Although I did not attend the recent
demonstration I have attended many such events in
the past and have also felt the exhilaration of
being a part of direct action in support of what
I believe in. I can whole-heartedly recommend
taking part in such actions or even just
witnessing or supporting them.
On a recent fieldwork trip to
Barcelona I was delighted to witness an
anti-capitalist demonstration on 'labour day'.
It was amazing, and up until now
different to anything I had seen in the UK. The
demonstrators were parading down La Ramblas
spraying anti-capitalist slogans on all the
buildings and smashing the doors and windows of
the banks and other financial organisations. They
were banging drums and creating something of a
hullabaloo. The whole scene had me transfixed.
It really made me feel a part of a community of
those people who want to make their voices heard
too, those who are critical of the current order,
those who want a different way of doing things.
I'm afraid that my message isn't very academic,
its more impassioned and full of regret that I
was not a part of last weeks demonstration. Lets
hope there are many more in the future.
Jayne Rodgers
Jayne Rodgers
Department of Geography
University of Portsmouth
Buckingham Building
Lion Terrace
Portsmouth
PO1 3HE
01705 846025
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