Thr@ll magazine is published by an independent collective of anarchists currently living in Wellington and Christchurch, Aotearoa/New Zealand. It was launched as a monthly in July 1998 and changed to its current bi-monthly format in April 1999.

Members of the editorial collective point to anarchist communism, anarcho-syndicalism, situationism and council communism as their major influences. As a group, however, we align ourselves with no particular tendency, preferring to use terms like "class-struggle anarchism" to describe our collective politics. This non-sectarian approach is reflected in the magazine itself, which aims to cover a wide range of anarchist-related news and views of interest to all people living in Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Where we stand

Anarchism is neither an individual lifestyle nor some abstract philosophy found only in textbooks, nor is it a programme to be implemented in the distant future. It is the ongoing, collective struggle of people everywhere to gain control of their own lives.

As anarchists, we oppose all forms of social, economic and political exploitation. We oppose capitalism, as it is based on the exploitation of one class (the working class) by another (the ruling class). We also oppose ecological destruction and all forms of discrimination, whether it be on the grounds of colour, culture, gender, sexual orientation, age or health.

We support grassroots, collective, direct action aimed at abolishing all forms of exploitation and creating in their place a decentralised, libertarian-communist society; that is, a classless, stateless and moneyless society, free of wage-labour and based on mutual aid and direct participatory democracy. Such a society should be organised in accordance with the principle "to each according to need, from each according to ability".

We want the maximum possible freedom for each individual, but not at the expense of others. We recognise that because humans are social beings, freedom for all (social equality) is the necessary condition for the freedom of each.

We do not support vanguardism, the creation of "workers' states" or any other attempt to impose a new society from the top down. We believe workers and other exploited people should act together using non-hierarchical methods to free themselves from exploitation. We see the building up of revolutionary unions and/or the spontaneous creation of workers' councils and neighbourhood councils in revolutionary situations as possible means of bringing about a libertarian communist society.

e-mail: thrallnet@yahoo.com
PO Box 22-076 Christchurch,
Aotearoa/New Zealand.
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Contributions welcome, especially news stories, pictures, and news analysis.

Like all the best things in life, Thrall is free. But unfortunately we need money to keep on truckin. Each issue costs us well over a hundred bucks, and this isn't anyway near covered by donations at the moment. We certainly ain't rich, and are a bit desperate for dosh, so send us some please! By so doing you will be supporting Aotearoa's only libertarian leftist publication. Send well concealed money or cheques made out to "cash only" (sorry, we don't have a bank account) to Thrall, PO Box 22-076, Christchurch.