Red and Black Forum: Anarchism and postcolonialism: Insights from the Philippine 'anarchipelago'

Frantz Fanon predicted that if national liberation movements win independence but go no further than assuming the reins of the nation-state – an apparatus of rule inherited from Europe – then the resulting regimes will be no less despotic than the departed colonial masters. Before Fanon, too, there was the irrepressible Russian anarchist, Mikhail Bakunin, who argued, contra Karl Marx, that a post-revolutionary society that failed to do away with the state would only perpetuate tyrannies that Marx and his followers claimed to oppose. The twentieth century proved both Bakunin and Fanon right, thereby prompting new explorations into what revolution without the state might mean.

This talk will offer a glimpse into one such exploration in the Philippines – a unique case, though very much in line with anarchistic resurgences everywhere – while also highlighting the complementarities between anarchist and postcolonialist perspectives. 

The talk will be given by Marco, an anarchist from Perth who has spent quite a bit of time with anarchists in Manila.

Followed by discussion. All welcome. Free.

https://www.facebook.com/events/898096243571238/