This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
Maoist Internationalist Movement

Art through a revolutionary lens: concert & show reviews

This section is a collection of shows and concerts that MIM and RAIL have reviewed. All reviews on these pages reflect MIM line unless otherwise noted. Some of the shows listed were sponsored by MIM and RAIL and serve as examples of organizing to help others who want to put on benefit shows. The rest comment on the politics of both the bands and the crowds in order to sort out the good and the bad of these cultural events. Culture can play an important role in building popular support for revolution. Certain scenes such as punk, hardcore, and underground hip hop tend to have such revolutionary potential because the music appeals to youth -- who have least to lose and the most to gain from taking up revolutionary politics.

MIM holds cultural work to a high standard for this reason. We do not believe "art for art's sake" exists. Beauty and value are defined by the society in which we live. In Amerika, this is a capitalist class society in which the bourgeoisie defines education, politics and culture in its own image. By its definition, art can either acknowledge these influences and comment on them, or it can adhere to them. Artists may wish to withdraw from political debate, but just as the international proletariat cannot elect to withdraw from its conditions of exploitation and prisoners in this country cannot elect to live communally without chains, artists cannot deny the influenc they have. They use this influence either to encourage political activism or discourage it. The critiques you read here show an open preference for art that encourages political rebellion.(for more on culture see MIM Theory 13: Culture in Revolution, available from MIM for $7.50)

We have reviewed some of these bands' albums in our bookstore. You can purchase these albums and thousands of others through www.prisoncensorship.info/archive/etext/bookstore/ Doing this supports MIM's Serve the people programs by donating a portion of the sale proceeds.

this page written by MassRAIL