Editing Green Anarchist

{{Short description|British magazine}}
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{{Infobox magazine
| title           = Green Anarchist
| logo            = 
| logo_size       = 
| image_file      = Greenanarchist2.jpg
| image_size      = 
| image_alt       = 
| image_caption   = Cover of the first issue of 'Green Anarchist' magazine (Summer 1984), featuring artwork by then editor [[Richard Hunt (editor)|Richard Hunt]]
| editor          = [[Alan Albon]]
| editor_title    = Founding editor
| editor2         = [[Richard Hunt (editor)|Richard Hunt]]
| editor_title2   = Founding editor
| editor3         = Marcus Christo
| editor_title3   = Founding editor
| previous_editor = 
| staff_writer    = 
| photographer    = 
| category        = 
| frequency       = 
| format          = 
| circulation     = 
| publisher       = 
| paid_circulation   = 
| unpaid_circulation = 
| circulation_year   = 
| total_circulation  = 
| founder         = 
| founded         = 1984
| firstdate       = <!-- {{Start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| finaldate       = <!-- {{End date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| finalnumber     = 
| country         = United Kingdom
| based           = 
| language        = English
}}
{{Green anarchism|works}}

The '''''Green Anarchist''''', established in 1984 in the UK, was a magazine advocating [[green anarchism]].

==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.

==The Nineties==
During the 1990s ''Green Anarchist'' came under the helm of an editorial collective that included [[Paul Rogers (Green Anarchist)|Paul Rogers]], [[Steve Booth]] and others, during which period the publication became increasingly aligned with [[anarcho-primitivism|primitivism]], an anti-civilization philosophy advocated by writers such as [[John Zerzan]], [[The Abolition of Work|Bob Black]] and [[Fredy Perlman]].

During this period the magazine expressed sympathy for the criminal activities of [[Ted Kaczynski]] and published a notorious article entitled "The Irrationalists" that supported actions like the [[Oklahoma City bombing]] and the [[Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway|sarin gas attacks]] carried out by the [[Tokyo]] based [[Aum cult]]. This once again alienated much of the UK anarchist movement, and led to strong criticism of the magazine by [[Stewart Home]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/ga/|title=Green Anarchist Documents |work=Stewart home society|access-date=14 May 2015}}</ref> [[Counter Information]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.counterinfo.org.uk/ga.htm|title=Counter Information on Green Anarchist|website=www.counterinfo.org.uk|access-date=2016-12-27}}</ref> the [[Anarchist Federation (British Isles)|Anarchist Communist Federation]]{{cn|date=May 2025}} and others.<ref name="t290">{{cite web | title=ACE on Green Anarchist | website=autonomous.org.uk | date=12 April 2005 | url=http://autonomous.org.uk/ace/aceonga.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927125737/http://autonomous.org.uk/ace/aceonga.htm | archive-date=27 September 2007 | url-status=dead | access-date=14 May 2025}}</ref> [[Steven Booth]], the writer of the article, has since renounced the views expressed in it, as well as the primitivist movement altogether.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

==The GANDALF trial==
{{main|GANDALF trial}}
Starting in 1995, [[Hampshire]] Police began a series of at least 56 raids, [[code name]]d 'Operation Washington', that eventually resulted in the August to November 1997 [[Portsmouth]] trial of Green Anarchist editors Booth, [[Saxon Wood]], [[Noel Molland]] and Paul Rogers, as well as [[Animal Liberation Front]] (ALF) Press Officer [[Robin Webb]] and [[Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group]] (ALFSG) newsletter editor Simon Russell. The defendants organised the [[GANDALF Defence campaign]]. Three of the editors of Green Anarchist, Noel Molland, Saxon Wood and Booth were jailed for 'conspiracy to incite'. However, all three were shortly afterwards released on appeal.

==Booth and Rogers' ''Green Anarchists''==
In the late 1990s there was a further split amongst the GA collective, leading to the existence of two entirely separate magazines using the Green Anarchist title. These were respectively published by an editorial team that includes Paul Rogers and 'John Connor' (who subtitled their version of the paper as ''the original and best''), and Steve Booth, who has publicly renounced some of his earlier published views and expressed a wish to 'return to the magazine's roots'. Both versions ceased publication in the 2000s.

==See also==
* ''[[Green Anarchy]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080203033501/http://www.greenanarchist.org/ Archived]
* [https://libcom.org/tags/green-anarchist/ Critical articles about Green Anarchist at Libcom]
* {{cite web | last=Jones | first=Daniel | title=Greenshirts – The (Mis)use of Environmentalism by the Extreme Right | website=History Workshop | date=21 April 2020 | url=https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/anti-fascism/greenshirts-the-misuse-of-environmentalism-by-the-extreme-right/ | access-date=13 May 2025}}
* {{cite web | title=Leaflets Critiquing Green Anarchist | website=The Ted K Archive | date=17 January 1997 | url=https://www.thetedkarchive.com/library/various-leaflets-critiquing-green-anarchist | ref={{sfnref|The Ted K Archive|1997}} | access-date=13 May 2025}}
* {{cite web | title=Green Anarchist Documents | website=Stewart Home Society | date=21 May 1998 | url=https://www.stewarthomesociety.org/ga/index.htm | ref={{sfnref|Stewart Home|1998}} | access-date=13 May 2025}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web | author=John Connor| title=Two Decades of Disobedience: A retrospective on Green Anarchist’s first twenty years | website=The Anarchist Library | date=1 January 2005 | url=https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/john-connor-two-decades-of-disobedience-a-retrospective-on-green-anarchist-s-first-twenty-years | ref={{sfnref|The Anarchist Library|2005}} | access-date=13 May 2025}}
* {{cite web | author=Luther Blissett & Stewart Home | title=Green Apocalypse| publisher=Unpopular Books | website=libcom.org | date=October 1995| url=https://libcom.org/article/green-apocalypse-luther-blissett-stewart-home | access-date=15 May 2025}}

[[Category:1984 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Anarchist organisations in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Anarchist periodicals published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Political magazines published in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:DIY culture]]
[[Category:Green anarchism]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1984]]