Letters

THE PARTISAN PROFESSOR...

Alex Callinicos's obituary of the Marxist historian Geoffrey de Ste Croix (March SR) is an excellent risposte to the commentaries that appeared about him in the Independent and the Guardian. Depending on which one you read, Ste Croix's Marxism was either entirely incidental to his history or it was quite important, but he was never really interested in more than academic Marxism.
That was not the impression I got when I was one of those responsible for getting him to speak at a London Socialist Historians conference in the mid-1990s. Ste Croix sent me two possible papers, both of which focused on Marxist interpretations of ancient history, and both of which had been extensively reworked and annotated. It was clear from this that Ste Croix took his Marxism very seriously indeed. Then there was the fact of him agreeing to speak at the conference in itself. We had, and have, no well known academic reputations to defend or boast of. Rather, we told him, accurately, that the conference would consist of socialist historians and activists who were enthusiastic about socialist history and about changing the world as well. Then well into his eighties, he clearly relished the idea of engaging with such an audience. It was about as far from being an armchair Marxist as you could get.
Keith Flett
Tottenham

...NOT PARTISAN ENOUGH

I enjoyed Alex Callinicos's generous obituary for Geoffrey de Ste Croix (March SR). Ste Croix was an important figure in the British Marxist tradition and his writing does deserve to be more widely known. I was glad to see Alex acknowledge the existence of the London Socialist Historians Group. It's good to see some recognition that the party historians exist.
However, I thought the obituary was marred by Alex's remark that Ste Croix was 'a much better Marxist' than E P Thompson. How on earth could he evaluate this claim? Perhaps in his lectures the schoolteacher Ste Croix did more for the workers than Thompson, the founder of mass movements, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the New Left? Alternatively, you might argue that Ste Croix's Marxist book, read by hundreds, made more socialists than Thompson's Making of the English Working Class, read as it has been only by millions?
Ultimately, the only argument for Ste Croix's superiority is that he described the economics of class while Thompson concentrated on its experience. This seems to me to be an unhappy distinction--it should be obvious that class is both fact and experience. Given a choice between the activist's view of class and the professor's, I suspect most readers of this magazine would choose Thompson every time.
Dave Renton
Liverpool

VOTE AND DO INHALE

STOP THE CLAMPDOWN IN ACEH

According to information and a press release from Sira, the Information Centre for a Referendum in Aceh, five student activists who were travelling to East Aceh were taken into custody by the security forces in Idi Cut on 6 March. The driver of the car in which they were travelling was also arrested. They were returning from Lhokseumawe where they had held a meeting with PT Arun Lhokseumawe, one of the major companies operating in Aceh.
According to the latest information available to Sira, they were being held at the Idi Cut police headquarters. One of the activists, Ridwan M, who is also a member of Sira's presidium council, has been severely maltreated. Sira is now trying to check up on the whereabouts of the six men.
The five students are all members of Farmidia, the Reform Action Forum of Muslim Students in Aceh. They are:

(1) Efendi Hasan, president of the Bema, the Students Executive Board at Iain Ar, Raniry (Islamic university), a member of the Sira governing board;
(2) Ridwan M, a student of Shariah law at Iain Ar Raniry, who is on the supervisory board of Bema, a member of the Sira presidium council;
(3) Amri, a student of Shariah law at Iain Ar Raniry, head of the research council of Bema;
(4) Zulkarnaen, a student at Iain Ar Raniry, head of the student welfare department of Bema;
(5) Abdul Manaf, a student of Islamic law at Iain Ar Raniry, deputy head of the development strategy department of Bema. The sixth man is Suparmin, who was driving the vehicle and is on the staff of Iain Ar Raniry.

A THORN IN THE SIDE

Last month Roger Anthony Smith, a consultant working for the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity (ACILS) was in trouble, and is now likely to be deported soon. The Indonesian police department see Roger as a provocateur in the trade unions' actions. His 'crime' was invented by the security forces, who do not want to see justice and democracy among Indonesian workers.
Roger is an Australian, who supports the National Front for Indonesian Workers' Struggle (FNPBI), formerly the Committee of Workers for Reform Action (Kobar) set up in May 1998. Since August 1998 Roger has been in contact with us and collecting data regarding our work in Indonesia. He also once introduced us to other unions which later on were willing to get to know Kobar and FNPBI. Together with ACILS he has been spreading monthly reports as a helpful tool for building international solidarity and supporting the growing union movement in Indonesia.
There is no way that Roger was a threat to political stability as accused by the security forces. What happened to Roger was part of the undemocratic system in Indonesia. His attending a demonstration or speaking with trade unionists in support of Indonesian workers has been misunderstood to be creating problems in Indonesia. There is no way that supporting workers' rights is a 'crime'. Instead the actions taken by intelligence are a 'crime'.
We are passing this message on to help him and support him. By doing so, we believe you will do all you can so he can remain in Indonesia, and for us in building international solidarity. The work of international solidarity must not only be work for workers and trade unionists, but also of those who support that kind of work.
Romawaty Sinaga
International Officer of FNPBI
Indonesia