Welcome! Newsletter number 46.
It’s been a busy month. I went to Helsinki to meet with union (and union type) activists, among them representatives of the Construction Workers’ Union, editors of the syndicalist journal Kapinatyöläinen, members of the left-communist Aurora group, and people from the African Anti-Racist Society, who are very interested in founding a union for migrant workers. I also stopped by the Mustan Kanin Kolo infoshop and the self-managed gym Meidan Säli. On my last day in town, I gave a talk at the university about the SAC (my union); it was arranged by the folks of A-ryhmä.
Later in the month, I went to the bookfair in Gothenburg, Sweden’s biggest, where I joined a panel on “Sámi Struggle and Green Colonialism”. Sápmi was one of this year’s themes at the bookfair, and I was invited by Amnesty Sápmi who stood for the program on the Amnesty stage on that day. I get overwhelmed by bookfairs but felt honored to be part of a schedule that featured brilliant Sámi authors such as Elin Anna Labba. Amnesty Sápmi sold not only copies of Liberating Sápmi: Indigenous Resistance in Europe’s Far North but also of the recent Indigener Widerstand in Zeiten des Klimawandels.
Sadly, the month was overshadowed by the Jannik Sinner doping case. People who don’t like sports won’t understand (which is perfectly fine), but due to some odd psychological dynamic (or deficit?) nothing rattles me as much emotionally as anything sports-related. And with Sinner being my favorite high-profile athlete (being Tyrolean doesn’t hurt), it was draining to watch it all unfold. For therapeutic purposes, I wrote a piece for Counterpunch (less about Sinner and more about Nick Kyrgios, whom I despise). The most recent news of WADA (the international anti-doping agency) taking the case to CAS (the international court of arbitration for sport) was devastating. Among other things, it means that the emotional turmoil will continue.
Oh, one more entry on sports: I can finally offer a glimpse into my August article for Ballesterer on football in Sápmi.
Media: Okay, this is sports yet again, but (probably due to me visiting) the A-ryhmä folks in Helsinki have now uploaded an online talk about football and antifascism I held almost two years ago from a Stockholm basement; you can tell I’m not well-equipped for pro online talks, but the recording is so low-quality it’s almost charming. More pro was my radio appearance on the Melbourne, Australia, show Yeah Nah Pasaran!, where I was asked about union politics and the right-wing trend across Europe.
Sometimes, I get to be interviewed, and sometimes, I interview. Two interviews I conducted (both related to music) were published last month: one with the Norwich, England, straight edge outfit Hour of Reprisal by DIY Conspiracy; and the other with indigenous artist Jeremy Dutcher, whom I spoke to at this year’s Riddu Riđđu Festival, by the German monthly ak. Jeremy went on to win the prestigious 2024 Polaris Prize in Canada, being the first artist to win it twice. Congratulations!
Tidbits: the Spanish edition of Sober Living for the Revolution: Hardcore Punk, Straight Edge, and Radical Politics continues to get mainstream media attention, including a kind review in Valencia Plaza; my 2012 release All Power to the Councils! A Documentary History of the German Revolution of 1918-1919 popped up in a recent top ten to-read list (TBR for up-to-date fellows, it seems) alongside plenty of science fiction titles; and a talk I gave together with Torkil Lauesen two years ago suddenly became a thing in the Danish press because it was held at an office of the left-wing party alliance Enhedslisten, whose representatives are now forced to distance themselves from a “terrorist” (Torkil, that is, who is labeled so due to his role in the Blekingegade Group, portrayed in Turning Money Into Rebellion: The Unlikely Story of Denmark’s Revolutionary Bank Robbers).
Returning to Sápmi one more time: If you’re in London in October, or anywhere near, you can visit the first UK solo exhibition by Sámi artist Anders Sunna, featured in Liberating Sápmi, at the gallery Larkin Durey. It’s a very special opportunity! If you’re anywhere in the world, you might want to stream the film Norway Violated Human Rights, which tells the story of reindeer herder Jovsset Ánte Sara’s legal battle with the Norwegian state after he had been forced to cull his herd several years ago.
Finally, as I’m posting this, there are a handful of days left for the fundraiser that PM Press is running for the upcoming release From Hash Rebels to Urban Guerrillas: A Documentary History of the Second of June Movement. Roman Danyluk and I are the book’s editors. Among the “rewards” offered is a Gabriel Kuhn Combo Pack – as it stands, you can still be the first one to pick it!
More next month. Stay safe!