Monday 6th October 5.30pm Geoff Brown, a People’s History of the Anti-Nazi League
A People’s History of the Anti Nazi League
Recording
Apologies that the sound quality is not quite at the usual standard. There were some technical issues with Geoff Brown being in the US & the seminar being UK based!
Summary of the seminar- Keith Flett
Geoff Brown began by situating the book in the tradition of Howard Zinn’s People’s History of the US. The discussion ranged from those who had been active in the ANL during the period covered by the book and those who, active anti-fascists and anti-racists, who were more recently part of the movement.
Points included that while it was clear that there the far right are identifiably fascist calling them Nazis is perhaps less effective than it was in the 1970s. There was also the question of how far the work of the ANL and RAR in stopping the National Front and later the BNP also led to wider anti-racist work and a focus on immigration controls and racist police. It was also noted that the work of marginalising the NF and the BNP meant that the far right in 2025 still existed but has not been able to form a united fascist group
Geoff Brown’s summary of the book
Written as a total history, from below and from above, using interviews, archives and private collections, the book covers the prehistory of the ANL, its formation as a united front, the ANL’s relationship to its sister organisation, Rock against Racism, the origins and impact of the April 1978 Carnival against the Nazis, turning the ANL into a mass organisation with a presence in schools, colleges, workplaces, unions, challenging every manifestation of a fascist presence. This included the campaign to reduce the fascist profile in the media, ‘the Battle of Brick Lane’, the struggle to win significant Jewish support, the general election of 1979, concluding with the Leeds Carnival against Racism and the anti police riots of July 1981.
More details of the book and link to buy it
Kmflett's Blog 
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