The FdA (F?deration Deutschsprachiger AnarchistInnen) From forum to federation of German speaking Anarchists (de)

The FdA (F?deration Deutschsprachiger AnarchistInnen), like AF, are a member organisation 
of the International of Anarchist Federations. They have produced this new statement about 
their organisational development. We wish them all the best and look forward to continued 
cooperation. ---- At our last meeting in Witten, we decided to rename ourselves into the 
Federation of German speaking Anarchists in order to reflect the upswing in our 
structures. ---- Even though it is still a long way for us to be present in all of the 
German speaking region, we still wanted to dare this step and proclaim the Federation of 
German speaking Anarchists. We lay great stress on the fact that we, of course, don?t see 
us as the ?federation of all anarchists? and therefore don?t presume to be the sole 
legitimate representation of anarchists. Nevertheless, anarchists from all currents are 
welcome to join us, as long as they concur with our principles.

?German speaking? means in this context the geographical language area, especially 
Germany, Austria and the Northern part of Switzerland. As anarchists we want to overcome 
nations and state borders, a fact that we want to stress by widening the scope of the 
organization to this language area. Language as a criterium doesn?t have an identitary 
meaning for us, it?s simply the most reasonable thing regarding the daily practice ? not 
everyone of us has the knowledge of other languages and translating all relevant 
information would overextend our possiblities (for now at least). Nonetheless, we have 
good contacts to federations and groups in other regions.

There were several reasons for this step from forum to federation: one the one hand, after 
a phase of stagnation in the work of FdA over the last years there is a fresh breeze and a 
lot of interest in supraregional networking. On the other, a lot of anarchist groups have 
been newly founded over the last three years. General interest in anarchist ideas has 
risen noticeably too. Many groups from the Southwest of Germany have joined FdA in the 
last year, for example, as the first regional federation, the Anarchist Network 
Southwest*. Furthermore, we are present with groups in many other regions of the German 
speaking area, but also with a
printers? collective in Zurich, Switzerland. At the moment, large efforts are made to form 
a common organization of groups in the Rhine-Ruhr region, that is closely linked to FdA. 
For over two years, our monthly newspaper, the Gaidao, has been published as an online 
document, and since January also in a printed version.

We consider it important to create structures that are free of domination, to experiment 
with them, to gain new experiences and to consolidate those structures by doing so. We 
want to use our common resources in a better way, to learn from each other, to organize 
and practice solidarity. Together, we want to look at the bigger picture, be active 
supraregionally and globally. For a common international organization FdA is part of the 
IFA, the International of Anarchist Federations. IFA offers us the opportunity of an 
exchange of ideas with anarchists from around the globe and to be able to help each other 
in our local struggles.

Unlike other regions, like the Iberian peninsula, the French speaking region or the 
British Isles, we cannot resort to an organization that is functioning for decades, but 
need to develop a lot by ourselves. But we can see that also as a chance. We can learn 
from the experiences of other federations. This process is a neverending one, as it calls 
for a constant query and improvement of our own structures, our practices, our way of 
life. Of course, by proclaiming the Anarchist Federation we haven?t achieved our goal yet. 
Especially now, that we can see a rise in social struggles in other countries, as the 
capitalist crisis widens and countless people are left with nothing, as nationalism, 
racism, antisemitism and other inhuman ideologies are on the rise and there is a greater 
danger of facing fascist parties and organizations, it is important to organize ourselves 
against these impositions at a larger scale.

We won?t tire to fight against oppresion, exploitation and domination in order to overcome 
them as a whole.

With this in mind:

Live anarchy ? organize anarchism!

Federation of German speaking Anarchists (FdA ? IFA)