Colin Ward

Colin Ward (born August 14, 1924 in Wanstead , Essex , † February 11, 2010 ) was a British writer. He has been described as "one of the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past 50 years and a pioneer in social history " and wrote primarily on the areas of sociology , anthropology , cybernetics , pedagogy , architecture and town planning, house warfare and communal water. He also worked on adventure playgrounds and the squatter movement.

Life

Colin Ward became an anarchist while serving in the British Army during World War II . As a subscriber to War Commentary , the wartime equivalent of Freedom , he was summoned from Orkney , where he was based, to witness a trial in London in 1945 against the publishers who were accused of publishing an article inciting soldiers to neglect their duties should. Although Ward contradicted this account, the three editors - Philip Samson, Vernon Richards and John Hewetson - were found guilty and sentenced to nine months in prison.

From 1947 to 1960 he was co-editor of the British anarchist newspaper Freedom . In 1961 he founded the libertarian monthly magazine Anarchy , which he published until 1970.

1952 to 1961 Colin Ward worked as an architect. 1971 became the education officer of the Town and Country Planning Association , the oldest environmental organization in England. He published a lot on education, architecture and urban planning. His most influential work was The Child In The City (1978) on children's folklore .

In 2001 he received an honorary doctorate in philosophy from Anglia Ruskin University .

plant

On the question of property

Most of Ward's work deals with rural settlements and the problem of overpopulation and building regulation in Great Britain, to which he presented anarchist solutions. He was a great admirer of the architect Walter Segal , who designed a "build-it-yourself" system in Lewisham. This included that land that was too small or too difficult terrain was given to people who built their own houses there with Segal's help. Ward was very enthusiastic about the idea of “build it yourself” in response to the proposal to abandon all building codes, “I don't believe in“ just go ahead ”, the rich get away with murder if this happens. But I want a planning system that is flexible enough to give the homeless a chance ”. In his book Cotters and Squatters , Ward describes the historical development of informal customs for the unauthorized acquisition of building land, which had formed parallel to the legal system. Ward described traditions of many cultures such as the Welsh tradition of the Tŷ unnos or 'one night house' built on community land .

Ward included in his work a passage from Peter Kropotkins who said of the empty and uncultivated landscape of Surrey and Sussex of the late nineteenth century, “In every direction I look, I see abandoned houses and ruined orchards, a whole that has disappeared Population". Ward himself continued the observations. “Exactly one hundred years after this settlement, the fields were empty again. Fifty years of subsidies have made the owners of arable land millionaires through mechanized cultivation, and because of the overproduction crisis, they have been rewarded by the European Commission for leaving the land fallow. However, the opportunities for the homeless were fewer than ever before. Adult children of local families couldn't buy their own houses. ”Ward's solution was“ that in every community there should be a place for everyone to build their own house, and it should be allowed to do so little by little with a simple one Beginning and improvement of the structure over time. The idea that a house must be built in one go before building permits and mortgages can be obtained is ridiculous. Take a look at the houses in the villages, many of them have developed their character over centuries - a bit of the Middle Ages behind the house with extensions from the Tudor and Georgian times. "

On the subject of anarchism

Ward's philosophy aims at the abolition of authoritarian structures within social organization and their replacement by self-organized , hierarchical forms. This form of federalism was developed in parts by Kropotkin and Proudhon and is based on the principle, as Ward explains, that "in small, manageable groups, the bureaucratic and hierarchical tendencies inherent in all organizations have less space".

Ward particularly supported the Swiss system of direct democracy and the cantons , whose citizens sometimes decide for themselves about the laws that affect them.

He supported the social ideas of anarchism, under which he included autonomous groups , spontaneous order, self-government by the workers, the federal principle and the design of social self-organization as an alternative to the authoritarian, hierarchical and institutionalized social philosophy that he perceived everywhere. He relied on Peter Kropotkin's remarks about finding new forms of organization for social functions which the state would fulfill through bureaucracy and was convinced that it had already been clarified what these new forms should look like and that it was now a matter of creating possibilities to put them into practice.

Fonts

Anarchism: A Very Short Introduction (2004)
Cotters and Squatters: The Hidden History of Housing (2004)
Talking Anarchy (with David Goodway ) (2003)
The Worldwide one-night house available online (2002)
Reflected in Water: a Crisis of Social Responsibility (1997)
Freedom to Go: After the Motor Age (1991)
Talking Houses: 10 Lectures (1990)
Welcome, Thinner City: Urban Survival in the 1990s (1989)
The Allotment: Its Landscape and Culture (1988)
The Child in the Country (1988)
Chartres: the Making of a Miracle (1986)
Goodnight Campers! The History of the British Holiday Camp (1986)
When We Build Again: Let's Have Housing that Works! (1985)
The Child In The City (1978; German edition: Das Kind in der Stadt , Goverts-Verlag, Frankfurt / Main 1978, translated by Ursula von Wiese ISBN 978-3774004870 )
Housing: An Anarchist Approach (1976)
British School Buildings: Designs and Appraisals 1964-74 (1976)
Tenants Take Over (1974)
Utopia (1974)
Vandalism (1974)
Anarchy in Action (1973; German edition: Anarchism in Action , Verlag Impuls, Bremen, 1978)
Streetwork: The Exploding School with Anthony Fyson (1973)
Work (1972)

To the author

Richer futures. Fashioning A New Politics (Earthscan, 1999)
Anarchist Seeds Beneath the Snow by David Goodway (2006)

Individual evidence

^ "One the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past half century, and a pioneering social historian." Appreciation of the Chuckling Anarchist , Roman Krznaric, February 27, 2010

↑ Anglia Ruskin University ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Anglia Ruskin University, profile ( memento of the original from July 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Original: I don't believe in just letting it rip, the rich get away with murder when that happens. But I do want the planning system to be flexible enough to give homeless people a chance
↑ Original: Precisely a century after this account was written, the fields were empty again. Fifty years of subsidies had made the owners of arable land millionaires through mechanized cultivation and, with a crisis of over-production; the European Community was rewarding them for growing no crops on part of their land. However, opportunities for the homeless poor were fewer than ever in history. The grown-up children of local families can't get on the housing ladder '. Wards solution was that 'there should be some place in every parish where it's possible for people to build their own homes, and they should be allowed to do it a bit at a time, starting in a simple way and improving the structure as they go along. The idea that a house should be completed in one go before you can get planning permission and a mortgage is ridiculous. Look at the houses in this village. Many of them have developed their character over centuries - a bit of medieval at the back, with Tudor and Georgian add-ons.
↑ Original: in small face-to-face groups, the bureaucratising and hierarchical tendencies inherent in organizations have least opportunity to develop

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Ward, Colin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British writer
DATE OF BIRTH	August 14, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH	Wanstead , Essex
DATE OF DEATH	February 11, 2010

[1] "One the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past half century, and a pioneering social historian." Appreciation of the Chuckling Anarchist , Roman Krznaric, February 27, 2010