (POB 1197, Port Townsend, WA. 98368) has re- leased another annual edition of its main catalog for 1993. With over 800 books on unusual topics, this 280-page catalog covers topics from cops to guns, bombs to sex and survival to sex. Especially welcome in this edition is the expanded coverage given to books on self-publishing, media and censorship, along with the traditional section on "Anarchism and Egoism." Copies are $5. SOAPBOX JUNCTION (POB 597996, Chicago, IL. 60659) has released a 1993 Action Resource Guide containing a selection of alternative press periodicals, pamphlets and books, including a variety of anarchist titles. Also included are listings of zine and mail-art addresses. Copies are $3. PHILADELPHIA SOLIDARITY (422 W. Upsal St., Philadelphia, PA. 19119), emerging from ten years of relative inactivity, has released a 6-page catalog covering materials by Cornelius Castoriadis and other anti-hierarchical socialist publications. Send a 29=9B stamp for a copy. AUTONOMEDIA (POB 568 Williamsburgh Station, Brooklyn, NY. 11211- 0568) "is preparing an anthology of essays and possible visual material for a book (and electronic media) on the issues surrounding communications, intellectual property, work, and new information technologies." Topics to be addressed include: "The anti-copyright movement, State information control mechanisms,...Class struggle on the high-tech front,...The politics of mail art and free radio,...Electronic banking, digital cash, eht end of `money',...Primitivism and the anti-technology movement,...Surveillance & popular defense," etc. Send suggestions for contributions ASAP, or write soon for more information. The deadline for submissions is October 1st. A FEW BACK ISSUES OF ANARCHY: A Journal of Desire Armed (C.A.L., POB 1446, Columbia, MO. 65205-1446) are still available in bulk for free distribution at the cost of postage & packaging. We now have extras of several issues including #19, #20-21, #25 & #31, along with a very few extras of other issues. For those living in the U.S. we suggest you send about 10=9B to 25=9B each (depending on the size of the issue[s] requested and your distance from Missouri) for 50 to 150 copies. (Unless you live in the Midwest - where postage will be cheaper, send a minimum of $7.50, and make any checks out to "C.A.L." only. Those outside the continental U.S. need to send much more to cover the higher costs of postage.) All copies will be marked "FREE" on the covers. To order bulk copies for resale, see the terms listed in the box on page 2. If you have announcements concerning anarchist gatherings, new publications, or other anarchist activities or projects which our readers might find of use, you can send them to: Attn. Anarchist Scene, c/o C.A.L., POB 1446, Columbia, MO. 65205-1446. Please remember, for more information, or for ordering materials listed in this column, you must write to the addresses given above and not to C.A.L.