their classic Unfinished Sympathy single. The Gulf War sequel was met with very public opposition from Massive Attack's '3D', who soon found himself the wrong end of a child-porn arrest. age was done. to say tonight, but he lets the music do the talking, it's the perfect wind-down to a magical weekend. Hamish Henderson talked of the
Karen O Toole now Reclaim the State. All charges were dropped, but the damAfter this you'd think 3D might have a lot Reclaim the State, Hilary Wainwright, Verso, Roe to be the case prene. eclaiming something or other
the moment, and we are presented with many options today; Reclaim the Streets, Reclaim the Labour Party, and
The motivation for Hilary Wainwright's new book is the apparent success some campaigners have had in fighting for and winning reforms and greater democracy Reclaim the State is divided into various chapters; Porto Alegre and the participato ry budgets, and some examples of participatory democracy closer to home; in Manchester, Luton and Newcastle.
During the course of Hilary's travels, she meets local residents whose com munities, often council estates, have suffered from decades of decay. Their fight for funding from government initiatives such as the New Deal for Communities being just one example.
Reclaim The State is incredibly positive about the campaigners and their will to fight against bureaucratic council officers who try to set the limits of possibility within the realms of government funding, and there are many amusing anecdotes which anyone who has ever been involved in the tenants' movement will
Another strength of the book is Hilary's attempt to connect the local struggles of working class people to the wider anti-capitalist movement, something which is desperately needed. Building another world from the bottom up in order to shape the forms of the state is a theme running
But Reclaim the State has limitations B deaty implet in the tide. As the
beginning of the book Hilary uses the example of Ken Livingstone's Greater London Council during the early 1980's, which she describes as the most ambitious and high-profile European experiment in
to it.
According to Hilary the GLC broke down traditional hierarchies and delegated resources to democratic community and voluntary groups. The key here being the active participation of the community, rather than mere 'consultation.
But, as Hilary herself points out, it later became a target of the Tories, with Norman Tebbit saying; "The GLC represents mod ern socialism. We must kill it." The GLC was abolished, thus ending the experiment.
When it comes to her analysis of the Lula government in Brazil, Hilary is decided. ly dewy-eyed, and clearly believes the mere fact of Lula's presidency represents a chal. lenge to capitalism itself.
Yet Lula has not challenged capitalism and is now attacking the pension rights of public sector workers, provoking a confrontation with the very people who elect ed him, resulting in a month long strike, and the likely expulsion of parliamentary repre sentatives opposed to the plans. Not a particularly good example of participation, let
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