Four pamphlets from Socialist Aotearoa
In 1999 Grant Brookes and Dave Colyer first published this pamplet analysing the crisis in education and the introduction of student fees.
They argue that throughout the 1990s resistance by students and staff to National's corporatisation of education blunted the attacks and pointed towards a real alternative - free education for all.
In the pamphlet they show that students' position in the system enables them to fight effectively for change themselves - as long as their action is guided by clear politics and an understanding of who their allies are.
This pamphlet should be essential reading for every student and campus worker in today's struggle to win an education system that is free and accessible to all.
Historically, the intensity and momentum of Maori political activism has never been consistent. Upturns in protest activity are followed by downturns in struggle and vice versa. The 1970s were witness to a dramatic upsurge in Maori activism which had a profound effect on New Zealand society. The political turbulence created in the wake of the 1975 land march on parliament, Bastion Point, Raglan and the regular protests at Waitangi, once again revealed the exploitative and oppressive foundations on which capitalism had been established in Aotearoa. The decline of the working class movement internationally and rise of the New Right coupled with the degenerative logic of identity politics lured many Maori away from political activity throughout the 1980s. However, the recent (1990s) upsurge in flaxroots Maori activism in opposition to the fiscal envelope and the Sealords deal is the most significant since the series of land occupations and marches of the 1970s.
The anti-capitalist left in New Zealand has a proud history of supporting state house tenants under attack from National. Throughout the 1990s the Socialist Workers Organisation-led State Housing Action Coalition (SHAC) led the struggle against evictions, house sales and market rents. They were incredibly successful. Dozens of evictions were stayed, market rents were boycotted by hundreds of tenants and in 1999, market rents was quickly axed by the Labour-Alliance Government.
This pamphlet examines the history of SHAC and their fight against market rents.
This pamphlet examines three of the most important environmental protest campaigns of the last fifteen years. Discussing in turn the protests against native forest logging, genetic engineering and coal mining and burning this pamphlet shows the importance of direct action resistance.
Drawing on interviews with environmental activists this pamphlet argues that direct action protest campaigns have played a critical role in preserving New Zealand's unique lowland rainforests, stopping the introduction of genetically modified organisms and raising awareness of climate change.
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If you would like to purchase this set of four pamphlets for $10 (including NZ postage) email aksocialistaotearoa@gmail.com
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