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Anarchists seek a society founded on cooperation, self‑management, common ownership of wealth, democracy from below and production for the sake of need rather than profit. Instead of society based on political and economic exploitation of the many by the few, anarchists envision a socialist society in which hierarchical relationships of power and all forms of domination are avoided. Contents MEET THE ANARCHISTS Jura, Organise! &\ the Melbourne Anarchist Club 01 ORGANISING IN AUSTRALIA by Jeremy 02 THINGS ANARCHISTS LIKE by Jeff 05 CASUALISATION & FLEXIBLE WORK: How far can the bosses push before we snap? by Gabs 06 COMPLICITY, TRAITORS, COMPROMISE Sedition is a mutual collaboration & other media interactions between three geographically disparate by Nick A 08 Australian anarchist collectives, , the Melbourne Anarchist Club Jura ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL & HISTORICAL collective from Sydney, and Organise! ORIGINS – the Adelaide anarchist communist OF ANARCHISM & ITS DEVELOPMENT group. This project is a constructive by Brendan Libertad 10 medium for discussing the way forward for anarchist groups and anarchism in Australia, both in theory and praxis. We OCCUPY SYDNEY aim to establish better communication by Ash 13 and organisational networks between our groups and to produce thought LIBERTY, EQUALITY & SOLIDARITY: provoking literature. Anarchism for humans, other animals & the earth The groups involved in creating by Julie Jordan & Richard Bulmer 16 Sedition do not necessarily agree with the articles published in this journal. If you’d like to contribute ANARCHISM & ANIMALS: with an article, art or respond to an Total liberation or total confusion? article in this edition, or if you have by Voltairine de Cleyre 18 any queries, please contact us at [email protected] INTERSECTIONALITY: Responses may be published on Implications for anarcha‑feminism www.anarchy.org.au by Katrina 20 This edition was edited by delegates Rebecca Winter (Melbourne Anarchist Club), Gabs (Organise!) and IMPORTING ZAPATISMO: Nick A (Jura). Mexican revolutionary ideas & their relevance in Australia Printed February 2012. by Christopher David Absell 22 meet the anarchists Organise! Melbourne Anarchist Club Organise! is an organisation| of revolutionary class “Anarchism is both a political philosophy and struggle anarchists who share political positions, articulated a social movement. As a social movement, anarchism in theory, strategy and tactics. Our purpose is to keep alive a aims to create a classless, non‑hierarchical society; revolutionary critique of capitalism, to assist in working class that is, a society ‘without rulers’ (anarchy). As struggles, to attack all authoritarian practices such as racism a political philosophy, anarchism maintains and sexism, and to help build working class solidarity and that the creation of such a society is both militancy – willingness to fight for our class interests. possible and desirable. Anarchists are those who Contact at [email protected] actively work towards realising this possibility.” –MAC Aims & Principles Jura MAC collectively owns and manages a building that houses an anarchist library, holds regular meetings, reading groups, Jura Anarchist Bookshop & Library is a collectively film screenings and social events. We seek to engage society owned and run space, which exists primarily to further to promote anarchist ideas and organising. The club supports progressive, anarchist change in society. We do this by providing other projects such as: a physical space within the current capitalist society where d Anarres Books (an anarchist book service), people can freely organise and express revolutionary ideas. d a radical theatre troupe At Jura Books, we are working to create a radically different d the offices of the Anarcho‑Syndicalist Federation. world: one based on freedom, equality and justice for everyone, We are open to the public just about every Sunday as well as environmental sustainability for all life on the planet. afternoon, with events held throughout the week. We believe this can only be achieved by an organised and 62 St Georges Rd, Northcote, Vic. politically conscious social movement, based on participatory [email protected] democracy and workers control. Our collective aims to help to PO Box 494, Brunswick, 3056 (we love snail mail) build this movement. We seek to bring the ideas of anarchism www.anarchy.org.au/mac to ever‑widening circles of people. We operate as an organised, participatory democratic, volunteer collective. 440 Parramatta Rd, Petersham 02 95509531 www.jura.org.au 01 ORGANISING IN AUSTRALIA by Jeremy Making social change in Australia isn’t easy. The Australian system of capitalism and government offers a range of comforts and opportunities to the exploited in order to keep us docile. At the |same time, vast resources are channeled into an all‑pervasive and self‑sustaining system of thought control, disseminated through schools, universities, workplaces and mass media. The persistent message is that life in Australia is as good as it gets – or will be as long as we keep shopping. The whole edifice is underwritten by a ferocious exploitation of the planet and its people, and by the brute force of the State when necessary, with its administrative, surveillance, policing, and military apparatuses. A number of other factors combine Why organise? to create the Australian context: the Most of us actually agree on what society’s origins in dispossession and that better world would look like. A |attempted genocide of the Aboriginal world based on freedom, equality and people; the wilful ignorance and dignity, where people control their suppression of our history of oppression own communities, work is meaningful and resistance; the dispersion of a small and productive and human beings population over a vastgeography; the coexist peacefully with each other and sense of exceptionalism and isolation sustainably on the earth. But how do we from the rest of the world; the tight achieve this vision? control of migration to strengthen It’s deluded to think that we can reactionary forces; the political culture achieve this world through gradual steeped in passivity and representative reforms enacted through parliament. disempowerment; and the heavily It’s deceitful to argue that we can bureaucratised union movement that achieve it by seizing control of the frequently accepts the morbid embrace government and using its essentially of government and bosses. authoritarian apparatus to force people It’s not easy to organise in this to be socialists. And it’s a dream to think context. We often try to impose tactics that the entire population will wake up and strategies that worked in other one day, realise they’re insurrectionists times and places, but are ill-suited to and spontaneously and instantly create our present needs. Instead, we need the anarchist society. to understand and develop our own We need to build a sustained models of organising. revolutionary movement. A movement 02 grounded in long-term, politically- embrace or at least pay lip service to the However the Australian union conscious, mass-based organisation that organising model. The organising model organising model has a number of failings. can achieve social revolution. was developed in order to reverse the It is very hierarchical and centralised in its crisis in unionism – the steep decline in structure. Although it seeks to activate What is organisation? union membership worldwide. members and develop member leaders, The organising model is usually the high level of professionalisation Organisation is a type of relationship contrasted with the ‘servicing model’. In and specialisation of an elite union between people. A relationship of the latter, unions are basically insurance bureaucracy works to exclude members solidarity, mutual aid, and common companies that charge members a fee in from deeper participation. Another purpose. Organisation also implies a exchange for industrial advice and other fundamental plank of the organising degree of structure, permanence and services (from movie tickets to funeral model is higher union dues – to fund the formality. Organisation does not have plans). glitzy campaigns and expert roles. This to be a political party. The organising model draws a leads to a greater disjunction between great deal on the union experience in rank-and-file members whose main Who is an organiser? the United States, where the union contribution is funding, and the paid There is widespread discontent and movement (although smaller and beset organisers and communications experts resistance among millions of people by many problems) is often more militant who run campaigns as a substitute in Australia. They talk to each other and connected organically with working for mass action. Higher fees can also and build networks and take a variety class communities. reinforce a servicing mentality. of political actions. In this sense many However the core problem with the people (who don’t think of themselves organising model is that its set of tactics as such) are activists, agitators and “We need to doesn’t challenge the fundamental organisers. distribute approach unions have towards capitalism, However I believe there is a role material and put politics, and members. Organising model for those of us who have developed a on discussions at unions have been known to do deals particular interest in political activity. times and places with bosses that help the union grow, Being an organiser doesn’t mean that