
Protest
Marshland, dreams and nightmares on the edge of London
‘Marshland, dreams and nightmares on the edge of London’ by Gareth E Rees is not a book about the Olympics! But it is about the ongoing struggle over Hackney Marshes and the open space on the east of the River Lea. In 1892, 3,000 local people tore up rails laid by the East London Waterworks Company. In 1985 a campaign group called Save the Marshes succeeded in beating off the attempt by the Lea Valley Regional Park Authority, the supposed protector of the Marshes, to allow quarrying on Walthamstow Marshes. Then in 2005 London won the bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and battle was joined once again in the most recent round in the continuing struggle between local people and railway, water and quarrying companies, housing authorities and developers and now the Olympic Delivery Authority.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Sun, 15/12/2013 - 23:06.
Book Review | Displacement | London 2012 | Manor Gardens Allotments | Protest
Back to the future? Urban transformation and public protest in Rio de Janeiro
by Matthew Richmond
Protesters display a banner of Mayor Eduardo Paes and State Governor Sergio Cabral holding Rio de Janeiro’s famous Christ statue hostage. The banner below reads “Who gives the order? Who gets the progress?”
Submitted by Steve Dowding on Fri, 05/07/2013 - 16:42.
Article | Corruption & Ethics | Crime | Displacement | Health | Human Rights | Mega Events | Protest | Public transport | Rio de Janeiro 2016 | Security
Regeneration, the 2012 Olympics and the gentrification of East London
It's Not For Us
Paul Watt
This paper examines the much-hyped 2012 Olympic Games ‘legacy’ in relation to the displacement experiences of lower-income East Londoners. The paper begins by outlining the overall context of housing-related regeneration including the reduced role for social housing, especially council (public) housing in London.
Submitted by Martin Slavin on Wed, 12/06/2013 - 08:18.
Document Archive | Compulsory Purchase | Displacement | Funding | Housing | Human Rights | Legacy | Newham | Planning & Development | Politics | Private Housing | Protest | Sustainability
Another Olympics Cycling Legacy - Critical Mass Convictions
Five of the 182 Critical Mass cyclists arrested for riding their bikes near the Olympic Park on the evening of the Opening Ceremony were finally convicted of breaching section 12 of the Public Order Act. Section 12 is intended "to prevent serious public disorder, serious criminal damage or serious disruption to the life of the community." In this instance, the police, taking extraordinary measures under the Olympic state of exception, set up road blocks on bridges to stop the cyclists crossing the Thames, an action which caused far more serious disruption than anything the cyclists were likely to achieve, even if this was their intention.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Mon, 18/03/2013 - 17:30.
Article | Cycling | Human Rights | Legacy | London 2012 | Protest | Security
Leyton Marsh: Malice and the prosecution of Mike Wells
Two weeks ago the trial began of nine members of Critical Mass, out of 182 originally arrested, for riding their bikes too close to the Olympic Park on the evening of the Opening Ceremony. Another malicious Olympics prosecution (see p 12), that of citizen journalist and photographer Mike Wells, finally came to an end almost two months ago on 17th January 2013. The story began with an unsubstantiated allegation that Mike assaulted the driver of an excavator at Sandy Lane, the unmade road that runs alongside Leyton Marshes, and ended nine months later at Stratford Magistrate’s Court. Mike’s prosecution occurred against a background of warnings from police and politicians that the authorities would take a hard line in the face of protest and disorder.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Sun, 10/03/2013 - 23:15.
Article | Contamination | Radioactivity | 2012 Sustainability | Environment | Habitat and wildlife | Local groups | London 2012 | Protest | Security | Waltham Forest
A waterlogged Legacy
danny ?@m37411ic48, 'an accidental philosopher' who drives a black cab, tweeted a couple of pictures of the aftermath of the hammer throw practice area in Mayesbrook Park:
Olympic legacy: ‘this is where they practised hammerthrow and I don't think it's benefited us very much’
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Tue, 12/02/2013 - 14:00.
Blog | Environment | Greenwich | Hackney | Legacy | Local groups | Protest | Waltham Forest
Honours even?
The New Year’s Honours list revealed interesting definitions of what it is to be heroic. Sports men and women like Wiggins, Ennis and Ainslie were granted top honours and Lord Coe became a Companion of Honour, a special honour given for service of conspicuous national importance and limited to 65 people at any one time.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Mon, 14/01/2013 - 17:47.
Blog | Coe | Government | London 2012 | Politics | Protest
Sochi 2014 - Risks or Rights?
NoSochi2014 is a campaign by Circassians living outside Russia, who want to draw attention to the genocide perpetrated against their people 150 years ago. Sochi happens to be the capital of their former homeland, Circassia, so its choice as the location for the 2014 Winter Olympics is a source of further pain as no recognition is given to Circassia or to what occurred a century and a half ago. On the contrary the Sochi Olympics is seen as providing an opportunity for the Russian state to create a new reality and simply paint the Circassians out of history.
Submitted by Julian Cheyne on Fri, 11/01/2013 - 22:49.
Article | Displacement | Human Rights | IOC | Protest | Security | Sochi 2014
