Weapon of Theory

Entscheidend ist die Besatzungsmentalität: What’s crucial is the mentality of conquest and occupation

The following interview with J. Sakai was conducted by Gabriel Kuhn for the German radical monthly, “analyse & kritik” ( commonly known there as “AK” ). Both the German-language translation in that journal and this version, have been edited down considerably for reasons of space. analyse & kritik (ak), no. 624, February 21, 2017

Q. In an interview from the year 2000, titled “When Race Burns Class”, you said the following with respect to the status of the white working class within the U.S. Left: “So the white workers as a whole are either the revolutionary answer – which ...........READ MORE

Notes on Trump (Bromma Dec. 2016 – Revised Jan. 2017)

1. The normality of white supremacy

Since Trump’s election, I keep hearing that we shouldn’t “normalize” him or his agenda. I believe that’s looking through the wrong end of the telescope. There’s nothing as “normal” in the U.S. as white supremacy. Sometimes it’s disguised by tokenism and obscured by “multiculturalism.” But in this country, white supremacy has always shown its true naked face at times of stress and transition.

Because white supremacy isn’t just a bunch of bad ideas inherited from ignorant elders. It’s a deeply-rooted institution through which the U.S. rules over many oppressed peoples. It’s the glue that ...........READ MORE

The Daily News Job Fair at The New Yorker Hotel on January 10, 2007.Thousands lined up for a chance to apply or hand out their resume to a variety of employers. ( Frances Roberts) (Newscom TagID: lrphotos034999) [Photo via Newscom]

Surplus Absorption, Realization Crisis, and Imperialism (David Gilbert, November 2015)

David Gilbert, a political prisoner held in New York State since 1981, wrote the following text in 2015, examining the the ways in which capitalism is confronted by, and contends with, crises in surplus absorption and realization, in the imperialist age.

David was not entirely satisfied with this text in the end, however here at Kersplebedeb i thought it actually was pretty thought-provoking and useful, so he agreed that i could put it online, which is what i am doing. For more information about David, including his contact information, please click here.

Synopsis

Left authors often describe various ...........READ MORE

Fascism & Anti-Fascism (Don Hammerquist)

an excerpt from Confronting Fascism: Discussion Documents for a Militant Movement

This paper is directed towards a narrow audience of revolutionary activists who, hopefully, will not demand a finished product. It is not finished and probably will never be. Much of what I say will be controversial and is certainly open to challenge. On some points I would not be so unhappy to be proven wrong. I realize that I make a number of generalizations without what would normally be regarded as sufficient evidence, and I haven’t adequately checked some of the evidence that I do offer. Feel free to ...........READ MORE

Cops are Gangsters

Intro: There are millions of oppressed people inside the borders of the u.s., but I’m not one of them. I come from a privileged background. I’m not the main victim of the police. Nor am I a leader in the growing struggle against police violence. Recognizing how far I am from the front lines, I hesitated to write about cops at all.

In the end I decided that it’s important for all radicals, whether oppressed or privileged, to struggle for clarity about cops’ place in society.

There are many kinds of police, ranging from elite national political police like the ...........READ MORE

Frameworks

Frameworks are sets of definitions, ideas about how things relate to each other, construed relationships, or even (especially!) of other frameworks, with which people make sense of phenomena and of themselves. Interlocking sets of frameworks which are cohesive enough can create and maintain a distinct identity, a kind of super-framework called an ideology, creating distinct ways of seeing and explaining things, which may not be easily translateable or compatible with analysis created through another ideological lens. It’s like people with different ideologies are watching different movies, even when they observe the same reality. But each of those ideologies or uber-frameworks ...........READ MORE

Settlers, Oppressed Nations, Indigeneity

A friend recently wrote me, asking me “after how many years/generations do new settlers become Indigenous to a land? So, for example, are the Boers descendants today in S. Africa, African?”

It’s a question i’ve had a number of conversations about, not because i’ve any kind of special standing on the issue, but i think because it’s a question undergirding a lot of ways things are talked about on the radical left and in anticolonial movements. Over the past years i have come to the conclusion that like so many other questions, there are multiple valid answers, and the point ...........READ MORE

Neocolonialism and Noise

this image comes from an article in the mcgill daily dealing with some of the issues discussed here, but from the opposite direction, and drawing very different conclusions

The world has changed over the past fifty years. There are different names for this change — neoliberalism, postmodernism, postfordism, globalization. The term i prefer to use is “neocolonialism”. But despite this clear reference to one specific thing — colonialism, the relationship between oppressor and oppressed nations, which i would argue remains central — the change that has taken place encompasses much more than that, being not just about the fake ...........READ MORE

Beyond Austerity – an article from Solidarity Across Borders (Montreal)

Austerity is often described as an act of class war, on the part of the rich. Depending on who is talking, this assault might be described as an attack against the middle class or the working class, or any number of constituencies in capitalism’s gunsights. It affects many people; consequently specific examples can galvanize broad opposition, mass mobilizations, and … easy recuperations. Because while neoliberal austerity hits many people, it does not hit us in the same way, nor with the same force.

Austerity appears to some as a theft, robbing them of the standard of living that they and ...........READ MORE

Jailbreak Out of History, Second Edition

In Jailbreak Out of History, revolutionary Amazon theorist Butch Lee shows how the anticolonial struggles of New Afrikan/Black women were central to the unfolding of 19th century amerika, both during and “after” slavery.

The book’s title essay, “The Re-Biography of Harriet Tubman”, recounts the life and politics of Harriet Tubman, who waged and eventually lead the war against the capitalist slave system. As Lee explains, “Harriet Tubman was a radical political figure, someone totally involved as a player in the great political ideas and military storms of her day. She was a guerrilla. Someone who lived and taught others ...........READ MORE