Editing Green Anarchist (section)

==Early years==
Founded after the 1984 [[Stop the City]] protests, the  magazine was launched in the summer of that year by an editorial collective consisting of [[Alan Albon]],<ref name="Albon">{{cite news| last=Walter|first=Nicolas |title=Alan Albon: Obituary| work=Freedom| date=May 1989 | volume=50|issue=5|url=https://www.thesparrowsnest.org.uk/collections/public_archive/19515.pdf | access-date=13 May 2025|page=7}}</ref> [[Richard Hunt (editor)|Richard Hunt]] and [[Marcus Christo]]. Albon had been a member of the editorial collective  of ''[[Freedom (British newspaper)|Freedom]]'',<ref name="Albon"/> whilst Hunt had become frustrated with the more mainstream [[Green movement|green]] magazine ''[[Green Line (magazine)|Green Line]]'' for which he had been writing. The younger Christo had come from a more [[anarcho-punk]] background – he was also a member of Green [[CND]], and had been involved in the blockade of [[Ronald Reagan]]'s car at the 1984 [[Lancaster House]] summit meeting.

During the [[1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike|UK miners' strike of 1984–85]] - in contrast to [[social anarchism|class struggle anarchist]] groups such as [[Black Flag]], [[Direct Action Movement]] and newly formed [[Class War]] - ''GA'' took a "largely apathetic" stance to the struggles in mining areas": according to historian of anarchism Benjamin Franks, by August 1984, it referred to the miners’ strike as being an example of "growing pockets of resistance" and by the third issue in November 1984 its editorial backed the miners, expressing sympathy for strikers who had died, but it was reserved in its support. This led to criticism from social anarchists, who argued that Green Anarchist "ignores class" and "ignores the miners’ strike".<ref name="q513">{{cite journal | last=Franks | first=Benjamin | title=British anarchisms and the miners' strike | journal=Capital & Class | volume=29 | issue=3 | date=2005 | issn=0309-8168 | doi=10.1177/030981680508700113 | pages=227–254 | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/030981680508700113 | access-date=12 May 2025}}</ref>

Early issues featured a range of broadly anarchist and ecological ideas, bringing together groups and individuals as varied as [[Class War]], veteran anarchist writer [[Colin Ward]], anarcho-punk band [[Crass]], as well as the [[Peace Convoy]], anti-nuclear campaigners, [[animal rights]] activists and so on. However the diversity that many saw as the publication's greatest strength quickly led to irreconcilable arguments between the essentially [[pacifism|pacifist]] approach of Albon and Christo, and the advocacy of violent confrontation with the State favoured by Hunt.

Albon and Christo left ''Green Anarchist'' shortly afterwards, and the magazine saw a succession of editorial collectives, although Hunt remained in overall control. During this period he published articles which were increasingly alienating much of the magazine's readership. Matters came to a head after Hunt wrote an editorial which expressed support for British troops in the [[Gulf War]] and extolled the virtues of [[patriotism]]. Hunt said in an interview in the late 1990s with far right ''The Crusader'' that the rest of the editorial collective wished to bring to ''Green Anarchist'' a more left-wing political approach, while Hunt wanted it to remain non-aligned.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.national-anarchist.org/articles/INTERVIEWHunt.html |title=An Interview with Richard Hunt |work=Terra Firma: National Anarchism online |date=1996 |access-date=14 May 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312153033/http://www.national-anarchist.org/articles/INTERVIEWHunt.html |archive-date=March 12, 2005 }}</ref>{{unreliable inline|date=May 2025}} Shortly afterwards he left to start another magazine ''[[Alternative Green]]'', which continued to promote his own particular view of green anarchism, and eventually became closely linked to the [[National-Anarchist]] movement from the mid-90s onwards.