Steve Booth
Encyclopedia
Steve Booth was a British
political activist and journalist, and was one of the defendants in the GANDALF trial
.
After involvement in the 1990 anti-Poll Tax
movement, and having written a number of articles for 'Freedom' magazine, he first became involved with the UK
Green Anarchist
magazine in 1990, and published a novel, City-Death, explaining his idea of green anarchism
. In another article, he criticised what he termed the 'Dogma of Class', the belief held by much of the left
that political value and validity comes through the working class
. In the mid 1990s he wrote 'Politics And The Ethical Void'. "To try to apply the ethical to the political is to be like the small boy with his finger in the dyke, while a hundred yards away, water rushes through a gap as wide as the Atlantic Ocean." Booth contributed many articles to Green Anarchist.
In 1996, Booth published 'Into the 1990s With Green Anarchist'(ISBN: 0-9521226-4-2), a book explaining Green Anarchist doctrines and history. Though never a Primitivist himself, he attempted to give a fair explanation of Primitivist
ideas (pages 127-152), and the fact of the existence of this section led some to conclude that Booth was a Primitivist. From 2001 and onwards he published criticism of the doctrines of Primitivism, particularly in the booklet 'Primitivism an Illusion With No Future'.
During the mid 1990s, from around 1993 through to 1997, along with the Green Anarchist magazine itself, Booth's work came under attack from the Neoist Alliance, particularly over the controversial 'Irrationalists' article, which attempted to see inside the minds of "irrationalist" terrorists. Repeatedly using a selective quotation taken from the second paragraph of one of the articles, the Neoists attacked Booth, and through this by association, GA itself.
As another strand to the same attack, the Neoists published 'Green Apocalypse', a booklet accusing Green Anarchist magazine of neo-Malthusianism. In 'Green Apocalypse', Booth as a propagandist was compared with Joseph Goebbels
. David Watson, in the US Fifth Estate magazine article 'Swamp Fever' (Fifth Estate, Vol 32, Autumn 1997, pages 15 ff) analysed the Neoists' claims, stating they were "transparently malicious".
Starting in 1995, the Hampshire
Police under 'Operation Washington' began a series of at least 56 raids, which eventually resulted in the August to November 1997 Portsmouth
trial of Green Anarchist editors Stephen Booth, Saxon Wood, Noel Molland and Paul Rogers, as well as Animal Liberation Front
Press Officer Robin Webb
and Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group 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'. Eventually, all three were released on appeal http://www.greenanarchist.org.uk/Gandalf.htm
In early 2001, Steve Booth broke with Paul Rogers http://www.greenanarchist.org.uk/Split.htm. He then began taking his version of 'Green Anarchist' magazine in a different political direction, trying to go back to what Booth saw as its roots and undo the harm he considered done to it by Richard Hunt
and Paul Rogers. However, this attempt to revive the magazine ran up against the broader problems with the radical
milieu, including the lack of an effective supporting infrastructure, and generalised apathy, and eventually folded in 2006.
Steve Booth has written a full length book version of his Primitivism pamphlet, but is no longer active in the radical milieu. In issue 66 of the GA, published in April 2004, he offered a criticism of radicalism as an embodiment of the wasteland - its in-fighting, its ineffectiveness, dogmatism, and lack of morality
. "There is a word for the character of all this, and where it is heading, and that word is hell."
From 2002 Steve began to contribute to the BlueGreenEarth website, most notably with his article: The Primitivist Illusion.
Steve has also contributed short articles to 'The Cunningham Amendment' (TCA) and 'Total Liberty', and has drawn many political cartoons for various Anarchist publications.
Steve Booth lives in Galgate
, near Lancaster, Lancashire
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
political activist and journalist, and was one of the defendants in the GANDALF trial
GANDALF trial
GANDALF was an acronym for the 1997 trial in the UK of the editors of Green Anarchist magazine, as well as two prominent British supporters of the Animal Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group , on charges of conspiracy to incite criminal damage.Starting in 1995, the...
.
After involvement in the 1990 anti-Poll Tax
Community Charge
The Community Charge, popularly known as the "poll tax", was a system of taxation introduced in replacement of the rates to part fund local government in Scotland from 1989, and England and Wales from 1990. It provided for a single flat-rate per-capita tax on every adult, at a rate set by the...
movement, and having written a number of articles for 'Freedom' magazine, he first became involved with the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Green Anarchist
Green Anarchist
The magazine Green Anarchist was for a while the principal voice in the UK advocating green anarchism, an explicit fusion of libertarian socialist and ecological thinking.-Early years:...
magazine in 1990, and published a novel, City-Death, explaining his idea of green anarchism
Green anarchism
Green anarchism, or ecoanarchism, is a school of thought within anarchism which puts a particular emphasis on environmental issues. An important early influence was the thought of the American anarchist Henry David Thoreau and his book Walden...
. In another article, he criticised what he termed the 'Dogma of Class', the belief held by much of the left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
that political value and validity comes through the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
. In the mid 1990s he wrote 'Politics And The Ethical Void'. "To try to apply the ethical to the political is to be like the small boy with his finger in the dyke, while a hundred yards away, water rushes through a gap as wide as the Atlantic Ocean." Booth contributed many articles to Green Anarchist.
In 1996, Booth published 'Into the 1990s With Green Anarchist'(ISBN: 0-9521226-4-2), a book explaining Green Anarchist doctrines and history. Though never a Primitivist himself, he attempted to give a fair explanation of Primitivist
Anarcho-primitivism
Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization. According to anarcho-primitivism, the shift from hunter-gatherer to agricultural subsistence gave rise to social stratification, coercion, and alienation...
ideas (pages 127-152), and the fact of the existence of this section led some to conclude that Booth was a Primitivist. From 2001 and onwards he published criticism of the doctrines of Primitivism, particularly in the booklet 'Primitivism an Illusion With No Future'.
During the mid 1990s, from around 1993 through to 1997, along with the Green Anarchist magazine itself, Booth's work came under attack from the Neoist Alliance, particularly over the controversial 'Irrationalists' article, which attempted to see inside the minds of "irrationalist" terrorists. Repeatedly using a selective quotation taken from the second paragraph of one of the articles, the Neoists attacked Booth, and through this by association, GA itself.
As another strand to the same attack, the Neoists published 'Green Apocalypse', a booklet accusing Green Anarchist magazine of neo-Malthusianism. In 'Green Apocalypse', Booth as a propagandist was compared with Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
. David Watson, in the US Fifth Estate magazine article 'Swamp Fever' (Fifth Estate, Vol 32, Autumn 1997, pages 15 ff) analysed the Neoists' claims, stating they were "transparently malicious".
Starting in 1995, the Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
Police under 'Operation Washington' began a series of at least 56 raids, which eventually resulted in the August to November 1997 Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
trial of Green Anarchist editors Stephen Booth, Saxon Wood, Noel Molland and Paul Rogers, as well as Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
Press Officer Robin Webb
Robin Webb
Robin Webb is an English animal rights activist. He is a former member of the ruling council of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals , and former director of Animal Aid...
and Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group newsletter editor Simon Russell
Simon Russell
Simon Craig Russell is an English footballer who plays for Lincoln City as a midfielder. He previously played for Hull City, Kidderminster Harriers, York City, Tamworth and Cambridge United.-Career:...
. 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'. Eventually, all three were released on appeal http://www.greenanarchist.org.uk/Gandalf.htm
In early 2001, Steve Booth broke with Paul Rogers http://www.greenanarchist.org.uk/Split.htm. He then began taking his version of 'Green Anarchist' magazine in a different political direction, trying to go back to what Booth saw as its roots and undo the harm he considered done to it by Richard Hunt
Richard Hunt (editor)
Richard Hunt is a green anarchist activist, and editor of various environmentalist magazines, such as Green Anarchist and Alternative Green. He was widely criticised in the anarchist community for his perceived sympathies for nationalism, and wrote an editorial for Green Anarchist expressing...
and Paul Rogers. However, this attempt to revive the magazine ran up against the broader problems with the radical
Political radicalism
The term political radicalism denotes political principles focused on altering social structures through revolutionary means and changing value systems in fundamental ways...
milieu, including the lack of an effective supporting infrastructure, and generalised apathy, and eventually folded in 2006.
Steve Booth has written a full length book version of his Primitivism pamphlet, but is no longer active in the radical milieu. In issue 66 of the GA, published in April 2004, he offered a criticism of radicalism as an embodiment of the wasteland - its in-fighting, its ineffectiveness, dogmatism, and lack of morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
. "There is a word for the character of all this, and where it is heading, and that word is hell."
From 2002 Steve began to contribute to the BlueGreenEarth website, most notably with his article: The Primitivist Illusion.
Steve has also contributed short articles to 'The Cunningham Amendment' (TCA) and 'Total Liberty', and has drawn many political cartoons for various Anarchist publications.
Steve Booth lives in Galgate
Galgate
Galgate is a village in the City of Lancaster, just south of Lancaster University, and about south of Lancaster itself in the English county of Lancashire.-Etymology:...
, near Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster, Lancashire
Lancaster is the county town of Lancashire, England. It is situated on the River Lune and has a population of 45,952. Lancaster is a constituent settlement of the wider City of Lancaster, local government district which has a population of 133,914 and encompasses several outlying towns, including...
.