Don’t Worry, We’ll Be Back …
In the last number of years the Irish left has been involved in a number of significant victories – playing its part in the anti-water tax campaign, in the Marriage Equality referendum and in the Repeal 8th Amendment campaign. But defeat and defeats have also been part of our story. So how then do we respond when we lose? This interview arose from a call by the journal Perspective In Anarchist Studies for activists to talk about their experiences and their responses to defeat. Specifically this interview examines the Free The Old Head Campaign and the children’s book that later emerged and was inspired by the campaign, The Worms That Saved The World.
Q: So where is a good place to begin? A children’s story book emerging out of a campaign that ended in defeat? How, why?
A: A few reasons. First
off, like so many campaigns and struggles that we are involved in we lost but
we shouldn’t have. What I mean is that justice was not done. Rather we lost
because the other side had deep pockets and they also had the police and the
state on their side. They didn’t win because they were right or because that
position had more validity than ours. Our campaign was a classic example of
might winning out over right. So, I suppose, our book is a way of saying ‘We’re
not done here actually’.
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Q: Perhaps so you could tell us something about the campaign that inspired the book?
A: Sure. It was a
campaign that happened here in Ireland at a location called the Old Head of Kinsale. It’s a beautiful promontory of
land with walking trails, bird sanctuaries and magnificent views of the ocean
and the surrounding coastline. It has been a traditional walking destination
going back through the generations. For generations the land there was farm
land with these wonderful walks around and at the edges of it.
Then in the late eighties the entire headland was purchased by a
millionaire developer who had this dream of building a luxury golf course there.
He wanted it to be exclusive too, just for those who had a lot of money. He was
aiming at the top end of the golfing business – where luxury intersects with exclusivity
and unparalleled scenic position.
“Many people wanted to preserve the headland as a public amenity and these developers wanted to effectively privatise it.”
A campaign got
underway. Many people wanted to preserve the headland as a public amenity and
these developers wanted to effectively privatise it. Our campaign – called Free
The Old Head – emerged to take on the developers.
[image error]We shall not be moved: stalwart protester, Pat Allen, making a his point to the gardaí
Q: How did the campaign go and evolve?
A: In truth it
was always going to be an uphill battle to win against a determined group of developers.
We were up against people with deep pockets. Essentially the campaign took the
shape of a series of mass trespasses whereby people went to where the golf
course was and insisted on their right to walk onto the Old Head of Kinsale. It
was direct action and, at first, it was very difficult for the developers to
stop the protest as they were large and defiant.
As soon as they did, the Irish police – the gardaí – rowed in to enforce
the rule of law. It was touch and go after that. We really needed more public
support and it didn’t arrive. So, in the end, public
access was lost.
Eventually the developers went to the Irish courts, took on Cork’s
County Council and Ireland’s Planning Board, both of which opposed the
restrictions on the public’s right to walk in the area. In the courts the
developers made many outrageous claims and tried to suggest that “The entire
right to private property in Ireland was in dispute.” Mad stuff. But the
courts, well, they sided with the developers. Surprise, surprise right?
Normally
defeat spreads dejection and in our case there’s no doubt that was the case too.
But it was really a highly spirited campaign despite losing. A lot of people
mobilised. There were some really big protests. People scaled walks and climbed
big wire fences. There was a strong element of direct action mixed in which what
were called People’s Picnics which were very family friendly.
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Q: Books about campaigns are not uncommon. Why did you choose the idea of a children’s book? Why that angle?
A: A few reasons really. I suppose from the
purely practical point, there’s a lot of creative space within fiction writing.
Even more so in children’s fiction. It struck us that the fight at the Old Head
of Kinsale was in some ways a metaphor for our times. It was a conflict involving
the public good up against private greed. On this occasion privilege and greed
won out but we have to remember too that this cannot continue to be the case.
We must start to win. The “public good” must begin to win out against privilege
and greed. We cannot keep losing all these battles.
So
subconsciously there was a feeling, for me anyway, to write about it and
imagine the alternative.
What
happened at the Old Head of Kinsale moreover seemed to be perfect material to
bring back to life in an imaginary way. So in our book, the story is carried
forth by a community of earthworms. They live on an imaginary headland – on
Ireland’s Atlantic coastline! – that is invaded by a luxury golf course
development. Pesticides and insecticides are used on the land and soon the
worms are getting sick. However, they are rebels and they speak up. They ask
for consideration. The result is that the developers try to eradicate them. The
earthworms make a valiant escape but they know they have little hope on their
own. A seagull – normally one of their predators – helps them, and this is how they
make their grand breakthrough. They realise that they need to get help so they
set off to tell their story. They build a movement … We won’t tell you the
end but they do win!
The
book is aimed at children but adults really get it too. It’s nice to imagine
winning, and that one can. Another reason why a children’s book seemed ideal
was that children don’t like injustice. When you talk to children about saving
the planet from greed, you really are pushing an open door. And we want to tell
a story that is optimistic about the possibilities ahead. Even though they can sometimes appear bleak.
I
guess, when we tell stories or sing songs about injustice and fighting back, we
are in part administering therapy and in part defying the impact of defeat. Stories
and songs are resistance and therapy.
Q: But the book is primarily aimed at kids?
A: Yes. Most
definitely. It is an illustrated book in the best sense of that word. The
artist who created the illustrations, Spark Deeley, did a wonderful job. The
illustrations have a lot in them, and within some there are more stories – like
the one where the worms have a mass meeting.
Also
the story is dramatic. The worms have to fight to survive. It’s an adventure
and they make it through in the end. So it’s an adventure book too.
It
is fair to say though that it is an “alternative” adventure book. I suppose it
fills a gap in the book market. That was
another side to why we chose to do a kids book.
Many
activists are parents or will be parents or child-minders at some point in
their lives. While the campaign to Free the Old Head was ongoing, I had young
daughters myself. I’d be the first to say that there are some really great
books out there, but there is a dire lack of books like ours about things like
this too.
Q: You mentioned a few reasons?
A: So many story
books reinforce and uphold traditional values. This has been exposed in recent
times around gender roles in particular. The video “The Ugly Truth About Children’s
Books” is a great example. It’s on YouTube and well worth a look. A mum and her daughter remove books from a bookcase using the
following criteria: Is there a female character? Does she speak? Do they have
aspirations or are they just waiting for a prince? In the end there’s not a lot
of books left for the mum and daughter to read. One bald fact tells you a lot:
25% of 5,000 books studied had no female characters at all. So across the board
for a range of children’s media, less than 20% of products showed women with a
job, compared to more than 80% in respect to male characters. So around gender
roles we can clearly see biases in operation. Do these biases help in
perpetuating a whole range of disparities that women and girls suffer in
society? Of course they do. Conservative socialisation is all around us, and
dominant in so many spheres of life.
Moving away from gender temporarily, why would we be surprised
if there were similar biases around topics like poverty, exploitation or
challenging authorities. Of course there are.
“The book is an imaginary celebration of fighting the good fight for justice. In our story – as you can see from the book’s cover image – the earthworms are happy rebels.”
So in another way, in responding to what happened in our campaign
in Cork, we are also addressing other issues not actually disconnected from our
general struggle against injustice. People are passive and accept injustice
often because they are socialised from a young age to be that way. We need to broaden the scope of radical ideas
and alternatives. The area of young children’s fiction, seemed an obvious place
in a way. Also an important place. Children matter and they listen and
question. We want to link up with that I suppose.
We’ve described our book as “Direct action for kids,” and
that’s what we think our young citizens should know more about: in life, to be
effective, direct action works.
Q: In the promo piece you say “A book for adults too” right? Can you talk about this?
A: Adults can clearly see
the simplicity of the story. It is a bit of a good versus bad tale and none of
the dreadful complications of adult life are really there. But adults like the
idea of passing on their values to children, and this book offers opportunities
for doing that.
Questions
arise from any good story. So in our book, community and solidarity become
central issues in survival. The importance of standing by people if they are
picked on by more powerful people, by bullies if you like, is also part of the
story. Children sadly are quite familiar with bullies, so this book is able to
speak to them about this issue too.
A
key anarchist idea is in our story also, by the way. In fact the plot turns on
it. This is the idea of mutual aid. Species on our planet coexist, and there is
cooperation, but do we hear much about that? Children hear lots about competition
and the Darwinian idea of the survival of the fittest. So again there is room
in the story to look at the idea of cooperation and how humans must in the end
cooperate and respect the value of the environment.
So
there’s room in the book for adults to talk and explain to children about
different things that arise. Or you can just read it for the adventure and fun
of it.
Q: A lot of positivity from defeat then.
A: Sure. The book is an
imaginary celebration of fighting the good fight for justice. In our story – as
you can see from the book’s cover image – the earthworms are happy rebels. The
cover image by the way is from a point in the story before the worms have claimed
outright victory. So, via the image, we are reflecting on that very important
fact that we sometimes overlook: it is important to fight injustice but it is often
fun too!
I
mean, many of know this at a personal level in that we meet some great friends
in campaigns, and we meet some really decent comrades. But joining with others,
taking part, enjoying participatory democracy, we get to live life. So the book
is a celebration of rebellion and the rebellious way too.
Q: Has the book had an impact on the original issue at Kinsale?
A: Locally it has
revived interest in the issue at the Old Head. With the passage of time, the
loss of this amenity is felt more acutely. There is a sense that the community
was “robbed” and in a way it was. Also other cases have emerged. For example,
Donald Trump has a golf course that is involved in controversy in another part
of Ireland. There is a golf course in Scotland with a similar tale of woe to
tell, also linked to Trump I think. People have told us about other cases
similar to ours that are really about the same type of thing: the greedy 1%
taking away from the public space. So it has brought an awareness that what
happened at the Old Head is about a lot more than just something in our
locality.
Another
interesting aspect has been the positive response from many of the activists
from the campaign. They have really helped to promote the book. I think many of
them are proud that their fight has been celebrated with a book of its own.
Q: Some final points?
A: A couple that are
related I suppose. Firstly we have to play the long game if we want to change
the world. I know some ask, is there time? Well, we need time too. There is a
war of ideas out there and neo-liberalism is very pervasive. We need to get in
there now. Books are one way of doing that because books are powerful. That has
been known from time immemorial. So our book, The Worms That Saved The World, is part of the long game. We want
to influence young people and have them think early on about the idea of standing
up for their rights.
But
let’s go a step further and ask what do you do about your rights if the
authorities and the courts say NO? If they say to you your rights don’t matter.
Our book goes into that and it is unequivocal. If you rebel, think about how to
win and what winning entails.
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Educate,
spread your ideas and build support. It’s one of the lessons that emerged from
losing at the Old Head of Kinsale. We didn’t do enough of that before the
crunch came in the fight there.
At
the very end of our story, the worms celebrate and they say, about their
victory, “We did it together.” That says it all.
This interview was first published in Perspectives on Anarchist Theory 30: Beyond The Crisis.
The
Worms That Saved The World by Kevin Doyle
and Spark Deeley was published in May 2017. It is distributed worldwide by AK Press (Oakland)
and AK
Press (Edinburgh)
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