IAN SINCLAIR draws attention to the powerful role that literature plays in foreseeing the way humanity will deal with climate crisis
What we do with fascists
As the AfD is welcomed in the UK parliament, ALEXANDER CARTER reminds us how music became a battleground in the 1980s and 1990s, fighting fascism with guitars and microphones

IN the 1980s, Britain’s far right was on the rise. Fascist parties fielded over 100 candidates in the 1983 general election. And culturally, the far right was also making ground.
“White power” bands like Skrewdriver and Peter and the Wolf began drawing sizeable crowds and selling thousands of records. In 1987, Skrewdriver’s frontman founded Blood & Honour, a music network that soon gained followers and branches throughout the US and Europe.
Blood & Honour’s emergence caused tremors among the UK anti-fascist movement. Anti-Fascist Action (AFA), the dominant anti-fascist group of the time, struck back with their own musical network: Cable Street Beat (CSB).
Similar stories

DENNIS BROE picks his highlights

New releases from Kamasi Washington, Ruth Theodore, Christian McBride & Edgar Meyer

LYNNE WALSH celebrates the prescient political dramas of Trevor Griffiths, playwright, screenwriter and Marxist, born April 4 1935; died March 29 2024

ANDY HEDGECOCK explores the implications of a recent statistical study of music lyrics that highlights the role of monopoly capital in silencing complexity