Over 30 years of anarchist writing from Ireland listed under hundreds of topics
Fionnghuala Nic Roibeaird
Marriage as a Bourgeois, Patriarchal Tool Which Has Been Used to Trap Women
Date: Wed, 2015-04-29 12:33
Fionnghuala is calling for a Yes vote but she also argues from an anarchist feminist perspective against the institution of marriage. It is a bourgeois, patriarchal tool which has been used to trap women, our sexualities, as well as to force reproduction and to force a woman to enter into reproductive labour.
Marriage Equality: Assimilation is Boring, I Want Liberation
Date: Tue, 2015-04-07 17:00
This year it feels as if there has been a revamping of homophobia in the north which has had, unsurprisingly, significant support from the church and those in political and therefore institutional power.
We have witnessed the DUP quash the third attempt to legalise queer marriage, bigoted ‘Christian’ bakers refusing to follow through with a service they advertised because it went against their “deeply held beliefs” (not to mention all the other services they provide that do go against their beliefs). This was followed by the the DUP attempting to bring in a 'Conscience Clause' to legalize and institutionalize homophobia; to make it legal to refuse service to someone because of their sexuality. The above examples are only a few of the homophobic incidents that have taken place recently.
The resistance and the fightback from these incidents must be queer-led and supported by our straight allies. Moreover, it should be noted that incidents like the above push us into a defensive stance; as opposed to an offensive one.
Sinn Féin: Green, White, and Orange Capitalism
Date: Mon, 2015-03-09 11:30
There has been quite an air of arrogance about Sinn Féin lately. They are convinced that they will be in government, north and south, by 2016; that Adams will be President, that McGuinness will be the north’s First Minister and that McDonald will be the first female Taoiseach. Let’s get a few things straight here, all of these institutions are oppressive and we don’t need to be, nor do we want to be, ruled by anyone. As well as that, there is nothing revolutionary about a female Taoiseach – female participation in the same old rotten patriarchal institutions will not advance the feminist cause and will only further ensure oppression and exploitation.
It cannot be denied that Sinn Féin are a pragmatic party that wishes to be all things to all people – from the poorest in our society to the richest (not at all grasping that this is impossible and fundamentally wrong). But for now let’s focus on the three main tell-tale issues of Sinn Féin’s lack of principles and wishy-washy politics that ultimately are harmful: Abortion, Water Charges and Capitalism.
Global 1% to Own 50% of Wealth by 2016 - Enough Is Enough
Date: Sat, 2015-01-24 15:36
There is something fundamentally wrong with this system when 80 people can have the same amount of wealth as what 3.6 billion people have between them. The figures from Oxfam’s latest report show that the rich really are getting richer and that the poor are getting poorer.
There are many factors we can attribute to this trend; globalization, out-sourcing, the breaking of labour power through the breaking of the unions in the Reagan-Thatcher era that labour never recovered from. Ultimately it falls down to the growing strength of capitalism and therefore the growing strength of the other harmful power structures that it has to support it. Included in these is racism, cheap labour from immigrants or as in many cases slave labour, as well as sexism, with gender being the division of labour. Both of these things, racism and sexism (to name only a few) come from policies implemented at the top of society that are targeted at the rest of us.
