For Peace! Book Launch

About this event

Join us for the launch of For Peace! the most recent edition in the MayDay Rooms Publication series. There will be a discussion with the book editors Rosemary Grennan and Rastko Novaković, and Milan Rai. There will be drinks and books to buy at a discount. About For Peace! Britain is currently entering a new cycle of rearmament, expanding the reach of its nuclear capability, increasing military spending for NATO, and continuing to support Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Those opposing this escalation have been met with increasing repression, through the use of counter-terror legislation, draconian sentencing of protesters and the proscription of groups engaged in direct action. In this context, For Peace! revisit the peace movement’s material history, to try and better understand the diversity of tactics and intersecting movements which have shaped it. We hope that this publication acts as a resource and inspiration for those struggling for a demilitarised world today. We orient the history of the peace movement away from a few well-known campaigns to highlight less-known histories that are nonetheless integral to the struggles for a demilitarised world. For Peace! interweaves historical strands from the workers’ movement, Women’s Liberation, anti-colonial, socialist, and anarchist movements to address questions of non-violence, class, international solidarity, and the role of liberation struggles. For Peace! is structured around two gestures of the peace movement. Looking Inwards we feature efforts to disarm the British state and remove US bases. Looking Outwards we showcase international networks of solidarity and highlight the colonial legacy of global weapons infrastructure. The materials presented draw from archives in the MayDay Rooms, Glasgow Women’s Library, the Spirit of Revolt archive, Statewatch and Four Corners, as well personal collections of some of the movements and groups represented. Sign up here If you cannot make it to the launch, but would still like to buy a book, you can order online at our shop. Buy the Book   Milan Rai’s peace activism has included four stints in prison, sanctions-breaking delegations to Iraq, and a lifetime injunction against entering BAE Systems properties. Mil edited the radical nonviolence magazine Peace News from 2007 to 2024, when all the PN staff resigned in protest at their treatment by Peace News Trustees. Author of a number of books including Chomsky’s Politics (1995), Mil currently works for Radical Routes, the national network of radical co-operatives.