2 articles


****************  George Woodcock ****************
                                         from WS 45

GEORGE WOODCOCK, author of two well known and widely 
available books on anarchism - Anarchism and The 
Anarchist Reader - has died, aged 82.  Born in 
Winnipeg, Canada on May 8th, 1912 his life spanned 
some of the highest and lowest moments of the 
movement he came to chronicle.  He first became 
active in Anarchist politics in the 1930s when his 
family returned to England from Canada to escape 
poverty.  For a long period he was editor of the 
anti-war paper, War Commentary and the anarchist 
newspaper, Freedom.

His political involvement in the years leading up 
the Second World War coincided with the great 
achievements of the Spanish anarchist movement in 
1936-37. Woodcock, like most of his contemporaries - 
George Orwell and Herbert Read among others - sought 
to raise awareness of the revolution in Spain and of 
what was being achieved by the Spanish working class 
against great odds.  He was a firm believer in the 
working class's ability to reorganise society along 
fundamentally democratic and egalitarian lines.  The 
defeat of the Spanish anarchist movement came, 
accordingly, as a bitter blow.

Even so, Woodcock's own support for anarchism and 
the anarchist idea continued.  While his 
contribution to other areas grew on his return to 
Canada, most notably creative writing, he remained, 
nonetheless, committed to encouraging a better 
understanding of what anarchism stood for and its 
continuing relevance to movements for social change.  
For a long period his two best known books were the 
only comprehensive guides widely available about 
anarchism in the English language, and for this 
reason alone he will be remembered.  

Anarchism, which was first published in 1962, has 
been criticised, rightly, for it's emphasis on 
anarchism as a movement of the past.  Reflecting on 
the period in which he had lived, Woodcock saw the 
passing of anarchism as a mass working class force 
as an irreversible feature of modern political life.  
His later contributions impressed anarchism's 
relevance on areas such as ecology and feminism.

The Anarchist Reader, in contrast, is a book which 
will stand the test of time.  Emphasising the theory 
and practice of anarchism, it draws on an array of 
people associated with anarchism over the years, 
giving a comprehensive and accessible introduction 
to the breadth and relevance of anarchist ideas.  
Noting the revival of interest in anarchism since 
the 1960s, Woodcock wrote in his introduction 
"Anarchism, in summary, is a phoenix in an awakening 
desert, an idea that has revived for the only reason 
ideas revive - that they respond to some need felt 
deeply by people".  George Woodcock died on January 
28th, 1995 aged eighty two.

Kevin Doyle


***************** Dr. Maire O'Shea *******************

DR.MAIRE O'SHEA, republican and socialist, died on 
March 6th, aged 75.  Despite our political 
differences, Maire happily worked with anarchists 
on several campaigns of common interest such as 
abortion rights and 'Trade Unionists & Unemployed 
Against the Programme'.  Living in England for many 
years, she was an eminent psychiatrist with the 
Midlands Health Authority where she was a pioneer 
of patient-centred psychotherapy instead of ECT and 
drug treatments.  She was also an active member of 
her trade union, MSF.

A brave woman, she campaigned in Birmingham for the 
release of the Birmingham Six.  In 1985 the English 
police charged her, under the Prevention of 
Terrorism Act, with conspiracy to cause explosions.  
Gaining support from her union and from the Irish 
and left wing communities, the police case 
collapsed in court and she was acquitted.

Generous to the last, she directed that after a 
wake in her house that her body be donated to 
medical research at UCD.
