# [Tue 27th Nov 2012] Up the Anti (Queen Mary University, East London (see website))



## One_Stop_Shop (Nov 27, 2012)

This has been advertised in our union branch bulletin a couple of times. Looks good, I'm going along 

http://uptheanti.org.uk/



> Since the financial crisis broke we have seen a rising tide of protest, revolutions and resistance.
> 
> One of the driving forces of these movements has been a desire to change the future: to reject the idea that we have no future outside of the logic of never ending austerity, declining living standards and the loss of public services to private profiteers.
> Up the Anti is a one day conference to think about and discuss  how we lay claim to the future that we want and deserve. It will host an eclectic mix of sessions, ranging from in-depth seminars and debates to participatory, facilitated discussions and workshops. There are many questions we need to ask, including:
> ...


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## love detective (Dec 1, 2012)

jesus, watched a bit of this on their livestream

never has there been a more mistitled event, the whole thing looks less exciting and more academicalised than a dreary university lecture, up the anti my arse, it's just more academic colonialism, irony is lost on them

a whole load of plummy voiced middle class professional thinkers/activists talking about and to themselves - someone in the audience just got told off for asking a question that was very undialectical

the whole thing so far from both audience & panel has been full of regurgitated cliches as well, as embarassing as it is ineffective

one question in the audience was about how no one on the left talks to working class people anymore , and one of the panel's points was that not enough people think about the abolishment of exchange value, the bastards! - as someone has been known to say, what in the name of janet street porter's rotten clitoris are they on


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## cesare (Dec 1, 2012)

Pretty predictable, given the sponsors.


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## love detective (Dec 1, 2012)

the anti being upped earlier today


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## rekil (Dec 1, 2012)

Beardy man is the face of proletarian democracy.


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## Hocus Eye. (Dec 1, 2012)

I don't think it is up the anti as in being anti for against. I think it is meant to be up the ante in the bookmaker's sense of changing the odds. They are playing with puns. How revolutionary of them.


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## love detective (Dec 1, 2012)

i thought it was a play on words that suggested both things - hence why it's so mistitled, given what it actually is


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## Hocus Eye. (Dec 1, 2012)

love detective said:


> i thought it was a play on words that suggested both things - hence why it's so mistitled, given what it actually is


Yes that is what I said. I have been on their website. It looked like something and nothing. I see that among their sponsors alongside Red Pepper et al, is Globalise Resistance. I thought GR had died years ago.


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## love detective (Dec 1, 2012)

your last two sentences weren't there when I replied!


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## love detective (Dec 1, 2012)

copliker said:


> Beardy man is the face of proletarian democracy.


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## rekil (Dec 1, 2012)

Permanent Beardfuddlement


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## articul8 (Dec 1, 2012)

Hocus Eye. said:


> Yes that is what I said. I have been on their website. It looked like something and nothing. I see that among their sponsors alongside Red Pepper et al, is Globalise Resistance. I thought GR had died years ago.


Bit cheeky to cite red pepper as a sponsor.  I think that was on the basis we didn't instantly refuse to have a stall there.  I was at a demo in support of w/c family in Kilburn re housing.


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## Spanky Longhorn (Dec 2, 2012)

Neil Kinnock falling into the sea endlessly


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## love detective (Dec 2, 2012)




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## love detective (Dec 3, 2012)

comment from the commune on this sums up the impression i got of it from about 30 minutes of watching it



> Despite a promising start will an inspirational speech from Joana Ramiro, followed by Preeti Paul from IOPS setting out a vision of what we are fighting for, the day then descended into tedious waffle from pseudo-intellectuals lacking any ability to inspire. This wasn’t entirely the fault of the speakers; it was the old, out of date approach of having a top table of ‘experts’ preaching to an audience in that typical hierarchical fashion socialist organisations are so well known for. These high-priests of theory are often employed by universities, write books, & mainly come from middle-class families. Participation is limited to an handful of ‘questions’ which sound more like mini-speeches from windbags who aspire to be on the top table next time around


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## Spanky Longhorn (Dec 3, 2012)

It's quite impressive that these events are held every year among an ever diminishing circle of particpants who get suckered in everytime, critique it afterwards and yet don't know what to do different.


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## love detective (Dec 3, 2012)

it's the raisin de terry duckworth of the left/professional activists


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## Captain Hurrah (Dec 3, 2012)

love detective said:


> View attachment 25694 View attachment 25694View attachment 25694
> View attachment 25694View attachment 25695View attachment 25694
> View attachment 25694 View attachment 25694View attachment 25694


 
Pics for the PD advent calendar.


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## Spanky Longhorn (Dec 3, 2012)




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## butchersapron (Dec 3, 2012)

I reckon the Rees' eye might fit in the middle quite nicely/nastily.


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## The39thStep (Dec 3, 2012)

We're there any people attending with BMWs, designers sun glasses etc


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## Spanky Longhorn (Dec 3, 2012)

How many kitchen fitters attended?


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## love detective (Dec 4, 2012)

John Rees's eyes have officially gone missing


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## articul8 (Dec 4, 2012)

Spanky Longhorn said:


> How many kitchen fitters attended?


they were all up the golf club


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## One_Stop_Shop (Dec 6, 2012)

The criticisms that love detective had were definitely true of a couple of the sessions, and as with all the far left, there were way too many middle class people there with pompous attitudes, but I never remember going to any left event that hasn't been like that. The session on trade unions and the session on Greece were good, but they seemed to attract a better audience.

Slightly laughable for the Commune to make those criticisms given they seem like a cliche of your academic pompous group with their heads shoved up their arse.

Also articul8 don't you support the Labour Party? Again full of middle class (and ruling class) pompous posh boys greasing their way up the new labour pole, with private school backgrounds, so your jokes kind of full a bit flat. Also Red Pepper, from my experience, is full of Guardian reading types.


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## articul8 (Dec 10, 2012)

What is your "experience" of Red Pepper?


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## love detective (Dec 10, 2012)

can't speak for OSS, but I remember there was this one time we had a meeting with Hilary in the IOE and........


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## articul8 (Dec 10, 2012)




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## Riklet (Dec 15, 2012)

love detective said:


> jesus, watched a bit of this on their livestream
> 
> never has there been a more mistitled event, the whole thing looks less exciting and more academicalised than a dreary university lecture, up the anti my arse, it's just more academic colonialism, irony is lost on them
> 
> ...


 
I just ended up watching some video footage from the conference without knowing anything about it n this is a nice articulation of similar thoughts n feelings.  Everyone in the audience looks so bored and dazed too, just waiting for their chance to drone on...

Jesus fuck, some of the most non-upping of the anti i've ever seen!


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## butchersapron (Dec 30, 2012)

It seems that - after much thought - the lead organising group for this (a split from workers power and their style of _hard_ trotskyism and bolshevism) have uncovered the future, and it's called...wait for it..._bolshevism_.


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## The Black Hand (Dec 31, 2012)

Cor, it seems like you all want Class War


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## Spanky Longhorn (Jan 1, 2013)

butchersapron said:


> It seems that - after much thought - the lead organising group for this (a split from workers power and their style of _hard_ trotskyism and bolshevism) have uncovered the future, and it's called...wait for it..._bolshevism_.


 
_Radical and new_


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## love detective (Jan 3, 2013)

despite basically admitting it was shit, the equally ridiculously named Plan C were also fawning over how great this was as well




			
				plan c said:
			
		

> it seemed that Up The Anti was a very definite move away from the usual conferences and gatherings


 


> Most problems with the day can be overcome though and even during the event itself there seemed an awareness of them and attempts to try and solve them. *During the closing plenary and in discussions between sessions, most people seemed keen to go further with this, either having another conference* to bring the left together, with more focus on co-ordinating action perhaps, or just maintaining the networks that have been build up.


 
the idea that 'having another conference' represents 'going further' is absurd and pretty much sums up what Plan C are all about


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