About

You can download our zine here: RED DAWN ZINE.

We are a bunch of environmental justice activists in Sydney, who have been involved in student and community climate activism for a bunch of years. Some Socialist Organisations in Sydney have been very interested in some of our collective and movement/network spaces and events: particularly Socialist Alliance and their youth wing Resistance, and a newer organisation, Solidarity.

Some folks from these organisations have simply attended events we have been part of organising; some folks act as a pressure group or ‘caucus’ within collectives; some groups have been identified as a ‘focus’ for these organisations for their political work and recruitment, whilst some have experienced a more aggressive ‘intervention’ to change the processes and politics of the group, or explicitely to divide and damage the group. To be clear, it’s not commie ideas and ideals that piss us off (we even share many of these), it’s destructive behaviour – as an organisation/faction – that is disrespectful, undermines collective organising, and wastes our time.

Our experiences have been varied, and the impacts of these interventions on our collectives, movements and us personally have been huge. We’re aware that our experiences aren’t new – but we haven’t been able to find much support, resources or literature. We have tried to document some of our experiences so we can learn from them, to share them with others, and to contribute to thinking about how we sustain struggles for justice over the long-term (in ways that don’t hurt us, too much), how we can defend spaces we organise in, and how we can build stronger movements.

These are our accounts, and whilst we’ve discussed and debriefed ad nauseum, there are other interpretations of what happened.

If you want a printed copy of the zine mailed to you, or have other ideas and resources, let us know on facingentryism@gmail.com

The images in this zine are all from a 1984 movie called ‘Red Dawn’ that depicts a Soviet Union invasion of the United States, starring a bunch of American high school kids who resist the occupation with guerrilla warfare, and call themselves Wolverines, after their school mascot. The film is probably really conservative and crap – we haven’t seen it, we don’t know. But the images are apt, and serve a beautiful narrative for this zine, which is a homage to the mega babe Patrick Swayze, recently deceased. Rest in peace.

“I want you to be nice… until it’s time to not be nice.” – Patrick Swayze in ‘Road House’.