Time for a Charm Offensive? a Look at Policing Post-G20
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Libertarian Marxism Mao-Spontex Open Marxism Popular Assembly Sovereign Citizen Movement Spontaneism Sui Iuris
Autonomist Marxist Theory and Practice in the Current Crisis Brian Marks1 University of Arizona School of Geography and Development [email protected] Abstract Autonomist Marxism is a political tendency premised on the autonomy of the proletariat. Working class autonomy is manifested in the self-activity of the working class independent of formal organizations and representations, the multiplicity of forms that struggles take, and the role of class composition in shaping the overall balance of power in capitalist societies, not least in the relationship of class struggles to the character of capitalist crises. Class composition analysis is applied here to narrate the recent history of capitalism leading up to the current crisis, giving particular attention to China and the United States. A global wave of struggles in the mid-2000s was constituitive of the kinds of working class responses to the crisis that unfolded in 2008-10. The circulation of those struggles and resultant trends of recomposition and/or decomposition are argued to be important factors in the balance of political forces across the varied geography of the present crisis. The whirlwind of crises and the autonomist perspective The whirlwind of crises (Marks, 2010) that swept the world in 2008, financial panic upon food crisis upon energy shock upon inflationary spiral, receded temporarily only to surge forward again, leaving us in a turbulent world, full of possibility and peril. Is this the end of Neoliberalism or its retrenchment? A new 1 Published under the Creative Commons licence: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works Autonomist Marxist Theory and Practice in the Current Crisis 468 New Deal or a new Great Depression? The end of American hegemony or the rise of an “imperialism with Chinese characteristics?” Or all of those at once? This paper brings the political tendency known as autonomist Marxism (H. -
Ida Mett – the Kronstadt Uprising
Ida Mett was born as Ida Markovna Gilman on July 20th, 1901 in Smorgon in the Russian m!ire "now Smarhon#, Belarus)& 'redomin( antly Jewish, the small industrial town was a hotbed of radi*alism& Ida be*ame an anar*hist while studying medi*ine in Moscow& She was soon arrested )or +anti(Soviet a*tivities’ and was e,!elled )rom the *ountry with her -rst husband, .avid /ennenbaum, in 1920& In 1921, Ida was in 'aris& Here she be*ame involved with the Grou! of Russian 3nar*hists 3broad, whi*h in*luded the great -ghter Neestor Makhno, his sometime *ollaborator 'eter 3rshinov, and )ellow anar*ho-syndi*alist Nei*olas 5a6ar7vit*h, who she later married& 3s well as editing the journal, Dielo Truda "9orkers’ :ause%, Mett was one o) the *o-authors of the Grou!#s *ontroversial but infuential +Organisational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft)# < the 'lat)orm& 19=1 )ound her *elebrating May .ay with anar*hist heroes Buenaventura .urruti and >ran*isco 3scaso in $ar*elona& 'resent at this meeting were also the veteran Russian anar*hist ?oline, 3ugustin Sou*hy "author of With the Peasants of Aragon, available )rom this !ublisher% and :amilo Berneri "murdered by the :ommunists during the Bar*elona May vents of 19=@%& Ba*k in 'aris, Ida served as se*retary o) the local gas workers’ union, all the time writing and agitating, being arrested many times. It was in this !eriod that the booklet you are reading now was written& 3Aer the >all o) >ran*e in 1900, Mett was briefy interned by the ?i*hy regime in Rieu*ros *am!, be)ore the renegade :ommunist Boris Souvarine su**essfully arranged her release& She spent the rest of the war, with her husband and their ten year old son Mar*, in 5a Garde(>reinet, a quiet mountain village near the :ôte d#36ur& Returning to 'aris, !ost(war Ida worked as a nurse in a sanat( orium )or Jewish *hildren in Brunoy, and later as a translator& She was never able to !ra*ti*e as a doctor be*ause her Buali-*ations were not re*ognised by the authorities. -
Practical Anarchism: the Makhnovist Movement in the Ukraine, 1917Â
Phi Alpha Theta Pacific Northwest Conference, 8–10 April 2021 Zion G. Flores, Eastern Washington University, undergraduate student, “Practical Anarchism: The Makhnovist Movement in the Ukraine, 1917–1921” Abstract: Anarchism was one of the most prominent revolutionary left-wing movements in 19th and 20th century Europe, even contending as a philosophy with Marxism in many socialist circles. However, anarchism is generally believed today to be unrealistic and impractical as a political ideology. When looking at the modern historical record though, this does not always seem to be the case. I plan to explore whether the Makhnovist movement in the Ukraine from 1917-1921 provides an exception to the idea that anarchist movements are never viable. This movement, guided in large part by anarcho-communist Nestor Makhno, was one of the first to take modern anarchism from theory into practice. Although its existence was brief and its ability to fully realize anarchist ideals was limited by the circumstances of the time, the question must be asked: does the Makhnovist movement serve as an example of practical anarchism? Practical Anarchism The Makhnovist Movement in the Ukraine, 1917-1921 Zion G. Flores Eastern Washington University [email protected] Undergraduate 1 On March 2, 1917, Nestor Makhno took his first steps outside the Butyrki Prison of Moscow in over eight years. As Russia was being delivered from the chains of Tsardom, so too was Makhno delivered from his imprisonment as a part of the emancipation of prisoners during the February Revolution.1 His body emerged weak and weary from the debilitating conditions of his imprisonment.2 His commitment to anarchism, his rebellious spirit, and his fervor to emancipate toiling people from “slavery under the yoke of State and Capital” however had only grown stronger despite the seemingly hopeless prospects. -
An Anarchist FAQ — Section I Contents
An Anarchist FAQ — Section I Contents Section I: What would an anarchist society look like? 4 I.1 Isn’t libertarian socialism an oxymoron? 12 I.1.1 Is socialism impossible? ................................ 17 I.1.2 Is libertarian communism impossible? ........................ 27 I.1.3 What is wrong with markets anyway? ........................ 39 I.1.4 If capitalism is exploitative, then isn't socialism as well? . 45 I.1.5 Does capitalism efficiently allocate resources? .................... 48 I.2 Is this a blueprint for an anarchist society? 62 I.2.1 Why discuss what an anarchist society would be like at all? . 66 I.2.2 Will it be possible to go straight to an anarchist society from capitalism? . 68 I.2.3 How is the framework of an anarchist society created? . 72 I.3 What could the economic structure of anarchy look like? 79 I.3.1 What is a "syndicate"? ................................. 83 I.3.2 What is workers' self-management? ......................... 90 I.3.3 What does socialisation mean? ............................ 96 I.3.4 What relations would exist between individual syndicates? . 102 I.3.5 What would confederations of syndicates do? . 106 I.3.6 What about competition between syndicates? . 113 I.3.7 What about people who do not want to join a syndicate? . 118 I.3.8 Do anarchists seek "small autonomous communities, devoted to small scale produc- tion"? .......................................... 119 I.4 How would an anarchist economy function? 123 I.4.1 What is the point of economic activity in anarchy? . 127 I.4.2 Why do anarchists desire to abolish work? . 129 I.4.3 How do anarchists intend to abolish work? . -
Class Wargames Class Class Wargames Ludic Ludic Subversion Against Spectacular Capitalism
class wargames Class Wargames ludic Ludic subversion against spectacular capitalism subversion Why should radicals be interested in playing wargames? Surely the Left can have no interest in such militarist fantasies? Yet, Guy Debord – the leader of the Situationist International – placed such importance on his class invention of The Game of War that he described it as the most significant of against his accomplishments. wargames Intrigued by this claim, a multinational group of artists, activists and spectacular academics formed Class Wargames to investigate the political and strategic lessons that could be learnt from playing his ludic experiment. While the ideas of the Situationists continue to be highly influential in the development of subversive art and politics, relatively little attention has been paid to their strategic orientation. Determined to correct this deficiency, Class Wargames is committed to exploring how Debord used the capitalism metaphor of the Napoleonic battlefield to propagate a Situationist analysis of modern society. Inspired by his example, its members have also hacked other military simulations: H.G. Wells’ Little Wars; Chris Peers’ Reds versus Reds and Richard Borg’s Commands & Colors. Playing wargames is not a diversion from politics: it is the training ground of tomorrow’s cybernetic communist insurgents. Fusing together historical research on avant-garde artists, political revolutionaries and military theorists with narratives of five years of public performances, Class Wargames provides a strategic and tactical manual for overthrowing the economic, political and ideological hierarchies of early- 21st century neoliberal capitalism. The knowledge required to create a truly human civilisation is there to be discovered on the game board! richard ludic subversion against barbrook spectacular capitalism Minor Compositions An imprint of Autonomedia Front cover painting: Kimathi Donkor, Toussaint L’Ouverture at Bedourete (2004). -
Anarchism in Hungary: Theory, History, Legacies
CHSP HUNGARIAN STUDIES SERIES NO. 7 EDITORS Peter Pastor Ivan Sanders A Joint Publication with the Institute of Habsburg History, Budapest Anarchism in Hungary: Theory, History, Legacies András Bozóki and Miklós Sükösd Translated from the Hungarian by Alan Renwick Social Science Monographs, Boulder, Colorado Center for Hungarian Studies and Publications, Inc. Wayne, New Jersey Distributed by Columbia University Press, New York 2005 EAST EUROPEAN MONOGRAPHS NO. DCLXX Originally published as Az anarchizmus elmélete és magyarországi története © 1994 by András Bozóki and Miklós Sükösd © 2005 by András Bozóki and Miklós Sükösd © 2005 by the Center for Hungarian Studies and Publications, Inc. 47 Cecilia Drive, Wayne, New Jersey 07470–4649 E-mail: [email protected] This book is a joint publication with the Institute of Habsburg History, Budapest www.Habsburg.org.hu Library of Congress Control Number 2005930299 ISBN 9780880335683 Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 PART ONE: ANARCHIST SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY 7 1. Types of Anarchism: an Analytical Framework 7 1.1. Individualism versus Collectivism 9 1.2. Moral versus Political Ways to Social Revolution 11 1.3. Religion versus Antireligion 12 1.4. Violence versus Nonviolence 13 1.5. Rationalism versus Romanticism 16 2. The Essential Features of Anarchism 19 2.1. Power: Social versus Political Order 19 2.2. From Anthropological Optimism to Revolution 21 2.3. Anarchy 22 2.4. Anarchist Mentality 24 3. Critiques of Anarchism 27 3.1. How Could Institutions of Just Rule Exist? 27 3.2. The Problem of Coercion 28 3.3. An Anarchist Economy? 30 3.4. How to Deal with Antisocial Behavior? 34 3.5. -
Archives Solidarity (London) 1960-1988 (-1993)1960-1988
Archives Solidarity (London) 1960-1988 (-1993)1960-1988 International Institute of Social History Cruquiusweg 31 1019 AT Amsterdam The Netherlands hdl:10622/ARCH01366 © IISH Amsterdam 2020 Archives Solidarity (London) 1960-1988 (-1993)1960-1988 Table of contents Archives Solidarity (London).............................................................................................................3 Context............................................................................................................................................... 3 Content and Structure........................................................................................................................3 Access and Use.................................................................................................................................4 PRELIMINARY LIST.........................................................................................................................4 Conferences................................................................................................................................ 4 Correspondence.......................................................................................................................... 5 Circulars...................................................................................................................................... 8 Groups and regional meetings................................................................................................... 9 Organisation............................................................................................................................... -
Ukraine, L9l8-21 and Spain, 1936-39: a Comparison of Armed Anarchist Struggles in Europe
Bucknell University Bucknell Digital Commons Honors Theses Student Theses Fall 2020 Ukraine, l9l8-21 and Spain, 1936-39: A Comparison of Armed Anarchist Struggles in Europe Daniel A. Collins Bucknell University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses Part of the European History Commons Recommended Citation Collins, Daniel A., "Ukraine, l9l8-21 and Spain, 1936-39: A Comparison of Armed Anarchist Struggles in Europe" (2020). Honors Theses. 553. https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/honors_theses/553 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Theses at Bucknell Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Bucknell Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ukraine, 1918-21 and Spain, 1936-39: A Comparison of Armed Anarchist Struggles in Europe by Daniel A. Collins An Honors Thesis Submitted to the Honors Council For Honors in History 12/7/2020 Approved by: Adviser:_____________________________ David Del Testa Second Evaluator: _____________________ Mehmet Dosemeci iii Acknowledgements Above all others I want to thank Professor David Del Testa. From my first oddly specific question about the Austro-Hungarians on the Italian front in my first week of undergraduate, to here, three and a half years later, Professor Del Testa has been involved in all of the work I am proud of. From lectures in Coleman Hall to the Somme battlefield, Professor Del Testa has guided me on my journey to explore World War I and the Interwar Period, which rapidly became my topics of choice. -
Anarchist Current
of Stirnerian egoism and Proudhonian economics, although the European individualists were more consistent in their extremism. The problem for both is that while an egoist will not wanttobe exploited or dominated by anyone else, there is no reason why he or she would not exploit or dominate others. If the egoist The Anarchist Current can use existing power structures, or create new ones, to his or Continuity and Change in Anarchist Thought her advantage, then there is no reason for the egoist to adopt an anarchist stance. Furthermore, when each person regards the other simply as a means to his or her ends, taking and doing Robert Graham whatever is in his or her power, as Stirner advocated, it would seem unlikely that a Proudhonian economy of small property holders exchanging their products among one another would be able to function, for Proudhon’s notions of equivalent exchange and economic justice would carry no weight, even if they were feasible in a modern industrial economy. Armand rejected Proudhon’s notion of contract, arguing that “every contract can be voided the moment it injures one of the con- tracting parties,” since the individual is “free of all obligations as well as of collective morality.” At most, the individualist “is will- ing to enter into short-term arrangements only” as “an expedient,” being “only ever answerable to himself for his deeds and actions” (Volume One, Selection 42). Tucker, despite his attempts to base his anarchism on Stirner’s egoism, believed that contracts freely entered into should be binding and enforceable. In addition, he advocated the creation of “self-defence” associations to protect people’s property, opening the way, Kropotkin argued, “for reconstituting under the heading of ‘defence’ all the functions of the state” (1910: 18). -
The Makhnos of Memory: Mennonite and Makhnovist Narratives of The
The Makhnos of Memory: Mennonite and Makhnovist Narratives of the Civil War in Ukraine, 1917-1921 by Sean David Patterson A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Manitoba in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Department of History Joint Master’s Program University of Manitoba Winnipeg Copyright © 2013 by Sean David Patterson All that we have a right to demand of history is that it shall point us with faithful and sure hand to the general causes of human suffering - among these causes it will not forget the immolation and subordination (still too frequent, alas!) of living individuals to abstract generalities – at the same time showing us the general conditions necessary to the real emancipation of individuals living in society. That is its mission, those are its limits, beyond which the action of social science can only be impotent and fatal. - Mikhail Bakunin, God and the State This thesis is dedicated to all victims of Ukraine’s revolution and civil war. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iv CHAPTER 1 – Theory and Methodology ...................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 – Through Makhnovist Eyes .................................................................................. -
“For a World Without Oppressors:” U.S. Anarchism from the Palmer
“For a World Without Oppressors:” U.S. Anarchism from the Palmer Raids to the Sixties by Andrew Cornell A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Social and Cultural Analysis Program in American Studies New York University January, 2011 _______________________ Andrew Ross © Andrew Cornell All Rights Reserved, 2011 “I am undertaking something which may turn out to be a resume of the English speaking anarchist movement in America and I am appalled at the little I know about it after my twenty years of association with anarchists both here and abroad.” -W.S. Van Valkenburgh, Letter to Agnes Inglis, 1932 “The difficulty in finding perspective is related to the general American lack of a historical consciousness…Many young white activists still act as though they have nothing to learn from their sisters and brothers who struggled before them.” -George Lakey, Strategy for a Living Revolution, 1971 “From the start, anarchism was an open political philosophy, always transforming itself in theory and practice…Yet when people are introduced to anarchism today, that openness, combined with a cultural propensity to forget the past, can make it seem a recent invention—without an elastic tradition, filled with debates, lessons, and experiments to build on.” -Cindy Milstein, Anarchism and Its Aspirations, 2010 “Librarians have an ‘academic’ sense, and can’t bare to throw anything away! Even things they don’t approve of. They acquire a historic sense. At the time a hand-bill may be very ‘bad’! But the following day it becomes ‘historic.’” -Agnes Inglis, Letter to Highlander Folk School, 1944 “To keep on repeating the same attempts without an intelligent appraisal of all the numerous failures in the past is not to uphold the right to experiment, but to insist upon one’s right to escape the hard facts of social struggle into the world of wishful belief. -
Accounts of Sitdown Strikes and Workplace Occupations in the UK and Around the World
OH SIT DOWN! Accounts of sitdown strikes and workplace occupations in the UK and around the world Compiled by libcom.org - a resource for discontented workers Table of contents 2001: Brighton bin men's strike and occupation............................. 3 2000: Cellatex chemical plant occupation, France ....................... 10 2007: Migrant workers' occupation wins, France.......................... 14 2004: Strike and occupation of IT workers at Schneider Electrics, France .......................................................................................... 15 2008: 23 day long occupation of major power-plant in northern Greece ends in police repression................................................. 18 1992-4: The incomplete story of the University College Hospital strikes and occupations................................................................ 20 1972: Under new management - Fisher-Bendix occupation ........ 62 2003: Zanon factory occupation - interview with workers, Argentina ..................................................................................................... 72 Editors’ notes This booklet was compiled very rapidly* 2008 following a series of workplace occupations which workers have launched in response to redundancies. As employers use the financial crisis to make layoffs, attacked pensions, pay, and working conditions, an increasing number of workers are beginning to resist. As we go to press, hundreds of workers sacked with no notice or redundancy pay are occupying Visteon car part plants in London and Belfast to demand treatment in line with their contracts with Ford. Workers at the Prisme plant in Dundee have been occupying their workplace for weeks, demanding redundancy pay. This booklet reproduces accounts and analysis, some very short, some very detailed, of some workplace occupations by other groups of workers in the UK and elsewhere over the past 40 years. We hope that the experiences and lessons gained by workers in the past can be a small contribution to help inform and inspire our fellow workers today.