Sunday, October 10, 2010
ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS:
ZABALAZA:
The following notice of a recent publication is from the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front in South Africa.
SASASASASA
Zabalaza No. 11 now available online
We, at the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) are pleased to announce that issue number 11 of our organ Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism is now available online.
Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism
In this issue:
Editorial - by the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front
South Africa:
At the End of the Baton of South African Pretentions - Warren McGregor (ZACF)
Electricity Crisis in Protea South - Lekhetho Mtetwa (ZACF)
Conned by the Courts - Sian Byrne, James Pendlebury (ZACF), Komnas Poziaris
Death and the Mielieboer - Michael Schmidt
The Crisis Hits Home: Strategic Unionism or Revolt? - Lucien van der Walt
Sharpening the Pangas?: Understanding and Preventing future Pogroms - Michael Schmidt
Riding to Work on Empty Promises - Jonathan P. (ZACF)
Africa:
Short-changed: Egyptian Struggle for Democracy Founders on Obama's Stinginess - Michael Schmidt
Massacre as a Tool of the African State - Michael Schmidt
International:
Chile and Haiti after the Earthquakes: so different yet so similar - Jose Antonio Gutierrez D.
Obama's Imperial War: An Anarchist Response - Wayne Price (NEFAC)
Theory:
Anarchism vs Liberalism: Whose Powers are Separate? - James Pendlebury & Sian Byrne (ZACF)
History:
Industrial and Social Foundations of Syndicalism - Michael Schmidt
Counter-Culture
All in the Name of the Beautiful Gain: A ZACF Statement on the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa
Related Link: http://www.zabalaza.net/pdfs/sapams/zab11.pdf
Zabalaza No. 11 now available online
We, at the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF) are pleased to announce that issue number 11 of our organ Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism is now available online.
Zabalaza: A Journal of Southern African Revolutionary Anarchism
In this issue:
Editorial - by the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front
South Africa:
At the End of the Baton of South African Pretentions - Warren McGregor (ZACF)
Electricity Crisis in Protea South - Lekhetho Mtetwa (ZACF)
Conned by the Courts - Sian Byrne, James Pendlebury (ZACF), Komnas Poziaris
Death and the Mielieboer - Michael Schmidt
The Crisis Hits Home: Strategic Unionism or Revolt? - Lucien van der Walt
Sharpening the Pangas?: Understanding and Preventing future Pogroms - Michael Schmidt
Riding to Work on Empty Promises - Jonathan P. (ZACF)
Africa:
Short-changed: Egyptian Struggle for Democracy Founders on Obama's Stinginess - Michael Schmidt
Massacre as a Tool of the African State - Michael Schmidt
International:
Chile and Haiti after the Earthquakes: so different yet so similar - Jose Antonio Gutierrez D.
Obama's Imperial War: An Anarchist Response - Wayne Price (NEFAC)
Theory:
Anarchism vs Liberalism: Whose Powers are Separate? - James Pendlebury & Sian Byrne (ZACF)
History:
Industrial and Social Foundations of Syndicalism - Michael Schmidt
Counter-Culture
All in the Name of the Beautiful Gain: A ZACF Statement on the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa
Related Link: http://www.zabalaza.net/pdfs/sapams/zab11.pdf
Labels: anarchism, anarchist publications, international anarchist movement, South Africa, Zabalaza
Monday, August 23, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT POLAND:
POLISH SYNDICALISTS PICKET BAR:
It always does my heart good to see anarchists doing something practical. In Poland the anarchosyndicalist (take a deep breath) Zwiazek Syndykalistow Polski (call them ZSP for short) are picketing the Azteca bar in Warsaw because of the illegal and dishonest practices of the owner. Here's the story from their website.
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First Picket at Azteca Bar
On Aug. 20, ZSP held an action at Azteca Bar in Warsaw. We are demanding an end to the deliberate cheating of vulnerable workers in this cafe.
The problems which led to the conflict are the following:
1. The owner of the bar (Jakub Mazur) uses unpaid trial periods for workers. On top of that, he claims that he provides "training" to the workers and estimates the value of this training at 1300 zloties (326 euro). He gives the workers contracts which state that this money will be deducted from their salaries if they do not work a certain period of time. It is approximately one month's salary - for full-time workers, So if somebody works only one month, s/he will receive nothing.
Most of the workers are students, working part time. Our comrade, a high-school student, was earning about 500 zloties a month (125 euros), so this fake "training" would cost people like that almost three months' salary!
2. Besides this, our comrade was fired and the boss illegally withheld over half of the pay for "damages".
3. The boss tries to get students to agree to work illegally, without any contracts at all.
Azteca Bar is located near a student dormitory. These students, many who are poor kids from other cities struggling to study in Warsaw, are often desperate to find any work in a city with high youth unemployment. Work in Azteca Bar may end up for them as a few weeks or months of unpaid or underpaid labour. We therefore warn them against working in these conditions.
We demand that the bar pay our comrade his due salary, stop the practices mentioned above and raise the wages.
During the action, activists from ZSP blocked the cafe, spoke about the work conditions there and handed out leaflets to passersby. The owner of the cafe called the city guards and police who came but nothing happened. We spoke with the owner, who would not answer questions about his illegal practices and just kept repeating that we should send letters in writing to his bookkeeper and take him to court. We explained that we would come even every day to his cafe if we had to. And we will do exactly that today.
ZSP will also prepare some workshops for the students living in the dormitory on their rights as workers and is preparing a new booklet explaining about deductions and fines at the workplace. It is a common problem and, especially in restaurants and cafes we hear a lot about illegal deductions. We would like people to know what is legal and what is not and give them ideas for action to fight against such practices.
First Picket at Azteca Bar
On Aug. 20, ZSP held an action at Azteca Bar in Warsaw. We are demanding an end to the deliberate cheating of vulnerable workers in this cafe.
The problems which led to the conflict are the following:
1. The owner of the bar (Jakub Mazur) uses unpaid trial periods for workers. On top of that, he claims that he provides "training" to the workers and estimates the value of this training at 1300 zloties (326 euro). He gives the workers contracts which state that this money will be deducted from their salaries if they do not work a certain period of time. It is approximately one month's salary - for full-time workers, So if somebody works only one month, s/he will receive nothing.
Most of the workers are students, working part time. Our comrade, a high-school student, was earning about 500 zloties a month (125 euros), so this fake "training" would cost people like that almost three months' salary!
2. Besides this, our comrade was fired and the boss illegally withheld over half of the pay for "damages".
3. The boss tries to get students to agree to work illegally, without any contracts at all.
Azteca Bar is located near a student dormitory. These students, many who are poor kids from other cities struggling to study in Warsaw, are often desperate to find any work in a city with high youth unemployment. Work in Azteca Bar may end up for them as a few weeks or months of unpaid or underpaid labour. We therefore warn them against working in these conditions.
We demand that the bar pay our comrade his due salary, stop the practices mentioned above and raise the wages.
During the action, activists from ZSP blocked the cafe, spoke about the work conditions there and handed out leaflets to passersby. The owner of the cafe called the city guards and police who came but nothing happened. We spoke with the owner, who would not answer questions about his illegal practices and just kept repeating that we should send letters in writing to his bookkeeper and take him to court. We explained that we would come even every day to his cafe if we had to. And we will do exactly that today.
ZSP will also prepare some workshops for the students living in the dormitory on their rights as workers and is preparing a new booklet explaining about deductions and fines at the workplace. It is a common problem and, especially in restaurants and cafes we hear a lot about illegal deductions. We would like people to know what is legal and what is not and give them ideas for action to fight against such practices.
Labels: anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism, international anarchist movement, international labour, labour, Poland, ZSP
Saturday, August 14, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
ANARCHIST STUDIES CONFERENCE:
Here's one for the academically inclined amongst you. The North American Anarchist Studies Network (NAASN) will be holding their annual conference in Toronto next January. I could think of better places on the continent to visit in January given that this is a continent wide network. On the other hand I can think of far worse places like Winnipeg for instance. In any case brush off that dusty old thinking cap and head down TO way early next year. Here's the announcement.
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North American Anarchist Studies Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS!!!
North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference
Toronto, Canada
January 15-16, 2011
Deadline for Proposals: November 1, 2010
The North American Anarchist Studies Network is currently seeking presentations for our second annual conference to be held at the Steel Worker’s Hall in Toronto, Canada. We are seeking submissions from radical academics, independent researchers, community activists, street philosophers and students. We invite those engaged in intellectual work within existing institutions, such as universities, but also those engaged in the production of knowledge beyond institutional walls to share their ongoing work. From the library stacks to the streets, we encourage all those interested in the study of anarchism to submit a proposal.
In keeping with the open and fluid spirit of anarchism, we will not be calling for any specific topics of discussion, but rather are encouraging participants to present on a broad and diverse number of themes- from the historical to the contemporary to the utopian. For inspiration, we have included a number of suggested themes that have been of interest us; we invite you to suggest and submit your own topics, papers, themes, panels and workshops:
* Theorizing Anarchism: Perspectives on Anarchist Studies
* Greening Anarchy: Anarchism and the Environment
* Bridging the Marxist/Anarchist Divide: Is Black and Red Dead?
* Race, Class & Solidarity: Migration Politics
* Indigenous Rights and Politics in (Occupied) North America
* Expanding the Anarchist Canon: Non-Western Anarchism(s)
* The South American ‘New Left’ and Anarchism
* ‘Queering’ Anarchy: Anarchism and LGBTQ Issues
* ‘Revolution’ in the 21st Century: The Meaning of Social Change Today
* Militant Research: Connecting Activism and Academia
* Practicing Anarchy: Organization, Insurrection and Anarchist Social Movements
* Envisioning Alternatives: Anarchist Utopias
* Anarchism and Radical (Dis)ability Politics
* The Greek ‘Crisis’ and Anarchist Responses
* Post-G20 Toronto: Learning from Toronto’s G20 Mobilizations
* Anarchist Cultural Perspectives and Practices
* The Post-Anarchist Challenge?
* Anarchists and Academia: The Perils, Pitfalls and Potentialities of the University
It is our sincere hope that this conference will, to the greatest extent possible, accurately represent the diversity of North American anarchist politics and thought; to that end, we encourage submission(s) in English, French, Spanish and in any other language or on any other topic you feel relevant to this experience and this community.
Send your proposal, including a short abstract, a working title and three keywords that describe your project to the Toronto NAASN Crew at naasntoronto@gmail.com .
For more information on the North America Anarchist Studies Network check out our website at www.naasn.org.
We look forward to hearing from you, organizing with you and, of course, learning from you!
Related Link: http://www.naasn.org
North American Anarchist Studies Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS!!!
North American Anarchist Studies Network Conference
Toronto, Canada
January 15-16, 2011
Deadline for Proposals: November 1, 2010
The North American Anarchist Studies Network is currently seeking presentations for our second annual conference to be held at the Steel Worker’s Hall in Toronto, Canada. We are seeking submissions from radical academics, independent researchers, community activists, street philosophers and students. We invite those engaged in intellectual work within existing institutions, such as universities, but also those engaged in the production of knowledge beyond institutional walls to share their ongoing work. From the library stacks to the streets, we encourage all those interested in the study of anarchism to submit a proposal.
In keeping with the open and fluid spirit of anarchism, we will not be calling for any specific topics of discussion, but rather are encouraging participants to present on a broad and diverse number of themes- from the historical to the contemporary to the utopian. For inspiration, we have included a number of suggested themes that have been of interest us; we invite you to suggest and submit your own topics, papers, themes, panels and workshops:
* Theorizing Anarchism: Perspectives on Anarchist Studies
* Greening Anarchy: Anarchism and the Environment
* Bridging the Marxist/Anarchist Divide: Is Black and Red Dead?
* Race, Class & Solidarity: Migration Politics
* Indigenous Rights and Politics in (Occupied) North America
* Expanding the Anarchist Canon: Non-Western Anarchism(s)
* The South American ‘New Left’ and Anarchism
* ‘Queering’ Anarchy: Anarchism and LGBTQ Issues
* ‘Revolution’ in the 21st Century: The Meaning of Social Change Today
* Militant Research: Connecting Activism and Academia
* Practicing Anarchy: Organization, Insurrection and Anarchist Social Movements
* Envisioning Alternatives: Anarchist Utopias
* Anarchism and Radical (Dis)ability Politics
* The Greek ‘Crisis’ and Anarchist Responses
* Post-G20 Toronto: Learning from Toronto’s G20 Mobilizations
* Anarchist Cultural Perspectives and Practices
* The Post-Anarchist Challenge?
* Anarchists and Academia: The Perils, Pitfalls and Potentialities of the University
It is our sincere hope that this conference will, to the greatest extent possible, accurately represent the diversity of North American anarchist politics and thought; to that end, we encourage submission(s) in English, French, Spanish and in any other language or on any other topic you feel relevant to this experience and this community.
Send your proposal, including a short abstract, a working title and three keywords that describe your project to the Toronto NAASN Crew at naasntoronto@gmail.com .
For more information on the North America Anarchist Studies Network check out our website at www.naasn.org.
We look forward to hearing from you, organizing with you and, of course, learning from you!
Related Link: http://www.naasn.org
Labels: anarchism, anarchist theory, announcements, canadian anarchist movement, conferences, international anarchist movement, North American Anarchist Studies Conference, Toronto
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT RUSSIA:
FREE ALEXEY GASKAROV:
The following appeal for solidarity with Alexey Gaskarov, a political prisoner in Russia, comes originally from the website of the Revolutionary Confederation of Anarchosyndicalists (KRAS). KRAS is the Russian section of the anarchosyndicalist international the IWA-AIT. Molly first saw the following version on the A-Infos site. I have slightly edited what follows for English grammar.
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Russia,
Russia,
LIBERTARIAN ACTIVIST UNDER ARREST NEAR MOSCOW - URGENT SOLIDARITY NEEDED!!!
Date Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:53:51 +0300
-------------------------
On July 29, some people with different political views were arrested. They are suspected of involvement in an protest action in Khimky a city near Moscow the previous day. Among them is a well known libertarian activist and antifascist Alexey Gaskarov. They are charged without any proof of organization of attacks against city administration building. The defendants face up to 7 years of prison on charges of «hooliganism» and organization of mass disorder. New arrests are taking place. It is obvious that the authorities will clearly try to discredit and crush oppositional movements in Russia. ---- We call libertarian and antifascist activists of whole world to show solidarity with arrested anarchist comrade.
What can you do?
1) Send protest faxes and e-mails to this address:
Khimky city court of Moscow Oblast
141400, Khimky
ulica Leningradskaya, 16
fax: (495) 572-83-14
himki.mo@sudrf.ru
To: President of Khimki Court
Mrs. S.B. Galanova
MODEL OF PROTEST LETTER:
At present, your court is examining the case against social activist
Alexey Gaskarov.
Alexey Gaskarov was arrested on July 29 on the street by officers of
«Center E»: in this case, the basic rules of detention under the law
on the police were violated. Hiis apartment was searched in violation
of established procedures, without a warrant, compiling an inventory
of seized property, and without witnesses. Suspicions and accusations
against him (organization of the attack against the city
administration building in Khimky on July 28, 2010) are entirely
groundless, and that manifested itself at the first meeting of the
court. Allegations that he was arrested at the scene in Khimky is a
lie. The so-called witnesses clearly lie and confuse the hearings.
Under these conditions, we can not assess the arrest of Alexey
Gaskarov and this trial other than as a purely political process, and as an
outrageous act of repression and violation of civil rights. We
strongly protest against this lawlessness and intend to organize a
broad international campaign of protests against the new
manifestations of authoritarianism and dictatorial tendencies in
Russia.
We demand the immediate release of Alexey Gaskarov and the dropping of all
charges against him
Name of organization, date, signature
KRAS-AIT
www.aitrus.info
Date Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:53:51 +0300
-------------------------
On July 29, some people with different political views were arrested. They are suspected of involvement in an protest action in Khimky a city near Moscow the previous day. Among them is a well known libertarian activist and antifascist Alexey Gaskarov. They are charged without any proof of organization of attacks against city administration building. The defendants face up to 7 years of prison on charges of «hooliganism» and organization of mass disorder. New arrests are taking place. It is obvious that the authorities will clearly try to discredit and crush oppositional movements in Russia. ---- We call libertarian and antifascist activists of whole world to show solidarity with arrested anarchist comrade.
What can you do?
1) Send protest faxes and e-mails to this address:
Khimky city court of Moscow Oblast
141400, Khimky
ulica Leningradskaya, 16
fax: (495) 572-83-14
himki.mo@sudrf.ru
To: President of Khimki Court
Mrs. S.B. Galanova
MODEL OF PROTEST LETTER:
At present, your court is examining the case against social activist
Alexey Gaskarov.
Alexey Gaskarov was arrested on July 29 on the street by officers of
«Center E»: in this case, the basic rules of detention under the law
on the police were violated. Hiis apartment was searched in violation
of established procedures, without a warrant, compiling an inventory
of seized property, and without witnesses. Suspicions and accusations
against him (organization of the attack against the city
administration building in Khimky on July 28, 2010) are entirely
groundless, and that manifested itself at the first meeting of the
court. Allegations that he was arrested at the scene in Khimky is a
lie. The so-called witnesses clearly lie and confuse the hearings.
Under these conditions, we can not assess the arrest of Alexey
Gaskarov and this trial other than as a purely political process, and as an
outrageous act of repression and violation of civil rights. We
strongly protest against this lawlessness and intend to organize a
broad international campaign of protests against the new
manifestations of authoritarianism and dictatorial tendencies in
Russia.
We demand the immediate release of Alexey Gaskarov and the dropping of all
charges against him
Name of organization, date, signature
KRAS-AIT
www.aitrus.info
Labels: A-Infos, Alexey Gaskarov, anarchism, appeals, international anarchist movement, KRAS., repression, Russia, solidarity.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT SOUTH AFRICA:
ANARCHISM - THE MOVIE:
There's an interesting project brewing down under and a bit to the west. Anarchists in South Africa are planning to film a documentary on anarchism. Not specific incidents or individuals but the whole movement and its history. No doubt their task will be made easier because South African anarchists hardly recognize some of the gross deviations that that word has entertained as "anarchism", and they will concentrate on the 'class struggle' heritage of anarchism. Still... this is quite the ambitious project. I wish them well. Here's their announcement from the website for the project. There is also a pretty much mirror group for the project at Facebook.
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Anarchism: A Documentary
A wide-ranging introduction to anarchist history and ideas, a message of hope and a call to action!
ABOUT
To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive documentary about anarchism has ever been made.
Of the often very dated films on anarchist themes that are available, most either misrepresent anarchism (1981’s pro anarcho-capitalist ‘Anarchism in America’), are focused on specific moments in anarchist history (‘Living Utopia’, ‘The Angry Brigade’, ‘Lucio the Anarchist’, etc), or discuss the wider social justice / alter-globalisation movements (‘Fourth World War’).
Such an absence is unfortunate, for we think that now, more than ever, a broad, accessible documentary introduction to anarchism would be of tremendous value to those of us who wish to share the history, ideas and promise of our diverse, protean movement with a general audience.
Instead of complaining though, we’re just going to knuckle down and make it ourselves…with your help!
We envisage creating, over the next year or so, an engaging, entertaining, relatively mainstream film that will cover – via interviews with prominent anarchists mixed with archival footage, narration, person-on-the-street discussions and explanatory animations – a historical overview of anarchism, an explanation of the core principles (anti-authoritarianism, anti-capitalism, mutual aid…you know the stuff!) and an exploration of all the contrasting but ultimately complementary views held by contemporary anarchists from around the world.
We’d also like to deliver a message of realistic hope and a call for action in this time of social and ecological crisis.
Being long-time anarchists ourselves, we recognise the importance of a supportive community in ensuring our project succeeds in fairly portraying both contemporary and historical anarchism and does not fall prey to personal biases or prejudices. We will thus be communicating openly and honestly with the broad anarchist community about our progress and underlying vision.
More pressingly though, we also recognise the importance of mutual aid and so, even though we’re soliciting it through capitalist channels, we humbly request your modest donations. These will help us with our frugal travel, eating and living expenses, as well as with editing and post-production costs. Those who cannot help financially are more than welcome to offer couches for the night. Shared dinners and good company will also be essential to the completion of this ambitious task we’ve set ourselves, and if you donate some music to the soundtrack we’d be eternally grateful :-)
We eagerly await your participation, your suggestions and your constructive criticisms. We promise to weigh them up fairly as long as you promise not to pepper pie us if, in some cases, we respectfully disagree.
With love and hope,
Steffi, Aragorn ( NOT the North American "Aragorn" by a far stretch-Molly )and friends
LOCATION
Johannesburg, South Africa
Anarchism: A Documentary
A wide-ranging introduction to anarchist history and ideas, a message of hope and a call to action!
ABOUT
To the best of our knowledge, no comprehensive documentary about anarchism has ever been made.
Of the often very dated films on anarchist themes that are available, most either misrepresent anarchism (1981’s pro anarcho-capitalist ‘Anarchism in America’), are focused on specific moments in anarchist history (‘Living Utopia’, ‘The Angry Brigade’, ‘Lucio the Anarchist’, etc), or discuss the wider social justice / alter-globalisation movements (‘Fourth World War’).
Such an absence is unfortunate, for we think that now, more than ever, a broad, accessible documentary introduction to anarchism would be of tremendous value to those of us who wish to share the history, ideas and promise of our diverse, protean movement with a general audience.
Instead of complaining though, we’re just going to knuckle down and make it ourselves…with your help!
We envisage creating, over the next year or so, an engaging, entertaining, relatively mainstream film that will cover – via interviews with prominent anarchists mixed with archival footage, narration, person-on-the-street discussions and explanatory animations – a historical overview of anarchism, an explanation of the core principles (anti-authoritarianism, anti-capitalism, mutual aid…you know the stuff!) and an exploration of all the contrasting but ultimately complementary views held by contemporary anarchists from around the world.
We’d also like to deliver a message of realistic hope and a call for action in this time of social and ecological crisis.
Being long-time anarchists ourselves, we recognise the importance of a supportive community in ensuring our project succeeds in fairly portraying both contemporary and historical anarchism and does not fall prey to personal biases or prejudices. We will thus be communicating openly and honestly with the broad anarchist community about our progress and underlying vision.
More pressingly though, we also recognise the importance of mutual aid and so, even though we’re soliciting it through capitalist channels, we humbly request your modest donations. These will help us with our frugal travel, eating and living expenses, as well as with editing and post-production costs. Those who cannot help financially are more than welcome to offer couches for the night. Shared dinners and good company will also be essential to the completion of this ambitious task we’ve set ourselves, and if you donate some music to the soundtrack we’d be eternally grateful :-)
We eagerly await your participation, your suggestions and your constructive criticisms. We promise to weigh them up fairly as long as you promise not to pepper pie us if, in some cases, we respectfully disagree.
With love and hope,
Steffi, Aragorn ( NOT the North American "Aragorn" by a far stretch-Molly )and friends
LOCATION
Johannesburg, South Africa
Labels: anarchism, Anarchism A Documentary, anarchist films, films, international anarchist movement, South Africa
Sunday, July 18, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT CUBA:
SCREENING OF 'VIVIR LA UTOPIA' IN HAVANA:
Molly received the following event notice from the Movimiento Libertario Cubano a few days ago. As I write this the screening of 'Vivir la Utopia' (Living Utopia) is going on in of all places Havana Cuba. This movie which can be downloaded from either Anticopyright or Anarchopedia (both in Spanish with English subtitles) is a documentary on the Spanish Revolution filmed from an anarchist perspective. I had a look. Quite an interesting movie actually.
Too much shouldn't be made of this. On the surface it might seem that the Cuban dictatorship is losing control of its people even more than it might seem from news reports (concessions to dissidents, etc.). An anarchist film screening in the heart of Havana ! As with many such things, however, what is too good to be true is just that. The sponsoring academic groups, La Càtedra Haydée Santamaría and the Asociación Hermanos Saíz are not anarchist. Whatever they say about "self-management" they appear to be groups of academics who have been given a relatively long leash to "explore" by the Dictatorship. Looks like they are pushing the envelope a bit with this one. With that in mind here's the MLC's announcement.
CACACACACA
Cuban Libertarian Movement
Cuban Libertarian Movement
This Sunday the Libertarian Workshop "Alfredo Lopez of the Chair Haydee Santamaria invites you to:
Soggy - TRIBUTE
"Living utopia: 74 years after the beginning of social revolution in Spain "
In July 1936, 74 years ago, the so called " Spanish Civil War" , started, "a term by which some have tried to erase the memory of a deep popular and proletarian social revolution carried out by urban and rural workers' collectives , women's organizations , etc. , inspired by the libertarian principles of horizontal organization and direct action , deeply rooted in the popular work of anarcho-syndicalism and the dense network of legendary " affinity groups "of anarchists , which crystallized in the alliance of the Iberian Anarchist Federation and the National Confederation of Labour Central ( FAI- CNT) in the 60 years prior to 1936.
The documentary "Living Utopia "(1997) collects through the memory of thirty protagonists the massive social reconstruction efforts meant by the organization in agricultural collectives of around 7 million peasants , about 3,000 self-managed factories and enterprises in a network and , the organization of almost 150 000 anarchist militants fighting a war against the army of Franco.
We look forward to your positive energy .
________________________________________
DATE: 18/07/2010 / TIME : 2:00 PM / LOCATION: # 69 # 12 806 E/128 And MARIANAO 128B (from the corner of the Plaza de Marianao , 5 blocks inside and 2 to the right) .
Soggy - TRIBUTE
"Living utopia: 74 years after the beginning of social revolution in Spain "
In July 1936, 74 years ago, the so called " Spanish Civil War" , started, "a term by which some have tried to erase the memory of a deep popular and proletarian social revolution carried out by urban and rural workers' collectives , women's organizations , etc. , inspired by the libertarian principles of horizontal organization and direct action , deeply rooted in the popular work of anarcho-syndicalism and the dense network of legendary " affinity groups "of anarchists , which crystallized in the alliance of the Iberian Anarchist Federation and the National Confederation of Labour Central ( FAI- CNT) in the 60 years prior to 1936.
The documentary "Living Utopia "(1997) collects through the memory of thirty protagonists the massive social reconstruction efforts meant by the organization in agricultural collectives of around 7 million peasants , about 3,000 self-managed factories and enterprises in a network and , the organization of almost 150 000 anarchist militants fighting a war against the army of Franco.
We look forward to your positive energy .
________________________________________
DATE: 18/07/2010 / TIME : 2:00 PM / LOCATION: # 69 # 12 806 E/128 And MARIANAO 128B (from the corner of the Plaza de Marianao , 5 blocks inside and 2 to the right) .
Labels: anarchism, anarchist films, Cuba, Cuban Libertarian Movement, events, films, international anarchist movement, Vivir La Utopia
Friday, July 09, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT GREECE:
HANDS OFF THE LELAS KARAGIANNI 37 SQUAT:
Across the industrialized world various cities have become like Swiss cheese...full of holes. The "holes", of course, are the numerous abandoned buildings that sprout up like mushrooms as houses and businesses in 'depressed' neighbourhoods are left derelict. At the same time increasing numbers of people are finding themselves homeless in the face of higher and higher costs of housing. It would seem like a good fit; put the homeless people in the tenantless buildings. That, however, is not the way it works in societies where housing is seen not as a basic human right but rather as either a profit making enterprise or the subject of empire building by government social "service" agencies.
In some countries this has led to a mass movement of "squatting" where abandoned buildings are taken over and occupied by self managing tenants. This is especially prominent in Europe where while food may be cheap in a North American sense accommodation is quite expensive. It hardly registers as a 'blip' in Canada for various reasons. One is that any unauthorized occupancy is much more fully "criminalized" here, and the police move much faster on any squatters who, in any case, are the margin of the marginals and lack the political savvy (or maybe any savvy) of the European squatters. Another is that there are six months of the year in which if utilities are cut off any premises become completely unlivable for anyone but wilderness campers. Most homeless people can't afford -40 degree sleeping bags. God knows that my own city of Winnipeg may be the 'derelict building capital of Canada' (it's been commented on by none other than the Globe & Mail), and there are probably enough abandoned buildings in this city alone to house all homeless people in the whole country. God knows, however, that moving to Winnipeg would hardly be popular. That simple sensible solution is not, however, the way it works.
In Europe squatting is a political movement, and it has been far harder for European states to suppress it than it has been here. See Squat Net for general news. In southern Europe squatting has become widespread, and in countries such as Greece it has become part and parcel of the anarchist subculture. Not that I approve of such subcultures as they simultaneously build solidarity amongst their adherents and grievously divide them from others making any outreach immensely difficult. No free lunch here. An anarchist "alternative" is very obviously not a generalization of the norms of a small subculture to the general society no matter how the self-regarding tunnel vision of the subculturists may imagine it to be so. Still...the act of squatting points the way to another vision of housing that is different from that of a profit driven society or government directed "charity".
In Greece one of the oldest squats, that at Lelas Karagianni 37 (established 1988) has been under attack the other day. Here's the story from the Occupied London Blog.
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HANDS OFF THE LELAS KARAGIANNI 37 SQUAT
In a period of intensification of social and class antagonism due to the generalised attack of state and capital on even the most elementary interests and rights of the workers the unemployed and the youth, and during the attempt to raise social and political defences, repression is intensified by targeting, threatening and attacking people in struggle and spaces of struggle.
On the night of July 8th at 2 a.m., only a few hours before the general strike demonstration some heavy police units surrounded without any obvious pretext the occupied building of 37, Lelas Karagianni Street in the Athens neighbourhood of Kipseli – and blocked off the surrounding streets. The Occupation was put under a condition of siege, threatened for many hours with a police raid, while an order had been issued for the arrest of anyone who would attempt to exit or enter the occupied building. Police checked and even detained many passers-by, neighbours or others who just happened to be in the streets around the occupation.
Finally the tight siege ended with the withdrawal of the police forces at 5 a.m., as suddenly as it had started.
Regardless of the undeclared targets and planning of this police operation, the fact is that yet another space of struggle and yet another group of people in struggle was targeted by state repression and terrorism. An occupation which during its entire 22 years always stood steadily within the ranks of the wider anarchist/anti-authoritarian struggle and always on the side of all the social-class struggles of the exploited and repressed people.
For this reason the night-time repressive operation of July 8th against this particular occupation had some wider targets and comprises part of the wider state repression aiming at terrorising and attacking anti-authoritarian struggle and more widely, the social struggles of our time.
And even if this particular repressive operation folded it nevertheless showed the aggressive tendencies and the terrorising methods employed by the state against the self-organised nuclei of struggle, such as occupations, which during this period are particularly important and useful in their support and contribution to the development of collective resistances, both on a more central level as much as in the neighbourhoods of the city.
It is for this reason that despite the very late time [at which the attack against the occupation was launched] there was an enormous struggle interest and tens of comrades were mobilised, expressing their solidarity availability to the besieged occupation on the night of July 8th.
TERRORISM SHALL NOT PASS – HANDS OFF THE OCCUPATIONS
AGAINST STATE AND CAPITALIST BARBARITY, LET’S PREMISE SELF-ORGANISATION, SOLIDARITY AND OUR COLLECTIVE RESISTANCES
Occupation of Lelas Karagianni 37
Friday July 9th, 2010
More Info:
http://www.facebook.com/l/98dc0ZfKjqkqj496sno2kq8uEQw;www.squathost.com/lelas_k/
http://www.facebook.com/l/98dc0dpEQPnjeKMWaleKCafuzgw;athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1191859
http://www.facebook.com/l/98dc0bJePLKXABarl37CwP49yTw;www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2010/07/10/330-statement-by-the-lelas-karagianni-squat-in-athens-regarding-the-reppresive-operation-against-it/
HANDS OFF THE LELAS KARAGIANNI 37 SQUAT
In a period of intensification of social and class antagonism due to the generalised attack of state and capital on even the most elementary interests and rights of the workers the unemployed and the youth, and during the attempt to raise social and political defences, repression is intensified by targeting, threatening and attacking people in struggle and spaces of struggle.
On the night of July 8th at 2 a.m., only a few hours before the general strike demonstration some heavy police units surrounded without any obvious pretext the occupied building of 37, Lelas Karagianni Street in the Athens neighbourhood of Kipseli – and blocked off the surrounding streets. The Occupation was put under a condition of siege, threatened for many hours with a police raid, while an order had been issued for the arrest of anyone who would attempt to exit or enter the occupied building. Police checked and even detained many passers-by, neighbours or others who just happened to be in the streets around the occupation.
Finally the tight siege ended with the withdrawal of the police forces at 5 a.m., as suddenly as it had started.
Regardless of the undeclared targets and planning of this police operation, the fact is that yet another space of struggle and yet another group of people in struggle was targeted by state repression and terrorism. An occupation which during its entire 22 years always stood steadily within the ranks of the wider anarchist/anti-authoritarian struggle and always on the side of all the social-class struggles of the exploited and repressed people.
For this reason the night-time repressive operation of July 8th against this particular occupation had some wider targets and comprises part of the wider state repression aiming at terrorising and attacking anti-authoritarian struggle and more widely, the social struggles of our time.
And even if this particular repressive operation folded it nevertheless showed the aggressive tendencies and the terrorising methods employed by the state against the self-organised nuclei of struggle, such as occupations, which during this period are particularly important and useful in their support and contribution to the development of collective resistances, both on a more central level as much as in the neighbourhoods of the city.
It is for this reason that despite the very late time [at which the attack against the occupation was launched] there was an enormous struggle interest and tens of comrades were mobilised, expressing their solidarity availability to the besieged occupation on the night of July 8th.
TERRORISM SHALL NOT PASS – HANDS OFF THE OCCUPATIONS
AGAINST STATE AND CAPITALIST BARBARITY, LET’S PREMISE SELF-ORGANISATION, SOLIDARITY AND OUR COLLECTIVE RESISTANCES
Occupation of Lelas Karagianni 37
Friday July 9th, 2010
More Info:
http://www.facebook.com/l/98dc0ZfKjqkqj496sno2kq8uEQw;www.squathost.com/lelas_k/
http://www.facebook.com/l/98dc0dpEQPnjeKMWaleKCafuzgw;athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1191859
http://www.facebook.com/l/98dc0bJePLKXABarl37CwP49yTw;www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/2010/07/10/330-statement-by-the-lelas-karagianni-squat-in-athens-regarding-the-reppresive-operation-against-it/
Labels: anarchism, Greece, international anarchist movement, Lelas Karagianni 37 Squat, Occupied London Blog, repression, squats, squatting
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT- GREECE:
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH:
The events in Greece continue along with the anarchist response there, a response that I have often characterized on this blog as "inadequate". Perhaps "immature" would be a better word. Despite the great rebelliousness of the Greek population the anarchists there generally have little to offer beyond...more rebellion. this is immensely sad. Looking across the world Greece may be the second country after Spain where anarchism is most popular on a per capita basis. Travelling through downtown Athens you might even get the illusion that anarchism was more popular than in places such as Barcelona. I've been in both. The difference, and it is a great and profound difference, an essential difference, is that in Spain the majoritarian anarchist tradition is anarcho-syndicalist. This means that anarchism has sunk deep roots amongst ordinary people, and that anarchism speaks to their concerns and not to people whose primary identification is with a subculture. This means that anarchism in Spain is inherently less "flashy" but much more profound and practical for its lack of visible "difference".
Not that I don't admire the Greeks. When visiting that country I was privileged to meet with anarchosyndicalists and members of the 'Anti-Authoritarian Movement'. The former, however, are small and marginal amongst Greek anarchists. Hopefully it will not always be so. The latter are gradually struggling towards a class based politics and a program that is detailed enough to appeal beyond a subculture of rebellion. This subculture is, it must be admitted, a considerable cut above that that is so common in the 'anglosphere', especially the USA. There is none of the usual nonsense about how to dress, what to eat, what music to listen to (more or less) nor how to talk (politically correct speech). Still, while it may be admirable in comparison it is still...an incestuous subculture. Many Greek anarchists recognize this, and they also know that what has been offered so far is simply not enough to draw the ordinary person to their side.
The problem in Greece is that this evolution towards a "popular anarchism" is inhibited by a form of anarchism, "autonomism" which actually derives from Maoist roots and is under the great illusion that one can precipitate some sort of libertarian revolution without either organization nor program by simple violent actions. Autonomism is a particularly European example of the decay of Maoism 9and the idea of "peoples' war" applied to urban settings) that has very little echoes today outside of Greece, Italy and Germany. It is in Greece that it is most prominent.
This "deviation" (to use an old commie term) has always inhibited the Greek movement insofar as its addiction to mindless violence has both disgraced anarchism in the view of the average person and also diverted the majority of the movement into something resembling a "competition of militancy" whereby they hope to compete with the firebombers.
Firebombers !!! Arson in an urban setting is pretty well always a very stupid idea. Here in North America the stupidity is compounded by the fact such arsons are pretty well inevitably connected to nothing more than the desire of the perpetrators to prove how committed and "enlightened" they are. Even when there is a "real" issue that doesn't involve arrogance bordering on psychopathology such as "hating porn stores" (Canada) or the people who drive SUVs (USA) arson very rarely (never ???) accomplishes anything. Even if you are making a "class point" against the ruling class - such as firebombing banks- it accomplishes nothing.
It is also very bad propaganda. What it says very plainly is that you don't give a shit about what has euphemistically called "collateral damage" which is always a possibility when fires are started in urban areas. Don't depend on the fire departments to be omnipotent. In Greece this possibility has become a reality as three bank workers were killed by a fire started by protesters in recent demonstrations. There have been all sorts of "excuses" for this. Some "anarchists" have echoed the commies and the vague leftists of the Coalition of the Radical Left by trying to blame the incident on agents provocateurs. This is nonsense. Others have tried to shift the blame to the management of the bank who (literally) locked the workers in. This, at least, has some truth to it, but it avoids the ultimate question. EVERY TIME when you start a fire in an urban area (and often in a rural area) there is the possibility of the death of innocent people. Greece has certainly seen enough of this sort of arson (with deaths) in recent years carried out by people who intend to redevelop land. It's a sad commentary on the "anarchism" of some people that they should imitate the actions of the lowest and most criminal of the business class.
No doubt there are some who are hardened ideologues, once more particularly in the USA, who call themselves "insurrectionist anarchists" who do their damnest to excuse such actions-or at least to argue against how atrocious they are. In Greece this "struggle for the soul of anarchism" has been going on for many years. Those who think that terrorist options are the best way to proceed have not been sparing in also physically attacking attacking other anarchists who disagree with them, and once more arson has been one of their methods.
What should be made plain here and now is that the semi-religious devotion to "a diversity of tactics" here in North America can result in obvious disaster. The demand that there be no criticism of any action no matter how foolish is preliminary to physical attacks on those who dissent. Such attacks have already happened in Canada and the USA.
Quite frankly it hardly matters in the cosmic scheme of things if totalitarians disguised as anarchists want to attack those who disagree with theatrical "mini-riots" involving a few dozen people. Nor if they physically assault somebody who has dissented from the "vegan cult". The world moves on. It does, however, matter when important issues such as those in Greece are in play.
The great point that I want to make here is not to those who are ideologically convinced that one riot after another will lead to a libertarian society (or at least convinced for 5 1/2 years until they either mature or find a way to make money out of the nonsense). I speak here to those who have been convinced by the rhetoric of "diversity of tactics". Such suspension of disbelief may be all well and good when an action will have no visible consequences ie all "anti" protests so favoured by the "travelling anarchist rent-a-riot". It is a totally different matter when the destiny of a nation is being determined. People in Greece are desperately attempting to make anarchism relevant for ordinary people. You have two choices for your "solidarity". You can be in solidarity with the Greek anarchists who want to make anarchism a living and practical reality or you can be in "solidarity" with those who have both frustrated their project in the past and also physically attacked them. The choice is clear.
The following , from the Anarkismo website, is one out of many self criticisms from within the Greek anarchist movement about the events that led to the deaths of the three workers. What is significant here is that the criticism comes from within, and it proposes the question of "who" you are in solidarity with. It's obvious what side I have chosen. To echo Martin Luther..."here I stand, I can do no other".
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An anarchist comrade from Athens:
Enough is enough
Let us shout it out loud and if they do not hear it let us show it with our actions: Enough is enough.
On the 5th of May, we lived the chronicle of three pre-destined deaths. Unfortunately, the belief that we had for the longest time that it is only a matter of time before we mourn the first victims of indiscriminate violence, came true. Unfortunately, lives had to be lost in order to hear or read from some of the collectives of the movement, albeit timidly, albeit vaguely, the first allusions of criticism for the nihilistic culture of violence. Unfortunately, some still continue to hide behind their finger, focusing on those that bear the moral instead of the actual responsibility, on the results of the murderous act and not the reasons behind it.
Let's show the courage and the sincerity that (must) characterize a revolutionary/liberating movement and let's talk about the gist of the matter. If the death of the three people was proven to be the result of a targeted action by the far right, would they focus on the - anyway criminal and inhuman - stance of the management of the bank? But even if this was the case, the below are fully in effect.
The tolerance that has been shown for the longest time by a part of the anarchist movement to the proponents of indiscriminate violence is the beginning of any (self-) criticism. All those that, for many years, acted virtually undisturbed, in the same monotonous, dangerous, destructive and provocative ways, next and inside our blocks, should have been isolated, instead of being described on hindsight, generally and vaguely as "agents provocateur" or "gang-members", without any analysis whatsoever on how we ended up in this situation accompanying those characterizations. This can still take place though and work as a kind of catharsis. All these years when anyone tried to distance themselves from phenomena of indiscriminate violence, or from mass - armed or not - violence, was thought as setting themselves apart, was jeered or attacked. So is it not positive that even now, even vaguely, voices against the practice of violence for the sake of violence are being heard? Maybe it is and maybe it isnʼt. Only time will tell.
The more our critique of the phenomenon remains hazy and without supporting evidence, the less persuasive it becomes. The effortless characterization of "agents provocateur" is insufficient mainly because it is too general. With this general condemnation you do not expose the crux of the matter. You only avoid to answer questions such as those that follow, ones that we need to answer with clarity and also look into the results of a sterile "insurrectional" oratory and the even more sterile and dangerous practices that originate from this oratory. As agents provocateur can act not only a sad gang of ego-centric malcontents, but a state-sponsored gang on designated duty as well, if we judge the acts only in relation to their results. But is such a judgment suitable for us to adopt? No, because the revolutionary expression is rational, clear, acute and examines the causes of each phenomena. No, because at this point we need to be direct and act accordingly. No, because such a critique characterizes Authority and the crutches that prop it up. They are the ones who are used to give a fuzzy explanation and leave it at that. But if you are indeed seeking to prick the boil of violence, your discourse against blind violence needs to be concise and consistent at all times. Your actions, even more so. Otherwise, any abstract verbal distance one may try to keep from those gangs and their actions will not be believable. And moreover, they do not help in the spreading of the anti-authoritarian word. Even if one is not diachronically consistent, the change of attitude and course - if it is sincere - has to be followed with arguments and self-criticism, to avoid becoming opportunism. The questions we talked about earlier are many. If they were a state-sponsored gang, why did we not break them up during the rally? Were we caught with our pants around our ankles? Obviously not, since they act the same way for years on end. But then the question becomes why we have not done so all those years. Our reflexes against state gangs and secret policemen have not been blunted that much, so our inactivity is not justified. Perhaps the reflexes of some of us have been blunted towards gangs that hijack anarchist and anti-authoritarian ideology to play their little games to our detriment.
Let's dispense with the jokes, the convenient excuses and reasoning. We watch the same play for years on end. A part of the movement was accepting for many years the brainless partisans of violence for violence's sake, the proponents of window-smashing, providing them with an ideological basis for their actions. The rest either reacted spasmodically, or put up with them, or awaited a fateful event in order to react. Let it be understood that their murderous stupidity has cost human lives. We are not talking anymore about immaturity and ideological fixations; we are talking about a crime. They are the perpetrators. The anarchist and the social movement in general has paid dearly the fad and the autism of a few cowards and those that supported their actions with their so-called 'insurrectionist' oratory, believing that the social struggle against the State and Power is undertaken by a few insurrectionary types in society's absence and is limited to broken glass or whatever mobilizes the police for a stone-throwing war. With them and their practices, anarchy has nothing in common. Enough discredit, enough backward steps. The conflict will be multi-level and massed. Targeted and conscious.
The very moment that an entire square demanded furiously "Burn this brothel, the parliament", the very moment that hundreds of thousands were on the streets to clash with totalitarianism, the very moment that life is taken away from us, this moment the anti-violence to the violence of Power must at all costs shed this weight. This though, from now on, even belatedly we need to prove that it is a fact. For starters, we can do what people are talking among themselves: organize immediately a rally and protest march against indiscriminate violence. This will act as a rallying beacon for the movement, will make known our position towards society and maybe become the starting point of setting the score straight with the aforementioned autism.
Let us shout it out loud and if they do not hear it let us show it with our actions: Enough is enough.
Labels: anarchism, anarkismo.net, class, current events, Greece, insurrectionism, international anarchist movement, subcultures, tactics
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS:
ANARCHIST VOICES MAGAZINE:
Molly doesn't hold to strict ideological lines in terms of her politics, no matter what it may seem to be from the majority of the posts at this blog. Am I an individualist with collectivist sympathies ? Or am I rather a collectivist with individualist sympathies ? It depends on the day. Personally I think this is wisdom as anarchism should not restrict itself to either any particular issue, mode of action or 'end goal' in terms of economics. So...here's another publication I like, this one from the individualist side of the the anarchist community. Anarchist Voices Magazine has brought out their first online edition. Check it out. Authors include Larry Gambone, Richard Livermore, Peter Good, Richard Griffen, Colin Johnson, Chris Butler, Steve Booth and Padi Phillips. Also, as blasts from the past Michael E. Coughlin and Colin Ward. Good for opening minds. Look to the above link for what it's all about, how to subscribe and a link to the pdf of the latest issue.
Labels: anarchism, anarchist publications, Anarchist Voices, individualism, international anarchist movement
Sunday, May 02, 2010
ANARCHIST PUBLICATIONS:
ANNOUNCING 'ESPECIFISTA':
As anarchism grows more and more popular across the world the desire to have a more coherent and effectively organized movement grows as well. Here's more evidence of the latter from the Amanecer group in California who are bring out a new journal 'Especifista'. Here's the announcement from the Anarkismo website.
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ESPECIFISTA #1 is out!
ESPECIFISTA #1 is out!
A publication by Amanecer
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Amanecer: For a Popular Anarchism is proud to present the first issue of its publication - Especifista.
Especifista is a sporadic publication by Amanecer: For a Popular Anarchism. Especifista aims to start a conversation with those involved in different struggles, be in the community, in labor or any other, about the roots of society’s ills, the possibility of fundamental change and how we can achieve it.
Especifista is a publication by anarchists, that is to say, people who believe that society should be organized in a manner that provides for all based on their needs, and where the power and decisions flow from the bottom up, in a real democratic way.
We selected the name Especifista because it best describes our political perspective.
Especifismo is a practice of anarchism originated in South America, and first theorized by the Federacción Anarquista Uruguaya in the 1950’s.
With other parallels in the anarchist movement, it is based on the idea the anarchists should primarily be involved in the struggles of the people, not to control them but to preserve their democratic and radical character. This is called social insertion, and comes from the belief that popular movements are not only the hands of revolution, they are also its brain.
Anarchists should organize into their own, specifically anarchist organization to theorize and strategize about their involvement in the social movements and to learn from them.
The organization of anarchists should also be a voice for the principles of solidarity, democracy and anti-capitalism in the popular movements.
With Especifista, we aim to add to the voices that continue to promote these principles inside social movements.
For contact, please e-mail us at especifista@gmail.com
Related Link: http://especifista.wordpress.com/
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Amanecer: For a Popular Anarchism is proud to present the first issue of its publication - Especifista.
Especifista is a sporadic publication by Amanecer: For a Popular Anarchism. Especifista aims to start a conversation with those involved in different struggles, be in the community, in labor or any other, about the roots of society’s ills, the possibility of fundamental change and how we can achieve it.
Especifista is a publication by anarchists, that is to say, people who believe that society should be organized in a manner that provides for all based on their needs, and where the power and decisions flow from the bottom up, in a real democratic way.
We selected the name Especifista because it best describes our political perspective.
Especifismo is a practice of anarchism originated in South America, and first theorized by the Federacción Anarquista Uruguaya in the 1950’s.
With other parallels in the anarchist movement, it is based on the idea the anarchists should primarily be involved in the struggles of the people, not to control them but to preserve their democratic and radical character. This is called social insertion, and comes from the belief that popular movements are not only the hands of revolution, they are also its brain.
Anarchists should organize into their own, specifically anarchist organization to theorize and strategize about their involvement in the social movements and to learn from them.
The organization of anarchists should also be a voice for the principles of solidarity, democracy and anti-capitalism in the popular movements.
With Especifista, we aim to add to the voices that continue to promote these principles inside social movements.
For contact, please e-mail us at especifista@gmail.com
Related Link: http://especifista.wordpress.com/
Labels: American anarchist movement, anarchism, anarchist publications, anarkismo.net, announcements, Especifista, international anarchist movement
Friday, April 16, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-RUSSIA:
FRAME UP IN SIBERIA:
There are many countries in the world where it is tough to be an anarchist, but Russia may hold some special place in this line-up. Of course it is hard to be anything that has a different opinion than the rulers in Russia. Here's a case in point from the Russian Avtonom website, a story and an appeal for solidarity with a falsely accused Siberian anarchist. the following has been slightly edited for English grammar.
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A frameup against anarchist in Tyumen, Siberia
In evening of 14th of April officers of Center of Counteraction Against Extremism (“Center E”) in Tyumen region searched a house and arrested for 48 hours a local anarchist and member of Autonomous Action Andrey Kutuzov. According to friends of Andrey, the pretext of the arrest was a leaflet, which Center E officers considered “extremist”. Friends of Andrey say that leaflet was planted during the search. Andrey Kutuzov and Rustam Fahretdninov were arrested in January of 2009 for “political vandalism”, eventually criminal case against them was closed due to “lack of proof”. This history resulted a criminal case against officers of “Center E”, who back then beat up one of the arrested.
Last year, three houses were searched and the pretext of the repression was an anti-militarist leaflet and graffiti against a local military call-up center, wheatpasting against police brutality in spring of 2008 and a memorial action for Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova 21st on January 2009, where besides flowers a leaflet was also wheatpasted to the memorial statue of revolutionaries in the city. Back then, “Center E” officers were searching homes together with SOBR commandos. Computers, samizdat press and leaflets against police brutality were confiscated.
Last year, for many hours “Center E” denied the arrest, disinforming friends and family of the arrested. Eventually criminal case against Andrey Kutuzov and Rustam Fahretdinov were dropped only in August of 2009.
And now Andrey is again targeted by “Center E”, which is going maverick. Andrey is a linguist, working in the philological faculty of the Tyumen state university.
Please call Center of Counteraction Against Extremism in Tyumen region to ask what are they up to: +7-3452-31-25-88 – Ravil Solimovich Mukhamadulin
Press-center of the local police department: +7-3452-79-30-12
translation to Esperanto: http://jan-tiana.livejournal.com/66139.html
A frameup against anarchist in Tyumen, Siberia
In evening of 14th of April officers of Center of Counteraction Against Extremism (“Center E”) in Tyumen region searched a house and arrested for 48 hours a local anarchist and member of Autonomous Action Andrey Kutuzov. According to friends of Andrey, the pretext of the arrest was a leaflet, which Center E officers considered “extremist”. Friends of Andrey say that leaflet was planted during the search. Andrey Kutuzov and Rustam Fahretdninov were arrested in January of 2009 for “political vandalism”, eventually criminal case against them was closed due to “lack of proof”. This history resulted a criminal case against officers of “Center E”, who back then beat up one of the arrested.
Last year, three houses were searched and the pretext of the repression was an anti-militarist leaflet and graffiti against a local military call-up center, wheatpasting against police brutality in spring of 2008 and a memorial action for Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova 21st on January 2009, where besides flowers a leaflet was also wheatpasted to the memorial statue of revolutionaries in the city. Back then, “Center E” officers were searching homes together with SOBR commandos. Computers, samizdat press and leaflets against police brutality were confiscated.
Last year, for many hours “Center E” denied the arrest, disinforming friends and family of the arrested. Eventually criminal case against Andrey Kutuzov and Rustam Fahretdinov were dropped only in August of 2009.
And now Andrey is again targeted by “Center E”, which is going maverick. Andrey is a linguist, working in the philological faculty of the Tyumen state university.
Please call Center of Counteraction Against Extremism in Tyumen region to ask what are they up to: +7-3452-31-25-88 – Ravil Solimovich Mukhamadulin
Press-center of the local police department: +7-3452-79-30-12
translation to Esperanto: http://jan-tiana.livejournal.com/66139.html
Labels: anarchism, Andrey Kutuzov, Avtonom, frame-ups, international anarchist movement, repression, Russia, solidarity.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
SPEAKING OF MAKHNO:
Speaking of Makhno... here's an update from the Nestor Makhno Archives about the latest on their site.
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Nestor Makhno Archive - update
The Nestor Makhno Archive has finally had a long-overdue update, with the addition of over 70 new documents in Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, English, French, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Macedonian, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian.
Major additions are made to the Italian and Spanish sections, and we have also added Nick Heath's excellent selection of biographies of some Makhnovists to the English section, along Vyacheslav Azarov's fine study of the Makhnovist connection with the Kronstadt Revolt.
Also included are the first translation of the Organizational Platform into Croatian and revised translations in Italian and Czech.
As usual, all contributions of documents for inclusion, suggestions etc. are gratefully received.
In solidarity,
Nestor McNab
web-maintainer
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NEW ON THE ARCHIVE SINCE LAST UPDATE
Arabic:
•The Anarchist Revolution, Nestor Makhno
Bulgarian:
•Октомври 1917, Пьотр Аршинов
•Нестор Махно, Анархистическа група “Васил Икономов”
•Биографични данни за участници в махновското движение, Анархистическа група “Васил Икономов”
•Махновщината и Анархизмът, Революционната въстаническа армия на Украйна (Махновци)
Croatian:
•Organizacijska platforma Sveopćeg saveza anarhista (nacrt), Grupa ruskih anarhista u inozemstvu
Czech:
•Organizační platforma všeobecného svazu anarchistů (návrh), Skupina ruských anarchistů v zahraničí [revidovaný překlad]
•Organizační platforma světového svazu anarchistů, Skupina ruských anarchistů v zahraničí
•Bouřlivák: Anatolij Železňakov, Paul Avrich
•Anarchisté za mřížemi (léto 1921), Gaston Leval
English:
•The Kronstadt Revolt - the Gulyai-Pole Connection, Vyacheslav Azarov
•Living my life (extracts), Emma Goldman
•The Makhno Movement and Opposition within the Party, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Gabriel Cohn-Bendit
•Leah Feldman, Workers Solidarity
•Piotr Arshinov, Nick Heath
•Iosif Izaakovitch Gutman, Nick Heath
•David Kogan, Nick Heath
•Trofim Yakovlevich Vdovichenko, Nick Heath
•Avraam Budanov, Nick Heath
•Ossip Tsebry, Nick Heath
•Dermenzhi, Nick Heath
•1921: The Maslakov mutiny and the Makhnovists on the Don, Nick Heath
•The Brothers Parkhomenko, Nick Heath
•Zhivoder, Nick Heath
•Simeon Pravda, Nick Heath
•Ivanyuk, Nick Heath
•Mikhail Brova, Nick Heath
•Lev Nikolaevich Zadov (Zinkovsky), Nick Heath
•Olga Ilyinichna Taratuta, Nick Heath
•Viktor Fedorovich Belash, Nick Heath
•Grigor Kobets: The Makhnovist playwright, Nick Heath
•Secret Order No.96/s, Trotsky
French:
•L'anarchisme et notre époque, Nestor Makhno [Traduction révisée]
•Notre organisation, Nestor Makhno [Traduction révisée]
•La Synthèse Anarchiste, Voline
Greek:
•Παλαιά και νέα στοιχεία στον αναρχισμό (Μια απάντηση στη Μαρία Isidine), Πιοτρ Αρσίνοφ
Hungarian:
•A Kronstadti felkelés emlékére, Nyesztor Mahno
•A forradalmi fegyelemrõl, Nyesztor Mahno
•Nyílt levél a spanyol anarchistákhoz, Nyesztor Mahno
Italian:
•Piattaforma Organizzativa dell'Unione Generale degli Anarchici (Bozza), Gruppo degli anarchici russi all'estero [traduzione revisionata]
•Supplemento alla "Piattaforma Organizzativa": domande e risposte, Gruppo degli Anarchici Russi all'Estero
•L'Anarchismo e la nostra epoca, Nestor Makhno
•La nostra organizzazione, Nestor Makhno
•Sulla disciplina rivoluzionaria, Nestor Makhno
•Sulla questione della difesa della Rivoluzione, Nestor Makhno
•Al Congresso della Union Anarchiste Communiste Révolutionnaire, Nestor Makhno
•Il problema dell'organizzazione e la nozione di sintesi, Gruppo degli Anarchici Russi all'Estero
•Una sintesi anarchica, Volin
•Risposta ai confusionari dell'Anarchismo ed alla "Replica alla Piattaforma" firmata da alcuni anarchici russi, Gruppo degli Anarchici Russi all'Estero
•Il vecchio ed il nuovo nell'Anarchismo, Petr Aršinov
•Organizzazione e Partito, Maria Isidine
•Vecchi retaggi e novità nell'anarchismo, Petr Aršinov
•Ancora sulla "responsabilità collettiva": qualche precisazione, Il Gruppo del XVIII° dell'Union Anarchiste Communiste Révolutionnaire
•Bozza di dichiarazione del 1919, Esercito Insorto Rivoluzionario (Makhnovista) dell'Ucraina
Macedonian:
•Први Мај: Симбол на една нова ера во животот и подвигот на работниците, Нестор Махно
Russian:
•Морское Гуляйполе, Вячеслав Азаров
•Махно в Париже, Л. Никулин
Spanish:
•El Abecedario del anarquista revolucionario, Nestor Makhno
•¿Guerra o revolución? La Batalla de Alexandrovsk - Enero de 1918, Nestor Makhno
•El poder "soviético", su presente y su futuro, Nestor Makhno
•La Makhnovtchina y el antisemitismo, Nestor Makhno
•Lenin y el leninismo, ¿guías del proletariado mundial?, Nestor Makhno
•Los caminos del poder "proletario", Nestor Makhno
•Nuestra organización, Nestor Makhno [nueva traducción]
•Proyecto de declaración adoptado por el Soviet Revolucionario Militar, en su reunión del 20 de Octubre de 1919, Ejército Insurrecional Revolucionario de Ucraina (Makhnovista)
•Por el X aniversario del movimiento insurrecional Makhnovista en Ucraina, Nestor Makhno
•Unas palabras de los Makhnovistas a los trabajadores cosacos del Don y del Kuban, Ejército Revolucionario Insurrecional de Ucrania (Makhnovista)
•Camaradas campesinos, Ejército Revolucionario Insurreccional de Ucrania (Makhnovchina)
•Abajo el combate fratricida, Insurgentes makhnovistas
•Memorias de un partisano Makhnovista, Ossip Tsebry
Ukrainian:
•"Махновщина", пісня
Related Link: http://www.nestormakhno.info
Labels: anarchism, international anarchist movement, Nestor Makhno Archive, Nestor makhno., online libraries
Monday, March 29, 2010
INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-PORTUGAL:
SOLIDARITY WITH THE 'LISBON 11':
The following appeal for solidarity with Portuguese anarchists facing charges from a demonstration three years ago (and you thought the Canadian courts moved slowly ) came to Molly's attention via the Winnipeg Wobbly Blog.
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International Call for Solidarity: Support the 11 of Lisbon!
On the 25th of April of 2007, an anti-authoritarian demonstration against fascism and capitalism took place in downtown Lisbon, protesting against the growing influence of fascist groups in Portugal and the attempt to rehabilitate the figure of the former dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar. Several books about Salazar came out back then and a Museum was to be opened in Santa Comba Dão, the place where the dictator was born. A television contest, designed to boost nationalistic and chauvinistic attitudes among the Portuguese people, actually managed to elect Salazar as “the greatest Portuguese of all times”. Besides that, PNR, an ultra right-wing party, involved with nazi skinhead groups, started to show signs of great activity, with a large-scale campaign to increase xenophobia and several street demonstrations, one of which taking place, provocatively, in a known immigrants' quarter downtown Lisbon.
As a response to the growth of reactionary forces and attitudes in Portuguese society, anarchists organized a big demonstration on the day of the celebration of the Carnation Revolution, the 25th of April, when the fascist dictatorship was overthrown. The demonstration gathered over 500 people, crossed downtown Lisbon, always being closely followed by the police, and halted in Largo de Camões, where most people left. From there, a second demonstration started and, when the demonstrators were descending Rua do Carmo, the riot police closed the street exits, trapped them, and then charged violently. Several people were injured, some of them badly, and 11 of the demonstrators were arrested and now stand for trial, for alleged civil disobedience, verbal abuses, and assault on police officers, risking sentences from six months to five years of imprisonment.
We ask for the international support and solidarity of all sections and friend of AIT-IWA to spread the news of what's happening, specially among Portuguese communities in their area, and send protest letters, faxes and emails to local Portuguese Embassies, Consulates and interests, performing, if possible, actions in front of them, specially on the days of the Court hearings, but not limited to them. We also appeal to the sending of protest letters, faxes and emails to the Court where the hearings are taking place.
A model protest letter to be sent:
(it's both in English and Portuguese)
Vimos por meio da presente carta protestar contra a ida a julgamento dos 11 detidos aquando da realização da manifestação anti-autoritária contra o fascismo e o capitalismo, em 25 de Abril de 2007.
Denunciamos o comportamento claramente ofensivo e discriminatório demonstrado pela polícia no decorrer dos acontecimentos, assim como a brutalidade com que a mesma reagiu à manifestação, carregando indiscriminadamente sobre os manifestantes e demais transeuntes presentes na Rua do Carmo, numa acção cujo objectivo manifesto não foi a dispersão da manifestação, mas antes o espancamento do maior número de pessoas possível, posto que todas as saídas da rua foram cortadas pela polícia de forma a não deixar aos manifestantes fuga possível.
Afigura-se-nos que as pessoas detidas o foram de forma aleatória e arbitrária, e que a sua ida a tribunal não serve outro propósito que não seja o de mascarar e ilibar a violência policial, culpando os manifestantes pelo sucedido. Consequentemente, exigimos o encerramento deste processo e a absolvição de todos os arguidos.
Com os melhores cumprimentos,
…
English translation of the letter:
We hereby send you the following letter to protest against the trial of the 11 persons arrested during the anti-authoritarian demonstration against fascism and capitalism, which took place on the 25th of April 2007.
We denounce the clearly offensive and discriminatory behavior displayed by the police during the events and its brutal response to the demonstration, charging indiscriminately on demonstrators and bystanders at Rua do Carmo, in an action clearly intended, not to disband the demonstration, but to beat up as many people as possible, for all the street exits were cut off by the police in order to trap the demonstrators and let them no way to escape.
For us, it seems that the persons arrested during the events were picked randomly and arbitrarily among the demonstrators, and that the charges pressed against them serve no other purpose than to whitewash the police violence, blaming the demonstrators for what happened. Consequently, we demand the closure of this process and the acquittal of all defendants.
Best Regards,
...
Court address:
1º Juízo Criminal
Av. D. João II, nº 1.08.01 - Bloco B
1990-097 Lisboa
Portugal
Email: lisboa.jcr1@tribunais.org.pt
Phone: (+351) 213 505 500
Fax: (+351) 211 545 164
Process Number:
42/07.5PALSB (please mention it on the letters, faxes and emails you send to the Court)
A list of Portuguese Embassies worldwide:
http://www.mne.gov.pt/mne/en/ministerio/organizacoes/embaixadas/
Portuguese Consulates abroad:
http://www.mne.gov.pt/mne/en/infocidadao/pestrangeiro/consulados/
Days of the next Court hearings:
- 20 of April
- 29 of April
- 19 of May
________________________________________
Associação Internacional dos Trabalhadores
Secção Portuguesa
Apartado 50029
1701-001 Lisboa
PORTUGAL
Tel. +351 963 216 840
E-mail: aitport@yahoo.com
http://www.ait-sp.blogspot.com/
http://www.freewebs.com/ait-sp/
International Call for Solidarity: Support the 11 of Lisbon!
On the 25th of April of 2007, an anti-authoritarian demonstration against fascism and capitalism took place in downtown Lisbon, protesting against the growing influence of fascist groups in Portugal and the attempt to rehabilitate the figure of the former dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar. Several books about Salazar came out back then and a Museum was to be opened in Santa Comba Dão, the place where the dictator was born. A television contest, designed to boost nationalistic and chauvinistic attitudes among the Portuguese people, actually managed to elect Salazar as “the greatest Portuguese of all times”. Besides that, PNR, an ultra right-wing party, involved with nazi skinhead groups, started to show signs of great activity, with a large-scale campaign to increase xenophobia and several street demonstrations, one of which taking place, provocatively, in a known immigrants' quarter downtown Lisbon.
As a response to the growth of reactionary forces and attitudes in Portuguese society, anarchists organized a big demonstration on the day of the celebration of the Carnation Revolution, the 25th of April, when the fascist dictatorship was overthrown. The demonstration gathered over 500 people, crossed downtown Lisbon, always being closely followed by the police, and halted in Largo de Camões, where most people left. From there, a second demonstration started and, when the demonstrators were descending Rua do Carmo, the riot police closed the street exits, trapped them, and then charged violently. Several people were injured, some of them badly, and 11 of the demonstrators were arrested and now stand for trial, for alleged civil disobedience, verbal abuses, and assault on police officers, risking sentences from six months to five years of imprisonment.
We ask for the international support and solidarity of all sections and friend of AIT-IWA to spread the news of what's happening, specially among Portuguese communities in their area, and send protest letters, faxes and emails to local Portuguese Embassies, Consulates and interests, performing, if possible, actions in front of them, specially on the days of the Court hearings, but not limited to them. We also appeal to the sending of protest letters, faxes and emails to the Court where the hearings are taking place.
A model protest letter to be sent:
(it's both in English and Portuguese)
Vimos por meio da presente carta protestar contra a ida a julgamento dos 11 detidos aquando da realização da manifestação anti-autoritária contra o fascismo e o capitalismo, em 25 de Abril de 2007.
Denunciamos o comportamento claramente ofensivo e discriminatório demonstrado pela polícia no decorrer dos acontecimentos, assim como a brutalidade com que a mesma reagiu à manifestação, carregando indiscriminadamente sobre os manifestantes e demais transeuntes presentes na Rua do Carmo, numa acção cujo objectivo manifesto não foi a dispersão da manifestação, mas antes o espancamento do maior número de pessoas possível, posto que todas as saídas da rua foram cortadas pela polícia de forma a não deixar aos manifestantes fuga possível.
Afigura-se-nos que as pessoas detidas o foram de forma aleatória e arbitrária, e que a sua ida a tribunal não serve outro propósito que não seja o de mascarar e ilibar a violência policial, culpando os manifestantes pelo sucedido. Consequentemente, exigimos o encerramento deste processo e a absolvição de todos os arguidos.
Com os melhores cumprimentos,
…
English translation of the letter:
We hereby send you the following letter to protest against the trial of the 11 persons arrested during the anti-authoritarian demonstration against fascism and capitalism, which took place on the 25th of April 2007.
We denounce the clearly offensive and discriminatory behavior displayed by the police during the events and its brutal response to the demonstration, charging indiscriminately on demonstrators and bystanders at Rua do Carmo, in an action clearly intended, not to disband the demonstration, but to beat up as many people as possible, for all the street exits were cut off by the police in order to trap the demonstrators and let them no way to escape.
For us, it seems that the persons arrested during the events were picked randomly and arbitrarily among the demonstrators, and that the charges pressed against them serve no other purpose than to whitewash the police violence, blaming the demonstrators for what happened. Consequently, we demand the closure of this process and the acquittal of all defendants.
Best Regards,
...
Court address:
1º Juízo Criminal
Av. D. João II, nº 1.08.01 - Bloco B
1990-097 Lisboa
Portugal
Email: lisboa.jcr1@tribunais.org.pt
Phone: (+351) 213 505 500
Fax: (+351) 211 545 164
Process Number:
42/07.5PALSB (please mention it on the letters, faxes and emails you send to the Court)
A list of Portuguese Embassies worldwide:
http://www.mne.gov.pt/mne/en/ministerio/organizacoes/embaixadas/
Portuguese Consulates abroad:
http://www.mne.gov.pt/mne/en/infocidadao/pestrangeiro/consulados/
Days of the next Court hearings:
- 20 of April
- 29 of April
- 19 of May
________________________________________
Associação Internacional dos Trabalhadores
Secção Portuguesa
Apartado 50029
1701-001 Lisboa
PORTUGAL
Tel. +351 963 216 840
E-mail: aitport@yahoo.com
http://www.ait-sp.blogspot.com/
http://www.freewebs.com/ait-sp/
Labels: AIT, anarchism, international anarchist movement, Lisbon 11, Portugal, repression, solidarity., Winnipeg Wobbly Blog
