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strategies for change 151
was the Pure Genius squat, set up in 1996 on a patch of derelict land
owned by Guinness in Wandsworth, South London. The squat was
turned into an ‘eco-village’, permanently inhabited by between 50 to
100 people. Pure Genius could neither resolve the shortage of
housing in London nor remedy the ecological damage sustained by
the city, and to this extent the protest was symbolic. Yet the squat
raised these issues through the press interest it generated; and to the
extent that the squatters demonstrated the possibility of an alternative
way of life, it was a practical response to a particular situation.
Sabotage is a well-known form of direct action, once pioneered
by syndicalists and now assuming new forms. One is ‘hactivism’ or
cyber activism. It includes the jamming or infiltration of computer
systems and the subversive use of domain names to attack wellknown
corporate brands: Starbucks is a favourite. Another form of
sabotage is monkeywrenching. Monkeywrenching is particularly
associated with eco-anarchists and it describes a form of non-violent
direct action. Unlike traditional saboteurs who attempted to clog up
production processes, monkeywrenchers ‘act heroically in defence of
the wild to put a monkeywrench into the gears of the machine that is
destroying natural diversity’. This ‘safe, easy, fun, and … effective’
activity includes tree spiking, the disabling of road-building equipment
and the sinking of whalers. 61 Back in the towns, anarchists
encourage urban climbing and wall protests, ‘unreality TV’ –
performance for CCTV cameras – and culture jamming through
subvertising or adbusting – the defacing, reshaping and overpasting
of billboards to challenge corporate gloss. A sales pitch for Rover
simply reading ‘Enjoy’, was subverted with the addition of: ‘more
pollution’. To give another example, an advert for a Hyundai
miniature which read ‘Amuse the kids, Park it sideways in the garage’
was subvertised with ‘and leave it there’. Advertising hoardings are
not subvertiser’s only targets. Creative use of green felt pens to
highlight and transform the ‘buck’ in ‘Starbuck’ and the ‘off’ in
‘coffee house’ helps to take some of the shine from the corporate
logo. Other anarchists create spoof ads: one idea for vodka pictures
a name-tagged foot in a morgue with the slogan ‘Absolute on Ice’
underneath. Following a similar logic, anarchists produce placards
urging ‘bomb poor people’, ‘bombs not bread’, ‘money is my life’.
Reclaim the Streets (RTS) have pioneered the street party as a form
of direct action against the car, consumerism and segmentation of
public life. The action involves whole neighbourhoods, thus
drawing new audiences to the campaign whilst simultaneously