“Bobby Sands Got More Votes Than Margaret Thatcher Ever Did” C. Crowle on Attack International’s Spirit of Freedom: Anticolonial War & Uneasy Peace in Ireland
In this interview we talk to C. Crowle about the recently republished and expanded edition of Attack International’s text The Spirit of Freedom: Anticolonial War & Uneasy Peace in Ireland. The new edition includes the original unabridged 1989 text by Attack International and some great supplementary material compiled by Crowle.
The book is a concise and powerful text on the national liberation struggle in Ireland from the perspective of radicals in the UK. It’s a text that challenges us to think critically about how people in an imperial center practice solidarity with the masses under the yoke of colonialism.
We discuss different facets of the Irish context, including the revitalization of the armed movement in Ireland in the 1960’s, the prisoner hunger strikes, and some of the different strands of Irish Nationalism and Ulster Unionism. We also talk about Attack International’s critical analysis of the shortcomings, and problems with the anti-imperialist solidarity movement in Great Britain during the period of Irish armed struggle.
This episode was recorded back on November 7th 2023 so while we discuss western liberalism, media and the western left with regards to Palestine, many of the questions we raised but didn’t fully flesh out are topics we’ve covered more deeply since then.
Having said that, one cannot help but ponder the resonances between the failures of the British left in supporting Irish liberation to the failures of the western left to materially impact the genocide on Palestinians & to support the Palestinian liberation struggle.
We close by talking about the very real prospects for a United Ireland, what that might mean, and some of Crowle assessments of Irish Republicanism today.
Kersplebedeb published this book, and their online bookstore is leftwingbooks.net. They are based in Canada, and are having a sale of 25% off during the Canada Post strike, because shipments will be delayed (solidarity to the striking postal workers). I highly encourage people to check out their catalogue, and in addition to The Spirit of Freedom, I will include some books I love from them in the show description.
We have a current discount for new patrons, you can get 20% off your first month if you sign up for a monthly membership, or off your first year if you sign up for a yearly membership by using the code A7E32 when you sign up on patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism. You also can now give a membership to our patreon as a gift if you know someone who would enjoy that this holiday season. We’ll include a link for that in the show description as well
Our George Jackson Blood In My Eye study group will be available for patrons who support the show at any level. We are going to meet to discuss the book weekly on Thursday nights at 7:30 PM Eastern Time starting December 12th. Comrades from the George Jackson Organizing School will also join us for these discussions.
Links:
The Spirit of Freedom: Anticolonial War & Uneasy Peace in Ireland
Give the gift of a patreon subscription
Use promo code A7E32 to get 20% off the first month (if you sign up for a monthly subscription) or year (if you sign up for yearly) at https://www.patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism
Other conversations we've had on Ireland:
Ireland, Colonialism and the Unfinished Revolution with Robbie McVeigh and Bill Rolston (Jared also references this book multiple times in the conversation)
The Lost & Early Writings of James Connolly 1889-1898 with Conor McCabe
Irish Women's Prison Writing: Mother Ireland's Rebels, 1960's-2010's with Red Washburn
Books Casey references:
Confronting Fascism - Discussion Documents for a Militant Movement -
A few book recommendations from Leftwingbooks/Kersplebedeb (there are many more, but these are just a few we love):
Riding the Wave - Torkil Lauesen
A Soldier's Story - Kuwasi Balagoon
Lumpen: The Autobiography of Ed Mead
Stand Up, Struggle Forward - Sanyika ShakurNight Vision - Butch Lee & Red Rover
Conversations we've held on Palestine that flesh out some of the points raised:
The Question of Hamas and the Left by Abdaljawad Omar
Western Theory and the Demonization of the Palestinian Resistance with Max Ajl
Palestine & The Problem of Narrative with The Good Shepherd Collective
Time for Autonomous Action for Palestine with Within Our Lifetime
Millennials Are Killing Capitalism
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