black flag ~ #222

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editorial

In his serninal " llolern Science and Anarchisrn, " Kropotkin argued that anarchisrn as tr -' li, today gerninated in the Filst Inten-rational. lts "ntttin itlea, " he continued, was "a direct stt:, : : Labour agaitr:t C'crpitttl in the economic.field i.e. the emttncipation of-Labotrr, not by nticiLii;'-

legislatiott, btrr bv rlte torking men themselt,es. " These are the basics u,e need to get back to. Direct action is rnuch more than just demonstr;,1 : (hower-er r r,uorotLsll'). necessary though that is. It is about working class people fighting back i'.: : ,' we are directh' oppressed and exploited by capital and the state, in our communities and workr!.,:..

It is about lesisting the powerful by building our own power, the power of solidarity, self-or-gal!::.i.)I1 and self-ntanagell1ellt. It means fighting for reforms. both minor and major by our own efforls at,c . "i r.t organisations. It means prefiguring the ner.v society while fighting this one.

It is tuue to get "back to basics," remember where anarchism con-res from (social struggle) ano.,r -li our ideas s,here they matter, in the mundane evetyday issues that utatter to people. Unless ue d-, .i,,i. a qreat opportunily will be missed. Hence our f,ront page. \\ e at Black Fiag kno'"r, that this is not easy. We know how atomised many conmunities and lr olkplaces are. We knou,u,e have argued this before (and will do so agarn). We also knou,-that tlatri anarchists are doing exactly this. What u'e need to do now is to staft r,"-olkrng together in order to ai.1 these tendencies, to concentrate on the basics u'e all share rather than the urtnol points which divrde us (particularly if these points concem hypothetical luture events or developments!). We need to stan

workingouthowtnecauapplythebasicideasandidealsourpoliticsarebasedon

mutual aid and voluntary cooperation; against state control and all forms of government and economic repression. To estab/lsh a share in the general prosperity for all - the

Contents

breaking down of racial, religious, national and sex barriers - and to fight for the llfe.of o.ne. u1old, .

Black Flag,

E-mail blackflageds@hushmail.com

Website flag. blackened. net/blackflag '

su'oscription - P'errbur rl.ir".

Inland UK & Europe f8.00 Rest of World (Surface) f 10.00 Rest of World (Airmail) ,16.00

Box

Resistance in ltaly

Argentina: The Struggle Continues

Edinburgh. EH8, 0131 555 5165

07 "You Can't Live on a Web Page": Privalisation and Gentrification. Reaction and Resistance in

Distribution 27 Old Gloucester Street, London

Hackney's Regeneration

WClN 3XX

Frihting

Clydeside Press, 0141 552 5519 Girb' Ac'corint' No . ' 585524009

the

state

12766

AK America, San Fransisco PO Box 40862, CA 94140-0682 'rtag is dis'tributdd'fred Btack to prisoners by Haven

A Blast from the past

Vive l'Anarchie: An lnterview with March on $andton French The Street is mightier than Anarchists Le Pen General Strike Shuts down 27 The Algerian lnsurrection Spain 30 Anarcha-Feminism in Collective Nouns for Bolivia Anarchists 04 lmmigrant's Occupation in 33 Fight for Life Seville Satpal Ram Free at Last!

Strike Paralyses Toronto Mark Barnsley released Class struggle in China from Whitemoor prison 05 No Borders in Strasbourg

06 Machete power beats

Bulk Orders Press, PO

19 20

03 SMI/LPM/internationals

BM Hurricane London wcl n 3xx

AK

-'lr''orkingclass

direct action, solidarity and self-management. As Argentina shows, they can change the world!

We have made a f'eu, changes in this issue of Black Flag, Tlie nervs section is mttch smaller, reflecting the fact that u,e have been less regular in coming out recently. We have limited the uews sections to that of interest to anarchists andi or not that u ell knorvn, Instead, u'e have concentrated on more in depth articles u-hich will provoke thought and actiotr.

Lastly. thele is the usual call forpeople to get involved. Any analchist magazine is depetident on members of our movement contributing ar1lcles. If you erpect others to do this for you. then volt are rnissing the whole point of our polrtics. Back to Dasics is equally applicable within our movetnent as it is within the class struggle. Unless you get offyour arse and contribute (news reports, atticles, book reviews, pictures, etc.) then no anarchist journal can survrve for long, if you want Black Flag to keep going then it is a case ofshowing solidarity (i.e. fund raisrng, selling it; and practising direct action (i.e. helping out).

We hope to produce Black Flag more frequently next year. Reflecting this. the deadline lol the nert issue is February the l4th.

State

12 Justice - A bourgeois concept?

14

Changing the way we think of Direct Action

34 Storming

Heaven

Freedom Fighters

35 The Spanish Crvil V\/ar 36 Fast Food Nation 38 Direct Actron Workers Against Lenin

"Conquer or die such is the dilemma that faces the Ukrainian peasanfs and workers at this historic moment. But we cannot all die, for we are innumerable are mankind.

-we Therefore, we will conquer, But we will not conquer in order to repeat the errors of the past years, the error of putting our fate into the hands of new masters;we wilt conquer in orde r:'take our destin 3.-. -. our own ha-.C': ' conduct au: : i according io -. -,"' --

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will

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South Africa:

MIlLPNOintern atio n als march on $andton!

S

-\bout 20,000 protestors (1) fromthe Social Movements lndaba, the Landless Peoples Movement and other subnational and international soc i al j ustice organisations of the poor marched under blazing skies on the World Summit on -sustainable Development on August 3lst' Thousands of residents of the poor township of Alexandra rurned out to cheer on the tnarchers with revolutionary songs trom South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle - now directed against the ANc-Inkatha Freedom Party neoliberal regl1e H-ot weather, Eansport problems and an attempt by ANC nrarshalls to divert 20 buses of SMI/LPM supporters to their ou'n shatn "non-governmental" march lead to a lower than expected tumout. ilut spirits were high and the mood of iutemational sotidariiy was fantastic, with protestors from Palestine to Tibet (b6th fighting occupation;, from Bolivia (where last year, anti-privatisation protests beat back multinational ilechtet) to Pakistan, andjust about anywhere else you care to mention.

As water poured offfake waterfalis at Sandton City, near the convention centre, thirsty marchers who were not allowed by police to etren buy rvater from nearby shops were forced io drink from a mud-hole in the pavement r'vhere a water main had burst.

Despite the attempts of some international media crews to drum up a scare story when they encountered a few anarchists. some of whom were masked up to prevent identiflcation by police, thc protest - anarchists included lvas entirely peaceful and inoluded children. one in a wheelchair. and pregnant women.

But the message to the ruling elite when we got to Sandton was uncompromising: tbe SMI told the world's media that if the ANC did not stop ridlng rough-shod over the poor, they would remove them fronr pou'er in ihe same u'av tlte-y removed the apertheiJ rj::rltle Global arch-terrorist Cr'orSe Bushiunior cat.ne in for a solid verbal drubbing as dici the I:ra;li neo-aparrheid regime - and all the fat-cats of the WSSD. .oittc oi u'hotn pee ked at the protestors from behind the ''rrrlg oi si;e i (as the iocal media likcs to call policc cordotts r.

In the end, the boys in blue ne\:er gL)t to su'ing their nightsticks. the army vehiclcs with their turret-mounted maqhine-guns were impotent displa-vs of testosterone and the police warhorses merely fertilised the streets of what before we arrived was the most steriie subrub in the country.

The movement surges forward!

ittcha.'1

(

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kisha itledia)

lv"vrv,zabalaza.net 11r r,r,thich nreans we ltelded 10 times the numbers that the so-called ".i,!1-gLrlernmental" ANC-backed march did! The United Social \'!,:,r':nent is now a bigger presence on the streets of South Africa iir:i. iie neoliberal ANC-SACP-Cosatu troikal

The street is mtshtier thsn Le Pen

Tens of thousands of French people took to the streets when the news spread that fascist candidate Le Pen had made it into the second round ofthe

Presidential elections. The antiLe Pen opposition quickly gathered force, became bigger, more violent andmore organised.

In the rest of France, similar disturbances erupted without warning. On the Monday, a total of 100,000 people marched through Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Bordeaux and other towns and cities. In Tours, antiglobalisation militant Jose Bove marched at the head of a 12,000strong

More than

crowd.

10,000

More

people vented their rage at the results in

militant protests were

swelling early on Tuesday in the

Paris

ffiirr

towns of LeHawe,

on Sunday and

Monday night at the Place de la Bastille, Place de la Republique and Place de la Concorde traditional rallying points since the French Revolution. Each time, police were forced to fire tear-gas grenades to disPerse the crowds after a small hard core of militants clashed with them.

Some protestors threw Molotov cocktails, while others broke windows and telePhone cabins and damaged patked vehicles. Thirteen police officers were slightly injured and 14 youths were arrested.

Rouen, and even in the southern Le Pen

stronghold ofToulon.

Most were started by high schoo[ and riniversity students, who streamed out of classes to patade past star-tied police, Tl-rey soon gathered force as others stepped intc line. A climax was leached on May l. wlren millions of protesters took to the streets across FLance. In Paris. a floocl of humanitl' showed horv small Le Pen's supporl actually is. The election results simply conhrmed this wave of popular

revolt.

Generul Strike shuts down SPuin The Spanish general sffike over "reforms" of the labour law was sreat successlTirned to coincide with the EU summit in Seville, the ieformist unions claimed 84olo backing. The govemment claimed support was "very- slight," a claim belied by the facts! \'lass demonstrations occurred aeross Spain. during the strike, involving millions of people. Many cities, including Vigo, Seville, Madrid and Barcelona saw over 100'000 marching.

The syndicalist unions took an active part. Not happy with just striking.ihey also tried to shut dowu workplaces which rvere still ooen. Such pickers were activc in the whole country.

'Madrid saw all the syndicalist unions rvorking together in calling for a strike, picketing and demonstrating together. They denounced the practice of the reformist unions and argrredrhat the General Striice should be "a starling point and not a cul-de-sac. " They l:til;l Lnuiher rype '' of unionism, argued that workers need

to

"iased on class dentantls unil snttggle througlt the participation and tleci"'ions of'v,orkers through ussetnblies. " This was the "only mechanisnt to face the aggressions o./.rhe European Union and c apt ta I i s t Gl o b al is ation. " Some 15,000 demonstrated as part of the Syndical Coordinating-

Committee, which unites all the syndicalist unions (the CNT, CGT and Solidaridad Obrera). Slogans included "syndical Unity? Yes, but tofighl!", "Appt,t' the Foreigders' Latv to the Monarchy" and "The So ltrtion.) Ret'ct lut i ot t !

Ihe joint red-and-black denlo is encouraging as it is the lalgest so fer in \'fadrid and shou s that the syndicalist organisations in Spain are learning ro trght together,

03

I

Black Flag 222. News

lmmigrants OccuPation in Seville The two hundred and seventy immigrants who were occupying the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville were evicted by riot police on the

eighth of August. They had been occupying the

University demanding papers for over two months.

One hundred and twenty eight of them were taken into custody and are now in a detention centre in Ceuta, segregated from other inmates. The others remain in Spain but are at risk from intensive police checks in the area.

Spanish immigration law

was, until recently, comparatively open because ofthe need for cheap

agricultural workers.

However now Spain is part of the European -wide

immigration crackdown. The occupation came about after immigrants fr om the Magreb, who had been employed in the strawberry harvest in Huelva, Andalucia, were replaced by Polish immigrants brought in on temporary work permits. The previous mainly Algerian and Morrocan workers had begun to organise and get higher wages so the employers were trying to substifute workers who were ignorant of local labour conditions and unlikely to attract supporl from other workers locally.

There have been lots of occupations throughout Spain in the last few years of churches, public squares, government buildings and

universities by groups of immigrants demanding regul arisation and many have been successful. This latest occupation, initially

involving over four hundred people, mainly Algcrians, coincided u,ith the EU summit in Seville in June. In this case thc state tried to divide the occupiers by offering papers to a

limrted number, and attacking as outside

agitators the suppotl groups who were raising money for food. (Four hundred people eat a lot.)

The sitLration in Hr-rell'a shorvs the danger

of

diflerent groLrps of immigrants being played otl against each other to compete for who can work lor the lou est wagcs. The situation ofthe Polish workers is an example of a method of exploitation the EU wants to increase. As they only have work perririts fbr a dcfined short term

contract.

the1,, g3a

6.

emplo;,ed ftrr a specific job ancl ther-r nrust lerave ot' become illegal. Thi-c is exactly u'hat the state \vants: cheap taxpaying labour er.s that will not be able to sta), and usc on1 public ser\icc5. who can be called and retumed on demand. l\{ara

Strike Paralyses Toronto Class struggle in China city ofthe

largest strike by The end ofJune saw the start workers in Canadian history with a walkout by 23.500 municipal workers paralysing Toronto. ,Mer l0 days, piles rotting rubbish lined the streets and public seryices were

of

suspended.

City emptoyees who handle rubbish and other outdoor scrvices-were joined nine days latter by Toronto's indoor municipal workers. This meant that city-runmuseums, gallerids and day-care centres were close4 buildin-g pd farking permits were unavailable and restaurants did not

urdergo health inspections.

The workers said they were striking over job security, not money. They're afraid of losing their livelihoodsjf the city privatises public services. Toronto guarantees lifetime i:mploymeirt to any fu ll-time, permanent, union ised city woikei with at least l0 years on the job. City employees want that guarantee to begin afier six years. "City politicians seem determined to go down the road of contracting out and privatisation of dozens of services in this city" said one union's national president.

Atler 16 days. the strikers retumed to their jobs. This was after the Ontario legislarure passed back-to-work legislation forcing workers to retum to their jobs (using "public health" as the justification). It should be noted that it was the teftwing socialist New Democratic Party which ensured the end of the strike. ' The city's Mayor predictably argued that he could not 3 afford the deal workers want. "The real world doesn't get jobs for life,* he said. "\Mhere are we going to ge1 the money?" At the same time. Canada held the G8 sdmmit in Kananskis, Albertq its biggest internal peaeg-time miliary operation ever. While being unable to l-rnd money for city employees, money was found for the G8's security costs (esiimited to be S300,000 million and included anti-aircraff tanks plus 4,500 soldiers as well as police from across Canada).

04

I

March sarn'the class war tn Chirra hcat-up.

Mid-March saw tens of thottsands of sacked workers surrounding the main office at China's largest oilfield in Drotest against cuts in their lay-off benefits. Up to 50,000 brotesterl gathered evcry dayat the Daqing oil field in northLastem Heilongiiang province for nearly two weeks, The workers were protesting against cuts in severance pay and heating subsidies promised them when they were sacked three.ytars ago, and an increase in unemployment insurance premrums.

The end of March sarv larse-scale labour unrest shakrrg two cities in nolthern China's industrial zone. Llnpaid and laid

off rvorkers protested, massing 10.000-strong to tace

crtf

u'ith

militans oolice.

Lr Liabyang. an industrial centre in thc Liaonirrg pr(r\ ince. columns of military police protected the citl'governtrent office (on Democracy Road). The crisis eruptccl u'hen 600 workers blocked the main highway to the provincial capital Shu'n1'ang. Reports stated that hundreds of armed police moved in at mldnight to clcar the highri'a1' and dozens of people were injured. Undeterred. more than 1,000 factory workers besieged the city hall, demanding unpaid wages and the release offour detained labour leaders.

In Daqing, an oil town in northenr Chitia's Heilongiang province, up to 50, 000 workers demonstrated. There have ilso been smaller demonstrations in the capital Beijing and in the south-western province of Sichuan.

Such detnonstrations. rvhich have been growing in the region since eady March, are unusual in China, where the government keeps a tight rein on protests ond uses tll'eat:-l and force fo discourage any anti-governmeat activism.

However, the government has also acknowledged that workers are suffering from widespread closures of inelllcleiii and outdated state firms. Farmers have joined in to protesi not being paid by bankrupt factories that were built on ih":ii lands.

I j

.)

:Jfi.t

The Strasbourg No Border camp during the last week of July was one of a series of protest camps organised on

functioning of the camp was in danger oftaking over from all other activity as the amount of work needed was

important intemational

immense. Political

borders.

Strasbourg was chosen because ofthe Shengen Information System computer which is located there, which contains information on all the known

discussions, which had to be translated hto five languages, often started at midnight as people arrived late from the demos and then had to eat by which time most people were drunk.

However the experience of collective living and decision making, experimenting with structures and methods, was inspiring. It was very different from an action like Genoa where it felt to many people that all the crucial decisions had been made beforehand and we were passive consumers of an event. Selforganised

immigrants and asylum seekers in Europe. The camp brought together three thousand participants from all over Europe, especially France and Germany. Some people had travelled from Latin America, andthere was a big presence of irnmigrants mainly from North Africa.

The purpose of the camp was to bring people together for discussion and action.

Every day there were a series of discussions and a

demonstration or action in the town.

On Wednesday the demonstration was attacked by the police with gas, charges and rubber bullets.

They broke the leg of one protester and arrested thirty people, one of whom was later sent down for eight months. The next day the police declared all demonstrations in Strasbourg illegal, and

criminalised any group of more than five people in the street axd any one with a

flag or banner and any handing out of leaflets. After

this announcement an atmosphere of fear and panic took over in the camp for a short while. An immenent

police attack was feared which, given the large numbers of small children and sans papiers

(undocumented people) in the carnp, would have been disastrous. The repression achieved its object to some extent as we had to devote a lot of time and energy on how to demonstrate without endangering the camp and how to leave the camp at the end ensuring everyone's safety. We had up till that point been touring the banlieus (estates) every day with a bus and music making links u'ith the poor communities of Strasbourg.

After the criminalisation we rvere asked not to come as the peopie l-eared police repression. so one ofthe

most important aspects of the camp rvas stopped.

However rve continued to demonstrate in Strasbourg city centre every day with music, street theatre and banner drops.

Arrests happened continuously and so did

RESISTANCE IN T7:4LY Nlarch 2Tth saw the ltaliau u'orking class once again denonstrating that it wiil not allorv itseli to be rvalked aII over by the Berlusconi's r,icious attacks on their'social conditions. Three million people demonstrated in Rorne bnngmg it to a standstill - and this despite rhe state's clear message that ir i' prepared to refum to the 'strategy of tension' of earlier -r'ears. rf ihese protests continue. The rarget of this demo was the labor-rr refonns that l'ill make it easier ibr bosses to fire wor-kers. then re-hire them at lori,ered u'ages.

General Strike in ltaly .r^pril 16th saw Italy gr.ind to a halt as the iirst seneral stnke in 20 ye:rs took place. More than two rnillion people took 1o the sueets irr d.'rnonstrations all over Italy as nr,ent)'miiiion rrorkers \\'ent on "triie across the country. The strike was called to protesr asarLst lrlPosed new labOur lawS. b.r rtan1, cases COBAS - grassroots tlade unions - held rrri+:prar!:ni dernos. sometimes outnumbering the official ones.

solidarity demos; there were pickets ofhundreds of people outside the court and police station. The support we received fromthe Strasbourgois on these was very welcome as people cheered us and abused the police as we were arrested or forcibly bussed back to the camp. On the last day there were two demonstrations, one in the centre of Strasbourg and one which tried to go to the Shengen computer. This march made it perhaps two hundred yards down the road before being

blocked by lines

ofriot

immigrant groups like MIB (lmmi grants Movement in the Banlieus) from France or Voice fromGermanyhad

been involved in the

organising fromthe start and the human interaction in the camp was a great experience.

Learning and shouting chants in different languages on the demos made international solidarity feel

police, and so detoured into Germany, and went from there to the other demo by train via the jail. The crowd was again attacked by the police with gas but there was not the carrrage we had been scared of.

The daily life of the camp -

cooking, toilet digging, security - was organised

like something real instead of a leftie clich6 (although the Black FIag contingent did walk around Germany for hours shouting 'short people are illegal' due to an unfortunate pron unciation error). Ifwe are searching for a new tactic for international actions, this looks like the way to go.

Mara

around a series ofbarrios with communal kitchens and a daily meeting. At times the Anarchists and anti-capitalist groups supported these grass root union demonstrations.

Direct actions targeted temporary employment agencies. Several rvere

occupied, u,hi1e many others had their entrances 'sealed' t,ith g1ue. The ofhce of an

Italian emplovrrent agenc\

rn

\4i1an rvas 'raided' and covered

t

ith shit (the real thing). In R.'me. nrain ro:ds leading into the cin, rirere blor-ked b,v srrail groups,

Gent o . nti5S<lge. ';rt11 Q8 The anniversary of the murder of t"e 6 billions' stafis to become Carlo Giuliani was marked by a a realilv l 1 30,000 protest demonstratjon.

05

I

Black Flag 222 . News

B EAT^S S ru78 NIACHE TE POWER action

Nine months of direct

community br';;lii;.rff solidarity by

action

and

were in revolt, with around 3,5o0.locals on the streets. that theyT9^d:$XTg. would.fight 300 n31san1s peasants stormed the sub -jOo Arrorney ord."."Jrtr',.

against those facing legal from the tflgg.t::

fhe p;:,:;:r=:.' rr.ror--. r,:al:r{

{- i.-r cu ! !a i'.r"=xl-., Augu.r :i-rlr,,.;d iir:ir {ugu' deGrmrn,t;,.,, i,r,.r,,'ii,ur. dr

throu-rh

.t *,,-r h- - lTl:TI"Xi'S,l'.*n' ;;#;i'i.#.r, Z-*-ilftl :l:Sitp, iEI]i'; - inrexcocoandtookT,ceneral neht \\'eu,itril;irozior il;;;;r; . .f.t l::91:,t-ltll,:11.: . ii"g""rn"" i

i {iliil ;1' â&#x201A;Źre,

fBr ',i:i:l'il,1X,"" city airport_91

.y7I7

ttris .-=rWjU i.,ni,","aiti" f \\ ttreir lan-d.

victory

for

power ;;".

ilHfl',i:,xxi::',t" #:i#Irli*.i:ft.n'HJrs,, i"".,i",;hi,l;Ei1i..li=::coNrNruNrry :lf*1,#::])*:*,]:11,"?"

T.::1,",1,:l:-l:ji.l.::' They demanded their the member: oiiii,: against U"*ilr* O.,"U* police.

i*.i!:*;;;;, ffiHi:Ji"..*.#:,Ti..t,_ *.. releasei' .,

por ,a *o,-ffi*,carisn u", rorr&u.hile ertucarisn i,1irl'f],'^1,r""r,n. inhabitants ofthe atea released' . , rh f 1: lenr rhr e orouna 5u, iufruOoi- , ,lfternogn;f : ^PX^,h" 10,!ri^0 includrng militar!' rolice, business surroundtne the h""" "'".. ll:.^.: area as the peasanti loniflrd The struggle ,n. no"#rr.,,ii"" ' " therr defences 3 police cars culu,rinate6"In .luly with a virtual efforts to ."riprrr"6v b,*t arrci I coca cola insurrection in Aienco and 3 fi;1."*.- r0,tj6o acres'of their :t.1:

people ;""piJ

i,r.iUig and state. otheriowns.

r+'^i Rebel, Reeist, -'--e*ri"fti --' ",."."""liiiiJJJi b;;;;..i.iil;"

Over4days

landforthenew;*;. 61l

thousands of peasants aird ;;;G-6};;;il. ;; suppofters blockaded highways start prelimina.y ;;;k f"r ;h; and-used mactretes and aimort have U"." .too*O iln

moloto's to defy over 10,000 potice. T'he insurgents capture<J

]ul) the

they and

the struggle continues", demanded that all charges utta.r, *nron,r

oa

to"r. the San

of Enrique Espinoza Jurre2. murdered by ihe police.

The peasants see their battle d: Ilrrt of a biggcr picture.

Thev declared the:ir opposition to the Plan Puebla Panama, and famiJ.v

tractortrarlersseizedtobeuied thedrive toii'arii.aFreeTrade

along rvrth police vehicles rn

the

barricades. As night fel1 the locals were digging trenches around the occupied areas" over the next 4 days the revolt continued as resisters blockaded highways in the area,

."-il-r""u-at*i ".ifu'*-.1i. ;-;;;;;f ti;;;ail;; and held i 9 goverinrent oifi.iulr ;;;p;div ioit o, uff^^ tfr." "^---^ and pplice h6stage, in a demos and u"tio", - frrr. successful bid to free their own become u .i-Uoi ofi.ri-rtur".. lt-*:r. joined by supporters from.aroundMerico. On l4 prisoners. The price of victory Solidarityhasb;d;i6;J' government released u,as high hor.vever - police with striliing sile-nts the 1l jailedpeasants, andthe violencekille4localman workers, Ziputi.tu-r"pport.r, l,llr,lh. fo^l]oylrg day the government Enrique Espinoza Juarez. who urO- -uriu "til"i n[;i'--"--tlicdlronr inirrrie:sustainedon in"ltirggi."-*pi[aonf f "f,fl:,:ltandpolicervere relea.ed unharmetl. The 11tlt 1,,1r.

Julv 2002. At l;;r'i000';;; go\ernmenl concedcti that plans Ttlr On \ugust president Fox ,"1'i."

-iO for the airporl may have to be ";; "io.f."d;ib0_.t issued a decr& caricelling thc p...rit. ;ilr;ir;;;;;h moclified or even cancelled. previous government tleclees were init,ed anO f S" '-------" expropriating the peasants' disappearJ, possibly arrested. vICToRy larid. A weck latei. machetes Ciashes escalated is the it .-o*.-..,t def-eat was aloft, rhe peasanrs marched .o-t""oity -otitiseO itsetf. ;;;;[" when an victoriouslv throLrgh Mexico Clitlr. 61l5n, ng 'Atenco lives,

il:?1":llt"JJT#"?",,1:,T;,1.:: demanded compensation ;or :ii.

Agreeme nt fir all the Americas.

The PIan Puebla P:inrma. backed b1, the N'f e.trcan. US and

Central Anrerjcan -sLrlernments. aims to "develop" the area frorl Puebla in south central N'lertco down to Panama, forcing' peasants off the land into sweatshops, plundering natural resotlrces and exploiting the

indigenousandothelpoorlocal people,

Thein.piringmc:sagcfrom the coulageous peasant people nho hare defeated the rnight ,,rl the Mexican state ts "Let us be clear that the Front of Peoples in Defence of the Land will acr irt solidarity with ull ittst couses which defencl the

Fox fL\|!r:f#!i!or'f i{rur rr* on our struggle will be ofnciat unbreakable in rhe J.ace o.l. all

Hundreds, the, trrooru"ar, uinJun..*"nr by president to the streets and blockaded or'lE-eugrrt was confrnued roads. The towns of iih'nugori Uyrtre Salvador Atenco, Acuexcomac, .un..iiation ofthe decrees to

Argentina: The struggle continuq The process of working class self-organisation continues.

Links are being made across the country and across

organisations. For example, more than eight hundred delegates attended the First National ConJbrence of Plants and Factories Occupied and In Struggle on Saturday, August 24 organised by the Bloque Piquetero Nacional (National Picketeers' Bloc) and the Movinliento Independiente de Jubiledos y Desocupodos (Independent Movement of Pensioners and Unemployed). The delegates ceme from factorieq, trade unions, shop steward committees and popular assemblies and met in the planr of the Grissin6poli company, occupied by its workers.

Conferencc approved a resolution on the expropriation ^The of the machinery buildings and capital of the comlanies and their handing over to their workers. Self-management is already being practised in a wide range ofworkplaces (including supermarkets, mines, clinics, transport, metal works, printshops), all across the country. Some have occupied their workplaces and ran them for more than 10 months. A national march in support of the occupied factories was agreed for September 10, as was the active participation in the roadblocks of the Picketeers. It was also agreed that delegates from the occupied factories attend the

06

I

"

next National Assembly of employed and unemployed workers.

As we argued in the last issue of Black Flag, the need to co-ordinate struggles and solidarity was an essential next step. This has started. As one group of workers put it, uWe shure the motto: if they attack one, they attack all of us."

Equally as important, the Argentine workers are showing a healthy distrust of hierarchy. Delegates are returning to their factories to discuss in assemblies the proposals for the I Second National Meeting. Self-management is replacing governrnent. As predicted, the call for occupying workplaces and placing them under workers' self-management has been raised and put into practice.

Elsewhere, the neighbourhood assemblies have been developing collective solutions to the crisis in housing in the form of "assemblies okupas." The assemblies have taken the initiative, reclaiming unused but habitable spaces. By guaranteeing the right to the ceihng, it replaces prope rights with use rights, putting it at the service of the community. The occupations are run collectively. When the police ask the squatters who is in charge, the assembly invariably answers "we are all people in charge."

The popular assemblies are also collectively resisting attempts at evictions, be it lrousing or factories.

Slowly but surely, the people ofArgentina are creatirg an alternative to the State and capitalism.

"Yott Can't Live On a Web Site" Privatisation and Gentrification, Reaction and Resistance, in Hackney's Thc fhc London Borough of Hackney inthe past few

l*Y'fJ,';Jff f#i i!,*-",n o

in rlunicipa.l incompetence. ]1,lffi';i-lJncompetence rr.r ingerng cuts,

pnvatisation, and eastern elrropean levels of poverlv a stairding joke amongst most Londonets. A range of 'regenetation' anti poi, eft1' progralrlmes had been underway since the 1990s trnd the highest nuinber of

housing privatisation ballots in the country had been held.

But by 2001, what was new g,as the booming real estate market not just of trendy Hoxton in the south. but across the whoie Borough.

May 2001 saw the New Labour Council emetging from aperiod ofcoalition rule rth the Conservatives 'ur Hackney was after all the honre of some of New LnUuurr le adin-e ideologuesl and is now the testing gror.Lnd for New Labour's restructuring of the lnner Clty.

1'hrs piece wiiI argue that the collapse of the local Council and its replacement

t

Rt

atio n St at e'

ge n er

&entrification is having the effect of social cleansing of working class commurities accross Iarge swathes of inner crty London, and other rnajor cities. In Btack Fbg220 we covered the effects of gentrificatiott in Berlin. Germany and exploretl strategies used by gennan activists to fisht back. Below is an edited version of an uf;irt documenti ng th e sweepin g fen t rifi cati on " of Haekne.v, an oast end Lorrdon Borough. In the

i:;1,T:l-d$tr}ff

*:trff ;f :',ffi #',1#

take-over of their"sen'ices and communities. rvomen] with almost no access

to Councii housing

and a nightmare scenario

with which to threaten existing Counc jl tenants Meanwhile. iarge developers are increasingly crass in their proposals. The initial pioneer'arty'

L\

ingstoncl tb uxtracl some

ofthe profits from

these

developments to restructure social structures around the Cit1. Brrt instead olexisting working class multicultural communr'ties, a new 'worlhy poor'' of key workers [mostly whitel will receive serni

the defeat of a rletc'rtnine-d UNISON campaign lar gcll due to lack of a sustained second front ... community campaigners need to reassess strategies.

Hackney - a sketch: Hackney is an inner city London Borough bordcring the The City. lt has a population approaching 300.000 ofwhich over 507o are from ethnic minoritl communities. H ackney has also the biggest lesbian population in Britain and ailegedly the tnost artists in Europe.

The average incotne is half

that of the London average antl i0" o ol'tlte population lir'e.on Income Suppott.

Some ilOo,b of households are Council tenants. about 10 % are tenanti in the private rented sector, another 109'o live in rectgntly privatised ex ( ouncii'jtuts. The rernaining -10'o include somc Yuppics but also a significant ntmrber of r,, c,rking class owner occ upr ers.

Without wanting to over-

a skeletal 'regeneration

generalise - the south ofthe

statc' has furthered gentrihcation and the gradual eviction ofthe existi n-e multi cultural u,orking class community by:

Borough IHoxton.

Shorcilrtch antl l-l ages'rstonl has both nrorr' Council housing than the north, and more of the 'digital yuppies'

br

'i,

- furlher proper-ty sales with

fewer controls on development leading to a population densitl' u'hich excludes iolv income farnilies rvith children - reduction in support

south ofthe

low income peoplc

Iespecially younger people in the private rcnted sector ] being driven out ofthe Borough by the chaos accompanying housing 'lenefit privatisation - h ousing privatisation . .,(\ lranslerl leaving .nilies [1ed generally by

lofts along with

s ofbourgeois

hwasa

hold in National Front the 70's, lvith the fasQl's national HQ located on

services for working class peopl e, especialll' wor.nel -

l'.-Rqrvatcd

a few

gentrit-rers are now finding

thetnselves under threat from tire olfi ce cievelopment needed fbr the reinforcernent of London as the financial centre of the Europeatr Union.

There have been some efforts [e.g. by mayor Ken

subsidised housing providing a safe social mix fol the new rich.

The response ofthe left to this crisis has been disappointing - in fact the populist right around 'Hackney First' are making the most clear gains. With

Shoreditch High Street in 797 9. lt's now a successful multicultural conimunity,. although older white residents often dominate residents associations and

other local $oupp.

Stokc Ner.vington in the north of the Borough has much of the rest of the gentrifi ed housing, mostlY terraced street Property.

07

I

Black FIag

222' F ealrtes

Clapton and Stamford Hill in the north east have more

working class owner occupiers. Homerton and Hackney Wick in the east are similarly poorer. Large estates and small pockets of terraced housing and mixed industrial and warehousing estates are found throughout the Borough.

A Council in financial collapse: The UK's first ever'Section 114' notice of impending bankruptcy was posted in late October 2000. All non

statutory spending was cancelled - and all casual

staffwere immediately dismissed. For example, up to 50% of binmenwere sacked.

A temporary reprieve was granted with a batch of sales, cuts and privatisations. But the summer of 200 I saw the threat of Central Govenrment take-over once more.

Residents don't enjoy low levels of tax to go with the

low level ofservices. Council tax rates are amongst the highest in the country yet it makes up less that l0o/o of the Borough's income - most of the rest comes from government subsidies which have been cut by over fl00M in the oast few

)'

years.-

As seen below, the cuts due to the Council's financial crisis have been to services for working class people, and the skeletal ['regeneration'] local state is unable to re guiate a genkification building boom. However, eveninthe late 1990s before the latest round of cuts, the Council was an albatross around the neck for anti privatisation campaigners ... after defeat in 7 stock transfer privatisation votes

it's clear that working class tenants would do almost anything to get away from Hackney Council. Defence of the stafus quo was never a route to popular support.

c te

a

Privatisation of pro perty a nd services: [' : Section I 14 notice was used in the most [til-iy:. privatisation - that of diTosal. part This of ffii'e l.- worktorce was

['ii,h

traditionally the most militant the gentrified norlh remained coruptron \veru .'., eri iiiiri: - UNISON demonstrations a priority for the Labour linrited and safiqu,airi: t:,i good sen,rces tor iu,-ri1 often were led by 'borrowed' group despite being { lJNI garbage trucks. In August orer budget at f26.7M^ pe.rplc \\'el( n.r:r'..vi::iciri.

2000 these workers had ITNET. \'ho rv6n i[-,3 Other services were also defeated an attempt Jo under threat - for erample HoLLsins Beneirt

privatisethe servicer.

Service Team sold their whole company to the American TNC Cleanaway.

Since then the pace of privatisation has if anythin,e quickened, particr-rlarly u,ith

undcr rn the Borough 'u,ith the nrost artists jx Europe'. rvorkinq class people were not to have access to any afis facilities ... except for the newly opened Ocean [see belowl. l\\o arts centres *ere

threat of closure - so that

Compared with the

demos

level of resistance to these cuts was rnjnimal. A small demo was calledbl,Hackney of the year before, the

Fightback. Pensioner Nl1'rua Sharv pointed

activist

out

adrlrnr.lr.rti.:n Lu' .-rci ;ii;it. late 199(1.:. uLndr-rstu,tlti ii'ii:. r.r:c11. Thcir iir-sr act aii;r' takin_s ever ,,i,,'.r: tLr cui ilit u,'orkibrc-.c b1, r li,ird- i I Within mcrnths tlie ser...ic'.-. which u'as never very qot-.d. plunged to being disastrtru-..

The details of ITNET need their ou,n article - but I can identify 3 major different effects:

- enornous pressure was put on the finances of the Council and the Housing Association-s in the Borough - elronTrous stiess u,as ptLt on everv Council and Housin-s Association tenant on benefit due to their beir-re

the defeating of indLrstrial that: action and the LabotLr -eroup "... Hackney Council winning and then keeping a continues ttt sell olf propert.t, rnajority. Privatisation is to speculator.s and lncreasingiy targeted to developers. The presence of continuously in rent arrcars

Privatisation is increasingly targeted to facilitate gentrification and cut services for local working class people, espec ially working women facilitate sentri fi cati on and cut services for local working cl ass people, especially workingwomen.

June 2001 saw atotal of 135 different properties listed

more. ,tnd mare. of'tlrcte speculators, irtere.sted mainly in deteloping pro.fits, ntean they have an overloud v-oice in deciding y'httt the

for sale to raise an estimated

The voice oJ'tenants and

f,70M including: a community arts venue, two nurseries, a community boat club, part ofa school and maintenance depot, at least two semi derelict open

resident.s is' on the w*ay to heing wiped uilt. Tlti.\ is tnttre serious, qs the Foir Rents Offic:er"talrcs the open

spaces used by their

communities as parks and a plot used by a school for kids with special needs.

Most of these sales were in gentrification 'hot spots' like Hoxton and De Beauvoir.

Ironically a road garden in an area ofthe already gentrified Stoke Newington was saved after protesters 'planted a tree as a symbol of their

commitneot'.)

At the same time a further 2 nurseries aprd a play group were closed.o The Borough's 2 remainirry swimming pools were put out to private tender whilst the pool in the hean of Haggerslon

remained closed. / Instead, opening a brand new pool in

08

,3\

Butby

Decemberthe waste management contract was sold to Service Team. The much reduced an<l now isolated worklbrce was willing to give their new employers a chance and didn't join in the industrial actiorr4. But in early 2001,

I

'open market'is in Hackney.

nrarket into consiJerafion when he sets the rents for remaining Council and

hou.tins .- associtrtion ..o

tendnls.

The reality of privatisation was underlined bv Nord Anglia, who run the privatised parls of the education department and overcharged the Council

f400.000 fortheir 'ra.ri"...' 10 However it rvas on the privatised estates and in the effects ofthe contracted out Housin_e Benefit service that the effects were most sevefe.

Hackney Council had a long, well documented history of corruption. Under regeneration schemes, w'hat controls there were on poUtical and financial

and rcceivin-o notices of Seeking Possession from

their landlords. [n addition tenant reps and Councillors had their democratic rights curtailed dLre to ITNF,T related rent arrears. e.g. a Clapton tenant rep was sacked fiom the CCHT Board fbr rent u.."u.r l 2 and an independent Cor,rncillor lost voting rights due to ITNET related rent and Council tax urrauar. I

31

- in the private rented sector safeguartls against er ictions did not apply ... and while many tenants already in place hung on, private landlorcls tended to refuse to take on Housing Benefit dependent tenants.

In Apnl 2001 the contract *ith IT\ET r,ras broken, lear,ir.rg the Council holdin-s the baby. While the servicc has somewhat improved. the long term eft'ect on low

income people's access

tcl

the private market rents sector in Hackney is likel,v io rcmain - the already fenrlt. field is left clear for fr.rmho,i

gentrification.

Gentrification in Hoxton: "The chicest place in the inhabited universe" - The New Yorker:

Around 1990 when the Shoreditch triangle in the south of Hoxton was still largely semi derelict ex

live opposite the

in 1999, rvhere rents *'ere a minimum of f 145 a 'nveek. In response to local tenants saying that it was scheme

"fancy flats lbr yuppies"

HaggerSton estate

!

'SharedHome Ownership Schemes'were

a

spokesperson said:

used to sweeten the pill and to

"The btilding will be clad

clothing industry

in cedar wood ttnd terrlcotta and vtill look

warehouses, the Dalston City Challenge corridor was drawn to include a large part ofthis area. The regeneration programme was varied: - A new cinema for the London Filn Makers Co-op

Meanwhile on Council estates lundirrg lor repairs was parlicular'ly tight. On estates primed tbr privatisation no repairs were done at all in the lead up to

[The Lux]14

ballots and estate managers

out their ex

were not replaced. On the other fbetter] estates tenant

Council flats

-Redev.elopment of Hoxton

Squarer) -Renovation of the Arches under the 'Tube line to be' -Funding for basic refits of warehouses given to private landlords such as

.

ease planning

-'

,,1'7,,

|erv nlce.

infeslation or people who hure to lire and slecp itr they're coverecl in .fttngus trtrl the. v'oll poper is./alling qilr ... "18

first abandoned warehouses

By 2001 niarket rents itt social housing were reaching f200 a week. While larger

A gentrification whirlpool,

private and prices for lofts were now topping f400,000.

Others were'market rent schemes' from' charitable' housing associations beginning with the award

winning Shepherdess Walk

buy' and then let

charge rents of f200 plus a week

forabasic3bed flat, further

rooms that are so damp

aided by central government subsidy, began. By the late 1990s larger scale developments were more common. Some were wholly

their 'right to

boosting the

Consciously or not, this provided the fuel for the gentrification of Hoxton. At

became busier. Ill effects were seen eady - with lofts pumping their sewage onto the Pitfield estate and stairwells being used as toilets and places to have.sgx by people using the bars.l6

had exercised

could also

representatives wete supporling: "... people v,ith cockroaclt

Glasshouse

were converted into lofts and a couple ofexisting bars

objections. The effect ofthis development was that tenants who

impetus behind right to bulr Speculators actively leafleted estates with offers to buy out secure tenant's 'right to buy.'They would provide cash [sometimes as

on Council estates funding for repairs was particularly tight. On esfafes primeLi for privatisatioit no repaits were done at all in the lead up to ballots and esfafe managers were not rePlaced Housing Associations such as Peabody led on market renting - other HAs began to get in on the act. But even Peabody couidn't get rid of everything - it had to sell a block to Metropolitan after

finding that r'uppies

\,\'eren't

u illinq to pay market rents

to

little

as

f5,000] to a tenant

who would buy the flat fwith the speculator's money] signing over the rights to let it or,lt to the specr,llators, and selhng it on after the u'aiting period of ) )'ears. This mcant I bedroom tlats could be picked up tbl as little as

t20.000 plus the payment to the terant By' 2000 the London properly market had heated up to such an extent that a new round of tower blocks rvas being proposed for the inner city. Ken Livingstone, the newly

elected mayor, gave his suppotl for these so

long

as

they provided

subsidy tbr social housing schemes and transDorl in east

Lnndo,rlq. Houevcr. rather than ai'tordable rented housing. it r"'as more of the not \rery

affordable shared home ownershjp schcnres lor 'key

*o.k...'20.

The long term plan is clearly to replace the City's poverty stricken necklace of estates in Finsbury IIslington], Shoreditch and Whrtechapel [Tower Hanrlets] u,,ith a nrix of the new rich and the nerv

'desen-ing poor' of key rvorkers.

The estates are just a stone's throrv away: By 2000, developers were increasingly confident and using all available loopholes to cash in. Even when lcases hcld rents for 3 ycars. sen ice charges could be jacked up and added to thc orieinal

,.nt2 l. Sonretime s thls meant that tenants wanting to break leases lost not only their 3 months deposit but had to pay extra to get out ofthe lease. David Nicholson of Glasshouse - who r.r.'ith

governnent cash developed rnany' of the early lofts said:

"tle

cu'e ttot a charity, w'e cotnntercial business ...

Ilarket renl in Sltoreditch

are

l

ltd: ti\eil tottsilerctbl.v itt tlte last l8 ntonths. We've goi tenlnts v'ho ure willing lo p(t.\' ... anJ are not going to take up hours of our time about the trittl' e otnpltti4jttg / 11u

grtlh'.

"

And it wasn't just businesses evicting tenants 09

I

Black F ag 222. Fealwes

wt-

on cheap leases. In August 2000, the charity running Shoreditch Town Hall Trust terminated the leases of 20 small businesses and charities to allow the building to renovated. As the Daycare Trust commented on their eviction - "we thought we were a Part of [the Town Hall Trust's]

long term p^l4ns. It's obvious we're not."zJ By 2000, not only were the concerns of Hoxton's majority - working class Council tenants irrelevant but the concern voiced inthe local media

had been placed previously began to provide a context for this. By February 2001, while the 380 hostel Places were full and450 families were in bed and breakfast,.,

More celebrated, is the of Spitalhelds market "a vivid antidote to tlte blandne.ss thcrt t:orPorate culture brings in it; tule"'

case

often outside the Boroughz/, at least l5 % of the 7.000 privatised t'l ats28 were standing empty [following a pre-privatisation policY of running down the estates] and at least another 100 street properties had been

sold to subsidise

prir.iitution schemes29. The

next toABN-AM RO'sr-

heaclquarlers and Lii'erPool Street Station. Half of the market has already been lost to an otfice development and the rest is under threat despite the protests of market owncrs. Ltrminaries such as Terrence Conran are weighing in to Protect the creati ve hub ol gentrifi cation and are'lvilling

to trade a bigger dcveloprnent cl ser.ihere. !o protect it. r -' Whrle the nerl' residents fight

was primarily

that gentrification would "spell the

a losing battle

end for the arty atmosphere that began th^e, revival."za The Hackney Society

against Europe's finance capital or prepare to move to the next chic scene, the interests of the

voiced concerns that the "huge increases in iand and property values [... were] threatening the future viability of local charities, community groups and small businesses ... small businesses are also being hit hard in particular new businesses in the IT and creative sectots - the very businesses Hacknev is keen

to attract."25

Working class people appeared in this discussion only as an ungrateful or

e

t

,0

criminal element. The project director at Shoreditch Town Hall spoke of 'resentment' from older residents over f500,000 lofts next to their run down Council flats, while a gallery director from Hoxton Square said: "Whatb becoming more apparent are the crime levels. The estatesjust off Hoxton Street arejust a stones throw away. There's increasing resentment. More and more [very largelJ windows are beins .rmarhed. "26 Reports that homeless families were again being put into bed and breakfast - in part because the Council had sold the estates where they

rvorking class

were and

clear losers in all of this

rnajority are nowhere to be

working class women

seen.

their families - they were not welcome in New Labour's

Hackney.

"

... it's so t:iose to the Cit

.v,

won't even knov' iirrns ' "3l thrr" rn i n HacktteY.

Who runs Hoxton then?

In March 2001 Shoreditch's new elite attempted to ban Abba's Dancing Queen!

Residents of live-work units in Redchurch Street complained about the Village

The'Regeneration' of the Town Hall Square Broadway Market is

a

narrow

street market between two

parks. It makes a geographical link between

People's YMCA as well as

Hoxton and the Town Hall

the Conservative Parfy's Annual Winter Ball whioh were held in marquees on the Bishopsgate Goodsyard.

"We cannot sleep because it goes on until one in the morning and in the summer we cannot relax on our

precinct ancl is already showing the Hoxton effect.

Five years ago it had onc pub and a listed pie arrd eel shop which baked reggie

rooftop garden without having to listen to Chris de Burgh s 'Lady in Red'or nn some other dreadful rune.'rv 'Traditional' East End culture in the area had no chance then - the Brick Lane

Music Hall faced closure at the end of 2000 when its rent went up 400o/oto f 100,000 a year. The landlord said: "unforrunat^ely we are not q

chariry..."rt

10

I

pies on demand. Now there's 2 expensive restaurants, a Japanese noodle baq 1 yuppie bar, a health food bar and halfa dozen boutiques.

Not far a\\'a), 'regeneration' money w'as used to do up a derelict church. where a trendy club is norv based.

Facilities for local people have not similarly expanded as indicated earlier it is here in the south of the Borough that cuts in provision are tending to be targeted.

Furlher north, jr.rst south of the town hall, is Ellingforl

Road. Here until 1991i ri cr;

around 30 squati.'.1 htrnl.'s tyhich haye n6u' ,, L.lr-!nli:i1r' incorporated Iltcnl';i. : r Ikeeping.jttst or'-r :.rl: :iihornesl irito an r':.rslii1:Horr.ins \si.,. iil , ;-.-il. T't; rc'st

oltlis

area is

rlii

booming u'ith loti iir e 'r trrk units.

Ancl on to thr- Ttlrr,';r Ha11 Square - 1[s ,sitc oi arturther regeneration procriinrlrle.

Directly opposite is the neri Ocean music 'u'enue. opened on the site of the old Hackney Library and Museum. lt has alreadY attracted criticism over the price oftickets fup to f27]. the s,ages of the director

[:\l.or tt tlantl it's lunction

as

an orrsls tbr a ''ricir voung

.ii,.,tti6 Rel ation-r,,rtn lo-cal people starled poorlr' rviih complaints of serual harassment and par:king probi ems. Noise compl aints were dismissed as

"whinging."37 Th. o..ut, started with high hopes for participation and access ...

it'll be interesting to see how it evolves. I suspect that the social pressures tiorn gentrification and the regeneration ofthe rest of the square u,ill fbrce it in a less and less accessible

direction.

The Town Hall Square, previously frequented by local street drinkers and the odd demo against the Council, became subject of Labour Council plans to

spend[1.1 M doingituP. Critics pointed out that 4 different types of limestone wasn't perhaps the aim of Neighbourhood Renewal funding rvhich paid for over

half of the scheme. The Hackney tree wardens mounted a rocal campaign against the planned loss of 15 trees and pointed out that meetings were not oPen to the public and minutes lvere

kept secret.

Complaints about how the regeneration of the Square was going could be assuaged by prontises of a nelv Technology and Learning Centre [a rebuilt libraryl. But cuts in the Leaming and Leisure budget meant that "the Counctl can barely affbrd to buv books

for the new library ... and has set aside f 150,000, warning that it may c-uj the Borough's book tund."38 Opposite the TLC lies the Hackney Empire and the Samuel Pepys Bar. The Pepys was for years the late opening 'alternative' bar in Hackney. It was shut along with the Empire for refurbishment in May 2001 ... the ensuing street party in the Town Hall square got a bit out of

main beneficiaries of Hackney's crisis far from being the left were the

In the next issue of Black Flag we look at grass root

populist right wing formation Hackney First - who achieved 546votesin2 wards versus Socialist Alliance's 513 in 3 wards. In 2001, the BNP showedthat

and privatisation in Hackney and elservhele. We welcome

responses to gerttrilication

given a crisis in political life the riots in Oldham as much as the crisis in Hackney - the

hand - although participants commented that it was

l4i9r00 pointed out the reality ul tlte stluatc'r ll:e l5 il Opcll llr

contributions.

that thev didn't want to go to the Ocean!39 Resistance and

2000

-IIackne) Cazette

([ ootnotes)

2

Such as Michael Barber tvho has nroved tiom lJducation honcho to be a top advisor at Nuntber

r0.

ancl n

g

rsEugene Francis in Hachne)' Independent Spring 2000.

"The Observer 3'6,01 roe,g. teachers and nlLrses, although behind these parndigrns oI r"irtue- technicians and er.en housing workers are sneaked in. r Hackne)' Gazette 23i 3,' 00.

IHackne]' Gazette 2-3'3 i 00. .

IHackney Gazette l7 8i

00.

Hackney GazL'tte 29, 7/ 00. rjSpaces Spri ng 200 I .

I

I

issue

!ll.

r"Hackne\ CiJzeile 29 7' 00. r-Hackus--r Gazette I 5,'2'

determined campaign against Council cuts and attacks on theit rvages and conditions fi'om 2000 2001. This needs a separate analysis but Hackney Council u,orkers sholved u'ell into 2001 that they were willing to take unofficial action oarticularlv auainst vrcrimisation.4o tn uilct,r io,, the current l{ackney L,NISON oflicials have been willing to continue a dispute in an attempt to carry it

through to victory.

But what was stressed to me by a number of TINISON members horl'ever r.l'as that their campaign u'ould lail withotrt .r ':cctlnd tl orrt'

being opened b,r.' mr1rtant conrmunity stnrgglc. This never came desprte a set ies oflocal disputes over specific closures - some of which were successful Burbage School in Hoxton fbr example.

The attempt to have a united front of comnttrnilv

0l : ')

':::'""'

r"'';:

:!The 3 Ilstates for

'

english electorate would be willing to \ ote for a 'radical' political alternative. In

rUnisou eaflet for 7rh ol N4arch

Ilackrel'. u ith a organised

rLucleat' lo \\,hat extent the SWP declaring tlrat the waste torl<crs u,ele r"ictorious in the fight against privatisalion in October. didn't help in this situatiou. There could be a certain - thank fuck rre'r'e escaped from [Tackney L-ouncil

membelship of nearing 1,000 the far left u'orkrng together could not do the sanre. So much tbr electoralism...

And what about the grass ro ots

?

Stril<e 200

llrich I hale precise lirrrrc. ilrc l,,lill \\d\ lrrr.lrr,lirrp scltrattccl honres] or'er 20')'u.

1 .

:"Hackne)' (iazette I 0' t 2,98 and

rHackne) Cazt-tle 24 [J,00.

rlts

1.1

': f he

-

campai-uns or er the last two

"Hackne-v Gazette 1zli6i 0l and

ele a number of other

positive local community

- Occupation of tu'o of the

28i 6i 0

threater.red nurseries (see

Black F1a-s ll0) - Rent Freeze Campaign - Organising on privatised e

state s.

In Shoreditch. community activists u,orking within the New Deal frust, alongside

t,

!Hackney Cazette 2li6 01 and l9l1 t01.

-Hackney Gazette 5 I 0l . tro.*n".u Oora,,e 1-1 (lI eHackne)- Cazette 5 01 'Haeknc] G..zctt< il ^ 0l rPersonal conrersltir,r

st a

trith HB

fl'

rSee repr.rt

in ln:L-de-Eou:rry

Febnteri l1'liri- llrd Housing Toda) 11 i t.r 'See \\ r:r:.' B:n.'iir leaflet from

olganisaation caJled Hackney Fightback fe11 apalt u ith open splits betu een the S\\''P and the Sociahst paIl) leading to separate candrdates standing in L'ouncil by-elections in June

confrontation inside and outside the str-uctures of the rcrer'(l11ion stalc catl l-:-i'' to :uIs\\'.r the qr.restion oi hou to brLilil mass sLLpLr,:rii alts"-.,t:r..

Iol pl,Iili\.1\.' c ation an d to

i:r,:ir

jl

pri', arisation.

an

t )1-

\\ orse still, the Council i-,_r'-:lections showed that the

-cent1'rtr

\S

nrain Dutch bank ... also ,llt.r(k. ,)lt ittncr cttr

conr nrLnrilies

years namelr,:

'ul

99

L;1"rr;1 lo1

tactor lrnked in uith experienced social democrat managers to explain the lvaste rvorkers 'giring Service Team a chance.

There

I

' Hackner, Cazctte li 3 01. ' ileclnev Cqz'.stte I6 I l'00

the Hackrey IWCA condtrcting mass leafleting work. have nou'' turned the tide on stock transfer in the soulh of Hackney. Looking at this combined approach of

through

7,'99

000.

Reaction: HackneyLINISON members fought a

strr-Lggles

I'

Hackneli lndependent Spri

l'[[ Il0 lT tF Yoll gngRRlHr 6

more simulacra than reality. What's clear is

drinking area lbr- yuppies.

I lslLrcjllds&eodsn-t : P r i ns

l{.rckn:r !\',,i.\ Foi .:rrir.r', !.i the Lux see 1-ri.r l. lllcLne.\ (-,azette

in Anrsterdattt-

"The Obselr el l -5 7,'01 ''Hrcl<ne) lndependent -S

.

rrrnre'r 1 999 quotin,q developer

Peter lrloreno Ior l\4oron ls the s1-.cI lchecker suggests] fiorn the

Ilackner- Gazette "Sec Hackne!' Gazetle l(r,8i01. ''Hacknev Cazette 29i3,01 - see also letters tiorn stafl and the director defending the venue on

l2'4'01.

jHackneJ' Gazette 3l/5i01.

Htrslrc: Grzette lo - 01.

IHackney Gazette 24t,s/0 I and Evening Standrrd 2 lr-5t01.

rlSee Hacknev Gazette 29,3/01 for Transport Workers. and 5i7t 0l fbr dust nren as ivell as the ongoing actiorrs or er Noah Tallor rvho u,as sackecl b_v the CotLncil in August 2001 ,

. I ' !!

il ltc|e Dar e YoLrng Gerlrel e Estate not the ,.,:rr::isrtrn I abour Councillor] ..:r. -'l thirk the Lux is a perf-ect

:r-rrrple ol'regerreration.' Our

, , q\ -,r(.

irrto it. It is oI

rro

orr[y serves to pLtll nrorc rrcl'r l,oung people into the ,rrea - the sanre people rvho are lladLLallr taking orer our pltbs. oLLr shops ancl er en our hotres.

Lls!.

":A

to

r.LS.

LrLrt

letter in llackne)' Cozette 11

I

Black F ag 222. Fealrrcs

Justice - A bourgeois Conceqt?

"The communist revolution, by suppressing private pt'opet'n' Lltttl gilitrg 'i,-t ttll the same things', will emancipate man [sicJ and will h'irtg ro li.le tlte egalitarian spirit. Then the ideas of justice, which have hauntecl huttttttt ltettcl-t since the establishment o/'private properQ will vanish - the nrcst f iglttlttl nightmare which ever tortured sad civilised humaniQ " (1)

Justice

- A Dominant ldeal

Justice is one of the dominant ideas of the society in which we live.

Everyone has a sense of justice and its opposite,

injustice. This sense ofright and u,rong is obviously closely linked with morality.

The idea ofjustice might be summed up as the passion for vengeance coupled r.l'ith the sentiment of equality. It is an important ideal against which outcomes are measured.

In law a distinction is made betr,,,'een

lonnal justice and

concrete j usti ce. Formal

justice cotrcerns the mechanism by which decisions are made (the rLrles ol court ) rvhilst concrete justice is more concetred r,r,ith tl^,e end result the verdict and sentence. It has been suggested that. beyond the det-endant in any given case aud a lew specialisls, most people's concern with .justice is concrete. In the main people are concertred u,ith the outcome artd above all sentence. Did the-v get their jr,rst deserts'l For nrany people this rs the meaning ol naltrraI j uslice (although irr lail' the concept of natural .justice is coucelned u'ith the lailness oi' the process),

action weekil, Sc/rrre

Defining justice has proved harder.

The American

Justice; the Mor ement lbr J ustice).

-- And, ofcourse, the slogan 'No jnstice, no peace' is raised on almost every der.nonstr.ation. (5)

jurist John Rawls defined

justice as that which prevailed

il3',":'i.'i.,'t''

\.

These eramp.rles are given

society as one

not to srngle ther.n oltt. but the opposrte. to shorv how widespread js the acceptance of the ideal.

to which a group of rational but nTutually

disintelested

Origins o.f law The origins ofthe concept of

people would

unanimously choose to belong if such

to be found in the passion tbr r'eu-eeance atrd in tlie custonr of the blood

.jLrstrce ale a

choice were available. He

recognised that any such choice is purely hypothetical, and that in practice all human beings are born irrlo a parlicttlar-society n'ith no option, but suggested the concept of the rational choice as one that could help our runderstan ding of r.r,hat jLLstice might reqr-Lrre. (2)

Those seeking to leform ot overthrow capitalism are also sr,r.,ayed

rr'-r 1-{);

the Dockers Reclaini thc Streets March fol Socral

by this dominant

idea oljustice. Irrdeed, it ma1, be argued that the left holds the value oljr-rstice more highly than most.

Some recent examples are:

-- Those killed by the cops (e.g. JLrstice for Harry Stanley).

Mctirls of police brutality (e.g. Genoa Justice Campaign).

-- Victirls of racist tnut'ders (e.g. the campaign by the --

family and friends of Stephen Lawi'ence fbr jtrstice).

-- Those rnrpt'isoned for crinres that they did not commit (e.g. Justice fbr Mark Bar-nslel'. a campaign that

successfirlly sought the release ofan anarchist

revolutionary'). (3 ) -- Groups camptrigniug ior 'socral iustjce' (e.g. Justice the publishers of the direct

?

f'eud. Whilst sonie criminologi sts have argned that the possibilitv of further' vengeance is exciuded v"-hel the victim is avenged, the leality is that such vengeance was passed liotn generation to generation.

tlireatening the vety eristence of clans and tr:ibes, "Vengeunce one ltu ntlred ycors .,1d, still has milk

teeth" in the wotds ot'an Afghrrn proverb. (6) The cLtstorn of velgeance is transformed from a putely bioiogical reflex itlto a by heirrg -irrr rdreal itrstittttion linkecl u.ith the fon'n

ol

Ararrrtt-[ttiz 1. Which famous anarchlst is featured in the Warren Beatty film'rReds"?

2. The Polish Syndicalists (ZSP) who fought in the Warsaw Rising of 1944

stubbornly refused to total anlmosity from the red ones.

Despite white and nationatist their black and red armbands with unit (and probably the became the best-armed army they nationalist leadership of the underground best fed) in the Rising. How? 3. On whose tife is the action film "Behold a Pale Horse" loosely based?

4. What year did the Spanish CNT foin the reconstituted First lnternatlonal, the lnternational Workers Association?

5. How did American imperialism towards Japan help Bakunin?

12

I

f.iti :r1et]t

e\challge. exchall-ge

is il e pr inciple ol eqLrivalent requital. As ,,r e find in the bible: "ltfe.fbr li/b, eye .r..rrrdin_q to use values. This then

betueen the building offactoties and the buildin,e of prisons. T1.re domiuation of cot.nmodity ploduction finds its min'ol in the domination of the legal systenr. The dualism of the commodity.

.lhr tn eye, tooth for tooth, hand frtr hund, burningfor burning, wound.f'or with the split betr,r'een exchange and use values, is echoed in the dualism wound, stripefor stripe". (7) This exchange of equivalents ts, rrotes P-ashukurir, tr,. first truly

economics, history and law. Lall' represented and codified the rule of a class over society as a whole.

"Crininal .justice in this epoch is no longer sinrpl.1, ct ntettns.fbr those in power to Jill tlteir cof/ers, but it is a meuns oJ merciless ancl reIentless'

pfqletgfiAn f.:ii:iiii?fJ:,t:''",*,,T:,",,' law, any moie than we ian replace ca;ilau$t r81 Irr a process arising ' arongside the clirect

"

exchange eCOnOmiCS

comnrodities arises thts direct exchang. olfence and retribution.

Lelague has termed rhis Retributive JLrstice. (9) Not surprisingly the earliest o l'

We CAnnOt feplAce bOUfgeOiS IAW hrith

With MAfXiSt eCOnOmiCS, Of the eXisting StAte firith A WqfkefSt St4,te

betw..,,

lau', suppression, especially of the peasants that Jleeing intolerable exploitation by ofjustice Come liom the ancient Greek only make serrse from the point of view lords of the manner .. of impoverished vagabonds,beggars,andsoforth".(14) a,-,dRomanworlds. InancientGreek of borrrgeois society.

It is only with the advent of capitalist Above all, as Peter Linebaugh has many legal terms shared a commorr root demonstrated in his seminal study of society that ali the necessary withwoids linked to the division of crime and civil society in Sth century conditions are cleated for the j udicial lands. In Latin there is a common root London, criminal measures were factor to attain distinctness in social between contractual and legal necessary directed at the newly created class of of the is relations.

One of law first memorial The terminology. conditions is the idea of equality. This. workers, who were unable to afford to the l2 tabiets of ancient Rome. Law thus arises alongside the development as Marx has demonstrated, arises from live from the fiuits of their labour alone the economic condition of bourgeois yet were often reluctant to work. (15) In of properly and the commodity. We do societ-v. u hrch found its reflection in the this way wages as the only form of ,ro[ n.Ld to look to radical wrilers to income was imposed. fincl confinnation of this. Blackstone, ideas of the Enlightenment. (11) Thus Barbaric forrns of corporal and capital Rau,ls tlaces the origin of the idea of who in 1165 afthe behest of the Lord punishment were devised to Chancellor began the first systematic erpositionoft1recommon1aw,states:W3i+disciplinethisnewc|ass.,,Themajor ,,Simph,,larc,inl'r,t,"tu,ii;,",'iii)ffilessinthegallows,",",,ppo,"ito between subjective and objective

concepts public

and private law, distinctions

.

1

teach was the absolute, apodictic lf/il!F.# of law; itwas a code authority lffiY''t'fr Thistl//bttcet.et,tttitth.,,,,,,|,,ii|,,|,dggoverning"ther:elationshipbetween

'lbtoni6u.s taliing, cint! c'arn,ing i7 th" po,'t,rral goocls of

on'av,

unother

then. tr;hertet'er.ra

rr,n.s,

that

-.i:- ,

the

state and civil society, and in this

bottnt]sofpt,opet.ll',tl.f.lctl'stlfmeunl,ry^*,'..:,'..reSpectwaStobedistinguishedfrom ' '^. murder or massacre. " (16) Adam ctncl tuum,'v'ei'e esttrbli,lhetl. How fa, J -NZ ^ :!ffi;. Smith, gr.aspfng the connection srtch utt ctlJbnce can erist in a stttte o.f' '. ^, [l[ betweenjustice andpolitical nrture, vlhere all things cu.e held in |,--.f ^8 f,.f 7 If, con1n1ot1, is a ques'tion y,hich rnat: be L|.

E I economy, studiedways of improving

ctiJJictiltj,."

^4r

- L[ (10) tl[.-4p\ With the creation of property, blood \62\t t\' feuds become transformed into blood -money.FromthestandpointofRoman I \\1i. resolt,ed v,ith iert, tittte

ts Ltt E ' \t nL fh n [LIIS * t U I

the efficiency of such punishments.

(I7)Criminaljusticeinthebourgeois state is organised class terror.

luw andldeology

Lawthusreinforcesclassrelations \; L * -\\,h strangeinthefactatarclyclebtorpaidL\}.Wfl-*b-and,ideologically,legitimisesthem However law does more than this. As u,ith parts of his body and that the justice special body of rules and procedures, Kant, a and to Locke, Rousseau paid it guilty, hanl for of boc1il1, person it must apply logicai criteria with the theorists of social contract. (12) ii,ith his propeltr. In accordance u,ith "The notion of the rule of law was reference to standards of univelsality this. crinrir.ral procedure assumes the and equity. If the 1au is evidently partial clraracter ola commer.cial transactior.r. central to lTth & 18th century and manifestly unprst it masks nothing, Englishmanb understanding of what was both special and laudable about legitimrses nothin-s and lvon't The Developntent o.l'Cupitalisnt contribute to class hegemony. (18) As \\ hilst the concept of -pLstice finds its their political system. Authorities ... \Iax pttt rt: ,rrigirr in the developmer.rt ol the chose to limit themselves in order to tlte estttblisltrttettl oJ the politicctl greater they effectiveness: the coLrrt,rci:rr acquit'e fonrr, both -rrurnroclity .\t(trâ&#x201A;Ź (ttlLl rlte tli:soltiion of'cit;il ,:,iri and justice become tir1l), traded unmediated pov,er for \.tt iLr.\ itlro itttlependenl indivirtttal,s legitimacy." $3) ---.. eloped with capitalism. We can -rr:::Ible drawadirectparallelbetu'een Whilstmanyhistorians, likethose ',tlrr,:a t'cltrtirtns v'ith one another -: ir.e of n'age labour, measrLred by clepr'tt,l t.ur ltnr, just as the relotions of quoted above, focus on the English it ntt'tt tt tlte st stem of' e,sttttes an guilds Scots such as Smith, in fact largely of the was rlnr the em ergence r I .ir . ancl - : i ststenr:betweenthegrou,thof FergusonandBlackstonewho,inthe clcpertdedonpritilege -is -: .1,-i{i1rg class and the creation and 1760's,laidthefoundationsofthe . , ,: .rr olthe police andjudiciary; disciplines of sociology, anthropology, continuedonpage 32

law,fbrexan.rple,thereivasnothing

,-,

i

e

13

I

BbckFtag222. Features

Changzng the wq/ we thir* of Direct Acfron

I? eeo lucrc

r,,

The following essay rs a subjective considelation of u'here the anarchist direct action movement is and where, I feel, it might go. Nothing here is meant to be seen as a concrete tert but rather one person's reflections on the movement. It is essentially broken into two par1s. The first is a consideration of class, looking at u'orking-class dual power and the (perceived) failures of cun'ent direct action tactics and the second is a 'proposal' for how we could move forward. I don't expect people to necessarily agree with what l've written but I do hope it mrght pror-ide 'food for thought' for others in the activist community ancl perhaps trlscer some debate about the future.

Despite tl.re post-modernist argnments against an historical 'grand narrative', Foucault's atomisation of 'pow,er' and indivi dualistisubj ectivi st arguments, r,vhich seem to be at the forefront

of

much of the direct action rnovernent. I would argtrc that class is our plinrarr site of subjugation and therefore should be the nlain lbcus lor stluggle.

Although class has traditionally been a dominant thr-ead rrrnning through the anarclrisl mo\ ement it has in recenl times been hijacked by direct action t-etishists. ,,\pparcntll, actir ism and rer

r-rl

not produce sutplus i alue

(\larr's

detinitjon olthe ti'orkrng class ) it

rs not

rn control of capital and is clearll,'an

alienated class (whilst also being an alienating class). So holr,' should we define this group; by the reality of their exploitation or as another form ofsocial controllers along with the police and anny etc.'/ At the end of the day, as class antagonisms reach crisis point the mrddle class. like members olall classes

wili

be forced to declare allegrarrce to one or the other side ofthe class

Anarqu[a alienated at the point ofproductiont meaningless work and the atomisatron of the individual from 'community' are olhuge irrt1.s113nc'.. Hou ever. I anr alguing a distirrction hetr,r'een primary and secondarv ntodes of alienation: the bombaldr.nent olrma_ses and the alier.iation of some unattainable 'perf-ect' collsumellife are at

utiouarl' stnrggle

and revolutionary syuggle ore noil, 'clo' clirect actiorr antl deftned through identity politics: 'We 'do' ale therefore direct sction and are therefore revolutlonary t'evolutionary anarchists'. Anarchisn.r onorchists'. Anarchism and activism have and actir,'ism have been reduced to pure been reduced to pure spectacle; we have our speclaclL': r,i e have our -, ttf,_--)^ annual Mayday gara for onnual Mayday gala for the masses ll,fl,sh activism :I:,l}l:li:,1i,1::l identitl, politics;'\\t

the rlasses and we engage with general consciousness only r,r,hen a btick engages with glass or police engage with demonstrators.

Although class is the key narrative I r,i,ould argue that u,e need to re-think class dynanrics and to move au,ay fronr seeing the ."r,orking class as a unir ersal entity. We have essentially seen the death ofthe 19th century concept of the rniclclle-class. Rathel, globally. r,i e have a tr-rling class, a r,,,orking class, and a'consLrrler-u,orking' class. The drstrnction betu,een the working class and the consunrer-w'orking class is

essentially tlie distinction betweeu the working class in the south for whom the fhctoly is still the key site of oppression and the 'Lrougiit-off'rl,,olking classes of the I'irst u orld corrntries.

Obr,iotLslv. there ale managerial roles, drstinct fiom the r,i,olking class. that can be defined as'nriddle-class'. Flor,r.ever. u.e must acknou,led-{e the contradiction that altliough this glor-rp clearl1, does

divide; there can be no 'third uay' in

a

revoluti onary situation.

I will norv feturn to the 'corrslLmer['ith the expansion of "r,orking-class'. industrialisatiorr antl the inclcasius neecl olcapital to encourage

consumption a new 'rdeologically oppressed' class was created; a class that is alienated by the "corttlitiortittg that leads [thernJ to choosâ&#x201A;Ź [comntoclitiesJ cmd the ideologt irt which they are ttrcrpped " I The distinction between the trvo classes is simply the distinction betu een their' primarytlodes of alienation. The third u,,orld worter is prirnarily ahenated fi.orl the mode of pt'oduction u,hilst the collsLrmer-worker is plimarilv alienated from the mode of consLullption. This is in no u a1, to srtg*sest that the consumer-wolker: is not alienated as a u"orker, but simply to distinguish u,hat I

primarl, lorms of alienation.

Clearly the flrst wolld lr'or-ker rs see as the

14

I

the tbrefront olpeople's sense of alienation. As Malx states in the Grundrisse: "v'hat preciselt di st in gui,s h es cop i I it â&#x201A;Ź til(l s t ct'-sL' t't'Lt n

1

ol Jro nt

I

t't' I rt

t i rt t r

is that the yrorlcer conJi'onts [capital] as c'onstnter antl lTossesso/' o[ etch an ge vttlues, uncl thot in the .fiirm

ol tltt' ptt.:.tt'.s.\()l' ()l ),t()tIL'.t, itt llrc lot'ttt ql rttotte.t' lte ltetonte.s tt

.sitnplt t t'tttt't' ttl L ittttlttti0tt t)il:' t I i Lt i ttl i tt i t t, l.t n t t _t' L' e t I t' t's, i tt v h i r' I r I i s s 1t t' L' i li c i r.t' rr.s r orl<,r' i.s' e.rlittgttitltetl. " ) This point is firrther reinlorced ['rr, Cantirttc. n'ho states that "(hre itl tlre t

t

r

r

t

r

tnotlalitit'' ul tlt,' r'e-ol,tot'lttion

n1,1,,

revoltttiorrttrt' pdt'et' of' the proletarictt heett lo perJett its cltarocter cts ('otlsuntet., tltus catcling it in the trtcslt hct.s

ol cttltltttl.

The proletcu'iat ceoses ro lte tlte tluss that negtttes; ciier the fi;r'nttttion of the v,orlcing clus.s ir tlissolves into the sctciul botlr. . . . ) This'ertinguishment' olthe ir or k-, much sharper in the west and it u as upon this consrunetism and 'spect,,;...' thtrt the Situationists quite lirhtl., locused their attention. \i'here I disrgree with the Sitrrariorri.r. .,' they focus theil anall'sis on this 'consunrer class' at the cost ofthe global south. Their 'Revoiution of

Ei'en,dav Lif-e', the liberation of self. if achieved in isolation. be 'cought on the backs of the rest of the global working-class. The reality is that no revolution is going to take hold until rhe means of production are tn the hands of the masses.

The question is how we unite these t\vo components of the working class.

We need to realise the conjunction of consumer/worker; understand that they u ould.

are one and the same.

perhaps one of the only u'ays to counter r.angr.rardism as it is about the de."'eloprlent of horizontal structures NOW. and thus er.npou'erin-u people rn a pre-revolntronar:,v society to br-rild a revol ution. Hower,'er. beyond bein g pureiy a revolutionary strategy it is also a practical alternative in the here and now. As Dominick says, whether the insurrection happens in the next decade or takes three more generations to

achievable. We seek not to seize power, but to seize opportunity viz avrz.the exercise of our po."ver. " Fi nal ly,...tt'h il e 0 postin.sLut'et:tionart society y'hich has generctllt strrpctssetl the contradictions inclicated bt'the ternt 'tlual powet" is the eventual goal o.l'this strategv-, the ct'eatiolt of cl ternatit,e socictl infrcrstrLrcture is o desirable end in itself. Since ve have no vt,crt, oJ'

predicting

My

society

will have two

fbr

sl,stem, not onll,

their exploitation.

Although I amprimarily talkrng about the factory workers of the south, I do include the shuggle for land (such as the Zapalistas, Indian farmers etc.) as I would

ntore peaceJirl lives

todat"

are essentially tbur key areas that u'e need to

occLrl'. \\ e can cfeate

revolutionary

circLrrt'tstrnces now. ltnd \\ e can exercise

po\\'er to the greatest possible extent.

Dual power recognises that waiting ur)til rltcr llre iusun'ection to participate in liberatory political and economic relationships lneans postponing ottr liberation; it is as senseless as waiting Lrntrl after the insunection to begin leorganising society. We do not require that the state and capitalism collapse

the fbcus must be the

of

community life, the development of civil dual porver str-uctures and the coupling of this with workplace

fbcus on to achieve the goal ofa dual power structure and ultunately the potential for revolution. Social centres, Community activism, Workplace and Social forums (regional, national, international). I will be looking at all of these in more detail below. Before doing so however, I should expand on why I feel that these goals can't be achieved through the current forms of direct action i.e. those acts done by what has become a professional activist elite.

'Anarchist' groups are essentially cliques, an activist caste with no real connection to a wider community. Although, the desire to act is completely understandable. I have

main concer-ns with these small 'activist tr,l'o

struggle s. \\re har e nor,i.'

the ke.v element of this article.

Dual Pou'er'. The 'DLLal Power Stlategr ' i: based on the idea of not waiting until a post-revoluti onalv period to develop po:trevolutionary sociaJ tbrms. We should aim to creJti art rnfiastructure that underLr i ne s atr,i er,entually leads to the erosrorr oi tlte dominant power structure.

Tlre key premise is that "a suc'cesslrtl i',:voltrtion can onll,be made by rrcrrleA' empowered and prepcu'ed tr!)L)le, dynomi.c i.n their comfltitment to "olieal c'hange (not just supporting il), ciiil ,:tt'rittg within a pre-established \ifl.i,-'.iu'. lbr making a new societl, in ih: ntiit: ,t/'rlte olcl. " 4 Dual power is

5

The question is hou, do we achieve a dual pou''er structure'/ I would argue that there

argue that the Marxist

touched

front

v,hich to btriltl a nerv sociefi, btl vlithin v,hich to live Ji'eer and

driven pnmarily by the material necessities of

emancipation

us and Jirnn'e

generations, in the s'hadow of the dontinant

fronts. Firstly, the struggle of the workers in the global south will be

distinction between peasant and working class is now, if not before, a false distinction. The fights for both the factory and the farm are a fight to control the means of production.

For those of us in the west the 'vacuity of everyday Iife' u'ill be the main battleground. [t will be an ideological battle in rvhich we must primarily fight the fragmentation of social relations (family'. communiry etc.) and the pauciry'of a co-moditied lif'e.

For the global north.

the

instn'rectictn.... [n'l o shotrld liberate space,

key argument is that the battle to transform

gangs'.

Where small actions

or-r

once succeeded. especiallf in the 80's and

before we can begin living relatively free lil-es....

The great task ofgrassroots dual pon'er is to seek out and create social spaces and fill them with liberatory institutions and relationships. Where there is room for us to act for ourselves, we forrn institutions conducive not only to catalysilg revolution, but also to the present conditions of a fulfilling life, including economic and political selfmanagement to the greatest degree

ffi

90's. this ri,as, unforlun atel1'. tlirough medra impact. Dilect

Lt Tlil1 [:t]:-,?lu','ff

Nou,rve are in a perrod in r.v'hich we essentiall\,have a media blackout on protbst and dissent, therefore the impact of these smaller actions is oreatly'limited. So my first problem is simp1l,this. ''r'ithout visibility these go no \\ av to\\ ards building a larger movenrent as they have now become ahnost invisrble.

Secondly, although these actions can and do successfully stop the machine lor a limited tinre. ofien causing

15

I

Black Flag 222 , Fealutes

Iegitimate economic dan-rage; without mass.support rhey don't bring the machine to a complere halr. Aitivism has become almost nothing more than a fetish for 'action, and as sich wiil neve, supersede the capitalist mode of

production.

This is.nor to-say rhat I argue lor rrracrion. In rhe following I h*ope ro show where I think the tictics developed and built on by this movement can be used to greater effect in a u,ider social context. .{lso, I

argulltg that such actions should";;;t stop.

The facr that they can and ofren do '

slo.w down the machine olcapitalisnt. it only lor a shofl time. validares therrrAnything that rhrows a spanner. in rhe works is a good rhing. I am hori.er cr.. argurng fbr a change ol emphasi:.

Social Centyes Socirl centres are der elopirru

tlrroughout the UK at the ntoment.

Social centres such rs rlrc Radical Dairv

and the cnthr.yonic Socirl Centre; )'Ieru ork oller an in:r-r.lhr into tlte potcntnl o1'rrsirrg soe ial cerrtrcs ls a plry:rcal hase lor Dual pou er Strate_qies.

'

developing a sense of working class autonomy. A social centre sh6uld be burlt around the unitin_e factors of the

Social Centre lietwork Wc.ntust also trv ro build a rrerrrork of soclal centrL's. A slronr: nenrork rrould allou,us to act in a locil. national ani-intenrational capacit_r and rr oultl

comnrunity both pos-itive and negative. tsy negalive I nrean the communiiv_u,ide -sJrygSle to ger your kids a reachu.i. to defend asylurn seckers. gel decenr noustng etc. _ Positil,e communiq- aftribures mishr be supporring local rirrrers ariJo;;;;;r. socral. culrural lbrunrs. The sociil irti oi the centrc-s shouldn't be all actrr rsni based; ir should be both ceiebraron and_ co_nlrontanonal. \f1, main cririiism of the Dair1.. for e.xampie. is that in-rhe' Irrst 6-months it focused on DJ rrorkshops. yoga and the like. Althoush much.uas done regarding .Hackney nbr

prevent the social cenrres iir-rrrr hcconring isolated phenonrena .\ hundred indir idual'social cenrrcsare not as stron-s as a hundred_strons socral nenvork so a lot oiernphasis needs ro be put on fbrmins links * ith

srmriar socrel nenr orks.

\,ralr,. irrs shouldn t be about . J nkrrt_t 'l.i :o. .il _..ntrc: crcated br .,nur;h ::. . t C:<t:lld \\ 11h .911.1c. purist anarchrsr r rsio-n. \\i, should try and enCourage srass rL-)ots conlmuniiv spaces to hecome pan of rhrs nerrr.or.k, :rntp.

ror sale tt alu.ays seemed secondary to .

the 'caf6 nights'.

Some have argued rhat simply squatting. a space is a polirical ict an<i f!s, leclarmrng space for people ancl nlghtlghltng the lack of cornmunifv space is polirical. bur onJy in a liberal. retornltst capacity. Fora social centre to Dc re\ oluttonary it nrust offer revolutionary potential. nol jusr through an anarchisr Iibrary-but also -

through anarchist-inspired action--

DuaI po\ryer is perhaps one of the only ways to counter vanguardism as it is aboui the p me nt of ho rizo ntal structur;; 9_"f9_t g NOW, and thus empowering p";;l; i" p re-revo lutio n a ry society to-biritd r"vo"rution. " The social centres are thephysical Sonte have criticisecl both maniltrstatiotr

ola li'ing..ocial iietulc,rk. Camivalisius ;JE;;;i;,"tor.atr.nrpring L-purchrs. , ,pi.- i:oi:iociar ce,,rrcs,

They are also a rerurn rd tocatirnr. att intemationalist nerspectilc, opposed to the inri'rrradionatiii approach thar consrantr-"- rarks localisnr. as \1c seenr through in the last coupre

as"irti and it can he rrgued that rhis is a Iiberal -.. i.iponr. ro comrnurriry acrir isrn. up. n,ii.r,u.ing ;;;;".; ::r'.;;y nrainrains tohar.'rluei capitatisr sociar rerarions arrd does nor oJyeati .Ji....a. rent. However, this shourd Sociat centres can ait as indi'iduar ,rJ, rr. *.ie'h;iil;il'ih; ract that 'comnrtrnity nodes' lir*ed. ro othei if.,. nrajoriry of rhe conrnrurrirv- w,ill .odes regionauy. narionally and "*, u" *.6"iiJ,trbli#.;;;,;,Jqill, evenrually globally. A strong social "", rirrt r"r"v iii""S".i"r Ctentres. netu'ork should ainr to undeirrine "i'ifr.i, We are lrought up wirh inrages ot. eotnntunity reliauce and deference lo .rqru,r. u, E.r.n"tiuiiy',ii.]ur, retuge ot. state inflasrnrcrure and cncourage ,r-,J Jo",iu.a;;i';iil;J:, arso rrre greater serf, and community, reliai:ce. ir.r. ". nr *r. ...r.ity'llirrJ space and once people have contitrence in their ii r".itii"t;#id;;;i; much nrore oun potential. revorutionarychange Jini.riti"iirrgiTt;.";stpeopre becomes a real oossibility. from an owned locatioo compared with Hou does a social ceurre try to rhe " vagaries achier,e this'r I thinl< it is a tw6-riered "r.q*i,,,;g; space. iilh?;gi;t;;;'iffii:is"at is clearty process. Firstlr'. it is aboulhe crearion ' t" r.i"t. tii ."i;;;il, ;;S;- we need of a social bas! built around iJ ."gog. w.ith as manypeopie as rve t;"r;Icr-rnrnru,iry. id911iry providin!chitJ_ ryoi".o.i,r care, ti'ec Enstish tessons and y.oga do ;;;ri'bl'i;.;, ;;;JilI ;h;;;.: r-,y il"lr,iLlgt"i,r."Jtu.. i,, ou. brirrg peopleio a social ..ntr". hJ*.rle, orni, .o*,r,,,rity 1i.e. the acrivisr these should not become prinrary ai*r-' Jor.,rnrunity), which is otten wriat a of the ce,tre. Filline a spice u ith a iqi,rtt.a space does, \\ e are lror rreck orha,drcraft 6r ..itr-ti.tp:" il,llai,,g a ,oi.ni.;i.;:;;; buirdrrrg uo^rkshops is nor rer,lurionary. ;;;i Social centres nrust focus oriall Socjal centres shoLrld also be a space aspects of lif-e. \\'e ,r-Lst rr) a,d erlgage ioij.or.utlori" pf *iurv iontentiors in everythin-q in a non-liieri..t,i.ut ir-,li i.sre, ll,hicl I wili address belou.. a

16

I

f

I he goal is to enccrurase honzontal organisin_q and the creirion of

p-?rticipatory commun in sruclures.

I hts won'l be achrer.ed hr srnrpl) creating nelv spaces and inc..,urigrng people to get inrolr.ed in rhe ..,,,ri... Ir u'lll however (in con-iunction rltrh creatlng new spaces) happen rr.hen u.c, cn_qage u ith already e.riirinc sDaces. tsur, u'hat is tlre rolc olthJ social centre netu'ork'l Firstly as the nanre inrplres ir slrorrld be a rierwork allori rrre all s,rcral ecnrrcs ro enâ&#x201A;Źla-qc in pli,rni,,--u and pur l-onr.ard nerr, irirtratrr.,es etc. -l-hr. shari ng of I rrl itetl rcs()u rcL-s. soliclari n,

tlrrt,rrrrh Perrods rr hcrr tlrirrgr ,r*,rat ' Joolung verl good etc However. I f-eel that it should go rnLrcli {iLr-ther than this. I t'ee1 thaiit rteeds lo heconre a tbcal point lbr ('onrnrunrry' Social Fonrnrs, solllethtnu grander rlran Mayday 2002's llawed I-ustrr al ol'Alrcnratir.es. r.r hich clid lirrle nrore.than off'er lifestyle tips to actr r.r sts

.

\4'lrat we need to do is take the pGA and GSF !911ons leaml from tantl ESF) forunrs and localise rhenr usiiic rhe social centres as ph.r-sical locarioni'forsocral engagenrenl. Encouraging the diverse' comnruniry groups to conre together lo nlap oul a \.ision lor the community. In.a sense such nenl,orking slrould alnrosr be a daily occurrence irr the social centre horverer I would also envisage quarterly fonrral weekends as lpecifi ed'('onrnr ur ity Social Forurns' Ior.plannrng projects across a region and fin.ding u.avs t0 irnprore andconsolidate gains alreatly nrade. . These local PC.& SF's'should become tlre,building hlocks for larger narional atrd tnternational forunts.

_

Community Activisnt

Activist groups have achieved

a

nurnberofexciting things. fronr cLrrri t: ctou,1 CN! crops. ro srreh panics r,, s.hutting down corporate ihsrituti,,r . , the good old pie in rhe t'ace.

Hoilerer-. I helieve llral thcr.c ,. something mrssing from nrarrr oi rlr:.r

eveltts i.c. a s6cial

hasc t,, ti.,. .:.

strengthen and expancl. C)r

er-

tire .,.irii:

"The vital element of'this not lte ghettoisetl activ ist groups

iiLese activist

is' lhcLt these

Jrolrps have become essentially prof-essionalised activist bodies.

These are the people that 'do' activism.

The tactics are often brrlliantly executed; howe.u'er,

bttt ttc'tivist in spired c'

(or at leasl eclucute peoTtle on the paucitt, of'cupitalist structtrres) ct/'the old" 7 Edttc0tiotr The discussion of

'education' can be broken into two separate sections.

Activists would be mr.Lch better

Firstly, we need to consider internal 'anarchist' educatiorr and secondly. the broadening out of anarchist and social issr-Les. Whether we like it or not, we mlrst acknowledge that activists are a prof-essi onal community u''i tl.r specialised skills. As a conrmunity we aspire to have the broadest understandiug of the society in which lve live and to tlnd ways to change the system under whicli we live. Leninist groups discuss the 'party' in terms of being the 'memory of the working class'. For groups such as Militant

served, rather than forming more 'action' groups, by

action tactics as opposed to the usual lobbying of governnrent. Activists shor-Lld be arguing fbr horizontal structures in all groups. The ivay to an anarchist society is not by getting everyone tojoin the local anarchist cell but by encouraging lived anarchism, 'anarchy through the deed' . If a number

olanarchists in atr area where each r,r olkirrg rn a diffelent commttnitv ct'oLtp hi ghlighting different issues there

s. The

the .fbundations o.f'a nev, soc'ieh' urtd the destruction

they often fall down through their lack of community support.

joining community groups that already exist and arguing for the use ofdirect

orr r rtt ttn i t.t' gt' ott p

sot'iol corr be u loccttion.for the claelopntent of both

The London Undergtound could tbr' example become a skill-sharing e"'er.rt and a way to see hou' other activists are u,orking in different groups as r'vell. It could be used as a fbmm to try and link commLurity stl-t-rggles.

We must also remember that

'activists'too are a community ar-rd theretbre. as a -qroup, we need oLtt oln spaces for interacting and netr,"orkurg.

London Llnderground. coupled u'ith the social centre netw,ork and with the 't'ducational' element T put folwald

"will

later'. 'uvonid be a stlong challenging

Tendency the party

anarcl.rist ideas than by r.i'triting tbr people to ioin your gl'oup.

This is not about leadirrg these groups. co-opting or stampeding ideas

mor'e forlvard fbr the anarchist nrovement and anarchism itself.

As Doniinick argues:

scientificttlh' conscious and permanentb organised Jbr the

through, in tact it is the opposite. The small pr of-essional aualchist direct action groups ate mLtch more vanguardist in approach tl-ran tliis, which aims to broaden and enconrage anarchist ideas.

We ueed to broaden the movement orrl. tackle ttnique issues in unique ways and not selling a pafiy line, We shouldn't offer solutions to these community gtoups but we can suggest operating

.fitLtttctution of'the nett sociefi', but olso tct dirrtinish the strength cmd capacitt' o.f tlte olcl ststent. LVe must.first make

rvould be

a

tluch u'ider expansiou of

rnethclds and practices that ma1' lead to dual power

"il is ttot onh, importont to build

spttce

be

prctletcu'ian c:lass .strttggle, the regulur tu'nt,l oJ'the c'luss, t,hich en tnosse LaLt on l.t',t1tpt rt,tt lt t'et oIttt iott,tt'.r

the

ccttts'ciottsness in ,sltttrp periods oJ cri,sis, oncl even then not permdnentb,

not scientifit'ully." 8 This contempt for the capacrty of the rvorking class to engage u'itli political ideas is, fol

t'ithin the tlominant st'stem in

ortler to hove rctortt in which to build

\ocietl anel'. Thet'elot'e, not onlv nttt,sl tte fitrnt ulternative institutions, lmt tl.so cotmter instittttiorts... to resist ttrtcl ctssault the status quo." 6

a justification of top-down 'socialisnr'. Inasense\\easccli\ists . rre the 'rnemorv for we soecialise in {/'

Leninists,

anal ysi r1g_irnd

understandrng_

ji it aim to push this infbrmation out as lar

structures.

direct action skills that were gained thlor-rgh numerous

as possible.

Filstlv. \\'e as a communrty need to continue to learn. I suggest that we need to spend more time developing analysis.

activist networks.

Hor,ever. as I

corltemporary political

Ofcourse. one criticism ofthrs is that we r'voulcl lose the networking

of

Not onli, of issues but aiming for an

hope to discuss in

hrstorical perspective ll'e also need to learn of o1d tactics ar-rd develop tactics fbr now. Beyond simply consur-ning information we should aim to develop the skills to write propaganda

rhe tbllowing

:.ation

ci

a

network

educational

lrot ects for

:rr::ic]rists u,ou]d

l,

rr-.. i,,ri

I\' countel'

,i.-'1, r.l,bl.-n'Ls.

17

I

Black Flag 222. trealures

and texts that reflect the political situation in our locale. R-eading/

Discussion gtoups should be ieen as an important part of developing a social

movement.

Th_e skills gained in such group are clearly transferable to our engagement with communiry groups. fhiiiithe second part of the educational aims.

Of c-ourse,.'activists' as a clique will never have all the information. Apparent expeflise does nol in any way override the immediacy of alienati6n ' that.people feel (rathei than read).

Unlike the orthodox Marxist approach we must realise rhat our (activijt) community has got a lot to offer the wider community however. all ot' the numerous 'communities' that make up the wider community have somethinf to offer to the struggle.

What our conrmunitl. can offer is to develop dual porver structures reaching out to the largest number of people ir the community in both a practical physical way and in an ideological way. Arguing fbr pracrical solutions is g key ro developing.

We should aim to develop anlrchist forums, similar in concept to Marxist Forums, Marxism and the Globalise Resistance events. At the moment, the Ararchist Bookfair is perhaps our closest equivalent to Marxism; it is one ofthe largest evenls on the anarchist calendar. There is also the Earth First gathering and other conferences. What we are lacking however is regionalized. regular evenrs well publicised ( flyposting, leaflers. iniernet etc.;. Nbr the large spectaculars but something much

more low-ke-v.

Work

Although I argued in my introduction that-the qrimary site of itruggle for

workers in the global north is community based, this is in no wav to suggest we should ignore workerj struggle. We should aim to build links between work-place struggles and community srruggle. To highlight the commonality of issues faced aihome and at work and to emphasis the need for horizontal organisational structures in the w'orkplace. Anarcho-syndicalism is the obvious place to start;hen considering workplace organising.

I won't pursue this to any great extenl. ifonly because the ieality ofthe 'direct action' movement is that is has no strong comection with the workplace in this country and is therefore much better placed to focus on community based issues.

Inlernotional Perspective Another potential problem of the above suggestions is that it could be seen as a step backwards to the single-issue-ism of the 1980's and early 1900's. It was, of course, with the realisation that the single-issue campaigns had a common

enemy rn capttalism that the anticapitalist movement was bom. However, through numerous activists deciding to focus on the abstract concept of 'capitalism' as an issue in itielf manv of the smaller victories of tlre.incle-i.itre

At all times we need to break down barriers between disparare contnrunities, show people that they are nLrr alone that lheir fight is our fiehr - rhar together we can make posrtrr e rnroads against capitalism.' Pannenng' campaigni are also about internationalising muruai ard and finding ways around L-orporate, -sovernmental programmes to ach i e ve real sains.

campaigns were 1ost.

Clearly, focusin-q on single issues ,tnd gaining small victolies can he seen a-i reformist. libei-a1 or jr:rn1ih0r,r,' ilLti enough. It is the :n;rriii:i i.;zi ,.:i b;il,r

Seell a: fcltrflt.:.. il:.ri i:i! ,:,;:i:iii. ii. as.l nt\'\ c:t-;t; n:.rki:r .l::\'i'r-i{)i!;. :ii

.rll Th-

tiini

,ihi-eiiJ

r.

j1-,..

x-.1-.r-

\\ Ltriiii_J cLrnGiilons. enr ironmentirl r,ictories. rhe asr.lum:eeker that is lntirled to sta! in the countn etc. are 'rctonn:'uonh fiehtirre lor. ilue aren'r

u rl1ing to make the ll,orld as good as

possible today we u,ill neverlave the coura-ge as a movement to really transform sociely. I for one amhappy to ' live with the label of reformist if it means I, and others like me. have a higher standard ofliving. An abstract 'revolutionary vision' is no less an opiate than religion.

Whilst focusing on local issues, single-issue campaigns etc., we must ensure that we don't lose the larger perspective. We must ensure tha-t the international perspective is kept alive.

This can be done in a number bf r+.avs.

Firstly. I think ir is important ro staflwith the concrete things in peoples Iives and make the abs'tract'leaps to the nanue of capitalism rather thanrhe other rvay around. Mobilising people to shut down a G8 summit strouta-Ue based fi_rstly on the livsd experiences ofpeople and then on the bioader intemational perspective.

Personally, I feel that the activist community has in recent times focused or these things in the opposite way.

We expect peopte to first come to a large confrontational demonstration and then go back to their communities somehow radicalised. The real answer is to radicalise people in their communities. Then, when they go to a mass action they are already strong, conltdenl and aware and not able to be 1ed.

. Another way of keeping an rnternatlonal perspective at the forefront is to possibly rry 'partnering' campatgns. For example. it is possible that a campaign against the ciosure of a hospital in London could be .partnered. with a campaign to prevent a hospital closure in Ghana. This would have the

dual effect of allowing both communities to appreciate that these rssues are rntenratioual that 'the working class have no country' and that the same institutions (lMF, World Bank erc.1 thar are responsible for thc nrisery ofthe global South are equally erodrng the gains made in the .riih' ' North. lt also has the practical advantage of allowing groups to learn

fiom the experiences ofothers to

develop more effective strategies.

1B

I

Crr'rturion Althoug:h manv acnrtsls r"re alreadl. u'orking rn rhe uar ['r.e ourirned abbve. and nothing I'\ e $'nnen mar- be panrcu.larll: De$ or rr.no. arrie. I t'eel it is important io at !e&sr ingagc rn dcbare about these thrnss. io en_\ure thal \\.e -our don't get lost in osn back\r at!.rs. isolated as a non-mo\.ernexl that onlv engages with other acrt\ lst-s and rs alienated from grass roors canrpaigns and more importantll. from ourtlais, wbich is how I've often telt as an activist.

We need to constantly challenge ourselves and re-evaluate Uottr ourselves as individuals and as a movement. Hopefully this is seen not as a prescriptive text but more of a questioni ng o I direction.

Clayton E

Fooltloles

)

Vnneigerr, R. 200

Lrervda_r,

I. 'The

Revolution of

Lifc'. Rebel Prcss. Londorr. p.

2 i\1arx, K. quoted in

Canrattc.

85

J. ,Deciine of

the Capitalist N4ode of Production or Declilc of HUrrr:tnrtr.''. http: rrrru.rcorjlier.t.orrr

-johngral /carr rvan06.h tnt

3 Carratie.

ol

.1.

Production

'Decline ol the Capitaljsr lllode or Decline of Hurnanitl,,l'.

Itttp: rrrru.,J(ocities.cilill

c a rn

lvan

0

.1r,11;1-.p,.

6.h t nr

4 Dorrinicl<, BA.'An lntro<lLtction to DLral Power Strategy'., HYPIl{LiNK'.http:,' rvu u. roo tr.n cd dp intlo. htm " -5

i

a, o

rg'-

m ess nr

e

d i a, clr

La I

poivc r

op. cit

6 op. cit 7 op, crl

8 [-erer. R..

1966.

Sentp. P. arrcl N,[atganrna.

'\\'hat rve are and \\,hat we

S.

rrLLst

become: A critique of thc politics and perspectives o1' the N4ilitant Tenclencr'

ScCll,,rl Dubl

l. lrllp: rru\.rrorker'liber

icationsru u,aau,rvnrh sect) hlnr

vo.-

A Elfttfrorar the past...

tVitil Amertc*n trqperialism running rampant and nar with Iraq looking

onl.v a

matter of dme. we havc taken the opportanity to rqrint these articles by Alexander Berkman from The Blast. oppose Ori$aalty published in 1917, these articles indicate why anarchirts 'at tar has capitaliot rar* rnd how little the rfietoric *nd acth{ty of the state changed. Ag such, tbelr mesuge is rs rebvrnf and ss tmporant rr when they were written : No war but the class w*r!

A hsding tight in lhe anarchist move{entfor dccadeq Berkman was i*rprlsoned rlofg.nd$r Emma Coldm*n for thelr $rd-war sctMty.

By Alexander Berkman

ALLIES - The fairies of Democracy.

BARBARIANS - The otherfellows.

CONGRESS - The valet of Woodrowl

To The Youth Of America

CENSORSHTP- The rape of Free i Speech.

CONSCRTPTION- Free men fightingl

By Alexander Berkman

against their

Tyranny must be opposed at the start.

Autocracy, once secured in the saddle, is diffrcult to dislodge.

If you believe that America is entering the war "to make democracy safe," then be a man and volunteer.

But if you know anything at all, then you should know that the cry of democracy is a lie and a snare for the unthinking. You should know that a republic is not synonymous with democracy, and that America has never been a real democracy, but that it is the vilest plutocracy on the face of the globe.

If you can see, hear, feel, and think, you should know that King Dollar rules the United States, and that the workers are robbed and exploited in this country to the heart's content of the masters.

If you are not deaf, dumb, and blind, then you know that the American bourgeois democracy and capitalistic civilisation are the worst enemies of labour and progress, and that instead of protecting them, you should help to frght to destroy them.

If you know this, you must also know that the workers of America have no enemy in the toilers of other cbuntries. Indeed, the workers of Germany suffer as much from their exploiters and rulers as do the masses of America.

You should know that the interests of Labour are identical in all countries. Their cause is international.

Then why should they slaughter each other?

The workers of Germany have been misled by their rulers into donning the uniform andturning murders.

So have the workers of France, of Italy, and England been misled.

But why shouldyaz, men of America, allow yourselves to be misled into murder or into being murdered?

If your blood must be shed, let it be in defence of your own interests, in the war of the workers against their despoilers, in the cause

will.

CIVILIZATION- ln God WeTrust.

DEMOCRACY- The voice of the Gallery

Gods.

FREE SPEECH- Say

whatyou

please, but keep your mouth shut.

HUNS - Loyal patriots from Central

Europe.

I

I ,

I

i

government.

JUSTICE-

Successfultarget

shooting.

,GTSER-APresident'sambition.

LIBERTY BOND - A bone from

a

I

I

I

bonehead.

LIBERTY LOAN- The bread line of the Unborn.

LOYAL CIT\ZEN - Deaf, dumb, and blind.

MILITARISM - Christianity in actionl PATRIOTTSM- Hating your neighbour.

I r

I I

I

I

]

I

REGISTRATION- Funeralmarch of

Liberty.

SEDITION -The proof of Tyranny.

STACKER - Jesus Christ.

IRENCHES - Digging your own grave.

U

N-AM ERICAN - lndependent

oprnron.

U N -DEMOCRATIC

u

- ldeals.

Nt FORM - Govemment strait-

jacket.

VICTORY- Ten million dead.

WAR- The propaganda of

Wich is the brsver? The man who falls in line with the great majanfy or he th*t*ces the wrath of millionsfor conscience sfrhe? pocifists.

I

HUMANIW - Treason to

ofreal liberty and independence.

b-o not confound us with the

I

We believe

infighling.

injustice, oppression, and we hfi:ve beenfighting all our lives -fightittg tyranny.,Almost We handed at that We are'not pacffists. But we want to know whilt we arefrghtingf,or, and we refuss tafighf for the enemies and the exploiters of hum*ntty.

4e,

Aloxander Berkman

19

I

glack Flag 222' Features

I

I

l'aruurchie l4ve An interview with Anarchists French

The Presidential elections in France caused a bit of a stir. With the fascist candidate getting into the second round, the media and politicians in Britain went into a flurn'. The French took to the streets, with anarchists taking the lead. Black Flag decided to find out more about the election, the protests and French -\narchism.

BF: First, perhups you could

sa1'

something about yourself and the

organisation you dye part oJ? F: I'm Franqois, a member of the Federation Anarchiste, u,hich inciudes some 80 activist groups throughout France and Belgium. We have published the weekly,Le Monde Libertaire since 1976 (monthly previously) and

than a quaner') r'ored tbr one ol'rh,: tri.tr nrainstream candidates. and more people refused to vote at all than r ote tbr any ofthe single candidates. From this viewpoint, it is a pity that Le Pen's "victory" made us forget that this was acrually a deleat forprime minisler Jospin, a defeat that we anarchists welcomed warmly.

that electing Chirac (i.e. for bnsiness as usual) would only deepen the crisi-s and help the Front National to be stronser er.en ne,<t time.

N: I nttrst admit that we were all strrprised b): the election results.

Evenhod) jttst thought there woulcl be t tite! henreen the Socialist prime ;rr:i;i-rrer- Jospirt and the Gctulli.st plg:iLi1lg1;; Citit'uc. There were debate.s

iir tiit .iledia

::!

ite

"thircl man":

involved in lrctaiti,,tt.ti ,t,t:; .'orittg c

amp

tlte

broadcast the 24 hour radio "Radio Libertaire" in Paris since 1981. You could

r.thcttrr

triri,/ i,- ilt riie so: ereignist JeanPterte Cite t'eti?llt!j1r or the Trotskyists ,1,-leu, L.,tst.!!it' .'

Be.fot'e tlte ..fit'.t rtii'tt o.i nre.sitlential elections. mosr atturc hijiJ\ !r'a?/'d io

A

s. Ar1 ctr c lt o - s.t, rt tl i c a I i s t.s .fi o m ('Internationct / tt.or ke r: cLssociati cttt 1 rr,dre le/'l cLc. tiv e, .fo r et ct nt 7t I e.

a i gn

IT

'

But there rtas not

a

call it an old lady (almost 50 years now), but as with the rest of the anarchist movement, its activists are mostly young, say 20-40 years

g"eat deal of intere.st in the campaigns, becattse oJ the already

old.

has no speciul campoign agttittst election".. yet

expected massive lerels o.f obsiention.

Here in Lille. there

N: Mynameb Nico. I'm 30 and work as qn

'.

archaeologist. Since

I've been involyed in Le Cercle 1999,

the .second stage of the

Social, a small nucleus of anarcho-councilist orientated anarchists. also participate in the

abstention renrainecl a crucial fat-.tor, even at eleclions.

BF: llus the

I

impression given by the UK media of a'far

International

right upsurge" largely an illusion?

Discussion Network, a

v,orld-wide "ultraleft" network Now, I live in Lille, in the north of France, were I work with a group of Autonomist comrades, outside any .federution. Wefirst met to credteihe No wars, No Borders collective, and r9ce1tly, the Collective for a General Strike- We are presently trying to publish a monihly but[etii nimed ,,Un autrc monde' (Another world). This includes politicul and social debates, but also practical training (what to do in a demo, how to speak publicly and so on).

BF: Obviously, the resulF of the presidential elections have brought France to the attention of the world.

What can you tell us abiat the election? What did the anarchists do

during the campaign?

F: Obviously, nobody expected these results, us included. The first thing that comes to mind is the unpleasant slght of Le Pen challenging C[rirac. But tfiis has somewhat obscured the fact that only a minority of people (indeed less

As far as the Federation Anarchiste is concerned, we first plannsd 6 "classic" campaign against political elections. That meant leaflets, public gatherings, etc... For instance in Rennes we organised the "Journ6es Libertaires" where the whole anarchist movement over there (which means a lot ofpeople) gathered to discuss what anarchists effectively can do in the here and now, and what alternatives they can suggest to parliamentary politics.

Of course, the result was somewhat different than expected between the two elections, and there was no easy answer to the question whether we should change our campaign. ln particular, the question of voting for Chirac against Le Pen gave rise to several individual answers in most groups within the Federation. Eventually, as far as I know one group publicly urged people to vote, a few continued with the abstention campaign unchanged, and most claimed voting or not for Chirac was not the most important issue and

m

I

F: There was no dramatic upsurge, ralher a steady increase for more than 15 years now.

The number of Le Pen voters did not decrease between the two elections, which shows that Le Pen voters really mean it... On the other hand, we could

remark that many of them did not vote for the far-right at the parliamentary elections in June, and probably abstained instead (as did more than 35% ofthe people !)

N: Yes and no. Before the elections, the French media and public opinion considered Le Pen politically buried, a problem of the past. He was not even sure he'd get the 500 signatures from town mayors that he needed in order to stand. So it was a surprise when he attracted such a high number ofvotes.

But he didnl get many more actuql votes than in the last presidential, in 1995. His presence at the second turn was partly because of the millions of

people who preferred abstention or far left candidates (Laguillea Besancenot

regular alternating

.:nd Gluckstein, Trotslq,ists). So we - rtl't speak of a far right upsurge, but .t contittuous presetxce of the l{ational Front. We shouldn't.forget it'.s a party 't ith 40 000 members, well integrated into neighbourhoods and association.s.

The main problem is not the percentage ofvotes for Le Pen, but the lact that 100 '% of voting pe.ople at the second turn approted candidates vvith raci.st and securitarist ideas. either Le Pen or Chirac.

BF: What do you think of the distrihution oJ'FN votes? ll'hy, for exumple, so many votes in the East of Frsnce? Whqt ure the underly*ing causes for the vote?

F: I have no idea. In the south-east there are a number of former "piedsnoirs", that is, people of E,trropean descent expelled from Algeria it 1962 and that may bc of some influence, but as I live in Brittany, where the FN is

betrveen left and right in pou'er for more than 20 years norru'. and most people reali-se it doesn't change

anything impofiant in their daily lives.

It's no more pleasant to be fired under a left-wing government than under a right one.

\r: .lbstention is llv'ut,s di.ffirult to interpret. be.

l4re

shottld

ntore precise.

to answer. [n general, Le Pen is popular among what we call "petits commergants et afiisans" and it is also commonly acknowledged that many unemployed people or vulnerable u,orkers vote for Le Pen (even if many more do not vote at all). Also, there was an incredible campaign of scare stories on the TV in March-April that cerlainly

Alrnost 10o,,,, of workers don t |ote, und 50To o/'the unemployed. And we should atld 25uri of workers ancl almost 50% of unemployed don r even sign on the electoral regis ler, .;o aren't counted as " absrctttionists " .

The majoriry- of the working class don't vote. But in s'ome

helpecl Le Pen.

other categories,

lli: There ure various interpretations,

like middle

beccruse the FN electorate is' somewhat cliv'erse. But what i,s interesting is thqt

tnanagers,

the ureas with high FN voting are ihose vvith high unemployment. In the east, large indttstries' v'ere dismantled by the Left government (Socialists and communi.sts) tlfter 1981 This cloesn't mean that fornrcr workers all vote for FN (most don't vote), but there are big eutnomic proltlems, social tensions,

grotting. It s the

andformer "workers parties" are

is protest, as abstentionists choose not to vote as "the!-'re all the .same, they're all thieves". But this doesn't mean these

historically weak, I am not best placed

ahstentionism is sume th.ing in

trorkplo ce elections, for tradeunions: abs'tention is massfue. Itlow, is

this apathy or protest'? Both. This

ttbsent.

The media said that Fl't electors were ctll raci.sts; this isnl necessarilt, so. The)' ulso s,tid ir rat q "prolest vote", but this cloesn't explain the progression o.f FN votes since 19B4.

There are others causes, but the medict don't like to dis'cuss thent. For example, purt o.[Le Pen's campaign was against the Eu'o and " Euglobalis'arion''. and this theme uttracted some electors. Europe and globalisation - thente: u:ed br all candidates s'core o lor o/'people. It'.s c' onnected with unentpl o.\'nr e tlt (because of delocalisution ol lLl ctorie\

domination (afi intpt)t t,t'j' tlteme in France). So part of the F\

antl

people will

t

LIS

vote is o demonstration of :overeignism.

BF: There was a record q.bstention rate oJ'29%, Does this suggest apathy or re.jection/protest? lVhat elfect did it have on the election?

F: I wouldn't claim that these 29Yo abstcntionists were anarchist onesl Hou,eler, it's a clear sign of distrust of

rrrliamentary politics: we have seen a

"People scperienced left government and understood it wfls no help for workers. . , * Refi/ socialism cnn only be found i.n struggle, not in elections."

uit is tke duty of grass roots people to ofgflruse ilv agilit st fosctsw ary$ cfrpitfrlisnt, and thsl's another de*l, mach ,nore challenging but much move fruitful than cny electors{ fronL"

automotically join social movements, .strikes end so on.

The positive aspect is they qre no more influenced by "v,orkers parties" like Socialists or Commun ists.

BF: It is often claimed that anarchist abstentionism aids the right. France seenrs to conJirm this. How do 1,au reply?

F: Oh. it is little he1p. comparedto the aid sir en by' "1eft" _eor ernmental

poiitics or er the past vears... \': 1r i-r rricrrllr rhe Leli electorate that dort r ., t-,re otn'ntore. thich profits the Right. Thar':.n'ue. J'n not sure, even

heing,ut uptt4tiit th,tt nassiye

aathing to do v'ith anarchist propagunda. People experienced left gorernntent atd understood it was no help.lbr v,orkers. ctbstentiort has

The question is now:

will there be a

nen Left? And who will mould it?

R a cli c a

I

reform

is

ts

? Tro t s x

y\

is ts ?

Libertarians? Or will the old Le/i rise again? This is still unclear This is always a dfficult question, because we must kill the link betvveen us and the "Left", we mustnlfear it's end. Real socialism can only befound in struggle, not in elections. Evenfor anarchists, this basic reality is sometimes dfficult to hear BF: It's been said that some anurchists have been departing from their usual boycott ofbourgeois elections to "stop fascism" by voting for Chirac. Is that true? Have libertarians managed to

21

t

Black FIag 222. Features

resist the widespread call to vote

Chirac?

F: Some willhave certainly voted for

Chirac, not exactly to stop fascism - but to prevent the possible immediate dynamic effects of a big vote for Le Pen alnong his supporters. A public call to vote for Chirac is another story and I an.l a\4'are of only one group within the Federation that made such a call. Some other groups, along with Le Monde Libertaire, called for: abstention; in Rennes, like in most places, we concentrated on two points: first. cxplaining that we did not regret having contributed to the fall ofJospin, second, explaining that the on1-v chance to avoid fascism, on the 5th N{av and in the future, was daily social actniisnr and "repreudre nos vies en main" (to take our lives into our ou n hand.).

N: This i.s trtte. Ta trttcltrst,ttttl it b,tt.,t'. we should esplain tlle dehotes 1\.ithin the French

libertarian

the lu.st.fev'

.t;e ct r-s.

tnol)ement o1:er

Sotre people. feel uneos.l u'ith abslention, a.s they know,,

it.t trot tlte r.'sttlr of unarchist propttgcuulu, qnd see it doesn't lead to political ctcti\:istit. Tltey became interestecl in M.tuyav Bookchin's " libertoriun contmtinalism " antl sonte

said tha.t participation in local elections could be compatible with anl,.chists itleas. Others, like Alternative Libertaire (AL), had stood ctuttiitlates for the national assembl.v in the pa.st. So there is no general agreement on the abstention questicn.

. fficially called for a vore ior Cltirac to defeat Le Pen. This wasn'r nntsh of'o surprise, as they generally atiopt the sane positions as the T'otslqtist t CR (Revolutionary .a I

Communi.st League) in most situation,g.

There y;ere also groups ofthe Anarchist Federation and variou.s individuals, like Babar (Roger Noel, .fbrmer editor of Alternative Libertilire

BF: What alteynative do you present instead of the llote thief rather than fascist" idea?

from LCR and LO (Workers Struggle)

F: That if we stick to this idea, we'11 get both: first the thief, and then the fascist, That's again why we found it imporlant to concentrate on the long tem (far' more imporlant) issues than the (obvious) sin-sle issue olthe 5th it4ay results.

N: Our./irsr let:tt'!er.

ctii il'ie

.\,{t,nti;ti'

rfler tlt. , lle;t, ,;:, ..'(:.' ?:;i:i.iti

" N e i t h e r li i ert, t r jii.s t i,. r, gt 1t: i.,. i ! srrixt!". I,l''e q:iil;iirittl. iii !.tufier, iri r:t ..'tr,l.'.' .ati:!:L.i.Ie:, ii;'l;i'eii;;':3 ti:;(! r

t.,

ge I e r a ! rcrs s,rtb lr a.:i, i ii ,

-as

c

r-

i

is

I

1

j.r-

n:i t t-; li ?

i..*. T h o

t

d

rtt.o.\

i

it

e

t

t,, o

tt

i i li e :l -:t ii a n

r e a i i,:'t,

ri;

e

cti

._;

r', c

i ri

i

r s ti i ci n't,,'t., t e

.lbt.rhe Le.fi becuuse o.l'rhe -15 hoLo'lar (that inn.oduced .;le.uibilin: in nto:t workplaces, increasing rqther thotl decreasing working hou's), that this social / work crisis, cottldn't have a vote solution, bttt a strike solution. We didnl insist too rnuch on abstention but stressed that the real ansy,er lav in clasr stntgglc. On Mu1' Du)'. ott lealler "On Mav 5. ttothing till he solved.'

General .strike!" was generally v,elcomed bl,workers on a trade-uni.on d.emo.

A lot ol'people saicl to ur-: "y,e'll v'ote on 5 Ma1t, but we'll continue demos against Chirac after".

BF: Do you think the absurd, but tvpical, multitutle of left candidates impacted on the election result?

F: Why absurd? Tt is no more absurd than the "one left vote only" polrtics that the Socialist Party and its allies want to promote, without any political content other than beating thc F\. at thc forthcoming parli irmentary e ecti ons (and indeed they succeeded in this).

N: There were l6 candidates in rhe elections, more thon the prt'riotrs one; 3 Trotsxr\ists, 5 governmental Lefi, I liberal Right. 2 Lonsen'atire Right urul I

w*ere united Jor the European deputie.s elections, but disagreed on the presidential elections. And PT filorkers Partl;) never made alliance.s ryith other Trot.skyists... Bttt v,e can't -scLy, the mttLtiplication of canditlutes hod an impact. This is a politicttl representtttion crisis that has an irttptx6y on the number oJ'candidates.

BF: Orte oJ'tlte obvious calls by the Left here is for "unity" and so sorte kind oJ'"uttitecl front" (particularly in election-s1. ll'hat do you think of this?

F Tl'rat :s Ilr.lre crap. This call for soorii.',.i r-iirir',' rs nothin_e more than a call irr back iLr\'.-ilntJTrt parlies, be they tiLriit iii,l. lrn ur tiie right. It is also arrrihe r aiiL:mi;i ii-. li oid at'ry analysis oithe rc ection oithese parlies by the mal ont), 6 t- ifu g p3i-.pl c. '\; Belot't 1r;1 ; .'gf ii,7,',.. ;,'. gorernnrcniLl I Lefr x'tts ri it'i ti tl, becctuse lhey tteecletl io t:iiti;ititslse their dilference with tlte Si,. rrr,..:' t ,t,t\ ro bump up their share o,l tlte vt,rtt. 1.lier lhe elections, they all uniretl ... behind CJtirqc, whom the.y had attocked a.s tt thie"f a.few da.vs hefore. The Righr didn't haye to bother as the left wer.e doing the work.ior them - posters proclaining " socialists with Cl.tirac ", " Green ruitlr Chirac "...

BF: ,1re the qnarchists suggesting an ulternative ideq to the "united front" iclea? lf so, n'hat is it?

F: Of course yes. We call for a social front. Meaning that it is the duty of grass roots people to organise daily against fascism and capitalism. and that's an other deal. rnuch more challenging but much more fruitful than any electoral front. Where people have learnt their strength, snd wherd they realise that it might be used to reclaim

social progress fbr all instead of another leadcr, then there is no room left for thscism.

"We explained . . . thut the electiott r reality bf social crisis . . . this sociul / work coulclni hn n u vote solution, but u strike solution. We . . . stressed that the reul unswer luy in cluss struggle',

crisis,

as important . communist

in Brussels - which is not the same the French AL) and.an number of CNT ftade'unionists.

X;,7;"f,i'1,,

iliii"ii"sgt". n

Yii::trTyj* X:liir*,:;:!:;f

'

*:#t!;; ,,stindaid,,"lZ,

slogans or solutions, like "if changed anything thev'd

2 far Right. The Left and Right voting reall! g"overnilent.or wa:nnabe givernment make"it;lt;iri:; ;i;;ri';;:;i;/bi,tend to present cindidates at rgrtr^"t o:iiiri,' - for;';;;*l iiii". uort 'the first round io ascertain their ;i';;;;,t"itfrrially Eioi ioi iilt" o

lte oc.t (!.ibertgrian organisation), .the AIT and all radic.al, "infiuence" and jrepaie negotiations gooa kiJlet-i;'p";;;;; iiit i:iil o" sroups catted foi (epuliV eteciiois (in.Juie) and Tead smA una"i'iiii ty" i'iri pnrptr, 1::':?:j.::,::d*!yr!rl t he Pressure against ministerial seats. Remember that the without self-reference - or hoi to ryI_:!::!!!,rnwas,\:ery strong. ln a Left.government was afive - party speak pubiiclj in an hoitile crowd or 1b^it:!!,:! general-assembll\ assembly. Our wealcness lies in ?n gutonomist coalition (Socialists, Comminisis, general "ou,

almost

comrade was insulted and what had done qgainst migrants and papierl '-'. We 've been insulted treated likefascists every

?::h:7::!:yl!!,i!"d

chirac "sans-

and day.

and

Sovl.reiglisLs, Ecolo_gists Radica6). Thie-Far rtigit ias

been

Le Pen to ippeir as' less extremist"than its divided

for a few yeari: allowing

former dliy Megret

a

_l

amateurism" in propaganda.

BF:

rhteLegoriri"iiifji-iitingto yoi irots*yfsi iirt{et.

the large uit"

ere i*Z frotiy5ts sttttini Io fil Uynl.riotittyists ;i;;;W;;;;;tiii,'iiirip"rAt

the

lIIIF 1,3

'l i' I

in

struggles. Stady reality

in

c'ritical of Trotsh, and Lenin s heritage.

Its militonts are very active in radical unionism like SUD (e.ssentiall,- in lnblicset'tur intlu.sft'ies like rail ot' post) and in as,sociated movements. So their politicctl niche is more the fbrmer left socialisnt than comnttmist party^.

LO is more classicall-v Trotslq;is1' ffuey were created in theJifties by a sntall nucleu.s of'v,orkers, v'ith a very Bolshev

ik

concept

ion of organisation

ancl militant roles. From the beginning, lheir success hus been the "workplace bulletins" thev tlistribute in even,

kltlt,'e rict'e

the.t' huve miliiont;

Seattle, Gothenbur,e. Genoa and other

rrot

or contact.s. Since 1974, Arlette Loguiller (lbrnter leader of a bonk

yoLllg worker his

,.\

lt(-)

cr;,tttlucled tt

]7t"'rrlr

(2 ,-

rrrtAtlr.rrr tl ,

d\

t t'rtt':. ./ trlI!J/p(1/r.

o

(/.i

posters srn') hut /7,' q7,'r7r;''i.'1,if i t';'r b1, gaining ntL)t'e rlldti -.i ,tt tii:

one

vote.

Tlte LCR i.s rtctt ct c'lus,sit'ul Tt'otskt'ists organiscLlion. Irt I 966. rit,'t wet'e u r:ttstro-guevuri,sl scissiort ttl tlta Connunist Ptu'h,. Thev were very lelirst cmtl

nilitctrist aJier

,fioPtE

fl$

H'

its complexity. Change the

big demos. The first one mainly reflects Lutte Ouvriere's (LO) propaganda, and the second one suits better the Ligue Communist Revolutionnaire (LCR). In both cases, it is very doubtful that the voters had any opinion nor klor.lledge about Trotskyism... \i. trlore thon ] I %, o/ votes were ./itt' Tro t slo'i s t s, m ostlv .ibr A rI ette Lttgui I le r (I-O) attl Olivier Besancenot (LCR). As ",1r'l erte ", u ll cd .for o blctnk vote dn irt-r' tltc setortd rortncl, a lot of her midclle c ltts-s elct-tcu's rrott st'ntpolhise

tvilh Besulttetlot

AS

r'jti/r i

F: In some ways, yes, but the actual picture is somewhat more complicated.

The Communist Parly began to sink 20 years ago, and many ofthe people now voting for Ttotskyist sects never had the opporlunitl, to vote Communist u'hen jt was prominent among the left.

Roughly speaking, you can divide the "Trotskyist" votes into two: first, there's the classical radical left vote. deeply rooted in the working class in the usual sense; and second, there is a vote in sympathy with the antiglobalisation strugglcs as seen tn

gctotl cunt.pctigrt.

t'.t

Si::,'

-

"Be con bative

{ iti-

1968, hul bec'tutte

rnore ntotlerctte over the ),ears, utttl ttt'e

emplo-vees strike) has been theit-

candiclate oncl spokeswonran (but not the leoder of'tlte pafiv). Sh e 's lei r' pe.tpular, being itterviewed bt'

oll

papers and even having a Lluppet on a tell kttotn TV slto:r . Front a r'r't't' w,orkeris'

t ond revolutionan,

ctrgani.scttion, LO hus becorne ttn

electorolisl one. LO is very influentiol in fornrer' "recl tovvns ", because Jbrnter Conmtuni:;t voters turn to Arlatte...who c'ulls Jbr nev o Conrtttunist party.

BF: Hotv do 1,611 think tlte large Trotskfist lote will afJect the overall I o b ott r m or e m e nt an d revoltttio nary trrotemcttt? ll ill they be pusltetl back into tlte bullot bttx trrd o.ff'the streets?

F: \s tal

AS \\ e can see. this large l]-pt>k] tst \ ote does not mean mofe Tr.otskr ist lctir isnr. Ferl Trotskyrst \ oteL s \\ ere eager to see their canclidates e1-tectir ely' elected: they u anted to \ ote "as left as possible "

:ii'd'#4

C world"

(words taken from Lutte Ouwiere propaganda), or more generally to express that they belonged to the left, but rejected the government's politics.

On the other hand, that they expressed it that way (voting) rather than organising for, say a general strike, shows that the labour and revolutionary movement has still a lot of work to convince that there is a way other than electoral politics.

N: It's still unclear. Rather than the streets, the real question is the leftb presence in the worlqlace. Itb clear now that there is no far Left in France, as the classic left niche has been filled

by LCR and LO. So therek a gap to be filled. But who willfill it? Others Trotslqtists are mostly satellized by LCR or LO. So there is roomfor libertarians and ultraleftists... if we take our chance and make the right

decisions.

I saw that during the initial demonstrutions against Le Pen, the CNT wus given prominent mention.

What can yoa tell us of the role libertarians pluyed in the street

BF:

protests?

F: Libertarians had a double role there: first, we have far reaching experience of daily struggle against the extreme right, while most protesters where quite new to it. And second, having something else to say than " vote thiefChirac on the 5th may " was quite appealing for many people.

N: At first the street protests were very spontaneous, organised by pupils and students (except in Paris, were they

23

I

glackF a9222. Features

were in holidays...). When political organisations began to have a visible presence, pupils and students ceased to come... This is true evenfor anarchists and radical unionists.

BF: The CNT demonstrution was explicitly mentioned in the French reports of the May Day protests against Le Pen. Could you summarise the anarchist input into the May Day demonstrutions?

F: As I don't live in Paris, I can't give direct evidence of the anarchist May Day demonstration there, but it was obviously impressive. I think there was an anarchist block in more than 50 demos on May Day. In Rennes, all the libertarian groups gathered in the town (F ederation Anarchiste, Alternative Libertaire, CNT, SCALP, and also libertarian squatters), and our block was quite remarkable, and also one ofthe most dynamic olthrs very big denro. Of course, liere ljke everywhere else, our message concentrated on what to do and how to organise after Chirac had been le-elected.

I'l: For tlte lust.fbw, t'ecu's, the tnedid st's t enr o I i c ttl v rn en ti rtns int,CNT prisence on o tlemo. On Muv Dqt, thi.s I

*'as

rtt cts s'ive,

v,itlt

rtround l0 000 people with Red ancl Black bunners. Here in Lille. there t'ere ttt'o ibet'tcu'ittn grotqtin gs on Mal' DctY: 4 big one vith the CI'{T ttnd I

c:

ltrs,s

and so on. Dttring the tyr:o weeks of demonstrations, lhere was ve1t little

dit'att action agoinst loscists.'No orte w*anted to pt'ovide the FN with an incident that thev could use to )t'it1.

BF: Turning aictl,from the election, can lou summorise tlte cuffent stote of the French libertarion movenrent?

F: The French libertarian nrtrl enre nt lra-; ahr,ays been ditilciiit to sunrmer ise. Al1 I can sA\r is thai it is rliiite i1.;3[.1 3ncl i]asrer.'o lr,in-g.

1\!; LLc atn lisr ilit, groups, b.'; ordet al i n.J! r r e n c e. T l t e L, i g ol eu-s.' CNI 1'l\i at i o n a l

CottJ'ederatiort of Ll'brkers) is the ntost intprsrtont orgo niscttion, v,ith cu'ound -1A00 ttrilitattts. They evolved .front ttrtct rc ho - sv t t

n io n is n

e

r

i

sm to

th ey, v'

e

r

rac{i

cal

e er c I

ucl e cl

.fi' o nr

the IWA. They a17voc1 both libertcu'ians interested in class struggle, fornter membets oJ classic unions like CGT

and CFDT, yololgv'orlcers. It's likely they will rctpiclly evolve outside the

movement.s.

No Pasaran is aformer antisfascist network turned to anticapitalism and libertarianism.

But v,,e should add to this list a lot of local collecti'es and small organisatiotts, based on radical, squat or uln'aleft backgrounds, *'ith cordial links but v'ithout.forntal nenuorlcs, like Maloka (Dijon), Ah lrato (Paris), Tranquille le Chat (cool da'cat, Paris) or Cerele social (Lille). Part of the

ultraleft is also grouped in an International Discussion Nefircrk, which we also take pcrt. Ihis is not an organisation, rather a exchange of analysis and theory in various countries.

We can summarise the current state ofFrench anarchism by afew tendencies: o strong attraction for uttiortisnt.

('there

ct

dilJiarlr

was an anarchist block in more thun 50 search Jbr' ttniht demos on May Day. fn Rennes, all the liberturian aroind an but open groups gathered in the town . . . and our block wus ntoderote quite remarkable, und also one of the most dynumic ',1,i,,;;.,tr,,,,,,, of this very big demo. . . our messfige concentruted ,,,,1)ll,,ll],,., or on what to do und how to organise after Chiruc ,',,itic,tt ,' gt'ou1ts to the lefr oJ'"o./Jicial had been re-elected." ttnarch isnt "

anarchists participating in street

.

BF: Do the

liherlurian

iccrI unurc hi s ts.

protests and, more than once, initiating them. These last five years, we have often been alone and, to be frank, too few in number to be any'thing other than a symbolic presence. But in the past we were able to prevent meetings taking place by blocking the streets etc..

Otherwise, we try to put into practice our idea that daily grassroots activism is the only effective answer to Le Pen's ideas. We do it as well as we can, with our limited means.

N: There was a lot of debate on the Web, mailing lists and Indymedia, around elections, abstention or not, Le Pen social and economic problems,

libertarian ./ield, even

iJ'

there are

ancu'chisls inside.

The F ederation A narc h iste w,os.for a long time the rnost irnpor.tcttt gt'oLtp, trnd hus a v,eekb.' papet', cr rudio statiott cmcl some v,orkshops and librcu'ies. They cu'e influenced lt Sy'nthesisnt, ctnd local gtoups fi'ecluen tly' fi o1:e vg1'1: difJbren t positions on vut'itttts issttcs (in eler'tiutt.s. s,.ttttt votecl Chiroc, othet's didn't). A yecu'

0go some FA leoders launched o coll /br Uni4, oflibertcu'icms, w,ith stnrte sLtccess in some towns. Tltet' cttll Jin' a "socictI ctnca'c'hism" nnd cu'e someythot rn

oclerate.

The CNT-AIT is the ol/iciol IILA tuttu'cho-st'nclic'olist group i n Fronc'e.

Thtntgh smcrller than rhe CIVT, they're rnore .strict on principle.s ont{ stcty on. t'et'oluLioncu't, class stnrggle ground.

Part of its membership iilnfliienced bt, cottncil contmunisnt.

Alternotive Libertuire is o/Jic:iallv o/ a platfbrrrr i,st bac'kgrountl, anct influenced ll: Daniel Guerin's l)nthesis hety,e e n onotc h i sm und Ttots ld, i s' nr.

They're l:)t'esent in tratle-tmioris ancl social ntot,emenls.

Th e Organ i s cttion C o m mu niste Libertuire has been influenced lry

24

t.'

di cal

support of national liberation

radical

and another with our Collective. We wanted to be with the CNT... but we had a problem with the sound car and were late... At the end of the demo, there were a lot of peofle with us, but it tur"ned into more of a street party rather than a political demo...

BF: Outside of participating in the street protests, what else are the anarchists doing against Le Pen? F: Firstly, there has not been one venue of an extreme-right leader in Rennes, (and almost anywhere in France), not one public FN meeting without

\

n

t itft

autonomism and council communism, but dffirs from the ultraleft in its

I

groilps and federations co-operale together? How ntuch eud in whst

woy!

F: There has been a lot ofeffoft over the past two years to get libertarian g1'or-lps co-operating together, and I am quite optimistic on that.

At a local level, it is now common fbr r a|ious Broups 1o put tl)eir nanrcs to common tracts, to appear joiutly rn protests, to invite each other to their public rreetings. and even to organise corrrmon actions, like rve are doing in Rennes r.vith a "gratis pr-Lblic transport" campargn.

At

a

fedelal, or national, level, things

have to be done a little bit more lormally and the 1'ederations are beginning to take into account these loca1 changes, and to behave with respect to each

other w'itir the rnutual trust we should expect. I'm not saying that everything is u,'onderlirl. bLLt the situation is in genelal evolr,ing in a satisfactory clirection.

,\: Iliele

crre conflicttral, bul eristing

reltlic.trts, benteen the "big ones". Tlte rec'ertt "Coll .fbr mtitt, qfliberraricrtts ", launche d by the FA, v,as intntet.litrlel.t' joitrecl bt'an importanl menrber o.l'lvo Pascu'cm, ontl s'ome groups c.'/'OCL- mcl

.11,. Tlre CNT notv authorises its rttcntbers to also be members of'otlter Ttol

itical groups, inclutling anarchist

ones, but

still very cle/ianl.

trIo,st orgunisutictns signed the call for an i ntern ational onarch ist netv,ork, i.s

Everybotl.,-

formally for uni1', but

is

there are problems over the content of

this

unitv.

No tmiyt can befouncl ctn the basis oJ'"unitvJbr trni4,'s sake", nor b.v politic'al discussion v,ithctti a real morement. The only thing that will destroy old barriers and create a nev' "tutculchist lanclscape" is a social movement, like the n,cr.v- the 1995

general strike brought ahout the renewctl ol'the CNT. BF: Is the influence of anarchism and revolutionary syndicalism increusing?

politrcal left, and should never forget it.

main elJbrt sltould be speuking with

On the other hand, we may unite with the left for a demonstration, or some specific struggle. This was the case in the past for instance in the defence of illegal immigrants. But it happens more

people outsitle the activist ghetto...

rarely now, as the political left has shown its hue colours in power and as the, say, Leninist left is mostly divided between those who try to pull the political left frrther to the left (typically, the LCR) and those who won't ally themselves with anyone, political left or anarchists (typically Lutte Ouvriere).

N: Our choice is autonomy. Leftists are boring, even anarchist ones. l4rhen we call for an action, we don't contact organisations, or if we do, only for very

Another'*'eakness is our presence

(or lat'k o/) in the lubour movement.

l[ost

oJ'the Atttonomous' t-onu'acles in

pupils or sttdents, ttnd us w,orkers ancl tttentployed, are a minot'itt'. Thi.s hos an evident inrpact cln otrr practice and positions. Having a greater pre.tence in the v'cn'kplace is on objective.

Since the communis't orthodoxt' has lltten. dnot't hi.st.\ hove heen givin ,t

Lille

cu'e

relativel-v" pctsitive outlook in France.

Most lotow singers that were

anarch ists (B rcLss ens, Few6,... ), farme rleader Josi Bove refers to anarchisn't, anJ evett Robert Htte, a t'onmrutist partv leacler, sa_vs he is libertarian. The onlv

probletn is v,hen )to-u begin to erploin tvhat revolutio nart' anarc h is nt is, people feel a little hotrbled... Oh, .t'ou aren't

It

appears so as the

anarchists continue t0 crop up in French nen,s reports (st least

gentle cool paci/ist thut j u.s t d i s I i.lre -r McD on u l tl s

the ones I see!).

F: Yes. Over the pirst ten yetrrs, zrnarchism has sained back some

nttti onl

cmtl

Bill Gotes? Oh, yotL tant a clussless,

realh: t

es

s, sla

n o n e-\' I e's.;

.s

te I e ss,

o c i e ty'.)

lleeh..

F : O bv io tts 11, i n l; rance you lrave nunterous clunl B

as

s (i, e. rer olution o rj' rtniorts lihe the CNT). l)oes hayinil du.al unions

l elled as

make spreoding liberturion ideus ond

tren gth.

Moleover.

tt tr io n

s

i',:,

iar

I can see. \\'e are more o11en i

proruciters of

tactics' among fellort w,orkers harder or easier?

Do CNT aclit'ists become isolated Jioru otlter urt iotr members? Itrrtx, tlo 1,on breok down

a

political prqect wbether you agree with it or not than as poets or bonib throw'ers. Bnt we should not be satislied u'rth this a1one. this is the very filst step of man)tor.vards the levolrLtiotr: and second. u-e l,r'ill have to face more attacks as ri'e beconre a threat. For instance, tlie local rler4rspaper "Ouest-France" refused to release anv of our communiqu6s dur-ing the presiclentral campargn, or to altnoun( (,,ilr 1'ublic nreellngs or concerts rn the same period, inclLrding the ".Tornrrces Libertaires" I mentioned above. Thi-s attitLLde is somer.vhat neu' and plobabll' sr gnitrcant.

N: It's di//i(:tt1l rr., -sir.r: Tlte oll.[tu' lcli in l,. ronce h cts b e c l l r,,:, t t t,i il e r a t e. u t d t

t

t

/ ctItItotIr,:: C|)i)ittt|!)ti5tlt ItL{,5' e s ct w e ak r i tt t i' i t t'.:'ru'r,i:i'.'r j'

SluIinisnt h eco

t t t

IIt

t

t

t

r-

r

1

the onlv fcu' lefi altetttarit'r'. S,; iir.' tluily netvs cun'l igrtote ir, Tiit' C'\'f, tyhich v,o,r tt smctll gt oul.) ten.','r'.ri's i1g1:,'. hcts becr.tm.e u respectcrble ttt'gunistttitttt, ltavitt,q fu.\.1 .\t)tttt ,; it.. refe re nce,s

to anat'c h o-st'nd

i

ca

Iis

t t t

ctlong the war.

BF:Do you huve many links with the x,itler labour anel left+r:ing groups? Il' so, what kinel?

F:You cannot speak of 1inks. We clealll dor.r't have the satle agenda as the

llhen ct m' sfuden t ttrote /heh' call /br u Worltl

1trctcti ctt I reos ot1s'. c'ctrtu'crcles Stt

ike .,lgainst

LI/cLt',

it

buwiers?

N:

tt:os translttted

irtto li.lteen languages and distributed bt' peeryle on the g o r,\ Ltpp

ct

r t |i' o

n

/ive continents.

They

o n a t' c h i s t s o f' v a r

i

c.t

tt

s

tt'orItl-wide groups, ultroleft commies from Russitr and outside, trots, e

s'

per

p ac iJi s t s, ancJ sct on.

antis t.s,

Christians.

Budd hi s t s,

Btfi nol one line

cy''the text, vrhich was' antinationali.st

and cLnti.statisf,

r'r'a.s

changed. The

sttilie itsel/'v'ctsn't really o success, even if there were sonte good things

pttttblettt.

n'tttrtt

We

.;ltorrltl ltore ntt'rde

tttll ort Sel.-tottber

Ti;e t'e ,ti'e -\'(, //1i17'l.f r, :r r.r

I'..

t

11...

iutetestittg pectple

aij' at i i.i iai i t'.\ t a n cl I e-l't s t s c i t c I e s. i:i',itte,i rr ',,'ii1.'Jr' open rnoiling list

irlr'

i

/i;i' ,lisr'l-ur'r,r t. tttiai l-\c- t,ut'iotts others, ittt(l L)t )-\t t't: )ii1))titt1ial rt;s to Itttlymetlict. I olso ltrn'tit'iptttt itt rlte lrtternational

D i s c t s'.s i t t r t r\ierr r'crrJr t ri t lt p, e o pl e .fo rnt t'crt'tcttrs c'outttt'ia.s. tsur tltirrk tltut otn' L

I

first reuctiotl o/'t'la.:sictl

union.s

\1'On.

in

a.fbv' French and LIS tov;ns, but it tr'cts tr gctocl erample: if tou hcLve o gctotl propcts'al at tlte right tine, vou t'cur dtt it. .lrrctrcltist.s generctllv lack ,sel.fc t.t n-/i t l ert c e. or cu r cl u c' i n'. T h u t .s o Lr r'

titi.;

The

n'hen tt rudical otte. like SLID or Cl"lT. dppeors in tt vorkplctce, is lo denounce thenr tts "non-t epre,\entdtiw". But in F ranc'e even'bocly can J|eeb chose v,hich uniort lo join, und a mtion is c onsi tl er ed repre.s en t at it,e i/' th q, h av' e a reol s'ectiort witlt acl.ive mentbers.

Eut'lt tittre there hus been u juclgement cr l:otr t re;st'esentation, rttcli cctls have

Does the presen(:e of'roclical unions e the .spreocl oJ' libertaritt n s ilccts? It v,ould be a sonewhut rttttbitiotts (or Lenitist!) vision. It is trorlters w,ho s'eat'ch .for the righl terrctin in which to expres,e t adicd ideas and practice. The1,fintl new' ttnions (ike SUD) or old ttntl tiny, but t'ctclical ctnes (like Ci{T) in tvhich to do this. For tt long tinte, CFDT eren if the.y emerged fi'orn Christiun t'rt abl

background - were a purl oJ'lltis' roclicu1, "ttnttrcho-syntlicclisl" niche.

As sctort cts' ther leJi it, there wus o need Jbr a nev' ot'gttnisotion to clo this. It's becou.se tlrere's o lilterlarittn pructic'e in tt'orker',s that CNT or' SUL) are uble

25

I

g ackFlag222. Features

be part ofthe union landscape, not the contrary.

BF: Do ansrchists ulso work in the larger reformist unions like the CGT? Ifso, how does that velate to those in revolationary unions? How successful is such work?

F: Yes, and I would say that it is still the majority of unionised anarchists. In general, they try to keep comradely with comrades in revolutionary unions. In fact, the dispute about which union should be chosen is more or less the same as in Anglo-Saxon countries. It may be useful to note that many comrades try to forge links between anarchists and revolutionary syndicalists in different unions, be it through the social movement commission within the FA, through informal information bulletins for syndicalists (our comrades in Lyon have edited one for several years), or through more formal groups like the old-timer Ecole Emancipee for educational workers.

N: Yes. Infact, there are anarchists in almost all big unions (CGT, CFDT FO,

to

FSU), for historical or local reasons.

For example, the print cowectors CGT union has been an anarchist bastion for a very long time. Theformer FA leader Maurice Joyeux, was a ltnown FOfigure. And so on. There's now a network for anarchists in trade-unions, to link them beyond centrals. In a

worlqlace, workers don't ask if you're anarchist, communist, socialist or even right-wing, they watch to see if you are a good "unionist", or simpler still, if you defend them well.

BF: What other

areas are anarchists

proposals to counter this problem this side of the revolution?

F: Indeed, it is a serious question, and it is dilficult to give seriorrs ansu ers in a few words. To sum up. every auarchist is aware that thele is no solution to this problem this side of tlie rer olution, \\'e know that most crimes. rlost indl idlral violence just mrrors the daiJl' r iolerice u-e sufTer from the state and the econonric tdrs torder On the otirer hand. u'e also knou that. sadlr'. rr hen a cat burns. rt is in all probabilit-v a poor person s car'. and u hen someone is assaulted in a train, he or she is seldom a rich capitalist. Hence the best we can do this side of the revolution is to explain that violence against youl ntates is no solution, nor ate calls for stronger repression, since they can only bring nrore violence in return. Sorry but this is one issue where the only answer this side of the revolntion is to go the other' side of the revolution l'/: This is a recutring question, y,henever v,e have nothing else to discuss... I'm not sLtrev)e have hettet' anslret's thon anvone else, ercept tlte .' .;.tantlunl ; itt a jnt,tteth,s.s .sr,t i. /r. !

crirne will be rctre" ctnd "clirect clemocract,v,ill solvc any problertt in a ,l"rttnct olir' rr'ct.t ". ltt Jtttt. rt t ,rll l,tt k interesting ctncl new "descriptiotts" oJ " ot lol her t tt t'l Ll ", ( ot)t ttt tt tt i i ttl. socitrlism, ancu'ch\, or call-it-ltov-t'otrlike. This is one of lhe questions re r/iscuss in Internationol Disc trss ion

Network, trying to integrate rtetr aspects of problems like tecltrtologicol revolution, ecologi cttl pt'obl ertt s, reftrsal and abolition of v'ork. ond so on. But it's interesting to see tltat nost

active in?

comrad.es ple-fer to speuli ctf tttore

F: Squats, education, mutualism, feminism, local organising, fights against nuclear plants or GMO, defence of civil liberties, promotion ofpublic services (water supply, public transports...) in an anarchist perspective... in fact, any worthy social struggle where an anarchist happens to

classic,subjects like globalisurion, ertpire ond nationalisnt, nctlut e of'stctte ttr t'lo.ss analysis, lltotr po;i1i1r' qLrestions about afuttu'e socie,r'. W? lack ct real alternciive : iu rlte anarc'hist press, socialisru ctlian /eels like o ghosl, an untlead pro.iec't, v'ithout ant, link v'ith ow' Present ctc'tit,it)'. Here, w'e tn,to enrpltosi,se selJuid irt societ.l, os a bosis /or u.iitture torld. IJ'violence is ct pcul ol tts, se lfaid is olso. Use our violence to oholish sot'iet.t, selJ-aicl to create il. W'itlt this per sJ) e c r i I e. I' m probabl,- som ev h ere betveen tlre nevt: Kropoktinicnt st'hool of notut'tll science (Frctnz De Wuol, Stephen Jot Goulcl) and

be there.

N: There are anarchists active in almost all the associative and social movements. For example, thereb a

strong push within the ecological moyement against nuclear power stations, to expose those governmental Greens that now discretely support nuclear power. A lot of anarchists also work with the sans-papiers movement, despite the dfficulties in fighting against the Stllinists and former Maoists, well embedded in the movement. Thatb one of our problems in Lille. There are also movements for free public transport and so on.

BF: The FN seem to be tapping into concern aboat crime ("law and order"). This is ulso an issae here. It is also considered a dfficult question for ansrchists. Have the French

anarchists made any pructical

c:

ontm

u

n

is

ut

i

on

L'Lrr en

t

th

eor

et i ci an s

(like Gille Dauvi).

BF: Ho*- do 1'ou feel about the future?

Do you think thtt anarchism in France

will grow?

F: It is growing already. and I have every hope that thrs u'ill continue, if only because it is the last idea that

we've never experienced, because the other known revoiutionary theory (Marxism) is deeply distrusted, and because the cunent state of affairs is unbearable. But it is no\ ,'our duty to 26

I

make anarchrsm ath'active and trustu,orthy, and that's a brg deal. ly'. Ies, definiteh tes. It's 'ec'ologicul niche" hos gt'otrtt. Bttr t, ltttt sot-t of

rc h i s n t .' Rtt tl i c o I - i t' I t.i t l i s n t ",; o c icil ttnat-cltisnt' Ot- Ltl fa)!tt )ytt: 1!tr t et olLttitlttnt't cltlttt'cltt,ti, tttttl ttttcu'cho1lrri'rrvrt .' Pr,ih,tbl.', h'.,1 1 ,11 tlifferent crn o

r

1t . , ttt.ltl 1,, ' / -... -1.- l 'i.- r.

L/',,tt,ir: Li'., ii, 1t,. li .;rr'rIr'r(, lrOle, Ong t-)) at'ji( )iii..) a.'':.1. 't. '. -,,: .,: ,/il el'Sil-],

tttttlt:.t!i.!n II-.',lt" - l;t,ttt tltâ&#x201A;Ź \\(1\ fO -<rttittl t'llrit:!c' .i' .'r: ,ll1t' cotstt er to ltis t1tre.;ritl/t r-i ) ,! : rrl chonge tLrrJ

itselJ'. Thet'e (o'e ttt.ttt.\ , i1; t .tt;; lf1qt attract dillbrent peoltle. r1,,',,i,'iit'ctll1: and ps-v-chologicallr.,\'orr'r.' 7,rrr\I

make choices, be audoc'iotr.: trtttt' ;t'lll conJitlent. If we alw-ct,t-.s cttrttplttitt Lrttd

"it tvill not u*ork", we'll loo.;e u,e'll be cotarchist lo,sers.

BF: Can ):ou think of any lessons Ji'onr French anarchism thal we in Britain could letnt from?

sa-v

F: Sonrething tliat sh'ikes me in the An-slo-Saron u olld in general, is that voll seem to still pa1' a 1ot ofattention to lotmal frontiers betu'een the classical trends within anarchisn'i. that is communist anarchism, anarcho-

syndicalism and individualist anarchism. I think anarchism as a u,hole becomes an interesting issue for the here and nou'when these frontiers come down, and r,',hen w-e admit that. as individuals or groups, we can find food in all these old places. re-consider them not as dogmas. but as uselul tools to put together to help tLs to understand u,hat u.e can do today.

In France. this seems to be nou, the general feeling, and that helps cooperation between gtoups: not that we all aglee on everything (it would be rlonsense for anarchists), but w'e are leaming to adrnit that one side does not ahvays have the right answer. l'{: The real ltroblem is thcn this

question can still be posed. CapitcLlists creried an unitecl Ettrope, und trs, antirtcttionul anctrchists and comnttnists, v'e ,still lhink of'ourselves as "French"

or "British" or "Greek" untu'chists.

Hi,ston' xtlls over trs... I clonl think

vve

can clo a "European call .[or unih' oJ' onarchists", it wcttid mean rutthing, as there's so monr tenclencies trncler the sone "anarchisn" v'ortl. But mctking linles befireen borders, rnaking an e/lbrt to meet.ft'iends ol the same sensibilitl, outside our local tov:ns cmd

countries i.s an important thing. The aim is not tct sign comtnon cleclarati ons between big organiscttions tdeach cowttry, il.'5 1e creote J)ersona l, .friendlv relationship befte en r e a I peotrtl e .fo rm c ol I ectiv e s het'ontl bortlers.

BF: Any final thoughts? Anythirtg 1'ott

think we have not covered?

N; Be combcrtive in stru,q,gles. Sttrdr realin, in its complexit. Cltuttge the world.

The Algerian fnsurtrrection Black Flag lras decided to reprint this article evert though it is'ahout evettts orer a teor ago nox, simply because il is an inspiring uccoutrt o/'u relatively uttknotvtt etent.

Quevedo said of the Spaniards: "r/re1' huven't been ethle to he historians but thev desened to be ". This is still true of the 1936 Sparrish Revolution: others have wlitten the history. It's too early to write the history of the insurection that started in Algeria during spring 2001, but it's not too late to defend it; and to fight the deep indift-erence as we see it

in France.

To illustrate the significance of this uprising, we need to look at the actions and cleclarations of the Algerian in surgents. Their dignity, understanding and courage reveals the abjection in u'hich people of the

'modem u''orld' are Iiving; their apathy, their petty worries and

wo[ran. he cried out: "Bu, tt,lrut is' going on y'ith .r'ou todal'? " and the answer was "Cl'erltiing ha.t chang,ed. " He got a good hiding and his car was destroyed. An hour later. he retumed with thirry soldiers dressed in civilian clothes and armed with atrtomatic rifles. After a pitched battle, the soldiers retreated. but the riot spread thror-rghout the whole tou'n: barricades u,ere erected, the city hall. the tax office, Sonelgaz corporation's headquarter, the prefecture and two chain stores were tumed ovor by people shouting: "this is the wav/or

Chaouis!"

condemnation. To start dealing rvith the problems posed by the dilaprdated state olthe country. it u,as liecessary to lirst fight those who rvould pre'r,ent the people taking mattcrs into their orvn hands.

The people targeted mayors and any

officials close at hand. Beyond these skirmishes. the pro.iect of a complete expropriation liom the expropriators was taking shape. On July 7th a declaration of the popular committee frorn Bejaia's Wilaya (prefecture) u,as made to the State: "Your gendarmes, s.r'mbols ofcarruptiott, hqve onl.t' one use - k) kill, repress and tra./fic. That is n,ht ther nrusl leut,e immediately.

Concerning our ,security-, our brave vigilance t-omntittees are dealing v.'itlt

it atln'tirablv: thev are otir

iii"r"'o'.ilariof.i The insurgents took up the term "hogra", The young rioters rorytrii,uii.iuna an Algerian term fOr the arbitrary nature gendarnrerie military of authority, its privileges, corruption and **::lf:...*,o' " slrouting: You ccrrt'l contempt. Fighting the hogra meant lcill us w,e are ulreutlr " tlead! Treated as half fighting the State itself. What would be dead by Algerian society. they knew left of a state without privileges or that they had to destroy it to start living. l'rour the corruption, a state that could not use middle of April. nrainll, in Kabylie, but also in arbitrary force and scorn?

Kenchela. Skikda and (

.

parts ofthe East (at Oum El Bouaghi. Batna, Tebessa, Biskra. El Tarf etc. ). thev erected banicades, blocked off roads, assaulted gendarmerie and police stations. Riotels attackecl a prefecture headquafters (in Tebr.ssil. tu'o ministers w'ere inside thc'

huildingt. burned or vanclalised many courthousr:s (in Ouacifs the 'Justice Court'. reccntll'built. u'as reduced to ashes). senle ta\ ottlces. post offices and state corporutitrn otfices, political parties heac'lqlLarteis lat least thirtl, trvo), banks. socuri secLnitr ottlces etc.

This ine ortrplclc lr.t ,,t,1.. - r c. .r \ ll_- .c ider oftlre sclle oitltc ;rr.r -' rcrr'. 1:,rl r,i

lrlt

is clcar' is

tllit tlri i.r.t l:-

rundertook to clear the lalcl

-

ol:ril

"rnatei'ial expressions of the State".

Aftel ycars of'killings by tlre poliuc and the rniiitary, the murdel ola st,-Ldeirt in Beni Douala. on April l8th. provoked the lirst of thc riots. ln Anrizour. near Bc.jaia. the arbitrar!'arrest of three students on llnd April pror,oked a rrrass insurrc'ction. In Khenchela. on the lOth of Junt-', an off'jcer. shou'ing off. drir,ing a large car. ualled out insults to a young tA'olIlAll. ,{ttacked bv lhe young people u,ho ran to defend the

\\'hen tlre people cease to tolerate day to day oppression. the extraordinary becomes ordinary. During these u'eeks and months. nearly everyday a gendarmerie brigade was altacked; and usually several at the same time. Military ban'acks were bcsieged; a blockade n'as imposed on the gendarmes rvho n'ere forced to launch raids for supplies. Those '*'ho continued to have lelations u'ith them. er en

strictly commercial. u'ere

borcotted and punished. Some hotels \\ !'re bunled. irs r.r-e1l as r,illas, cafes. t'-staLrrillrts. and stores: targetcd becaLLse ther belongecl to dishonest Lrtilci.tl: or r r'LIr0Lrs $ her'ler-dealerl.LLsrne:srr.,en. Tl-rere u'as a lot of dL-slr.Lrcrior bLrt sruprisingly

lootl

little

L-r.

So. ti-rr exanrple. in Kherrata on May 1.3rd a stockpile of -soods fuund a gendarnrerie e.x-olllcer's house u,as

inrnrediately lrurned. Hveryone expressed their indir,iciual or collective

grielartces; concerrring housing. tlater. industrial nuisance etc. Those knot"r'r to be guilt-v of cornrption u,ere svstenratical l;- exposed to puhl ic

t)t'tdP

lT

tontinued.

declarilg that the citizens'

problems would be dealt

u'ith "bl orr

neighltourlrc<td ond villag,es'

delegltes 0il.1

ht

lructet

unionist .lelegdtes who

are workiilg un ussenrblr

irr

<'ulletl the'

poytular committee. lnlus is Direct

[)emocracy!"

The insurrection. or at least in its more adr,anced lbnn. was limited to Kabylie. Nevertheless. the Kabylie insurgents themseh,es callerl it an Algerian Rel olution and tried to extend it beyond their locnl area, relusing the Bc'rberist identity argument in which their enemies wanled to disguise them.

ln the aftermath, pointless cluestions u,ere raised by a govenrnrental "inquirv commission" and joumalists. to discover i1'provoe'ative actir,ities of the gendarmerie could have provoked the riots: as if tlre existence of the Algerian State and its bloody repression is not a permanent provocation; and as ilthe popu lation needed special justifi cations to revolt! The insurgents took up the term "/rogro ", an Algerian ternr for the arbitrarl' narurc oI authority,. its prir ileges. corruption and contenrpt.

Fighting the hogra rneant fighting the Stnte itselt. What u'ould be left of a 5ralc u ilhout privilc'ges ol corTuption. il

state that coLLld not use arbih'ary tbrce ancl scom'l In .,\lgr'ria more than anvrvherc'elsr.'. nearly nothing: the only public service that had really u,orked iu

27

I

Black Flag 222. Features

this country, over the past fbrty years, \l,as tortrre and political assassination.

Whilst conspiring one against the other to appropriate power and oil income, the State gangs never stopped conspiring together against the people.

As one of these polrtical decisionmakers declared after the repression October 1988 riots:

of

" During tltirtr )'ecLrs, y,e v:et'e oble to tetrr eac:h other crltort, to.light each other'. IJrntevet'. tre neyer obcmclctnecl crn expelletl leacle4 even b.r, ,sinply visiting hirn" Because w,e y.'ere unired lt' the certttinty that our chilclren hat'e to talce oyerJi'om us. We knew'thut i/' tlri: ltr.r tro.i broken oJ.i, ir t,ttrltl l,, th, end lbr us, because the s'treet y,ottltl not be sali,s./iecl yvith ctne heacl bttr vvould talce ull. " (Cited by Jose Garccrn in the pretace of Djallal Malti's book: La Nouvelle Guerre d'Algerie. 1999)

Thlough countless purges. iminations, manipul atr ons. negotiations. covered up e\cjLrli{rn.

el

and mass killings, the' real and r-rniqLte continuity of the Algeriarr State (rn continuity with the FLN ) has been the police. As early as 1956. the en.relging

bureaucracy organised itself around the FLN' s secret sen,ices (the basis for the

luture' Securite N,Iilitaire'1. The assassination of Abbane Ranrdane in December

1

9,i 7

rllustrates their

definitive victol)' over those who wanted to use rdeology to control the masscs and to

justrli' the coming

bureaucratic and dictatorial systen.r.

Since then police terrorism has tended to take the place of "revolutionary" rhetoric. Execution became the standard procedure to resolve conflicts. not only against the MNA of Messali Hadj, but also inside the FLN itself. Since 1958, police officers were trained in KGB schools in Moscow. (Former Presi dent) Boumedienne had himself been an assistant to Boussoul the organiser of FLN' s interior police. And u,,e know that the generals, who are part of the Mafioso authorities in Algeria, many "deserters fi'om the French Army" (in other words very lately converted to the anti-colonial struggle), went during the sixties to Moscow'to gain other skills. With these dual influences of colonialisrn and Stalinism. their methods of pacification (or eradication), mirrored the worst atrocities of the French

colonial army.

For the bureaucrats who cvnicallv glorifiecl the masses with their slogans ( "Only one hero, the people"), the Algerian nlasses have ser-ned as human material fbr their operations and scheming. cannon fodder. sent to be massacted by the French army and then directl1, lrassacred. The .esolLrtio, of the noters. when they already had dozens of dead in their ranks, gives clear testulonl, to the hatred accumulated over the yeals in Algeria

(and particr.rlarly rn Kabylie) against the State. "No forgiveness, never!" has been a popular slogan. According to Le Monde Diplomatique, "the imn'iediate

leaving of gendarmer-ie brigades" froni Kabylie was the only "clear" denrand of the rebels. This u,as a revolutionarv dernand. n hose nalut,rl plo!r't:.iirrl r,',ould be the "effective control oial1 state executiye fiructr..rns irrid nf' secttt'itr u(,r}\ l\' ']r. ti-iirr.t i;,iit' elected ir sti tut i,-rl:t". Thr: ilcveil.-ni' : rr.'as to cli::iiiziiiiir' iir.- "ip'ecial -eoa1 anred tietrlciiiiieiiis' v.'iiich ar"- ihr rrarn f un

cti

r,.

ni:

i

ir ri

ti'ii

r zr

ar- r i zi

I

..-;..

g1

r.-,r,;

ioii' o f

th-: A i-s e i:iz.ii S i r: i.'.

Tr: .' titct i r,t l!',tii:<ilanti e itiid ih iil

a!)

rrrgiil'i-\: illt.' reti,.kinc trf pro\ret b',,' ihe c.'oili.'. hy tile ntasses 'i.r'llo -sztl)-irrrilii.

!: t i r o i;n .ii: rt: t: iit t' t h e ./i.t r c' e et r g o r t i s e t I irr .r')|iar-r-r l,crr '' lMarr about the Paris f'onrmrLrre ) u'as the aim. E,ven if this had trnly been accomplished in a part of the t

territorv. it could not have been accornplished without a revolution in all other aspects of social life in that area.

And this was what the insurgents aimed to do when they besieged the gendarmeries, isolated them and sepalated them from society in order that society separated from them. This u,,as the exanrple that Kabylie gave to the rest of Algeria.

The existence of such a mor.enrrnt iu itselfdisproves all the political lies omnipresent in Algeria for so nranv years. Tn the laee ofthe uprising:. police fictions started to dissolve and people's true loyalties begar.r to become apparent: "we tefuse to sho'nr, solrdaritl, uith those sho are destrolirrg :tale property" declared a representative of the FIS (Islamic Salr,ation Front).

In Porlugal tn 1914, people used to say, "trlrth is like oil". Today rn Kabylie we say: "Trfih is like a cork."

The insurgents were not interested in abstract debating of the 'truth' with the state (the conclusions of gorremmental enquiry commissions were denounced in advance. and their dissolution was one of the demands of the El-Kseur platfbrm). but instead imposed the truth with their "live" actions. One of the most beautrful moments. was the wonten's demonstration in Trzt-Ouzou on 24th May. The women started by refusing to allorv the official

"Association of Widorved and Daughters of the Marlyrs of the Independence War" to join their demonstration, and then expelJed Khalida Nlessaoudi, ir.r her ou'n u,ords "rnilitant companion" of Boutefl ika (president-dictator). She had just lelt tlie RCD arLd w'as atternpting to change her political ima_ee: "As she was tn,ing to .tli1t i111,1 tlte ltt'ttte,;.titttt. jcet'ittg starlecl. 'Khtlitla out'. ,s'houtecl sorne wonen. 'Khulitlo Lewinski ' screantecl other',s. She httcl onb evocLt(lte(l to Al,qer. "

just been (Liberation,26th-

27th May 2001.) Finally, after showrng

28

I

their contenrpt for the n.redia's auxiliaries, the,v also pr.er,euted representatirres of Kab\,] i e's otfi ci a1 council ti'om 1oining the dertrrnstration.

The relection ola11 polir;cal lrarlies u.as a cor-rsistent aspect rrf tlr: Il>Lll-1'(r'tiOn.,l]t,l

url;.,i ii. .ir':t

slanderec'1. fhe otilccs r-rf ihr' iu,o '.i1rtiL'-i (RCD';rd FF:l iiii;l nr.i-gltt have

li,rncrl io i-iir..ili ii-uiii sii,-h

ir

tiiityement

\i'.ir iriiiuilg i!i.' iiist itt L,[r-t iiiltztF-aciretl oir .\g;iil lfriit. :iiiLi .'i'.'l clLuing alit .[uit.' ]-:lii ritiiilir:;io-riir,rir iir Tizi

[-]

r

lzot r.

c o i i i ii

i.' iii o ni ii

rig i h': ili

i

i'r'l

alirir';is;:rr' ,,i ,1,a :--11.::cr,!iioii ,-i tlre :;iIr:i:i l-or-ures \,1[;rir iiii:i. v,r' li;arcl ;{ii't(Jirp iire -:1o..:al: "o labyle i.: tt kafu'le. its enenies are the

gttclontts ". "no FF5-. ,ro ,!iCl.i ". The n r cr s i d i s c r.- ti i i.- ri p zr r-n' v,, i:... i r .' R C D .

Jc.pite rt. i-li.rtriiiir,!i ii .iir ,ir -' u.as -qo\fefirmel1t tri Liie eiirl r,i.{piil, it !

intpossrble to lnr_rtt :1\ l,iri.: -lnrcollaboration r.r'i th th e nri i it;:r-.' c lirn of

the'eradicators'. fhe FFS, tonnell-r, compromised with the authoriries.

less

revealed its true colours by presenting. on the l2th May, to Bouteflika. to the army chief of staff and to the chief of the DRS (fbrmer Securite Militaire), a 'memorandum' offering their services to organise a "democratic transition".

The nrost oLrtstanding aspect of the

Algelian jnsunection

r,r,as

or,qanrsation. The hosti

political parties and

its self-

lity toward

'crr:r,

1:l'orirnitv ttitlt;tctw'er ''. the distrust for nnaccountable'representatives', the refusal to be, once more, rank and file for political schenring; all thrs resulted in the spreading and co-ordination of village and neighbourhood assen.rblies, rapidly recognised by everybody as the only authentic expression ofthe movement. As early as the 20th April, the delegates ofthe forty-three villages of Beni Douala daira (sub prefecture) came together to call for a general strike. During the following days, village committees co-ordinated throughout the w'hole wilaya of TiziOuzou. On May 4th, in the city of TiziOuzolr itself, posters from a neighbourhood tenrporary organising committee called for a six day general strike. On May 6th a meeting fbr the lOth was called in Beni Douala for an assembly of delegates from Tizi-Ozou, Bejaia and Bouira's wilayas, to coordinate actions throughout the u,hole of Kabylie and to adopt a platfonl of demands. As one delegate declared: "the parties, nobocl' believes in thent anymore here. " (Liberte, May 7th) The meeting in Beni-Douala took place as expected, but only 200 clelegates. rnainly from the villages of Trzi-Ouzou' u'ilaya attended. It transpired that the press had broadcast a false conrnruniqu6 announcing tlie postponement of the meeting (this r,vas lust the beginning of a gror,r ing canrpaign of disinformation and

slanders). A mayor who attended to remind the assembly of the need to respect the law of the land, was thrown out "we donl need a mayor here or any state representative " declarcd lhe

The authorities realised that they had to prevent, at any cost, the spread of the insurrection to Algiers, and despite the State's paralysis, found sufFrcient forces to head offthe danger. The

delegates.

A concem to protect the autonomy of the movement and the will to control closely its delegates marked all the decisions; for example, a decision was made to creale a committee headquarters h Tizi-Otrzou to publicise the next delegates meeting: but the assembly made forbade the committee the right to speak in the name of the movement. Q.{o declaration to the media

comesfrom Eg,tptian TV soap. After years of brainwashing, G.LA (Islamic Armed Groups) bulletins looking like science fiction, our brains were like pulp. In a big city, any provocation or dirty trick can happen. " (Liberation , May 31st 2001) Jaime Semprun Paris

Notes: FFS: Front des Forces Socialistes -

Authoritarian Socialist Parly

etc.)

It is impossible to accurately catalogue the spread of the assembly movement to the whole of Kabylie and on to the rest of Algeria; firstly because the Algerian "independent" press (and the French press) wrote ofthe need for

Here, our only political education

AG.{I NST- A[. L .{LI'THORITY

ANARCHISM

FIS: Front Islamique du Salut Islamic Salvation Front Islamic Populist Party. It was the-main opposition to the FLN. They won local and legislative elections in December 1991, the generals rejected the democratic results and organised a coup. FIS leaders and activists were arrested, many torhued, some killed, and the villages and cities who voted for FIS became victims of

A concern to ltrotect the autonomy of the n ovelnent and the will to control closely its delegetes tnarked all the decisions an urgent "democratic" modernisation but hardly mentioned at all the activities and declarations of the assemblies, or, worse they slandered them.

We can nevertheless point out the main developments of self-organisation, that followed the riots as they spread throughout the country. On May 1Sth in Illoula, a delegates meeting of the TiziOuzou region adopted a platform of

demands (among these, the

immediate

al1 a this march brought together hundreds of tlrousands of demonstratots ("'the black march' was organised by the coordination of village committees and political parties had no visible presence " noted Le Monde in its May 23rd edition). Then a succession of delegates meetings led to the formation of an inter-u'ilayas co-ordination (Tizi-

authorities used effectively all the repressive tools available to them, splitting up the demonstrators from Kabylie, blocking most of them ten kilometres from downtown Algiers, isolating rioters groups and introducing agent provocateurs, recruited among local gangs, into the crowd. Further, the demoralization and fear among people living in Algiers who suffered the most during the "dirty war" was helpful to

the State. The capital's population had only recently begun to rediscover their fighting spirit during the student agitation that started in early May; and since the demonstration called by the FFS on the 31st which had enabled an initial meeting with the insurgents of Kabylie. The comments of some Algerois, reported in the press, expressed quite fairly the situation at that time, after a week of spontaneous demos in Algiers (and also Oran, Setif, Ouzou, Bejaia. Bouira, Setil Boumerdes, Boumerdes) with hundreds or Bordj -B ou-Arredidj, Algiers, and the thousands of demonstrators: 'Comite collectif des unr,ersites "We shout 'pouvoir assassin'. We are d'Alger') and to the adoption, on June beaten. Then we go home and we 11th at El-Kseur, of a piatform of watch, on French TV the real riots in common demands. The march on Kabylie, just one hourfrom het'e. But Algiers, on June 14th. u as the peak of todal; we'll lcnow better what is going this first stage of the motement. on, if u,e join thewar or ifwe star The unofficial aim of the Algiers outside. " "U? v'ere afi'aid to get out of the march was to spread subversion to Algiers itself and to confront the State neighbourhood because of 'at home'. And, indeed, going to the assassinaiotts, policenten, tenorists presidencytobringtheplatformof Eland all thar. \-ot, I thinkit's onr time, Kseur (the offlcial goal of the march ). x'e have ro go. But I'nt verl' confused. " "ll7ro itt Algeria, doesn't with hundred of thousands or millions feel of demonstrators in the streets, would itt_iLtstice and deep discontent? Who have enabled the insurgents to speak doesni ront to end that ? However, directlyto the State, andto proclaimto -4lgiers is not Kabtlie. There it is very the Algerian people that the time had rough but rhet htot' each other, they come to end the last fofiy years of are all togethet; 'tt'ith a cultw'e, strong oppression. stt'uctlo'es that resisted despite war. and unconditional withdrawal of gendarmerie brigades) and called for march on Tizi-Ouzou. On May 21st,

State Terror. Of the villagers who survived, many joined the Islamist terorist gtLerrillas to protect thenrselves from the arrny and/or to get reveuge.

FLN: Front de Liberation Nationale -THE, Algelian Parly fbr decades.

Supposedly democratic and postcolonial, but in fact the cormpt party of the Leninist-nationalist ruling class.

The role of the FLN was to control, at any price. the vital lesources of the country (mainly oil) for its oll,n interests and for the oil indtrstry. Historicallir, the FLN manipulated the memory of the fight agarnst French occupation, but is now working lbr privatisation with capitalist -elobal institutions RCD: Rassemblement Culture et Democratie Berberist Authoritari an Partr Plesented thc Insun'cctiorr irr

Kabl,lie as a "cultural" insurection.

GIA: Islamic Armed Groqts Islamofascists u'ho are LLsing 2 t-vpes of arned strussle: r'egular f ighting against the arn-Ly and

teflor1sm ancl mass rnurder

ol

Aigerian civilians, One favonlite tactic is trr r.r.tLrder civiliar.rs at talse arnlv checkpoints, Man,v ol the GIA are in trct rnanipulated b1'the Algerian intelligence sen'ices atrd the arrl,v eenerals-businessrren (wlio are the leal leaders olthe country). In addition, sorne tenor acts attributed to the Gl,r\ ale in fact commilted bv anny conrmandos dressed as islamist tetrorists. For instance they go into villages rr,,ho i.'otecl tbr the FIS and kil1. tofture. rape \\.omen, br-rrn babies in lLorrt

ol'thcir par(n1s ctc. ( )l (oLlr'\c

westerll intelligence selvices (speciaill, French Services)

z,,re

au,'are

olthe

Algelian state ten'of isrrr. but

snp|olt it.

as a mean

ilncl local stability.

29

I

Black F ag 222. Features

the1,

olsocial control

Anarcha-Feminism in B olivia How did Mujeres Creantlo (Women Creating) come about? llthat is its

goal?

JP: Mujeres Creando is a ,,craziness,,

started by three women (Julieta Paredes, Maria Galindo and Monica I

I

I

'l I

Mendoza) in reaction to the arrogant, homophobic and totalitarian Left of Bolivia during the '80s, r.r,here heterosexuality was still the moclel and feminism was seen to be divisir e. Th is was nothing new in a socieil. such e: ours, so we had already been developing this kind of criticrsnt The other aspect of our crjtic jsnt rr, the Left is toward a constt-ucretl sr.ct.rl practice rvhich il.as unethical. dishonest and had a double rloralin.

Rer olLrtionaly in tltc 5tr.ccl:. revolr-rtionarv in therr u'ords. revolr-rtionar'1, in theil talk!1g; yet. at home, they rr ere the dictators of their own families, ',i ith their own loved

soldiers, lesbians, etc. It was beautiful it captivated us.

Afterwards we realised that it wasn,t enough just to be a woman... there were and

deep political differences. We follow the feminist movernent and become

feminists, and yet we see something that seems to us like empty space: it's ali good and diverse. but shat \t.as our position as to (govemment) ooner?

The difference bets.een us and those s-ho talk about the overthrow of capitalism is that their proposals for a new society come from the patriarchal Ieft. As feminists in Mujeres Creando we want revolution, a real change of the

feminists.

For Mujeres Creando, one way to move tou,ard our goal is to embrace the concept ofdiversity (the other is creativity). Diversity is fundamental for us, because ifyou look at how other groups are made up, they're usually of the same kind of people (barrio [neighbourhood], young people, workers, lesbians, etc.). Diversity is a way to criticise these "enclosed cubicles" in society. Mu.jeres Creando is made up of lesbians and heterosexuals, whites and indigenous wolren, young and old women, divorced and married rvomen. women from the country and from the city, etc.

The system tries to keep us in the "enclosed cubicles" and to divide us so that it can control us more effectively.

What's intportant is that u.e, through our connections u,ith other women. are stalting to look at the diversity in which Latin Anrerican fen-rinism developed; that is, thele were thrmers. students.

say.

So- ue're not intercsfed in power. q-omen's offices, or ministries. We are interested in the daily building of practice and theory in the streets and in nurturing our creati vity.

Our generation denounces the unjust relationship betq'een men and women, just as the unjust relationship between

"|oe're not interested in power, il)omen's offices, or ministries. We are interested tn the duily building of practice and theory in the streets ond in nurturing our crefltivityD

ones.

W'e have recently been picking over all our experiences with the Left. as welI as learning through taking part, for the first tin.re, in the San Berrard Conference in Argentina, which was an experience for all Latin American

the murderous politics of the World Bank, IMfl etc.) Here's the difference between us and them: they use power and are within the system, and therefore they always control the (military, economic, social, political) forces a,eainst those who oppose what they

system; we do not u,ant just to change capitalism, nor just to change attitllcles toward \\.omen, but also a chan-se in attitude toward young people and the environment. We want to change patriarchy, in a historical and longlasting transformation createtl b,v the feminism

rr,.e

dream of.

In the process of buildin-q our organisation - no bosses, no hierarchy I speak for myselfand don,t represent anybody... I've said it before and I,ll say it again that we're not auarchists by Bakunin or the CNT, but rather by our grandrnotirers, and that's a bear-rtiful school of anarchism.

What is it to be afeminist in Latin Americct?

JP: To be a lenrinist in our sociery means to fight against neoliberalism and its ideology; for us, being a feminist means denouncing racisnr, machismo/sexism (within the Lett and

within anarchism

as u,,e11), homophobia, domestic violence, etc. It means denouncing the sexist, bureaucratised, technocratic women of this generation (those women that have fallen into

neoliberalism and are administrators of 30

I

the bourgeois and the proletariat has been denounced in the past. These

struggles should have led to a revolution, but the system has co-opted the sentiments and concepts behind these struggles, rendering them meaningless. Society is only interested in describing what it is to be a man or woman today, not denouncing the injustice inherent in the relationship between the two. Feminism looks for ways to reclaim this territory both the descriptive aspect, but more importantly its denouncing character.

We try to nsure that fighting the injustice between men and women is at the forefront in our fight to create an anti-patriarchal theory. lYhat do you think of the ,,lack of tt'trrrr(tt" in social mowmenis? Is it a nryth or an historic.al reali.ty?

JP: It seems to me like Lreopk- are blindfolded when tlr.'r ask "rr here are the women?" We have been around since the beginning of revolutionary movements, always. On the other hand, in today's era, social movements (SemTerra, de los Deudores, Madres y Abuelas dePTazade Mayo) are all

women-led fights resisting and confronting dictatorships. What we see is a division between public and private life, a blindfold, an invisibility of women in the struggles.

How do men andwornen, indoctrinated into a patriarchal society, reqct to tke goals of Mujeres Creando?

JP: Women have sympathy as well as fear. The sexist women are much more

stubborn and violent than macho men.

The men are careful about having sex with us; they're afraid, it's some kind of complex... but they have a certain kind of respect toward us because we have been frghting for ten or eleven years.

At first, most women have sympathy, and later they're afraid because ours is a demanding and radical prograrnmo, but that's the only way to work in a

$

don't want to accept the challenge of creating their own group.

What is your vision of social change as relutes to the books you [Mujeres Creandol write and the videos ancl graffitiyou make?

JP: You can want a microphone or carnera Like you'd want a rifle... We have given communication a high place, on the same level as creativity - that is, creativity in communication. So we have preferred to take from our roots and, by leaving them, we begin a creative communication process. In'92 we started to do graffrti. We did it in Cochabamba, Santa Cruz, and other

And so, out of all our work that we do, the graffiti (signed Mujeres Creando) is not anonymous - we write what we want, and everybody knows that MC is in this area, and

if

sorneone wants to

put us in jail. he or

discussion. What's dirty? What's clean? "You're making my walls dirty!"

Oh, so when Coca-Cola contracts a painteq it doesn't make the wall dirfy?

That's an aesthetic coraept. It seems to me that it has made the wall dirty in a disgusting way. And what we have done, our graffiti, that's beautiful.

Mujeres Creando? Is it possible that you will farticipate in IMC Bolivia?'

If we want Mujeres Creando to go on, it needs to question itself, and not embody a myth like "a cute group of feminists" because you have to have roots in society. For this, I propose to J.P.:

she comes here

build a space (Creando Femenismo Autonomo [Creating Autonomous

and does it.

Whenever we've gone out to do

Feminism]) for other women and other social groups where we can build feminism in Mujeres Creando's terms...

gratfiti, we have

and I think it's importantto let people know about these experiences through

beer afraid. But we've thought about our light to do it... Coca-Cola place where everything is superflrcial and drluted. And the men that sympathise with us lollow us as if they're interested in everything, but they uant us to be like nrothers. feeding tlrem; they're a little lazy becar.rse the1,

go from the jail of your house to the jail of your offrce job... if it's public, then everybody can use it. But if you pay for public space it becomes private. Public space doesn't exist. Let's start this

Wat are some of the next projects for

places.

.I

public and what's private? Streets are public space, the whole city's courtyard, not a jail hallway, where you

pay's and paints, pavs paints. so rvhy can't Repsol and we paint without payirtg'? The problem isn't that the walls are painted, the problem is that it's not paid for. lf we must pa_v for public space, then it's a big contradiction in democracy. What's

lndymedia"

My privileged space will be for women; I want to start with them. I want to start"ftsm there, to feed others and myself through the Indymedia space. I don't consider this women's space to be apart from others - I think that we car. get into deeper discussion if we start with women. But I don't want it to start in Indymedia and finish with the women. It's a social proposal by women and forboth women AND men.

fromlndymedia l.SmmaGoHman They'd got hold of a stock of vodka and traded it with Russians and Germens for arms. The building where they had their HQ was the only one 2.

in lVnrsaw not takcn back by German soldlers.

3. The anarrhist

guerrilla Sabate.

4. 1923, The founding congress of thâ&#x201A;Ź IWA wes in 1922, but rep*s$lon fronr thedictatorship prevented the CNT delegates from attending.

5. In Sebruary 1857 Bakunin hail been exiled to Tomsk in Siberir, In 1853 Adrnl*l Perry had sailed into Edo herbour wlth his { stsrmrhip&serdng shockwaves in Japanese society that eventuallyopened it sligilttlv iotle west.

Bakanin heard of the opening ofJapenese ports to Rmsian*lilps mdthat American ships visited lbkohama often tnfue s week Escape to the west was impossible" and until then, so had been escape to the east In 1861 he travelled to lrkutsk and ceught a ship to Japan.

Black Flag 222. Features

I

Justice - A bourgeois Concept?

accomplished by one and the same act." (19) Law as a form does not exist in the heads of leamed judges alone. It has a parallel, real history which unfolds not as a set ofideas, but as a specific set of relations which people enter into not by conscious choice, but because the relations of production compel them to.

The same necessity that transforms a

population continues to grow.

Exchange remains the basis for punishment, The exchange of a

parlicular punishment for a particular quantity of crime. This is the ba-sis of sentencing tariff\. in s hicli each cnme is valued and ascribed a certrin '.r orth Thus uhite collrr -'.,1.J i .: --'u :. -:'.

6 months. theft ar..,:;,c I i eri. i-.bi;i-'

A society based on scarcity and conflict

necessitates a system ofjustice; a world based on the firaxim fro* eqch according to their ability, to each according to their needs 'lays beyondjustice product of nature into a commodiry transforms a human being into a legal subject. Justice therefore is not simply an abstract ideal, but takes on a concrete realtty. (20) The central role ofjustice in the rule

of capital obviously did not cease with the end ofthe 18th or 19th centuries.

Indeed it has become ever more

important. In Blackstone's time theft was divided up into grand theft (which included cattle theft, shop lifting, and pick-pocketing) and petty larceny. A distinction was traditionally made between larceny, embezzlement and false pretences, on the basis ofthe victims degree of involvement in the crime. In the development of modern law these become blurred, into the single concept of theft . Commodities,

without distinction on basis of use values, dominate modern life, so the differences between the varieties of theft become irrelevant, even though the punishments remained largely unchanged. Corporal and capital

punishment continued into 20th century Britain and remain in use elsewhere.

Indeed the use ofcapital punishrnent intensified in the 1970's at the end of the long post-war boom.

Peter Linebaugh has pointed to the link between capital punishment, the organised death ofliving labour, and the punishment of capital, the oppression ofthe

abot2 years, GBH roughly 4 years and murder approximately 14 years. We can

therefore draw up atable, in which one GBH equals 8 frauds or one murder equals seven robberies etc. In the same way as money is the universal equivalent, the measure used for commodities, so justice means quantiffing crimes according to a theoretical unit of measurement. (21) This developed form of law was terrned

by Lefrague Diskibutive justice. (24) However whilst it is correct to speak in terms of class justice, we should not fall into the trap ofbelieving that there can bejustice for our class, a proletarian or communist form of justice. We cannot replace bourgeois law with proletarian law, any more than we can replace capitalist economics with Marxist economics, orthe existing state

try and

(as opposed to say protection). A society based on scarcity and conflict necessitates a system ofjustice; a

world based on the maxim 'from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs'lays beyond justice. (25) Tony -,-

:.

L,-'l:

:,r'i1 :. -: 1,, !.it \llOp gi\/en r.ta r.:,-'i (,..-':::::',ce held in

:_

Foornotes

rhe Idea r,[ Jurtice::r _ - :?..,, : \ I h.,-,rr ,f .Jurticr i ritrd

, n-l -l \\ [tist JJi]rr c :.., - :: .-.--...--;. :h.' rror:1 .,i-r..: r-' : ...'.: situation is obr iols -:--.:::; : .=:'.:: -'.,: othel prisonet's by contrnl,rr-u ::ir: ]: r.:-,.i :rrr:e

they are 'guilt,v'.

4. Interestrngly the campaign -1, 1.,',r 111g ih,1 death a1 work on the Shoreham eir,ci,> ..i

Simon Jones, in which Schneris la: instrumental, avoided the trap ol jnslLce 1-"r focusing on tire wjder question ol the lon of society which places so little value on the lives oI workers 5, 'No .Iustice, No Peace' is not a demand but a lament. ir is left to a ltw malconteots to iurn it into the demand: 'No Justice. No Pol

ice'

6 Lartargue pl66 7 Ercidus. XXl,, 2-1, 2-s qsroted in ibid E B, Pashukanis, Law & Marxism, p168 9, Op cit pp

161-177

10- Blackstone Commentaries on the Larvs of England 1765, vcl I\', p230 11. "The sphere oJ' cir"culation or commodi\, exchonge. ttithirt whose boLotdarie.s the .sale outl lilrchase of lnhottr-poapr goes Ltn. i.\ itl l'o"ct a.

very Eden ol the innole rights o;/ man.

It is the exchtsiye realm of Fyeecloru,

Propert| and Bctham. ,... EqtLaLitl,, into rela.tion with the othe.r, as v;ith a simple owner ol commodities, and they exchange equivalent for Equalit_v,

becatLse each enters

equivaleni.

'

Marx Capital Vol 1 (Penguin 1976) p280 12. .t Rawls op cit

13. J Ilrewer & J Styles An Ungovernable People (Hutchinson J980) pl4 1,1 B Pashukanis op cit p173 15 P Linebaugh 'I'he l,ondon Hanged, Crinte and Civil Societv in the Eighteenth Century 16 tbid p 280 l7 A SmiLh The Theory of Moral Sentiments citeC in ibid 18 E P Thompson Whigs and

Hunters pp259-265 19 K Marx On the Jewish Question quoted

in

Pashukanis

op cit

20 See Pashukanis op cit p 68

21 G Fletcher Rethinking Criminal Law (Brown 1978).

Contrast the Larceny Act of 1916 with sl of the Theft Act 1 968 22 Op cit, Introduction

Britain one in three adult a

state. To

do so would be to fall into vigilantism.

Whilst the desire for revenge may be powerful and understandable, we carmot accept the need for punishment

living by dead labour. In menhave

with a workers'

kontinued)

23 See Wildcat (UK) 17, Spring 1994, p4I

criminal

24 Op cit

conviction. The prison

pp177-189

K Marx Critique of the Gotha Programme 25

r

l-l FIGHT FOR LIFE PRISONERS in Uruguay - including anarchist activists desperately need international solidarity.

Following a major prison mutiny the authorities are exacting revenge, torturing and beating inmates. 3 prisoners are dead, reportedly killed by guards.

The mutiny broke out on I March in Montevideo.

Inmates rebelled against brutalify and appalling conditions, taking over and largely destroying the inaptly

named'Liberty' jail.

The prisoners held 10 guards hostage, to ensure that the police did not attack and kill them all. The guards were later released unharmed.

Inmates' relatives demonstrated outside the jail,

publicising the prisoners' demands concerning overcrowding, maltreatment of prisoners by the guards, a lack of medical services, etc.. While the prison was encircledby army tanks and military helicopters clattered overhead, the prisoners courageously held out.

,-Ilil*',iffti::3;";tl;t',:,?ti;3!.'IJX?;il'Jli.,

prisoners urrErs andthat allu rlaL all alr wouldbe wuulu uE transferredto [larlslUtltru tu utlt otherjails I Jarrs.

al laa1 Elz,',- froo qi 'rot"' t' ee 's':,' At 7.00pm on Tuesciay lgth June 2002, Satpal Ram walked through the prison gate of HMP Blantyre House, roi tne last time.

Satpat's convictio; has not been quashed and though he is now out on licence, Satial will continue to risht the conviction, t'hatias kept him r prison since 1987.

Threatened with legal action that continued mpr sonment of Satpil was unlaMul the Treasury Solicitortoi ttre Home Office threw in the towe last Thursday and said they would r"t"u."satpal A I thatwas needed to fre'e Satpal was"tio signatures L-ord woolf, the Lord chief Justice, -put hii s gnat_.e to the pape.on Friday. A counter' signature trom a Home office Mini6ter, usualy the prison m nisie. rvas then needed to comptete t'hJ release papers b_t at this stage the Home Secretary, Da,rc 3 rnkett, made a personal intervention Erc r\65 rore than reluctant to siqn Satpal's release te srou d have counter sig;eo the release on Fr dav br,: crir t, ,,vhich meant Satpal had to spend a.ct^er ri eeken6 n prison, on Monday 17th anc o- iie ca;, or h s retease numerous ph'one ca ls to B !-<et. s 31.6s 6reiI"' ' no joy, it was becoming c ear i^at l?s: ,. ,^" "' aovice of his own legaiexperts _q _.(er .,,as stonewalling the rel6ase, Satca s .ca :eanwere adviset by the Tre"asJ,:y s;; t.i,.-i I-. stood by their 6riginal decision to re ease q,-- a It was ciear that dlunkett who was holdl.c _c iio release against tneir aovile.Now Sitpal's solicitors, felt there was no opr obut to go back to court. At 6.00pm on Tuescay evenin"g, Satpal's tegat team were on their vray, to the Higii Court to aplty ior an order to release Satpaiwhen oavio'dlrinxett conceded defeat and counter signed Satpal's release papers.

Qafnof ect'Pstt

Some prisoners were rr.ilnsl.l red. Br.rt the hundrecls kept in the Libertad prison have beel .L,i.lccted to torlule and beatrngs.

Three prisoners have died. Tl're authorities' claims that they committed suicide or were killed by other prisoners are not believcil by inmates' relatives who suspect murder by the guards.

The authorities are searching tbr scapegoats for the rebellion, thus there is parttcular concern for 2 young anarchist prisoners, the brothers Gerardo and Miguel Jimenez, currently in Tablada prison.

Family members on the ontside have been on hunger strike, as thcy fear for the brothers' live-s. Cerardo and Miguel, of Swedish natirrrrirlit.,. have bcen unjustly imprisoned lbl the last 3 years, for political rt.r..rs Friends and fanrily of the prisoners in Uruguay stress just how

important international solidarity is, To find out more Anarchist Black Cross. Buenos Aires <QIJiZ!e!14 r-!- I yt1]l!1q.llriII !i> ri l-

r\

., :: ti ll]. ]]tjrt_

lrl

Info taken fronr April,'May and May/Junc issues of Obrera Prisioneru, paper of Anarchist Black Cross ol Iberian Peninsula: CN.A. ap<lo.5 de Getafe. 2890t Madrid, Spain

Mark Barnstev Reteased from Wh itemoof emoor PfiSOn Prison Justice for Mark Barnsley Campaign, are overjoyed to announce that miscarriage of justic-e prisonei Mark Barnsl6y v/as finally released from whitemoor prison on the morning of Monday 24th June 2002' Mark walked out of maximum securty HMP whitemoor to loud from waiting supporters' Friends, eager to :l,Y::tlqipplause welcome Mark out of prison had travelled from around the country rrom the NUM, complete with

fi[l..

|,"]ffi: ijr",jl"tXf""j"r:ation

After spending over 8 years in just about every Maximum security hell- hole the prison system has to-offer, Mark is in good glad to be finally out' Mark and his campaign :tiif 3,1^d.:qYously t?,31" ths opportunity to thank everyone who has Y".^']lil: t'?P?f]d^iim during his wrongful imprisonment' ylltl.y-flk^tries to re-build his life and-adjust to living in the ^ outside world again the Justice for Mark Barnsley campaign will get the justice which is long overdue Mark :::t'P:^9^l^* himafter serving two thirds of his 12 year prison l::-*:l I:1,"3:"d sentence but he has Yet to clear his name.and have his wrongful conviction overturned. Prior to his release Mark refused to sign his principle that he is an innocent man and freedom

lf?l^""-_oLthe =

t="t:PJtr"rk was even rereased, the porice in South yorkshire local supporters ln a very obvious attempt to

I:9^t?"',l[idate harderfor Mark, the place where he was T11llI9:,?-u:n intending to live upon his release was visited by the local Police lntelligence Unit (Special Branch). This sadly resulted in Mark losing his new home before he was even out of prison. Thanks to friends and supporters rallying round though, a local alternative was quckly arranged so that Mark's release could go ahead and a decent place to stay. This action by the Police is !: ?l l:?:tlis obviously of concern to us and we will continue to closely monitor

the situation on your mailing lists (magazines and other

^, ^'ll:i13,'"^,y"l.k pub ications) please change his details to those below. Also if you'd Iike to contact Mark you can now write to him at: Mark Barnslev

c/o JfMB' Po Box

381

HUDDERSFIELD' HD1

3xx

jfmbsyorks@aol com

33

I

Elack

ik r :r: . PrisHS

Storming Heaven Storming Heqven by Steve Wright is about the theory and the organisations of the Italian Autonomist movement, especially the evolution of operaismo (workerism) and the group Potere Operaio (Workers' Power). The Autonomist movement came out of the specific conditions of Italy in the seventies, where the recent experience of armed resistance to the Nazi occupation and after, plus very harsh living conditions for working class people during Italy's late industrialisation, meant that social struggle was more intense than anywhere else in Europe (apart from maybe Franco's Spain). The different outbreaks of insurgency were more connected than in other countries and :::

::::

,'a

.r;

so the squatting

movement and the

I ..',

facton occup.rtions for examplc u'ere

' .,,,,,. .

stLpacrni\ lfr T-ll?I'r\ r,iri;.. Th; j i i'e -- rr:

nunrallr

',

faI.;1r-L1

-srlrupS

.

a,l,ii-, \\ eI!' aiSLr

ntore integrated into the u,orkers' r1'tt-r\ e fi.teI]I and less ghenoised ant1 so the theorv that tlrey developed is scrme of the most interesting of those iimes.

The Itaiian uprisings of the seventt'es need to be better known and understocd, and this book makes an riir'.:;"P.i1,::::; .

i

r..iri,i::

:.1,.

Anarchist Intellectuals, Workers and Soldiers in Portugal's History

This book is a disappointment. It fails as a portrayal ofthe history of Portuguese anarchism. Rather, it is a snapshot of that movement during its peak (the 1900s to 1930s) and a somewhat unconvilcing "sociological analysis" of it, backed up with copious data. Which is a shame, as a book on Portuguese anarchism is sorely needed.

Howeveq saying that, the book does present an often fascinating picture of an anarchist movement which rooted itself in working class life and struggle.

Unlike Spain, social-democracy dominated the early labour movement.

The anarchists successfully undermined this and by the 1920s the main union federation was anarchosyndicalist in nature with around 90,000 members enrolled it in. This movement had a healthy interest in theory as well as action, with urions regularly discussing not only day to day issues but also revolutionary goals such as the socialisation of industry. Needless to say, similar discussions took place in the substantial number of anarchist groups and federations that existed.

What strikes the reader is that the Portuguese movement got its strength

isn't an introduction to the events of the seventies and to get the most out of it you rr.ould need some background. It u.ould be nice to recommend a good introductory book at this moment but as far as I knorv there isn't one. A pamphlet to lock out for is Living with an Earthquakebut it isn't easy to get.

The book doesn't idealise any ofthe participants and makes fair criticism of all the groups involved but at the same time it is not a detached or dry academic exercise. It comes from a perspective of

understanding the Autonomist movement, with all its mistakes, to learn for the next time.

important contribution, especially as it

Freedorrr Fighters: Joao Freire BlackRose Books

draws on a lot of original material which has never been translated. This book

by applying its ideas in practice.

The unions and their strug-eles were organised in libertarian fashion by mass assemblies and bottom-up federations. The anarchist groups, like the unions, federated from belou upri ards.

organically growing wider and u'ider as time went on. Both the unions and the anarchist groups spent time creating centres, libraries. schools and other'

forms of mutual aid.

Sadly, the book is badly translatcd.

While most of the text can be understood, sometimes the more ttLr-eid "sociological analysis" can be unreadable. Some editing would not have gone amiss, and tlot only to correct the poor translation. Nloreover. it desperately needs an introductory essay to place the main text in context.

For example, while numerous insumectious and strikes are mentioned they are not discussed in detail. This means that critical events such as the I 934 insurrection against the fascist regime are mentioned in passing, with no attempt to discuss what happened.

For a book claiming to be a history such an oversight is astounding, This lack of historic context makes the author's conclusions seem even more superficial than they already are.

u

I

Mara

.

.. .:

].1"_,".

As the book ignores the repression of the resistance to fascism, it ends up blaming the decline ofanarchist on anarchism's inability to "leam from erperience." Incredibly, the possibility that the repression after the defeated

I influence

insurrection of 7934 together with 40 years of fascism may have played a role in this decline is not discussed What strikes the reader is that an anarchism that is not rooted in working class life and struggle is doomed to wither and, worse, become theoretically bankrupt. At the peak of its influence, Porhrguese anarchism was capable of organising an extensive network of

organisations, social projects and class conflicts. By 1987, "anarchists" in Portugal could write that "the 'perfect society' does not exist, fortunately, since it would probably be one of total oppression for the individuais.

Therefore we do not believe in any type of 'anarchist society,"'How a once mighty movement had fallen!

This book is for those with the patience to hardle the bad translation, who are not seeking a history of Portuguese anarchism but rather want a book which discusses it within its social context. Sadly, anarchism in Portugal still awaits a book to do its struggles justice.

IM

The Spanish Civil War Antony

Beevor

originally published in 1982,

commanders lying to their superiors in and after battles to save face)' Used to

this

\ "'11T1':'*J:lr-,1".X-tr'"t#j"'"'' of^,1j1 i',i,{ ,1, these in the popular Army and !..i,,t, tfr.*r"irr'*r."""tlll*u.t the success of Antoly-. ;',_-,.1 Beevor's laterwork Stalingrad' opposite ofthe efircienll and' It is a good thing that itrryas. -',i;;.:''t'.,;':;i ,i,ill,' sffiil;r"*i;;d.

Uiiil;i.ty., tt," \,: "' Beevor.hasRrodrlcgp-a1* \L i;*_urfi;i;J-n pr'uii"un *9,_i4^_obuiouslyteenre-

published to take advantage

,

n:r**sff*#31,,t, War. Unsurprisingly, his account i.s primanly a mlllEry nlstory' DUI oo nor

-ru%,#,w,

let almost every battle in the war. tndeed, that put yo} oI- h." dqllll-^-.^,-,r^.^ si;ror accounts how its battle plans ' "*ii. understands the role ,rr,rutty drawn up simply td gain in Spain and how it "f lf^lt:t-Ti"' p;fty:

.,the '-i,

iqp.":_1:9:_11h:_ p.lrlg" forihe comdunisf course and nature of the-wa_r (and in tiir, his account is a usefui conflicts in the anttote io those who argue that the Beevor attempts to analyse ilii-lLlrution of the militias was a Spanish Civil War fromthree_angles: ,t"p i, *ir"i"g1.he war. As class interest, centralism iiirt"ry ciearty shows, thJpopular Army

Republi:il-.t^r^d:):

the. v:|-tf, regionalism and authoritarian rule versus libertarian instinct-

;;;ry *i, u asust.r. As for the International

riii"a"r, while acknowledging their 11: - ---Unsurprisingly, this means- he- discusses he also iaiits a il"?U.., courage,'Co__*istpafi the anarchist movement (in9..:9lh:_, iiooin" pl"t*" Ef places it at the heart of the story). of (which included the shooting of accounts ofanarchism i "J"t 5d0 Brigaders, nearly a tenth o'f about ...::1,1n:..:^Tiil. revolution during the war are exsellent.

His

anarchism a "structure of co-operative

For example, he defines as

r,,iji

m munit ies, a s.s o c iat ing ./i' e e ly " and u,hich "conesponderl to deeprooted tracl itions of mutual- u.id, and the .federalist organi s ation co

appealed to anti-centralist

/beling.s. " He makes clcar that the anarchists were the main part of the

labour movement as well as their

ko,role in def-eating the fascist upri,sing, He discusses the collectir,isarions that occurred in

positive

a

li_qht and notes the

disastrous elfict on the morale of the anti-t'ascist side rvhen they were undermrned and lbrcrbly disbanded. It is nice to see a historian state the obvious as regards the Araqon

collectives: "tlte very.licr rhLtr erer_y village wa.s a nittut e oJ'collectit,ists a nd i nd iv iduolis/-s .l/lort'-r t t a t p e a s ttu t s I

had not been forceci intr.t t'ontttrurttl farming at the point of' u gurt.' He even mentions and discusses the :llujeres Libres and quotes Malatesta u'hen discussing the anarchist critic of reformism in syndicalism!

From an anarchist perspective, his account ofthe failings ofthe Popular Anny makes inter-esting reading. Beevor argues that it u as rrnimaginativc in its tactics, wrth its conrmanders blindly

following instrLLctions even r,,.hen circumstances on the ground made them inadeguate. The arml'allowed its

commanders "Iittie ittititrive. a dangerous conclition u,hen the lines of communication were dismpted by, iighting (as was the habit of the

the total killed in the war) and mentions a ferv rebellions in their ranks.

While the militias were hardly perfect. it is clear from his account that the Popular Army was not a good replacement. Beevor stresses that nrLrcl.t of the problem with the militias. as George Oruell also argued. r'r'as due to thcir lack of erpenence rather than their libertanan nafure, Beevor e\/en ar-gues that electing leaders \\'as "/ror so much a di.l.liculn' us e soLtrce o.l'strength" as tt "in,spiretl murual cor1fidence." The question 'uvas how to f'ederate the militia columns. not to abolish thern. This solution, however, was dependent on whether the revolution rvould be

ccessful.

Beevor gives a fair account ofthe dilemma facing the CNT after they had put do'uvn the coup in Barcelona. The dangers of isolation internally (" ltlodrid lrud rhe gold ") and externally su

(unotficial sanctions bv governments

and companies) and the fate of their comrades in other parts of Republican Spain obviously played a key role.

However, he quotes Garcia Oliver's comments that the alternative was

either an "anarchist dictatorship, or democracy which signifies collaboration" without any analysis.

Made in 1937, these comments are both historically and logically defective. On July 20th 1936, the CNT leadership decided to not mention libertarian communism until Franco had been defeated, yet his argument, if valid, was as much applicable to a post-Franco Spain as it was on that day. Ultimately, Garcia Oliver argued that representative democracy is more "democratic" than self-managed coflrrnunes (hardly a valid position, given the authoritarian and repressive nature of any capitalist democracy and the Spanish Republic itself in the 1930s). His argument simply reflected the CNT-FAI leadership's attempts to justify their collaboration with the state rather than a coherent and accurate argument.

Of course Beevor's work has its weaknesses. His account of the decisive CNT plenum on July 20th, as noted, is one. Similarly, his account of the uprising and suppression at Casas Viejas is wrong, relying as it does on accounts disprovedby Jerome R. Mintz in his The Anarchists of Casas Viejas.

Similarly, his account ofthe conflict between the radical anarchists and the treintistas is somewhat confused chronologically, but at least he does not paint the usual picture of the FAI seizing control ofthe CNT by conspiratorial methods. He does suggest that the FAI advocated sudden and fragmented uprisings while, in fact, most of the early uprisings were spontaneous and the later ones coordinated by the CNT itself (his account of Casas Viejas fits into this false picture of FAI activities). llltimately, it would have been nice for the work to be referenced more

completely, allowing the reader to investigate for themselves aspects

of

the Spanish Civil War and Revolution that Beevor discusses in too short a space!

However, be that as it may, Beevor's account is to be recommended. His account ofthe first days ofthe revolution, when workers armed themselves when the government refused, is excellent. His summary of the collectivisations is positive. The role of the allied governments and foreign capitalists in stabbing the Republican government in the back is clearly shown. He even discusses the post-war resistance against Franco and the part played by Spaniards in the French resistance.

Al1 in all, an informative and interesting

35

I

read.

Black F ag 222 . Rev ews

IM

Fast Food

Nation

ffi",T3.?:t','Jl!,9,il1flf,*Jl'L"o [:h",ff,]]l,L.JJi3.rocusing on ',' -oJ!:::f^{::

!,t 9y

*4tice

.f

afety "

3nd fi1"

coriuminaii

o",,rr.i

p."p

"r.a ;;;j;*,c?;?,'6.1.1i?lJi,iln,*,

TT:_lh::::::ti"*oiTie "mouthfeel. " tt isu *"otur&;;;;";;;il;,n. ;;; !1i,t]rg,co,'ect feed at the "irractiation" witt ttre pn isr::ro1 Eric Schlosser ",',ffi11;i..1ffi$J''. :1j.ffi-&$jfu#1{,lgi::lflI}:"_corPorations Allenlane Rublic trough ard then praise the pasteurisation,'t. '.

The Penguin

_.* u*ffi,T

Press

rhis is an excerent

,,,ffiBF*-lW

book,

f::T:rket.

iiifi;

where firmi grow

hugc

tr.,tuch

un9 exercise monopolistic pou'c.i

of what happens today is

:i:;ffiI;ffi1::l[#,[T

,, "rhe 'n'",f".,11uffiT;i,:;?5;:qzutral as ifl capiiarir- ,. u.iu.r-;o.i-.;;; of.freedon," and markecl by exploitatio", oppi.rrio" *a of lkffih ii?,::::::" ri'frotc ffi%ry._I_:ljl:,.t:"Toration's'first social hie'rarcti.r. er-rl.i,:;;;r" comnandant is

crauuned tirll of uselul (and disgustirrg) "N,lcNug-eets" informatitn on the

u'here executi'es ralk

l,il:

ibout

onlt' prorlucrion process of protlucing "fast WffiW-tltat "of (uttnt5 counts"'" ITte t,tte emprcyees employeeb duty is to tbod." Fronr tood." l-ront the ind-ustrialisation intlustrialisation of fantting. to the monopolisation of food lo,tlolt orders. Period. " f .r all 'tr t:lk oi' p.ocesii,rg. to the standardi;iio;-;i- llbertv,,the essenc.e.Lr,'L-aprtalism is food consumption throughout whole w^ag^e slavery and rt: nlo.t uLl\rrLlui sections of North Arnc.rija. Schlossc.r,s aspects are well documented here.

-

bookexposesthehorrorsofmodern corporate capitalism. He aocumenis

impact of the rise of

fast *,,

will reflect tt e uuiior, .tus. conflicts. social hierarchi".. conflicts, hierarchies. porvcr .rnr"", relationships and so on which exist u ithin it as well as the rationales of the ecrrnontic svstem (e.g. the drive for prorit-.1. Tlirefore piog;;J;;; hardly r,vithin rt

ien;utral.Thisisp;i-cularryi-."r

_SttFoodNationdiscussesthe corporations' perspective on ihe econom-r Thc rlevelopmJrio1tt industrial structure of

tne

tbodona1mosta1lffi**:ffi1:;...':.::ffiIcapita1isteconomywillbe aspects of

i.\orth

ffii

'fl-* health, fi'oin working i practices to.landscape, Atnenca,fromfarmingta

and

beyond.

Like the "fa.st

rbod,,

' , ffil.r*,

' ,i"i.,!..'rl"ifflffi'T;L*:*.::ilfl 'r"i-"' :,t li5l &" ^ , ,mfilUttji*l$Sf,_ !! ,QLtrlilImlLffi -lE % ,,,i'l:I

{:

*nr.,a

i,, i

re i

,W#.UiilEFf? ^\F

. a

basec'i on the fun<iamental

needtomarimisetl-re anci pori.er of the capitalists. tt does not

profits

foilow rhat

",ril society wr,icr,because pra.li

a

Schlosser's lvork is far

ranging'coveringsuch notable scum bags as walt Disney (whose

;;il

@,,

same

fhthei

Anarchists have Long

nun responsible for

CA

pitalism ls wage slavory...

making

McDcinaldswhatitisnow).

Schlosser,

to his cre,dit, fills his book with interviews with workers involved e\

r-r] stage ol'the "fast fbod"

in

proccss, '

irrcluding indc'peutlent fanners'anJ' thctse op-pose'.l' to corporation.advertisin-e in schools and providin -C teachin-e nraterials. lle brings o refreshingly hunran look at'an industrv ilrat denics in practicc individualiq, ;;d

humanity.

The vision of a..fast food,'world is truly horrific. It is a *odo wrrei" e*"

the smell and taste of food is mass produced. Standardised food for u

,:T,':f'$ii,i

*t:,:ffi:i:i,iflrr::i::*1, society wiit jo the

W

: '

ill:lfj'fJ*11

rntlependent farms, opposing any rhe profir s),srem*,rhtillflJt?ljt"t attclnpt to form co_operatives or ecoiogic_al need as th;.;it;;; f;. assocrations to improve their decisi_on making. n"uaing_i.ri.i.ooa bargaining.position in thc market. As Nation brings iromc'rhir-unur"ft., one executive put it, "our relutittttship perspectiveinJ t;;;iJ"J;; modern with our grlwers is e one-ott-otre and well ,"r"u."h"d d"""-rriii", to ,,:,,:r,'uctuul relationship " antl they support it. W" *uri nerl"rlorg;t thut ..

"Y.'ont t() see that it remains^rltut v.tut'. " capitalism twists pro!r"r, in;?;"*" As,rvith the industrial workforce. thrj imlgilation. talk ol'"teamra'ork" just hides thc reality Fist Food Nation also brings home of corporate power - the liberg' trf doing how alienated tlre Wcst i* Ao"m its fooa. rvhat yt'ruare told" under condltions - Food production t u"u""o-"--' specified by the powerful. Under such increa[ingly ina"ttiiuii."Jura pressure. America's indepcndent concentra-tjd into terver antt teu,er jflers are being replaced by industrial tirms, rt atso raises so*.-lnrpo,runt big

praces the.birthorthe..rast ;il"l*i;,f',J:;$if*i',f1"#$r,i i:!;,::;i;:?"* *i.lr:-r f-ood" indrrstrY witlrin the lt)50s love inuolvci nationalising UiI tiirin"r, i. sante -

t'en'Dunent v'c't'e'.srindi'ng ar thi

Technology rarru.y. it, trrui. ,".I"ry'i.. ,".* i" u ogr problems. et,.'n the tenns of natio;;ri;g iic;onuia. tastei' 1.ou.lL ::]]: "lt ura gne.s tr getrerates itself. l.he true appropriating tf,".."f.ft";..,t,;"*r, trrationalitics here can easilv be seen. prourfiion gcncrated ithirr capitalism. all itsnruliituck'.,rranrlficarionsin- --" 'r not f-o_t,:Irrn,l,",facedwiththeserious i,ri o"il,t"irr itnotrvork.itrvill Schlosser.s book. The Onr,ellian world heakh problems generatc.d by the inspire,anyone to fight fbr it, tndlllillisation.of meat proicssing. the gf corporatc capiralism;s *cen rhe togi.at .on.t"riion o1:the Lcnirist 1r.o9.,-" "slor).^ A rvorld in which the advocaled yet vision in-terms of food p.;,t;;;, T:i:p"1.."[']c,11du.stty l:lll ],t rrrdustrv (:ottntet', ortlet'ing thc ,uurJ.prrd i;"-;;, the sam.e tneny. .lborl rhat ever.t_trhere the .sanre.,,The banalit;' ol'capitalism is exposed in

sroup fomted to

afthir.u'ith "Progress."

combat il:t:":.-J#J:5Jii;;:'#;J'[ 36

I

[TJ*3,"ri1*'J"",:ifLTi,1i"o*,. r0.

disruption of "normalcy" experienced in most revolutions would quickly mean the disruption of such an industrialised food production and distribution system. This reinforces Kropotkin's arguments in Conquest of Bread on the importance of decentralising production during a revolution. Not only would this ensure the feeding ofa rebellion, it would also be the first step in creating a method of producing food which was in harmony with nature and encouraged diversity in both production and in the final meal (as the Frenchsay, "Non a

McMerde').

The book has its weaknesses. Like most of the so-called "anti-capitalist" authors how being published by capitalist firms to profit from the current rvavc of global mass protest, Schlosser nor his proposed solutions are in any

activities that Schlosser chronicles in his book. As he himself notes, "The low price of afastfood hamburger does not reflect its real cost.. . The profits of the fastfood chains have been made possible by the losses imposed on the rest of socieQ. " The idea that by using the market we can "reform" capitalism is flawed simply because even "good" companies have to make a profit (i.e. will exploit workers' labour) and so will be tempted to cut costs, inflict them on third parlies in the form of pollution, and so on. IJltimately, the price mechanism does not provide enough information for the customer to make an informed decision about the impact of their purchase and, by reducing prices,

directions, namely towards big business. Only when faced with a greater danger (namely a mass popular movement which could go further than the politicians suggest), will capitalists submit to state regulation. And as the 1960s and 70s show, this submission will not last long.

This is not to suggest that individual decisions on what to consume are irrelevant, far from it. Nor are consumer boycotts a waste of time. If organised into mass movements and linked to workplace struggle they can be very effective. This is the main failure in Fast Food Nation. It fails to appreciate the impofiance of working class struggle and organisation (forming unions is mentioned in passing, for example). As the book makes clear, much of the drive behind the way the fast food industry has developed has been fuelled

way anti-capitalist.

While presenting a searing indictment of :,:i!i

US capitalism. his vision of the future is simply US capitalism

infused with

by fear oflabour. Like the food they produce, the "fast food" corporations want workers that are standardised, uniform, easy

i:iil:

a

European socialdernocratic sensibility.

Needless to say, he is not opposed to wage labour. Indced. lre holds up tamrly orr"ned businesses u,hich trcat their r,vorkcrs

The vision of a 'nfast food" world is truly horrific...

Standardised food for a standardised society...

The true banality of capitalism is exposed in all its

paternalisticalll, as an alternative to

m

corporatc capitalism.

There is not e\en a nrention ofcooperativcs which u ould, at least, be a step forrvard. Schlosser's vision ofa nice capitalist is identical to that of Tolstoy's kinci donkel,owner who will do everythin-e fbr the donkey except get offits back.

Sirni larly, his sLLguested Europeanstyle America is totallt conipatible with capitalism. Whiie correctly acknor.r'ledging (in tact basing his suggestions on) the corporate control over thc political structure. he raises the spectre of consumer power as the means of achieving his

puts it, corporations

As he

-eoals. will "sellfree-

range, organic, grass-/bd hamburgers i/' you demand it. They will s'ell whatey'er sells ut u profit. '' Which, of course, is true. lt is equally true that wc are not tbrced to buy fast food, rvhich is why companies slrerrd so much in convincing Lrs to bLry their products.

Er.'en ignoring the influence of :dveftising, rt is unlikeli, that using the market will make capitalism nicer. Sadly, ,he nrarket rewards the anti-social

ultitude of ramifications... actively rewards the behaviour Schlosser condemns.

Rather than see change as resulting from collective struggle, Schlosser sees it in terms of individual decisions within the market place. As such, it does not break llom the logic ofcapitalism and so is doomed to failure. After all, what

is now "orgauic" production was just the normal means of doing it. The pressures of the market, the price mechanism he suggests as the tool for change, enswed the industrialisation of farming he so clearly condemns.

Ultimately, we must never forget that the unfeeling corporate capitalism Schlosser exposes so well, sprung from the family owned, small-scale industry he holds up as an alternative. Indeed, one of his examples of paternalist capitalism broke apart in the 1970s under the pressure of class struggle and competitive pressures from less

"ethical" capitalists.. This, in itself, shows the weakness of his means change. Capitalismhas a dl,namic nature that propels it in certain

of

to define and replace. No training is the goal in this industry and de-skilling the means. Applying Taylorist ideology developed in mass production, the skills of workers are transferred as far as possible into the

hands e_f management and into machinery. Inthis way anyone can replaced, making workplace organising and action more diff,rcult. Schlosser presents extensive evidence of maehinery designed to reduce the power oflabour, industries moved to crush unions and, of course, the anti-union perspectives ofthe "fast food" giants. Needless to say, this fear of labour is well-founded as profits are unpaid labour extracted by management's power over workers, whose acts of resistance can bring the whole thing crashing down.

It is here we must look for a real solution to the problems generated by capitalism, not in "green" consumerism.

Equally, we must also be aware that the new world we are struggling for must not just aim to take over, without modifi cation" the existing industrial structure. While the expropriation of capital is a necessary step in the social revolution, it is not the end. As tr'ast Food Nation shows, an alienated society has created an alienated means of feeding itself. Such a system will have to be transformed from top to bottom by those who live and work in it into one fit for human beings to live in,

I.M.

37

I

Black Flag 222. Revtews

'Damn, Ann Hansen can write!' says Direct Action, memoirs of one of the reviewers, and it's true; as well as a straight first an Ul.ban guel.l.illa zffi*,, however, q::::1,?ff:X".l,r:i*,ff

Ann

Hansen

n- 17gffi

Between the Lines / AK Press

'liKX;

to the fact thl, y? read, A;;pit" despite tn"-iu"itrrut , ';;J, This quite a stressful book

tf:"

'forces oflaw and order' were up just 4D lascinatins. rrJuDt as ra)u,rorr,Y' to LU - which wrttutr is book is

*" _ Jf::Hffi -q:".-:llf::*iiryrj[: iiJ;;r;;j *,rr,. I ir-t. *iil'!"'i"ii:i'Ji-"':{i*#i1'L*Wgiiilt};il,,J:f i\l,x:"' - from stream ofcrinres

t

roitir;;t;:rt i;f";d;.1";ii"g .action, "u.. ih.*r;jl;; as well as the

,ryoi*fri.fr.outanau.'-.uni'a-lrr.,.r.

political conte\t oi-the trr,.re. Tris , -, r'ou u o.nder at tirrl: 1-, r tt'-'.tnake' e\eflt: \\r'ulJ lcok ih"'-tl tllc :'.' f

the otherfet'f1'' :it.:r'j' \ ;"1' ..;;ih;;,i,. ineritahle riiih a aock r''hich "ste;r' p.iioa*n.nbi..oA.t.ir;h;;; -c.rr.r, plrases - erther p"" clerr oiemptr il"r.i"gtrrirrgr go bang i, or 13T:ntrrt - * litl- rt of an electrici,y ,"grp.ol..;.';:;,^. ;il'br't"i-\ "oi''1been untten rn' Thisbook-eires hare missile component tu.riit'.nai"l',n'' 'pitfal1s to ar oid' kin^d of hrnt' some Wimmins Frre Bngade);';.;; ; p:Tl"c arrested-tbr shopliftin-e' not outlets ior riolent po"lJg;pi,. rlr. taking notice-rvhen you're obviously peopte inr.ol'ed d.if .it;h';!in', tt'rn, under surveillance etc' but more than purel\ i"."..,i;;;'';, tt,n-rtof to cam), orr that it raises some interesting tactical Hansen hersell rru, =uij:iir.;;t;"; A r'on-svmbolic approach to g]'-tltiott, at Litton burlding uscd i"h;;.";;l:r" thin-gs- up.marks.you out as missile components *-"i.'u"irtit*ri""91:,*i"g serious - and also inevitably increases big ."

The Focusise*clusiueli

Workers Against Lenin: Labour Protest and the Bolshevik Dictatorship Jonathan Aves Tauris Academic Studies I.B- Tauris Publishers Published in 1996by an academic publishers, Aves book is essential reading for anyone interested in the outcome of the Russian Revolution. For decades Trotskyists have been arguing that the Russian working class had been decimated during the Civil War period and was incapable of collective decision making and organisation, so necessitating Bolshevik Party dictatorship over them. Workers

Against Lenin provides extensive evidence to refute those claims.

In his work Aves provides an extremely well researched and readable account oflabour protests during the period of 1920 to 1922. Rather than the

Trotskyist claim of a 'non existent' working class, workers under Lenin were more than capable of collective action and organisation. Perhaps it is because this struggle was directed against the Bolsheviks that explains this blind spot? In this they simply follow Lenin: "As discontent amongst workers became more and more dfficult to ignore, Lenin... began to argte that... workers had become 'declassed.' " The most famous expression

of

collective workers struggle during this period was, of course, the general strike in Petrograd which set off the Kronstadt revolt. Due to Kronstadt, this strike wave is often downplayed or

even ignored but, in fact, general strikes or very widespread urest took place nation-wide. Faced with this mass wave of protest, the Bolsheviks used a combination of concessions (on the economic demands raised, not the political ones like free soviet elections, freedom of speech and organisation for workers) and repression. They also called it the "yolynka" (which means "go slow") rather than a strike movement to hide its real nature and stze.

This was hardly an isolated event.

Strike action, Aves notes, "remained endemic in thefirst nine months of I 92 0 " aswell. In Petrograd province, 85,642 people were involved in strikes, which is a high figure indeed as, according to one set offigures, there were only 109,100 workers there atthe time! Rather than this being an isolated and atomised working class, what comes through clearly from Aves' work is that the workers, usually drawing on pre-1918 experiences and modes of struggle, could and did take collective action and decisions in the face ofstate

repression.

As the Bolsheviks clamped down on all independent working class activity and organisation, it is hardly surprising that the workers became marginal to the revolution. Moreover, it was during this period that the Bolsheviks raised the dictatorship ofthe party to both a practical and ideological truism. Given workers opposition to the Bolsheviks, this was the only way they could remain

38

I

the scale and urgency ofthe state response. How can 'the underground' and 'the movement' safely talk to each other? That connection - different methods, similar ends - is something that is vital in current discussion of tactics.

The big question ivhich many will ask (and not only the dyed-in-the-u'ool non-resisters) is 'rvas it worth it?' Does dettat equal tailure? Few political :ci jr itres produced jrnmediate and t::stinq results on their ou'n: guerrilla :crir,:ies are ncr erception - they are :t.iri'1\ lncther pafi of the struggle, and ,i: rlr: ;,c,.;1r connected they are to ,i'i:i .rr,-::ie. the nrore effective they'11 ie. 1r, ::i lrle:t. 1!'\\ about the book, H:;-tsrl r..:. .:rd .he ri ould like to see a drs.ussi,,.n rri "*roing bey ond legal prolesr' and tr,:t :he uants to "inspire more militancr. nr.t less.'. Orerallthe book gir es a good qurde trr the potential and dangers ti iittderstottnd activity: a u orthr cr\nrlJnr. n tc'

Baumam's 'Hori it all hel"rt' -JT

in power. This implies that a key factor in rise of Stalinism was political - the simple fact that the workers would not vote Bolshevik in free soviet and union elections and so they were not allowed to. As one Soviet historian put it in his account of the "yolynka," "tahing the account of the mood of the workers, the demundforfree elections to tha soviets meant the implementation in practice of the infamous slogan af soviets without communists."

This review cannot hope to cover all the important information contained in this book. Aves' discussion on the intensification of war communism and

Trotsky's "militarisution of labour"

rs

excellent, placing it in the period of peace at the bcginning of 1920 and noting its ideological basis. Also of interest is his account of the "miniKronstadt" in the llkrainian town of Ekaterinoslavl in June 1921, where workers raised resolutions very similar to those raised at Kronstadt, including the demand for "free soviets"

popularised by the Makhnovists, Simply put, its hard to claim that the Russian working class had "ceased to exist in any meaningful sense" in such circumstances. As such, Workers Against Lenin helps to undermine the

various forms of the Bolshevik my'th and, as such, is a key resource for studying the Russian Revolution. Being an academic book, it is expensive and will need to be ordered from a bookshop or a library. However, the wealth of information contained in it, the social context in which it places protest and developments in Bolshevik policies and ideas, make it a must-read for all people who want a revolution to be more than changing who the boss is.

IM

contacts M Solidarity Federation (Anarcho- Syndicalists) PO Box 29. SWPDO

Manchester Ml5 5HW tele: 0161 231 8177

,t qi n,iG ,\te vrlk.t(, oi y,y ye, or'-tncz_Fc ,/ANr t . i,tL lyc I:1L, ? tt;'1 $e vrt Nrr DA^ri Eirr5 . xe r, " Nt ,"tt , tltct<e

l?t$r tt tx frl2

ftCL.DS AaD U

CtJ, 'fautr)q At.f, ?,Aeef,uq A qraL Fl''r $A, v'|*/!.l€. t1c tt ,laF?t ,N ilt rJt9 S,rvano^r. flt? CAtRcrll o,t f?t, flb (Jrve(A. nlal ilarrD BviryaprlLIrrC SArr{tr, 6rD AAt &*d 4rroyt... r^t ?l€ Cr+r,ic{ TVaY ni(c ter u? lttC F ?agAvv?,iilD a! flac2f tt 1:rfiL

Anarchist Federation 84b Whitechapel High St

LondonEl 7QX

CotJ'.<-TrvU4ror.,l , abA?1.{e

vtat laa ?... atf C.r A I ftitI,, I ? F C! a t mtE vr{eta l...Irle

Class War Federation PO Box 467

vrur(€, s. .f 't tcqltA?l1nAAr€ etag1.nC" o?,Nto N. ?.LttReL liat E t I.1HAI ?.2 ? lrl, elrr lllta.tA,.i. eF.21Y fl(s 7ilar vltftr qco./,... ,.,.fBc c-;Dctstctarc rot 'ldEateDf or cA"l 52€. n ,4 ft/,aln rt*ct , tdiE rl E*teD ?lqe @t*eotty1E, OI{€n5 flrtvE x€Pt a{€rR L,.dD, }vl ttr?Y nvr? c!,rr.

-!Y^tE ,r A(,$a, AeCAgSe rlgdC It d. noLe eY?L.ttAa'taq oF t,lrt By i,t.J. /t t: I1+Cl A,t't 1uyny44 IXeE(*ND? Tltcll 1ue c:'L..lc,nrt rancl o"et rri y:cyLr:u:*1c! LArDt geLtwre r votLb Ae A (Rtae nce,lvf r-Oft irnuuw L lEAv< tt FALLou ' ..ra E}.- '

London E8 3QX

mnilqlllil-

Education Workers'/

Communications

Workers'Network (SF) PO Box 29, SWPDO

Manchester M15 5HW

Public Service Workers' Network (SF) PO Box 1681 LondonN8 7LE

Industrial Workers of the World (Britain) IWW, PO Pox 4414, Poole, Dorest, BHl5 3YL

www.iww.org.uk

@

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The end of confrontation: A step bo;ck The campaign "Against the Europe of the Capital" was a network of activist groups, indymedia, and actions against the European summits in Spain during the Spanish presidency of the EU from January to June 2002. The most important summits were B arcelona,

Madrid and Sevilla. However the campaign appears to have been a step back for.the anticapitalist movement dft er Prague and Genoa.

Reformism, a lack of direct action, failure to use blockades and a lot ofpolice were some reasons for this retreat.

Defeat in Spuin Barcelona saw a record 500,000 demonstrators,

Madrid and Seville were not bad, with around 150,000 people. But these demonstrations consisted in the main of a short walk, a civic protest. a far cry from any,thing approaching direct action, blockades or even a tantrum.

It was easy for the mainstream media to PortraY a picture of responsible citizens asking for a bigger piece ofcake, and to hide the real confrontations that happened (in Barcelona).

After Barcelona, the official media's satisfaction with the anti-summit protests was evident and when the media are pleased, this should ring

a sub-delegate

ofthe

government said that the demonstration was successful. The state got what they wanted from the media - coverage of the offrcial summits, and a few pages set aside for their friends in the social forums the existence ofany dissident movement was ignored.

In the battlefield, fear

triumphed. Media manipulation against the black bloc resulted in some demonstrators, mostlY the organlsers of the social forums,

forming a second police force

with their own security bodies. In Seville, some

ru sffi rul

actions. The antiblack bloc hysteria made tt impossible for the rioters tn Barcelona be close to the other demonstratlons. The black bloc action. so called "MarsAttack: Los ricos tambien lloran". had PrettY big support. but thel'made the tactical error

of

advertising the action and the

pohce had no problem

splitting the bloc up and makmg arrests. On the another l.rand.

lr.r

Seville.

said that they were

direct action had very

of

1itt1e

the hooded black shadows

moving in the demonstrations, but what about the blue gorilla aiming rubber bullets at our heads?

The repression against the

dissident activists was brutal, before and during the summits. In Seville, the numbers of secret police,

the

infiltrations, the hounding

ofthe social centres, the

physical and psychological aggresslon, the

provocateurs, and the alarm bells for us. A few months later, in Seville, even

Wist happened to confrontation?

There was little or no confrontation inthe anti summit

N{adrid and

demonstraios

scared

very hard work for the activists.

constant police control made things

suppofi. the tiny number of activists and the big number ofpolice made it impossible to do anything interesting.

The lack of interest in direct action during these events is no mystery. The social forums' leadership consists mostly of reformist

organisations, who misrepresent the movement in the mainstream media, and altract the masses because there is little other choice in Spain. Confrontation is not on the agenda of grouPs that collaborate openly with the systern lfrom the big unions to Oxfam, Attac orthe

institutional left parties). In fact their traditional vision of political action is a peaceful demonstration, walk around and a photoshoot in front of an institutional building.

On the another hand there

aren't any organisations or movements in Spain trYing to form new theories or Protest strategies as there were

during previous anti-summit demonstrations in other countries. The small anticapitalist groups (anarchist and leninist) and the anarcho syndicalist or anticapitalist unions ( SOC, CGT or CNT) have their o'"vn and old ways of fighting, and most of them are not really interested in the movement.

Finally. there was a lack of interest fron-r groups outside of Spain to help orgauise blockades etc. It felt as if, after Barcelon a. anticapitalist groups lost illterest in fighting the surtmits. In Madrid the drssident block had to split because theY weren't strong enough to carry out therl action, in Seville the .:rrarchisl coordination u as isolated, marginalised and comPletelY surrounded by the Police.

Conclusion Maybe tlte time for big antisummrt demos is over.

Capital spoke very clearly in Genoa. they're not going to 1et us continue. This is probabll' a good time to look for neu u'ays of fighting, usins our experience ofthe past couple ofyears.. The anti-summit demos are tumir.rg into advertising campaigns for political parties. NGOs and political sects. lts probably not worth fi-uhting the reformists for a strategy that is alreadY finrshed. It is time to look for ne\\ ways and allernatives. lban