Ideological Commentary |

Bulletin of Anarchist Research: The Lower Criticism

August 19, 2014

This review of Beyond Politics appeared in The Bulletin of Anarchist Research No. 25, Autumn 1991; the journal then expired. A successor is in prospect, but not before early 1993. – GW Anarchists’ social classifications are famously vague. Undefined groups, such as ‘the ruling class’ or ‘the bosses’ are pitted against ‘the oppressed’ without the… read more »

George Walford: The Enduring Base (57)

August 26, 2014

Evidence for the persistence of the earlier ideologies comes from the persistence of behaviour-patterns; once established in social practice these show an endurance not always recognised. Although often changing their form of expression they continue to exercise influence even though overlaid, even repressed, by later developments; imperialism, for example, continues while national self-determination spreads, although… read more »

George Walford and Bob Black: Letters

August 17, 2014

Sir, It is usually a mistake to join a fight when you don’t know how it started, but I would award the latest round to S. E. Parker (IC55). You say that ‘people who reject a commitment to truth cannot sensibly expect their statements to be taken seriously.’ This is on a par with the… read more »

George Walford: The Market in Ideology

August 17, 2014

A talk delivered to a meeting organised by the Libertarian Alliance, on 25th June. By George Walford. (The version given here has been lightly edited in the transition from speech to writing). People who write books about doing talks offer several approved ways of beginning. You can start off with a BANG! to grip your… read more »

George Walford: Ideology in the Reviews (57)

August 17, 2014

AGAINST Classism: In Fire from Heaven (Harper Collins), on the 17th Century reform movement in Dorchester, David Underdown shows, in the words of the reviewer, that ‘the campaign for moral reformation had supporters and opponents at every social level; it was not just a confrontation between the urban elite and the marginal classes.’ (TLS 26… read more »

George Walford: How It Began

August 16, 2014

Only the expedient ideology has shown itself universally indigenous. The others may have originated independently in more than one location, but their presence over most of the world has to be ascribed to transmission, evidenced by the spread of the activities indicating their presence. The ideology of principle / domination, bringing with it agriculture and… read more »

George Walford: Science in Its Place

August 16, 2014

In recent decades physical science has declined from the position it once held. Its connections with pollution and weaponry have lowered its prestige, its representatives are less welcome to pontificate, and even the literary genre still known as science fiction has turned towards occult fantasy. Neither the profession nor its supporters have retreated willingly, and… read more »

George Walford: Notes and Quotes (57)

August 16, 2014

‘NOTHING’, said Henry James, ‘is my last word about anything.’ AUSTRALIANS, it appears from a remark by Anne Chisholm, refer to their Prime Minister as the Lizard of Oz. ARISTOTLE held that virtue mattered more than formal laws. (Stephen Clark) JAMES Ferguson, reviewing a recent history of anarchism, remarks that the first reaction of an… read more »

George Walford: Editorial (57)

August 27, 2014

With this issue come copies of a leaflet, entitled EXPLORING IDEOLOGY. It is hoped that readers favouring the theory will distribute these as the occasion offers – passing them to contacts, enclosing them in letters and so on. And those not liking the theory? Perhaps they will distribute them so that its absurdities and enormities… read more »

George Walford: The Ideological Pyramid (57)

August 16, 2014

The major ideologies, outlined on the facing page, have developed through history. Each of them provides the conditions which permit the next one to emerge, and each of them has fewer people attached to it than the one before. The diagram below indicates the outcome, the ideological structure of contemporary society, but the model needs… read more »