Foreword to No Fixed Abode
The culture, spirit and political activism that pervaded much of 90’s British youth culture has been largely, persistently and some might say actively ignored by today’s mainstream media. In a society paradoxically opiated by perpetual conflict, mass surveillance and gadget fever; the values of pacifism, the right to personal autonomy and strident resistance to consumerism seem as anachronistic now as an annual ‘cool list’ of trending brands would have seemed ridiculous then.
But Reclaim the Streets and the Carnival Against Capitalism were the percursors to the subsequent Occupy movement; just as the numerous road protests undertaken by the tabloid dubbed ‘Unwashed Army’ championed, at the time, the environmental cause when it was not so widely understood as the imperative it is today.
The spectral fears voiced by the 90’s generation have become today’s waking nightmares; and while, at the time, that voice may have sounded naive, often delivering its message in ways that harmed its own cause, subsequent events have proved its validity. For that, if nothing else, I believe they who spoke out in the face of ridicule and violent reprisal deserve recognition.
So this story, this re-imagining, this adventure down the rabbit hole of 90’s counterculture, is my humble tribute to an extraordinary time that deserves to be remembered – and perhaps, now more than ever, needs to be.
Welcome to the party…
Treefall 