Heatwave (magazine)

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Heatwave
Editor Charles Radcliffe
Categories Political philosophy
First issueJuly 1966
Final issueSeptember 1966
Based inLondon
LanguageEnglish

Heatwave was a short-lived libertarian socialist journal launched by Charles Radcliffe. [1] Only two issues of the journal were produced, appearing in July and September 1966. [2] The first issue positioned itself as an 'experimental, perhaps slightly crazed libertarian socialist journal', and included a statement of intent:

Contents

'HEATWAVE is not a rival to existing publications on the libertarian left, but an addition to the libertarian press and an extension of its ideology, both conscious and unconscious, into new fields. HEATWAVE wants to generate heat in every field. We believe the time is ripe for an explosion of revolutionary energy which would alter the face of the earth. HEATWAVE advocates the use of any and all means that may bring to a climax the crisis of capitalism and authoritarianism, and result in the total extinction of all forms of exploitation or authority.' [3]

The journal's formation was inspired by, and aspired to be the British counterpart of a similar, Chicago based publication, The Rebel Worker , which was associated with the Industrial Workers of the World. [4]

Heatwave was notable for publishing one of the first instances of analysis of British youth subcultures of the 1960s from radical left perspective. [1]

In their November 1966 pamphlet On the Poverty of Student Life , the Situationist International wrote "One thinks here of the excellent journal Heatwave, which seems to be evolving toward an increasingly rigorous radicality." [5] Radcliffe and Heatwave contributor Chris Gray [6] would subsequently become members of the short-lived English Section of the Situationist International. [7]

The first issue of Heatwave was republished in 1993 by Chronos Publications. [5] The text of both issues was included in the anthology King Mob Echo: English Section of the Situationist International compiled by Tom Vague and published by Dark Star Press in the year 2000. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 Scott Brown, Timothy (Summer 2013). "The Sixties in the City: Avant-gardes and Urban Rebels in New York, London, and West Berlin". Journal of Social History. 46 (4): 817–842.
  2. Savage, Jon. "Factory Records: We Are Bored In The City". Science+Industry Museum. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  3. "Heatwave". Heatwave. 1 (1). July 1966.
  4. Blazwick, Iwona, ed. (1989). An Endless Passion... An Endless Banquet. A Situationist Scrapbook. London: Verso. p. 64. ISBN   0860919838.
  5. 1 2 Brown, Bill (1996). "Heatwave thirty years later". NotBored! (26). Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  6. Pountain, Dick. "Obituary: Chris Gray, Anarchist, writer and maverick Situationist". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2025.
  7. 1 2 Cooper, Sam (2013). "The style of negation and the negation of style: the Anglicization of the Situationist International". The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture. 6 (1): 65–81. doi:10.1080/17541328.2013.778704 . Retrieved 29 August 2025.

Further reading