Wobblies and Zapatistas

Praise for WOBBLIES & Zapatistas “There’s no doubt that we’ve lost much of our history. It’s also very clear that those in power in this country like it that way. Here’s a book that shows us why. It demonstrates not only that another world is possible, but that it already exists, has existed, and shows an endless potential to burst through the artificial walls and divisions that currently imprison us. An exquisite contribution to the literature of human freedom, and coming not a moment too soon.” — DAVID GRAEBER, Author of Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology and Direct Action: an Ethnography “With the patient and intelligent prodding of Andrej Grubacic, Staughton Lynd, preeminent historian/scholar/revolutionary, takes us on a calm, leisurely walk through the annals of history and shows us what it means to be a human being. From the Zapatista movement in San Cristóbal, Chiapas to the steel mills of rural Ohio, he reminds us that when it’s all over, said and done, what truly matters the most is our willingness to reach out and love somebody.” —BOMANI SHAKUR A.K.A. KEITH LAMAR, Death Row, Ohio State Penitentiary “In these desperate, often tragic, times, we look backward, forward, even to our dreams to be able to keep imagining a world in which justice may be part of more people’s lives. We look to lives lived before ours, to stories and their meanings, to strategies culled from the worlds of politics or ancient wisdoms. We look in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe, and here in the United States. We are willing to entertain any new idea or revamped strategy. Staughton Lynd’s life and work put him in a unique position to seek out someone like Grubacic, ask the pertinent questions, and tell the meaningful stories. Grubacic’s experience perfectly compliments Lynd’s. Here we have the best of a non-dogmatic Marxism listening to a most creative and humane anarchism. But this book is never weighted down by unforgiving theory. Just the opposite: it is a series of conversations where the reader feels fully present. It provides a marvelous framework for enriching the conversation that’s never really stopped: about how we may make this world a better place. Wobblies and Zapatistas: Marxism, Anarchism and Radical History is an absolute must read for anyone battered by the 1989-1990 defeat of what many called ‘real socialism.’ Here is a new and vibrant starting point for thought and action—and a great read as well.” — MARGARET RANDALL, Author of Sandino’s Daughters, When I Look Into the Mirror and See You, and Narrative of Power, among other books. “It is rare that words in a conversation approach the likeness of something truly new—such is the case of the friendly and productive dance of anarchist and socialist ideas in Andrej Grubačić’s new book: Wobblies and Zapatistas, book of conversations between Andrej Grubačić and Staughton Lynd. It is a rich piece of literature, clearly benefiting from the lives and experiences of these two extraordinary human beings, and an impor- tant contribution to the continuing synthesis of revolutionary ideas. Exploring questions of participatory experiments, worker democracy, solidarity unionism, civil disobedience, organizing, and the role of theory and organic intellectuals, Wobblies and Zapatistas delves into the political questions of the twenty-first century with the utmost clarity, reflection, and insight. I’d rec- ommend Conversations to all young people interested in building a movement towards a better, more democratic world.” — BRIAN KELLY, Students for a Democratic Society & Student Environmental Action Coalition “Young organizers today are faced with a rapidly changing, com- plex world. Many of us are building new political compasses with which to navigate such a turbulent landscape. Conversa- tions between Lynd and Grubacic are a perfect medium to weave a narrative of social movements that roots us in history. Through rich storytelling, debate, and political analysis, this book is about more than Wobblies and Zapatistas. It is a window into wildcat strikes in Youngstown OH, the civil war in Spain, the streets of Seattle, mountains of Nicaragua, Israel and Palestine, and that’s just the start. This is no romanticized history or mindless celebra- tion of confrontation; this is a reflection on the lessons organizers can learn and carry with them to build a new world. It contains portraits of Ella Baker and Thomas Paine, thoughts on informal leadership from Saul Alinsky, and descriptions of the education of Myles Horton. The reader is treated to historical examples of interracial solidarity and movement building. We learn of songs sung in SNCC, of liberation theology and Anabaptists. We read stories of consensus decision-making in a Supermax prison, and Rosa Luxemburg’s feelings on internationalism. Lynd calls for organizers who are ‘long distance runners, not sprinters.’ This book is a tool to help us go the distance.” — JOSHUA KAHN RUSSELL, Climate Activist, Author, and National Organizer with Energy Action Coalition, Rainforest Action Network, and the new Students for a Democratic Society “Here, Staughton Lynd is a story teller, drawing from critical moments of popular movements over centuries and continents, as well as his own experiences as historian and activist. Together, he and Andrej Grubacic reflect on such key issues of perennial interest to those of us working to build a just, sustainable future as: Archbishop Romero’s idea of accompaniment, evolving anarchist solutions to the challenges of democracy, the implications of global citizenship and the Zapatistas’ changing views of economic and political power, with the goal of ‘helping us to prioritize…to abandon unsuccessful experiments without condemning persons who undertook them on behalf of us all.’ I missed more than one subway stop whilst transported to Chiapas, the Youngstown steel mills, the fight for the 8-hour day in Chicago of the 1880’s, the Freedom Schools in Mississippi and Norman Morrison’s power- ful protest against the Vietnam war.” — CATHY WILKERSON, Author of the Weatherperson memoir Flying Close to the Sun Wobblies & apbnmudqr`shnmrtinm`m`qbghrl+s l`qwhrl `mc q`chb`k ghrsnqx PM PRESS Wobblies & apbnmudqr`shnmrtinm`m`qbghrl+s l`qwhrl `mc q`chb`k ghrsnqx rs`tfgsnm kxmc & `mcqdi fqta`bhb hmsqnctbshnm ax cdmhr n&gd`qm WOBBLIES & Zapatistas: CONVersATIONS ON ANArcHIsm, MARXIsm AND RADICAL HISTORY By Staughton Lynd & Andrej Grubacic Copyright © 2008 Staughton Lynd & Andrej Grubacic This edition copyright © 2008 PM Press All Rights Reserved Cover illustration by Roderick Constance © 2008 www.shadowshapes.com Designed by Courtney Utt Special thanks to Alice Lynd Published by: PM Press PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org ISBN: 978-1-60486-041-2 Library Of Congress Control Number: 2008931839 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the USA on recycled paper. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ix Acknowledgments xi Foreword, Forward! by Denis O’Hearn PART I, MARXISM, ANARCHISM AND ZAPATISMO 3 ZAPATISMO What is Globalization? What is the Zapatista Strategy for Change? Does it Work? 11 A HAYMARKET SYNTHESIS Zapatismo and Haymarket 15 THE WOBBLY EXPERIENCE A Culture of Solidarity The New Movement 20 LUXEMBURG, WEIL, AND E. P. THOMPSON 24 THE WORKING CLASS Another Path What I Learned Solidarity Unionism And So? 34 DIRECT AcTION AND AccOMPANIMENT Liberation Magazine and Studies on the Left Theory and Practice in Marx Is There Such a Thing as Theory Arising from Practice? More Theory? What About Anarchism? 43 HIGH AND LOW THEORY Low Theory in Practice Anarchists Need Marxism 49 BURNHam’S DILEMMA 50 AccOMPANIMENT Archbishop Oscar Romero Father Uriel Molina 57 INTELLECTUALS AND AccOMPANIMENT On Being an Intellectual I Am an Outsider v 62 RADICAL INTELLECTUALS The Role of Left Intellectuals in Zapatismo Thompson, Zinn and Lynd 66 DUAL POWER The Freedom School Convention The Workers’ Solidarity Club of Youngstown Solidarity USA WATCH 78 PARALLEL INSTITUTIONS DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 83 OAXACA 85 SPONTANEITY AND ORGANIZATION 87 DIRECT DEMOCRACY AND REPRESENTATION 89 ARE WE WINNING? 94 OLD AND NEW MOVEMENTS: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES 97 SEEDS AND SOIL Marxism and Anarchism Visions and Seeds Seeds of Solidarity A Seed Bank for Seeds of Solidarity? 103 HOW CAN WE REBUILD OUR MOVEMENT? Why the 1960s Had it Easier A False Start and an Incomplete Apocalypse Seeds Beneath the Snow Soldiers Workers Prisoners Drawing the Threads Together and Behaving Like Comrades PART II, GUERRILLA HISTORY 119 WHAT IS GUERRILLA HISTORY? 121 HISTORY FROM THE BOTTOM UP British Marxist Historians 124 AMERICAN RADICAL HISTORIANS 127 EcONOMIC INTEREST AND IdEOLOGY 131 SONS OF LIBERTY 132 HISTORY BY PARTICIPANTS IN THE STRUggLE vi vii 137 HISTORY AS AccOMPANIMENT The U.S. Steel Case The Supermax Prison and the Lucasville Rebellion 146 STAN, MARTY AND SOLIDARITY UNIONISM Stan Weir The S.S. Hanapepe The Oakland General Strike The Informal Work Group Marty Glaberman From Action to Ideas The Grievance PART III, MY COUNTRY IS THE WORLD 157 HOMELAND WITHOUT NATIONALITY Going Too Far toward a False Internationalism Finding One’s Way toward an Internationalism of the Heart A Synthesis 163 HUMANITARIAN AcTIVISM Blacks and Whites Almost Together White Skin Privilege and Offing the Pig 169 PEOPLE DIFFERENT FROM ONESELF People Different from Oneself Accompaniment Is Not Deference 177 EXAMPLES OF INTERRACIAL SOLIDARITY Interracial Cooperation among the Poor 180 ANABAPTISM AND MOVEMENTS OF THE 1950S AND 1960S 183 NATIVE AMERICANS AND COLONISTS WHO LIVED TOGETHER 185 CONSENSUS

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