PERSONAL

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT (PART 2):

The first part of this series was published over at my Facebook page a little while ago. Yet a movement such as the 'Occupy' protests deserves far more than one comment. There is little doubt that this has become the most extensive political movement of the last century even if the number of participants says that it is not as intensive as many others. Yet, without plan, direction or control a worldwide movement has arisen that directly challenges class society worldwide. While anarchists, especially in Spain, have been at the forefront of this movement and while anarchist methods of organizing have become the accepted standard of the protesters it would be utterly false to say that this is solely an "anarchist movement". The central themes of the movement have been those that anarchism shares with a broad left consensus. The only "point of pride" is that anarchists have shown the way to a much broader constituency that actually extends far beyond the traditional left. This is "propaganda of the deed" at its best, without self-destructive violent acts, without the illusion of provoking an immediate uprising and without the arrogant supposition that the so-called "revolutionary vanguard" (cough, cough) are the posessors of all truth. In other words the Occupy movement is amazingly morally clean for a protest movement.

But one thing I would like to point out now is how what seems to external observers as a fault is actually a virtue. I am hardly the first to point this out, and I would like to refer the reader to the Bureau of Public Secrets website for a much more thorough discussion. What I refer to is a very frequent so-called "criticism" of the Occupy movement as to its lack of "specific demands" and it seeming to be a collection point for a wide spectrum of grievances. All that I can say to this criticism is that it is "true" but it misses the point entirely. The Occupy movement has arisen as a broad protest against the inequalities and injustices of our present class societies. OF COURSE every interest group and demand will attach themselves to such a broad based movement. Perhaps even some of their activists will recognize the fact that their grievances cannot generally be solved under the present socioeconomic system.

Thus they attach themselves to a movement that (metaphorically) goes for the jugular because of the insufficiencies of their single interest group/issue groups. Make no mistake about it, the Occupy movement has "gone for the jugular". What it presents in a world diluted manner is the challenge to the representative "democracy" that revolutionary movements have laid out for almost 150 years (since the Paris Commune) ie the challenge of "direct democracy". This goes far beyond any simple reforms. It is not the question of whether the billionaires will pay their fair share of taxes. It is a question of how ordinary citizens can have enough influence to prevent any such perversions of law occuring.

The Occupy movement merely seems incoherant because its goals are far removed from what is usually considered "politics" in our societies. Its basic message is not this or that reform but rather a totally new way of "doing politics". The Movement Is The Message.

PEOPLE:

CANADA'S OLDEST PEACE ACTIVIST DIES AT 100:

Last weekend a long standing Canadian pacifist, Muriel Duckworth, died at the age of 100. Through he long life she stood firm in her convictions and fought the good fight against state violence. Here's a tribute to here from today's Halifax Metro News.

PPPPPPPPPPPP

Duckworth's biographer remembers the 'Raging Granny':
HILARY BEAUMONT
METRO HALIFAX
A capacity crowd clapped along to a soul-filled rendition of Happy Birthday at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium last fall.

Halifax peace activist Muriel Duckworth, who died over the weekend, was celebrating her 100th birthday on Oct. 31, with friends and family surrounding her.

Sitting in a wheelchair on stage that day, Duckworth’s face lit up with a smile of appreciation. “It’s been wonderful to have this celebration,” she told the crowd. “I’ve never dreamed of anything like this.”

“That was a rare, rare moment for any of us to see -- somebody who deeply deserved it to be honoured in her own community,” remembered Marion Douglas Kerans, a friend who wrote the biography, Muriel Duckworth: A Very Active Pacifist.

The Quebec-born Duckworth, who moved to Halifax in 1947, died in palliative care in a Quebec hospital on Saturday.

“She showed women how to become true leaders in their community, and in the world, without losing any feminine grace,” Kerans said yesterday.

Duckworth helped found the Nova Scotia Voice Of Women (VOW) and also served on the Oxfam Canada board of directors in the 1970s. During the Vietnam War, she and other VOW members spoke out against the violence -- a strong opposition that eventually led her to leave the United Church of Canada and join the Quakers after the church refused to denounce the conflict Time didn’t slow Duckworth down. In her later years, she became a vocal member of peaceful activist group the Halifax Raging Grannies.

“She lived exactly what she taught,” Kerans said.

Duckworth is survived by her three children, 11 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Plans for her funeral are still being arranged.

ANARCHIST THEORY:

FOR REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLE, NOT ACTIVISM:

The following is a reposting from the New Zealand Anarchia blog. The author has posted a previous article over at the Carnival of Anarchy as to what he thinks should be done at this stage of the development of the anarchist movement. Check it out. The following post lays out the reasoning behind the proposals that he made in that post. What follows is a critique of the present day movement in his country, but I am certain that most of what he says applies to North America as well. Not that "activism" was or is all bad, but it is certainly a stage that anarchism has to outgrow is we want to build even further on the foundations already laid.

......................................................................................

For revolutionary struggle, not activism
By Asher

“We need more people!” “If only there were more anarchists…”
These phrases and others like them are all too common amongst our anarchist communities across Aotearoa (and no doubt the rest of the world). But in themselves, they betray a fatal mistake in our goals, in how we see our role in moving towards a revolutionary situation.

An anarchist revolution will not come if we simply seek to convert more people to anarchism. Rather, more people adopting anarchist theory will be a by-product of successful anarchist organising and solidarity. There are a few issues we need to examine in order to best understand the role of anarchists in capitalist society.

Who will make a revolution?
An anarchist revolution cannot be made by a vanguard, by an elite group of activists, politicos or anarchists. A truly libertarian revolution, which all anarchists seek, can only be made by the great mass of the working class, in a broad sense of the term. This revolution will not magically appear the day we manage to get 51% of the population to call themselves anarchists, but rather by constantly seeking to expand upon the consciousness and militancy of the working class.

Genuine revolution will not be created by a specialist group of “professional revolutionaries”. While many anarchists have a sound critique of groups such as Greenpeace, SAFE or Amnesty International in that they posit themselves as the experts on activism, who the majority of people can pay to do political work, anarchists frequently fail to see that much of what they are doing is exactly the same, except they’re silly enough to do it for free! A large chunk of activism done by anarchists in Aotearoa in the last few years has been of this bent – we call the marches, we show up (perhaps with a few others, but rarely from outside of the wider activist circles), we hand out leaflets to bemused onlookers (who either ignore us or laugh at us, but certainly wouldn’t join in), then we go home. Ongoing organising be damned, we’re making a stand!

What are we doing?
Almost all anarchist activity in Aotearoa falls into two broad categories – activism (covering protests, single-issue groups etc) and propaganda (infoshops and publishing). It is activism that I will deal with here.

Activism deals primarily with issues far removed from the everyday lives of most people in Aotearoa – NZ troop involvement in overseas invasions, coal mines on the West Coast, a meeting of rich countries on the other side of the planet. In focusing on this type of issue, we ensure that we remain invisible to the vast majority of the working class, and out of touch with the very forces that can create the revolutionary situation we so desire.

In activism, we separate ourselves from the majority of the populace – protesting, marching, direct action etc are activities undertaken by “activists”, a specialist cadre of experts on social change.

Of course, there is no continuity in our activism, no real ongoing organising. Just jumping from protest to protest, deluding ourselves that we are having any effect whatsoever. Even our ongoing campaigns (for instance anti-war, or Save Happy Valley) are generally little more than semi-regular protests, with the odd press release in between. Almost nowhere is there any long term, strategic, grassroots organising taking place. Almost nowhere do we seem to acknowledge that things do take time to come to fruition. Instead, we bang our heads against a brick wall for a while, then move round the corner to the wall made of concrete, deceiving ourselves into thinking that we’re making progress.

Our activities are primarily oriented to other radicals, both in Aotearoa and overseas. We go to protests with each other, then head to a computer and post reports and photos on Indymedia, so our activist friends around the country can see what we did. If the demo was especially interesting, we might even all go together to a flat so we can see ourselves on the evening news! We are an insular collection of people, and even when we have the appearance of interacting with the public (for instance, on a march), we still ensure that we are separate from them, the “normals”. We don’t engage in conversation, just hand them a flier then move on, and after a while retreat back to the other radicals, safe behind a line of banners.
Against a subcultural orientation
The anarchist community in Aotearoa is thoroughly mired in subcultural politics. The punk and hippy subcultures between them supply the bulk of self-identified anarchists, with most of the remainder coming through the “alternative” liberal (ie – Green Party, fair trade, organics etc) community. That’s not to say that none of those people are working class, but rather that they are getting involved because of their subcultural identity.

There is a huge difference between a working class movement that is oriented to working class struggles and therefore attracts working class people, and a subcultural community that is oriented to specific subcultures and therefore attracts people from those subcultures. One of the above options could lead to a revolutionary situation. The other keeps us in our self-built ghetto.

For struggles of everyday life
If we are seeking to expand the consciousness and militancy of the working class, we need to stop focusing on battles which for most people appear to have little relevance, and are totally unwinnable for us few anarchists in Aotearoa anyway. We need to move away from the WTO and towards the workplace, away from the coal-mine and towards the community, away from the spectacular summit demo and towards the struggles of everyday life.

We need to stand in solidarity with workplace struggles that are taking place – standing on the picket lines and engaging with the workers taking part. We also need to be agitating with our workmates in our own work places. There are always grievances, it is our task to do all we can to promote collective action to fight for better wages and conditions, of course without any illusions that this will ever be enough in and of itself.

We need to be engaging with our own communities, whether they be geographical, ethnic or otherwise. In our geographical communities, we need to agitate with those around us and build a sense of purposeful connection now, so that when attacks come, we already have a base from which to struggle. When city councils attempt to impose extra charges (such as bin taxes or water metering), destroy community facilities such as libraries or swimming pools, or raise rents on council flats, we need to stand with our communities in opposition and fight.

This type of organising around the struggles of everyday life isn’t easy, it isn’t quick, and it isn’t sexy, but it is vital if we are to build a revolutionary movement against capital and state. The more we struggle, the more we build our bases in our workplaces and communities, the better chance we have of winning, and the broader and more interlinked our struggles will become.
For the broadening and intensification of struggle
“I am an anarchist not because I believe Anarchism is the final goal, but because I believe there is no such thing as a final goal. Freedom will lead us to continually wider and expanding understanding and to new social forms of life.”Rudolf Rocker, a German anarcho-syndicalist

It is the task of anarchists to always be broadening the terms of any given struggle, and to fight against its recuperation. In workplace struggles, we should be wary of union attempts to sell out workers. In community struggles, we should be wary of NGOs and community groups who may seek a swift resolution without the meeting of all demands.

We must always seek to bring to light the systemic roots of what we are fighting against, and to link our struggles with others happening within our communities and around the world.
We must also realise that the odds are stacked against us, and, for a long time, we will likely lose more than we win. This doesn’t mean that we should stop fighting, or retreat into our activist ghettos. For if we fight, we have a chance at creating a better society, but in giving up or retreating, we lose any chance we ever had.
Further Reading
The Myth Of Passivity by Toby Boraman

The Myth Of Passivity documents the class struggles against the neoliberal policies of the 1980’s, such as the Employment Contracts Act, “Ruthinasia”, and “Rogernomics”. It takes a critical look at the way major Unions opposed these policies as well as looking at resistance from groups such as Maori, the Unemployed and Anarchists.Available online at http://libcom.org/library/myth-passivity-class-struggles-neoliberalism-aotearoa-toby-boraman or order from http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/194
Beyond Resistance: A Revolutionary Manifesto by the Anarchist Federation (UK)

Beyond Resistance is the Anarchist Federation’s analysis of the capitalist world in crisis, suggestions about what the alternative anarchist communist society could be like, and evaluation of social and organisational forces which play a part in the revolutionary process.Available for order from http://katipo.net.nz/product_info.php/products_id/357
The Lessons Of The Bin Tax Struggle –

Interview with Dermot Sreenan, Workers Solidarity Movement The opening years of the century saw a mass community based struggle against the shifting of taxation further onto the working class in Dublin, Ireland. Thousands of households were paid up members of the campaign and tens of thousands refused to pay this new tax over a period of years despite prosecutions, media hysteria and the jailing of over 20 activists.Available online at http://libcom.org/library/the-lessons-of-the-bin-tax-struggle
Poll Tax Rebellion by Danny Burns

The gripping inside story of the biggest mass movement in British history, which at its peak involved over 17 million people. Using a combination of photos, text, and graphics, and drawing from the voices of activists and non-payers, it describes the everyday organization of local anti-poll tax groups and chronicles the demonstrations and riots leading up to the battle of Trafalgar. It shows how the courts were blocked, the bailiffs resisted, and the Poll Tax destroyed.Available for order from http://akpress.com/1996/items/polltaxrebellion and see a review at http://libcom.org/library/poll-tax-rebellion-danny-burns-reviewed-wildcat-uk-1993
Also see the history, library and organise sections at http://www.libcom.org

OCAP:

DEFEND THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE ON CAMPUS:

The following is an appeal from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) for solidarity and participation in a public forum to be held at McMaster University tomorrow. The issue is the banning of the term 'Israeli Apartheid' from use by student groups at that institution. The term is actually quite apt, but Molly has a few reservations about the whole climate in which this situation has developed. Please see the 'Molly Comments' at the end of this article.

Friday 29 February:**PUBLIC FORUM AND RALLY AT McMASTER UNIVERSITY **

Defend the Right to Organize on Campus!

Two weeks ago, the McMaster Provost office, second in authority to that of the President's office, announced that student clubs were banned from using the term "Israeli Apartheid" (see statement from McMaster students below). On Friday, 29th February, students at McMaster are holding a public forum to protest this unprecedented attack on the right to, academic freedom and the right to organize.

They need your support!

Free buses will be leaving to McMaster from University of Toronto, Ryerson University and York University to attend this important meeting. The forum will begin at 10am with a rally immediately afterwards, and buses will return to Toronto around 2pm.

All are welcome (you don't need to be a university student) and transportation is free. Please RSVP as below.

BUS DETAILS

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

Two buses courtesy of CUPE 3903, OPIRG U of T and the University of Toronto Students Union (UTSU)

Buses Leaving: 8:30am

Place: Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle University of Toronto

See: http://www.harthouse.utoronto.ca/ for directions RSVP: macbuses@gmail.com

YORK UNIVERSITY

Bus courtesy of York Federation of Students

Buses Leaving: 8:30am

Place: Meet at Vari Hall

RSVP: vpequity@yfs.ca

RYERSON UNIVERSITY

Bus courtesy of Ryerson Student Union,Local 24 Canadian Federation of Students

Buses Leaving: 8:30am sharp

Place: Student Centre, 55 Gould street

RSVP: macbuses@gmail.com

*** To send a message of support to the students at Mac, email: unitedforstudentrights@gmail.com

Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid statement available at http://www.caiaweb.org

We request that you send letters to the following persons who are responsible for this infringement on the basic democratic rights of McMaster students,faculty and community members:

McMaster University Provost, Dr. Ilene Busch-Vishniac: provost@mcmaster.ca

McMaster University President, Dr. Peter George: preswww@mcmaster.ca

McMaster Student Union President, Ryan Moran: msupres@msu.mcmaster.ca

Human Rights and Equity Services: hres@mcmaster.ca

STATEMENT BY McMASTER STUDENTS

17 February 2008 United for Student Rights (U4SR) is holding a Public Forum to discuss the recent shocking decision by McMaster Student Union (MSU) and administration to unequivocally ban on campus the usage of the phrase "Israeli Apartheid".This decision was first passed by the McMaster Provost office, which is second in authority only to that of the President's office. It has been accepted by McMaster Human Rights & Equity Services (HRES) and, in turn, the MSU. This information was communicated to Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights(SPHR)and McMaster Muslims for Peace & Justice (MMPJ) early in February 2008 by the MSU and HRES.

Due to this decision, these MSU approved clubs have not been able to get approval for various initiatives related to Israeli Apartheid. It is the MSU that is directly enforcing this decision, as it is the only campus body with jurisdiction over student clubs. MSU President, Ryan Moran, explained that though the MSU is not bound by this decision, it has chosen to implement it none the less. U4SR is calling on the MSU to rescind this decision immediately as part of opening up the discussion for all to decide.

Statement of Human Rights & Equity Services: "The university has taken the position that literature which refers to "Israeli apartheid" and activities promoted under the banner, "Israeli Apartheid Week" are unacceptable. The university takes the position that this phrase is in violation of the university's efforts to ensure that all people will be treated with dignity and tolerance."

According to the statement of HRES, banning Israeli Apartheid organizing is a matter of dignity and tolerance. In the view of those who use the term,opposing Israeli Apartheid is a matter of dignity and tolerance for the peoples of the Middle East and world over who are fighting for justice and for human rights. Clearly, there is a contradiction of a political nature between these two views. U4SR considers this decision unacceptable especially given that the recent decision of the Provost is in keeping with consistent efforts by the McMaster administration, MSU and even Hamilton Police to repress Palestinian solidarity work over the last six years. At every point, Palestinian solidarity views have been presented as anti-Semitic and a matter of hate crimes. The most recent decision by the Provost is a ramping up of longstanding attempts to criminalize the views of students who oppose Zionist violations of the human and national rights of Palestinians. Such efforts overlook the importance of political engagement and discussion on university campuses, while making political issues a matter of policy and decisions taken behind closed doors by various offices of the university.

This history provides an important context for understanding that the banning of terms diverts from the violation of the political and human rights of students attempting to defend a just peace for Palestine. These are not simple matters to be decided arbitrarily and in private. They are related to profound questions of rights and responsibilities on campus and in society at large. It is unjust to require that the students most affected should submit to this decision or simply engage in an unequal private dialogue with the administration.

A Matter for All to Decide

It is important to note that the administration has an obligation to society to respect the basic legal and moral rights of the university community.Despite all its efforts to claim that the university can act like a private corporation, McMaster is a public institution that plays a central role in the development of youth and intellectual thought. In turn, Human Rights &Equity Services is mandated to defend and elaborate issues of human rights on campus, and this function has ramifications for all of society. Similarly, the MSU plays an important role in supporting and intervening in society, as the organized front of students. In sum, the functioning of all these parts of the McMaster University and their recent decision are a matter that concerns all students, faculty, and the general Hamilton and Canadian society. For this reason, U4SR is holding a public forum so that everyone's views can be heard. We are inviting the administration and MSU to be part of this discussion and no longer use their positions of power to impose their views on the conscience of students. We are also calling on all students, faculty, staff and members of the Hamilton community to join the discussion. Organisers will ensure that everyone's participation and comments are respected. We, as Canadian students, are taking up our responsibility to society. We are working to end the marginalization of the McMaster community and Canadian polity at large from the decision-making processes that affect their lives and the political orientation of our society. This struggle at one university campus is a converging point for all those who believe that Canadian society should decide political matters in a public and transparent way.

Join us!

United for Student Rights is an ad-hoc committee of McMaster University and Hamilton community members that was formed to facilitate public involvement in this issue.

For information please contact: unitedforstudentrights@gmail.com

Molly Comments:

I have always had a certain amount of reservations about "solidarity work" where the issue is one of "nationalism" rather than class or community. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is the classic case of this. The way in which such campaigns develop is that one side is demonized and the other is glorified. Even anarchists, who should obviously know better, get swept up in the dynamics of such "solidarity" and deny the obvious fact that both sides are bad. That's rather abstract as, despite the illusions and magical thinking of the participants, such solidarity campaigns have little or no effect on the reality on the ground of the part of the world that they complain about. What I object to is that the process of picking good guys (whose faults you studiously ignore) and bad guys (who never are justified in anything they do) spills over into the more immediate and vastly more important ways in which people organize themselves in the countries where they live.

Student movements in eastern Canada have a long and disgraceful history of attempting to prevent free speech on their campuses where the speaker is one who is "pro-Israel". No doubt the general public is usually rather forgiving, or at least forgetful, but the way in which the activists who are pro-Palestinian are presently being censored is a mere imitation of how such activists acted in the past. The very existence of a 'Human Rights and Equity Service' bureaucracy on an university campus is living testimony to the efforts of previous activists to enforce a "politically correct" silence on their institutions. In other words, your previous actions created the very tools that are now being used against you. It's not surprising to me.

Now I know how futile it is to argue with most in the "activist frame of mind" and try to suggest that maybe the side they choose is not all good and the "enemy" is not all evil. But from pure practicality this is merely one instance out of dozens where the tactics of over-enthusiastic campaigners have come back to haunt them. Maybe you should think about it before you try to disrupt any more lectures.

I hardly expect that the average "activist" should be firmly grounded enough in the thought of anarchism that they would realize that freedom of opinion is a value far in excess of the average fashionable issue of the hour. I would, however, urge them to consider how they are cutting their own throats by actions against such freedom, and how it may come back to haunt them in cases such as these. It would also be nice, but perhaps unrealistic, for such activists to be anarchic enough to refuse to try and score so-called "free money" off the putrid rotten boroughs that almost all student unions are. The lure of free money can overwhelm many ethical considerations.

Anarchism has many disadvantages in the struggle for public acceptance, some of them implicit in the ideology itself and some of them thrown gratuitously in by its crazier practitioners. It does, however, have one great advantage if properly practiced. Its standard of morality is far superior to that of any other political philosophy. Anarchists should think good and hard before they abandon this advantage for the lure of temporary "issues".

To sign off...the term "Israeli apartheid" is actually quite an accurate historical comparison, and one hopes that its use cannot be forbidden in a so-called institution of higher learning. But those who are presently on the sharp end of the stick should see how previous actions have sharpened the stick and not repeat previous mistakes.

IMMIGRATION ACTIVISM:

FIGHTING THE BORDER REGIME IN EUROPE:

Anarchists across the world struggle against the artificial barriers to free movement set up by nation states at their borders. There have been numerous struggles and campaigns here in Canada and in the USA as well in support of immigrants and against impediments to the freedom to move. This is also true in Europe, perhaps even more so, and European anarchists have been prominant in solidarity struggles with migrants. This year activists in various European countries are planning a concerted chain of actions, from February to October and across the continent, in solidarity with migrants. The following report from the Polish anarchist news wire Centrum Informacji Anarchistycznej gives the story of what will be happening in the coming year.

"Common Call for a Transnational Chain of Migration related Actions In the "heart of the monster": Amsterdam, Sevilla, Torino, Bamako, London, Athens, Warsaw, Hamburg, Malmoe, Ceuta ...

Between February and October 2008 a series of events, protests and actions will take place in various cities and countries all over Europe and beyond : against the border regime, against detentions and deportations, against the exploitation of migrant labour and for legalization of all migrants. This transnational chain of struggles builds on the three action days for freedom of movement and the right to stay, which happened in previous years. But with this chain of events we are aiming for something more. We strongly believe that the transnational expression of migrants’ struggles against the “monster” of migration controls must be something more than a one day event once a year. We believe that the transnational space must be understood as an unified space of migrants’ struggles, happening everyday and right now.

This transnational chain of struggles is our attempt to find out what is “common” among the manifold differences experienced by migrants in Europe and beyond. Ranging from temporary seasonal workers who are exploited in the fields of Andalusia in Spain; to "legal" migrants who live and work everyday in Eurospace; undocumented migrants working in irregular jobs in Italy or the UK, in factories or in the home, as many women do; "tolerated refugees" living in an isolated "junglecamp" in Northern-Germany; migrants detained in a camp in Greece or Poland, or even in front of the externalized EU-borders in Marocco or Ukraine. They all are crossing and forcing the boundaries living inside and struggling against the same “monster” which is the migration-regime!

Of course, we do not ignore the differences in realities and struggles in various regions, countries or continents. But all over the world capitalist exploitation is unimaginable without the global differences, constructed through filters and zones, the hierarchies and inequality, and through the external as well as the internal borders. Illegalisation and deportations on one hand, selective inclusion and recruitment of migrant workforce on the other hand, are two sides of the same coin: migration management for a global apartheid regime, whose most precarious conditions of exploitation are based on the production of hierarchies in terms of rights and on racist discrimination. Low wage countries in the south are used to undercut wages through relocation of production, low wage sectors in the north are targeting young migrant workers: trying to keep them obedient by blackmailing them, as their right of residence is linked to their jobs.

The increasing movements and daily fights of refugees and migrants challenge the external borders of Europe as well as the social and legal borders within Europe itself. The manifold struggles undermine, crisscross and attack the brutal and murderous system of migration control and racist exploitation. This transnational chain of actions is a step toward the linking of these struggles, an attempt to build communication and organization across the borders, knowing that the demands for freedom of movement and the right to stay aim directly at the „heart of the monster“, which migrants everyday and everywhere are fighting against.

The stations:
• February 2nd in Amsterdam/Netherlands: Launching point for the chain with the conference „Migrant / Media / Metropolis - New labour struggles in the global city“ which will be showcasing the current union organizing campaign "cleaners for a better future" in the Netherlands where migrants from Turkey, Morocco, Suriname, Ghana, Capo Verde and Latin America are fighting for a living wage, respect and full time jobs.
• February 23rd in Sevilla/Spain : Demonstration in the frame of an action day for immigrants rights, coordinated through the countrywide network REDI, just two weeks before the general elections in Spain. Demonstrations, actions and meetings will be celebrated in Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Pamplona, Burgos...and the 3 demands of all events are: 1- Regularization of all immigrants, 2-Stop the police repression on immigrants, 3- Equal rights for all. In andalucia there will be a centralized demonstration in Sevilla with the central slogan: "Migration is not the problem, the problem is precarity", with the participation of buses from Malaga, Almeria, Cadiz and people from all andalusian cities.
• March 8th in Torino/Italy: Migrants? and antiracist networks, coming from many Italian cities, will meet in Turin for a public conference and assembly. They will discuss about the condition and struggles of migrant labour in Italy, referring particularly to the relationship between regular and irregular labour. The assembly aims at promoting the political debate and the struggles for migrants? rights and for a permanent legalization of all migrants. It will be the first step toward further mass mobilizations in Turin and other cities in Italy, and toward a migrant workers MayDay in Milan.
• March 15th and 16th in Bamako/Mali: Journées Ouvertes avec des travailleurs migrants expulsés et refoulés =Open Days with migrant workers who were deported or sent back The Malian Association of deported migrants (AME), member of the Euro-African network "manifeste euro-africain", will organize two days of meetings with migrant workers who were deported from Europe or sent back on their way. It will be an open space for migrants to tell their stories and for debates, where the local population and especially people who want to migrate are invited.
• March 29th in Athens/Greece: Actionday also in Thesaloniki and Volos, directed against border controls, police violence, detention, deportations, against Doublin convention and in solidarity to refugees who reach Europe. For their right to free movement, for their right to asylum and residence in every country they choose!
• March 29th in London/UK: Trade Union and Community Activist Conference Against Immigration Controls, coming together to build a campaign against the intensifying attacks on migrant workers and their communities in the UK. This gathering seeks to develop the capacity of migrants to resist the raids, detention and deportation of migrants, and to challenge workplace exploitation and migrants' exclusion from education, social services and health care.
• June 6th in Warsaw/Poland and everywhere: Actionday against FRONTEX! Protest and press-conference in front of the headquarters of Frontex in Warsaw, against European border regime and its externalisation to East and South, combined with a transnational online-demonstration against this "European Border Agency" on the same day...
• August 17th to 24th in Hamburg/Germany: Antiracist actioncamp with a focus on EU-charter-deportations to Africa from Hamburg Airport.
• September 18th to 21st in Malmoe/Sweden: Presentation and evaluation of the chain of actions in the frame of the next European Social Forum, discussing further perspectives of transnationalization of migrationrelated struggles.
• October 7th near Ceuta in Marocco: Manifestation at the fence of Ceuta. This is the anniversary of Ceuta and Melilla killings and was decided as an international day of solidarity with migrants in Nairobi (World Social Forum).

Signatories• Cleaners for a better Future/Holland; Justice for Janitors/Global Campaigns;• Sindicato Andaluz de Trabajadores (SAT); Oficina de Derechos Sociales (Malaga y Sevilla), Red Precarixs en Movimiento, Coordinadora de Inmigrantes de Málaga (CIM), Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucia (APDH), Centro Social La Casa Invisible (Málaga), Corriente Roja;• Tavolo Migranti/Italy; • Association Malienne des Expulsés (AME)/Bamako• No Borders Poland, Zwiazek Syndykalistow Polski, Warszawa (Union of Syndicalists, Warsaw), Praga Anarchist Group;• Network for Social Support to Immigrants and Refugees/Athens• London Noborders, No One Is Illegal (UK) and the Conference Against Immigration Controls Organising Committee;• Refugee Council Hamburg, No one is illegal Hanau, Caravan-Group Munich;• Reseau Manifeste Euro-Africain• Frassanito Network
www.noborder.org "

Why I hate the word "activist".
I hate this word first and foremost because it has a meaning in the popular press that says, basically, "someone who makes their living by advocating certain social causes" ie a "professional leftist". There may indeed be "professional rightists" as well, but they are far outnumbered by their left wing brethren. The right generally has an easier time of rounding up volunteer labour than the left does. Right wing causes may often be controlled by the same set of personal manipulators that left wing ones are, but they rarely achieve the degree of "hollowness" that some leftist " government grant machines" achieve. It's the old "too many chiefs..." story.
In the popular press, left or right, the term "activist" that they assign either neutrally or in praise, means, in 19 cases out of 20, somebody who makes their money by petty politics. Now, I'm of the opinion that Canada would have a much more vibrant and realistic left if the government ceased to spend one single cent in support of these "activists". What activity there was left would be far more in touch with reality and far more independant. Today it is neither.
I also hate the term "activist" because it still carries a "connotation" of self sacrifice from past decades when one's activism in various political opposition groups demanded self sacrifice rather than being a path to financial benefit -pretty well the "denotation" today. This "taking up the cross" is a sure pathway for the activist to sacrifice others in the same way as he or she sacrifices themselves if they ever gain power. Saints easily become inquisitors.
So, whether it refers to the self-deluded or simply cynical present day opportunist or to the old style puritanical fanatic the word makes me more than slightly queasy. Not that the old style "activist" has entirely disappeared. One may still find them acting out petty fantasies of two bit terrorism or blathering on about "anti-oppression", or lurking in the moldy caverns of failed Leninist sects. But they are much rarer than the "new style" activist. Somebody who gains tenure in an university by churning out "leftism 101" is flogging others, not themselves. They actually profit handsomely from it.