(en) Britain, AF Organise #83 - The Phoenix of Anarchism

Below we document the rebirth of anarchism around the world. ---- Not only has a movement 
re-emerged in many countries that had a historical tradition, including where many decades 
of repression had apparently extinguished it, like Eastern Europe, but a movement appears 
to be taking shape where it either never had a presence or had a very feeble one. Here we 
look at the statements of two new groups, one in Iceland, so much affected by the economic 
crisis of 2011, and one in the Caribbean. Whilst the Icelandic anarchists appear to have 
defined them - selves as anarchist-communists, the comrades in the Caribbean seem to not 
want to attempt such a definition at this stage. We welcome, nevertheless, the 
consolidation and increasing communication between the groups in the region (it should be 
remembered that Cuba was home to a strong anarchist movement which whilst it was able to 
exist under the dictator Batista was almost eradicated under the Castro regime).

Note: A phoenix is a mythical bird
that is regularly reborn.

ICELAND

Uppr?ting Bandalag Anarkista (Uppr?ting Alliance of Anarchists)

Background
Uppr?ting is an informal
organization of revolutionary
anarchists in Iceland. The group is
really in its birth and has been
meeting every one or two
months since late 2012. How that
came to be was the Occupy
movement in Reykjav?k in
November 2011, brought
together a group of mostly young
people to start meeting in a

consensus-based direct
democracy assembly. Most had
not known each other before and
had very different experiences
with activism and some had just
begun. Being fascinated by a real
democratic process and drive for
change in society most of the
Occupiers continued meeting
after Occupy Reykjavik ended.

That led to the forming of
H?purinn (The Group) which was
supposed to carry on the
struggle. That attempt failed and
H?purinn dissolved, probably due
to lack of aims and general
direction.

Since the end of 2011 nothing
happened until August 2012
when people were called back
together to attempt to form an
revolutionary organization that
would never be a part of the
political process in Iceland. Aside
from that, nothing was really
decided beforehand on how to
do this, so meetings were held
every fortnight in the beginning
to decide on how it should be.
First the decision process was
decided which was consensus-
based direct democracy with the
option of a majority vote. Then
the aims decided were pretty
simple: propaganda and actions
and lastly the name was
decided - Uppr?ting. When
discussing solutions for our
society a comrade of ours
suggested we looked into
anarchist-communism, so we
organized a reading group on
Peter Kropotkin's The Conquest of
Bread. We finally saw a glimpse
of how to practically achieve a
revolution that had nothing to do
with politicians, a real revolution
of the people. Next step for the
group was to promote the
revolution. Two of our members
agreed to have a talk at the
Radical University (A Marxist
summer school) and that also
gave us the opportunity to talk
about anarchist-communism on a
radio station that was covering
the Radical University. To make a
long story short though the
cooperation with the Marxists did
not work out in the end. There
were some fundamental
disagreements that we had not
foreseen.

Since then meetings have
continued, a Facebook page was
created for propaganda, the core
members grew, we further
educated ourselves on
anarchism, strengthened our
bonds and expanded our contact
network.

Activities: irregular/regular
meetings, radio promotion,
promotion at the Radical
University, social media
propaganda, social gatherings,
graffiti, distributing leaflets, flag
making, some participation in
protests, participation in 1st May.

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/stjornleysi/posts/1493536514191208

CARIBBEAN

For the Caribbean Anarchist
Federation
Kiskeya Libertaria (Dominican
Republic) and Taller Libertario
Alfredo Lopez (Cuba)
The Caribbean has been one of
the privileged settings where the
so called modernity, that
explosive mixture of capitalism
and statism, has shown its least
respectable face to the world.
That persistent and well
distributed barbarism, among
the agents of the Spanish,
English, French, Dutch... empires
has created, centuries later, a
world of detached islanders,
attentive to the signs of the old
and the new colonial metropolis
and castrated, in many cases,
from the possibility to talk
among ourselves without
tutelary mediators.

The second half of the twentieth
century brought to the Caribbean
the frenzy for decolonization and
[the creation of] "sovereign
states" that in sum have become
another step toward the lack of
communica tion, apparently
mitigated in later years by the
unions and alliances among the
Caribbean states. But in any case,
it is the union of the heads of
states that they present to us as
"the unity of peoples." It is not,
and has not been, except for few
and beautiful occasions, an
alliance of concrete communities
or of people united in an arduous
liberating and anti-authoritative
ideal.

The compas from Kiskeya
Libertaria in the Dominican
Republic and from the Taller
Libertario Alfredo Lopez in
Havana, have decided to join
forces to come together and
organize ourselves in a Caribbean
Anarchist Federation. This
Federation aims to combine
purposes here and now for a
society based on the principles
we want to apply of self-
management, voluntary
association and mutual aid
opposing all social relations
based on hierarchies,
authoritarianism and forms of
discriminations such as statism,
capitalism, classism, sexism,
racism, colonialism, urbanism,
industrialism, academicism,
among innumerable
manifestations of power more or
less institutionalized.

In the face of this framework of
dominations we also want to
counterpose our response of
mutual aid, self-management
and solidarity with a clear anti-
authoritarian and libertarian
spirit. This federative project
will not promote a particular
form of anarchism beforehand,
because we don't see anarchism
in any of its currents as a
dogma; rather, we see it as a
movement of cohesiveness,
of free learning and dedicated
towards the world we want
without oppression, exploita -
tion, sacred authorities or
paralyzing orders.

In that sense, this Federation will
work for solidarity and self-
management and for the
creation of cooperative projects
among those peoples and
collectives that coherently self-
identify as "anarchists," but also
among those who without
proclaiming an anarchist
condition, live and work on a
daily basis and in any setting,
under the community-driven
and liberating spirit shown in
their actions without shepherds
and flocks, or leaders and
followers.

Defining the geographical limits
of the Caribbean has been a
difficult for various social
sciences. However, for us this
isn't a problem, but a possibility.
The Caribbean region is not only
formed by its islands or the
adjacent mainland territories,
the Caribbean exists there where
there are those who feel and
suffer its contradictions and
inequalities. The Caribbean also
exists where there are friends
and compa?erxs who share its
ideas, feelings and struggles.

For this reasons, those of us who
encourage this Caribbean
Anarchist Federation will work
hard toward integrating with
compas from Central American,
from where in 2010 the first
attempt towards a federation
that we know of in Central
America and the Caribbean was
born, through the compas from
the Colectivo La Espiral and their
magazine La Libertad in San
Jos?, Costa Rica.

From the Colectivo La Espiral we
should carefully take on the
suggestions that to create a
regional federative process "it's
important to first strengthen the
local processes of formation and
influence of a libertarian
practice and mentality", but as
they themselves point out, the
regional federation can be "a
means to invigorate and
strengthen our identity (...)
always having our feet on the
ground"

What is the meaning of
anarchism in our region...? What
are its possibilities? Which are
its limitations and difficulties...?
Those are some of the questions
that the compas from Central
America left us four years ago
and that could be the subject of
dialogues in assemblies in any
locality as the base of this
new effort for regional
organizing.

What we dream of is not
escorted by the glory of any
"objective possibility;" contrary
to others, we don't believe that
negotiating disfigured
fragments of our ideals, or
putting them to indefinite
hibernation for better times, we
could move forward beyond
what we already know. We
deem necessary every kind of
effort that could transfigure into
reciprocal affection and trust
that could in turn become
factors of firmer alliances from
where our federative effort
could grow in a safe way.

For all this we propose a
constitutive meeting of the
F.A.C.-C [-Central American]
(Caribbean and Central American
Anarchist Federation) in the
Dominican Republic in March of
2015. We call individuals and
"delegates" of anarchist
collectives in the region to join
us in this meeting that will be an
initial decisive moment to
compare and coordinate actions,
ideas and supplies based on the
topics/themes that would
emerge from each collective
according to their location.

Contact and information:
Cibaolibertario@gmail.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cibao-Libertario-Centro-Social/26213471Libertario-Centro

"Anarquismo en Centroam?rica: una
peque?a radiograf?a actual" En: La
Libertad. N?mero Especial 11-12. San
Jos? de Costa Rica. Diciembre 2010,
p?g.10.

(Anarchism in Central America: a brief
radiography of the present." In La
Libertad Special Number 11-12. San
Jose de Costa Rica. December, 2010.
page 10.)