Archive of Connor Woodman

This is the final article in a five-part series examining the ‘imperial boomerang effect’ and its operation in a range of contexts

The methods of repression deployed by the French state in Paris were almost carbon copies of some of those developed to crush the National Liberation Front, pointing to a continuing legacy of French colonialism within the metropolis itself.

From the Philippines to the War on Terror, the U.S. state has utilised its vast imperial domains as grounds for experimentation for coercive social control. 

Thursday's general election defeat for the Labour Party showed the limitations of Corbynism, and has lead to renewed debate on left strategy in Britain. In this article, Connor Woodman argues that only a focus on deep grassroots organising, alongside parliamentary struggle, can we hope to win future victories.

Recent revelations show that at least 140 English and Welsh ‘spycops’, long-term undercover agents, infiltrated around 120 dissident political organisations between 1968 and 2011 - the vast majority of the these being organisations on the left. But why does the state infiltrate political organisations? And why does it disproportionately target those on the left, as opposed to the right? In this article Connor Woodman looks at the history of the British secret state and the role it plays in the maintenance of capitalism.

When, if ever, is it justified for the state to surveil, infiltrate and repress political movements? Connor Woodman replies to Alex Vitale's The End of Policing, and argues for an abolitionist perspective on political policing