Today's Topics:
1. anarkismo.net: Against the visit of Erdogan by Anarchist
Federation (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Alternative Libertaire AL Decembre - #Me too, I have
#balanced: and after ? (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Britain, Brighton Solfed - outside Youngs estate agent in
Kemptown, (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. awsm.nz: Workers resist redundancies, outsourcing and cuts
at Rotorua Aquatic Centre by Phil Duncan (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. wsm.ie: Sometimes Lightning Strikes Twice: Pledge to Strike
4 Repeal (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. US, black rose fed: TWENTY-FIVE THESES ON FASCISM By Shane
Burley (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Greece, "dwarf horse" - APO: Commemoration of Alexis
Grigoropoulos assassination by the cops - Posted by denial (gr)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Give a message of international solidarity and a practical community of the contestants.
Give a message against the war plans in our region, against the fascist regime Erdogan,
alongside the Turkish and Kurdish militants fighting it. ---- For the arrest of DHKP-C
fighters and Erdogan's visit, ---- we stand on the side of the arrested. And because this
story has just begun one thing, we have to say to the Greek state and Syriza: Do not dare
to issue them to Turkey, do not dare to send them to torture and death. We will be back.
We call on the world to frame all the racing moves against Erdogan's visit, breaking in
practice the bans of the Greek state. To give a message of internationalist solidarity and
a working community of the contestants. Give a message against the war plans in our
region, against the fascist regime Erdogan, alongside the Turkish and Kurdish militants
fighting it.
Turkey
Nine members of the Turkish / Kurdish revolutionary organization DHKP-C were arrested
after a spectacular police operation in Athens. In a completely foreseeable way, the
well-known Orlerian Orchestra, which is always set up after the capture of any fighter,
regardless of whether it is native or not, broke out in the media. The narrative contained
a supposed "hitting" during Erdogan's visit, "foreign terrorists thrashing down", national
dangers, generalized lawlessness ...
At a time when Greece is involved in war zones in the eastern Mediterranean region, the
US-Russia imperialist competition and regional forces (Israel, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey)
form camps in the face of geopolitical rearrangements already counting hundreds of
thousands millions of refugees, incalculable disasters in our neighborhood, social
vigilance and international solidarity are the only answer.
The same people, the same mechanisms that up until yesterday had been tortured against the
Fascist regime Erdogan, those who "did everything" to protect the Turkish officers who
fled to Greece after the failed coup in Turkey now scream against militants who daily
fight against this regime.
It's not weird. Behind the national crowns, far behind the crowns for democracies and
rights, the class and social position is the one that determines who the enemies are and
what friends. A coup is an acceptable way of resistance to a dictator, the mass struggle
from the base is not. We received the message ...
A few days before Erdogan's visit, the Greek state, Syriza, chose to make a gift to the
Turkish state following the policy of the previous government when militants were taken
from the middle of the road and sent a package to Turkey and death. And that was expected.
The continuity of the state is given.
On our part, we stand in solidarity with the arrested. We stand in solidarity with every
struggling, internationalist force, first of all in our own geopolitical corner of the
world. From DHKP-C to the PKK and Turkish and Kurdish anarchists and other fighters. The
ideological and political differences, in the current circumstances and with the present
dangers that reach up to the war, are insignificant and luxurious. A net of solidarity
must be set between the competitors. A net that is the only rival awe to the enemy. The
enemy in the state elites, the capitalists and the mechanisms of power in Greece and
Turkey and everywhere.
So we stand on the side of the arrested. And because this story has just begun one thing,
we have to say to the Greek State and Syriza: Do not dare to issue them to Turkey, do not
dare to send them to torture and death.
We will be back.
We call on the world to frame all the racing moves against Erdogan's visit, breaking in
practice the bans of the Greek state.
To give a message of internationalist solidarity and a working community of the
contestants. Give a message against the war plans in our region, against the fascist
regime Erdogan, alongside the Turkish and Kurdish militants fighting it.
Anarchist Federations
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/30720
------------------------------
Message: 2
While the government is proudly waving the flag of yet another harassment law, this time
on the street, the news shows that the laws do not protect women from violence. The #metoo
and #balancetonporc movements highlighted the lack of space for expression and appropriate
responses. ---- At the beginning of October, US newspapers reveal that Harvey Weinstein is
accused of harassment, assault or rape by 12 women. Following this, many other women speak
and accuse Weinstein (93 female victims) and other men of show-bizz. Confidence brings
confidence, speech is free, facilitated by spaces that seem more accessible, including
social networks where hashtags flourish around issues of gender-based violence. ---- In
France, journalist Sandra Muller launches the hashtag #balancetonporc on the social
network platform Twitter on October 13 ; a few days later, more than 150,000 messages were
exchanged and 16,000 attacks reported. It will be followed by others like #metoo or
#moiaussi, bringing together women who want to speak, but also get together to join
forces. This will give fifteen events " #Metoo in real life " in France on October 30th.
These testimonies allow finally to have a public and collective word, denouncing facts all
supposedly illegal. This shows, once again, that patriarchy and its expression are not
opposed by legislating. However, the injunction is clear: complain, otherwise you can only
blame yourself ! Even though, in cases of rape, only one in ten complaints result in a
conviction. Society individualizes the relationship to gender-based violence. It would be
a particular situation, rejected on the victim of the act (his dress, his degree of
alcohol, his " attitude " ...), or linked to a " pathology " of the aggressor. No
collective challenge is on the agenda ; however, the plurality of testimonies underlines
the societal dimension of these attacks.
Awareness and fight against patriarchy
Our need for common elaboration and denunciation is rooted in the inexistence of current
solutions, but also echoes other women's movements. These tools helped to initiate and win
struggles. This is for example the case of the manifesto of 343 sluts in 1971, at the time
supporting the feminist struggle for the right to abortion and contraception for all.
It is through this realization that we are not alone, neither a particular case nor an
almost guilty victim, that the fight against the patriarchal system is beginning to
advance in a historical way. We can only support all forms of collective organization,
whatever they may be, and whatever the space invested. Everywhere, women who have never
done so before are preparing to take to the streets on November 25th during the annual
event against violence against women. These spaces are for us an opportunity to reaffirm
that sexist and sexual violence must stop, everywhere and all the time, in our places of
life, work, struggle, so that fear finally changes sides.
Julie (AL Lorient), Emilie (AL St Denis), Flo (AL Lorient)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Moi-aussi-j-ai-balance-et-apres
------------------------------
Message: 3
We're outside Youngs estate agent in Kemptown again today, demanding compensation and
repair works for two different tenants! One tenant's flat was so damp that both her
children developed asthma, and one bedroom was uninhabitable. Another tenant has had
fifteen years of neglected repair works, and their bedroom is also uninhabitable because
of damp.
Tenants are fighting back using direct action and solidarity - an injury to one is an an
injury to all!
------------------------------
Message: 4
Last Friday (December 1) all the staff at Rotorua Aquatics, which is owned by the local
council, were presented with redundancy notices. ---- The Council wants to bring in an
outside management company, and is preparing the ground for this with the redundancy
notices. The Rotorua Lakes Council is so high-handed that it didn't even bother with the
usual employer pretence of "consultation". ---- The mayor involved in this assault on
workers' rights is Steve Chadwick, a former four-term Labour MP ---- Not surprisingly, the
mayor involved in this attack on workers' rights is a former Labour MP, Steve Chadwick.
---- The Council's over-riding motive is clear - penny-pinching at the expense of the
Aquatic Centre workers and the local community who use the centre and whose children learn
to swim there. The Council says outsourcing management will save $700,000 in the first
year alone.
What this means is that the new management will hire workers who are less well-trained and
who will work for less. Existing workers can reapply for thier jobs, but at the
much-reduced rates of pay and worsened conditions.
Sid Warena, a lifeguard at the centre for 29 years, has described what is happening as
"gut-wrenching", especially given Rotorua's unemployment rate. The official rate is 6.7%,
notably higher than the national average; while the real rate of unemployment and
under-employment is much higher.
Alex Te Kowhai, a shift superviser at the Aquatic Centre, notes, "Like everyone in Rotorua
we've got a mortgage, a house, three young kids- eleven, six and five. . . Although you
can apply for those positions, you lose a lot of your terms and conditions that come with
it. And what they're offering is minimum wage."
The workers and local community aren't taking the Council's high-handed austerity lying
down. Their facebook page already has 800 likes and over 800 followers. They are holding a
protest march next Thursday (December 14), coinciding with the next Council meeting.
These workers are setting a good example. Redundancies and cost-cutting at the expense of
workers always need to be met with resistance and too frequently in this country at
present they aren't.
If you're anywhere near Rotorua you can go along to the march.
Otherwise you can like the workers' facebook page, sign the petition against the Council
moves, donate to the campaign and share the news to your friends, workmates and union.
Show your support: Rotorua Aquatics SOS - Save Our Staff
You can also email your disapproval to mayor Steve Chadwick and the Council CEO Geoff
Williams: geoff.williams@rotorualc.nz; steve.chadwick@rotorualc.nz
AWSM note: This article originally appeared at
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2017/12/06/workers-resist-redundancies-outsourcing-and-cuts-at-rotorua-aquatic-centre/#more-19218
http://www.awsm.nz/2017/12/08/workers-resist-redundancies-outsourcing-and-cuts-at-rotorua-aquatic-centre/
------------------------------
Message: 5
A new intention to #Strike4Repeal has been announced as we still wait for a referendum and
as importantly to see what it is we will get to vote on. ---- See
https://www.wsm.ie/strike4repeal for coverage from last year. ---- Pledge to Strike 4
Repeal here: https://goo.gl/forms/DTDfA9tQ0kZ0HQ6F3 ---- https://youtu.be/HHWE3pgYdw0 ----
'On the 8th of March 2017, Ireland went on strike for repeal. In 50 places across the
country and abroad you self-organised for your right to an abortion. From Westport to
Melbourne, Tralee to Vancouver, and in every university in Ireland, you made your voice
heard. In Dublin, you took O'Connell Bridge in a radical show of force agtainst the state
that denies us free, safe, and legal access to abortion. You withdrew your labour, you
picketed their departments, and you shut down the city for over 3 hours.
Since then the strength of our movement has only grown. In April the Citizens' Assembly
proposed wide reforms to Ireland's abortion law, in September you marched in a block of
40,000 people to demand your right to choose. Now the government has finally been cornered
into holding a referendum on the 8th Amendment. But do we trust them to ask the right
quesiton?
...
No more debate, we won't wait. We are asking you to take a pledge, if they don't give us
repeal and full abortion rights, strike. Your pledge will show them you won't wait, you
demand control over you own body. Trade unionists, politicains, campaign groups, allies,
your pledge will show strength and solidarity at this crucial moment in the history of
abortion struggle in ireland.
...
Freedom has never been won by asking politely.
...
Those battles have been hard fought for generations. Now is the time to stand up and
demand freedom over your body and your life. Together we have the power to create real and
lasting change. Join us as we write our own history, pledge to struggle for repeal and
full abortion rights.'
Strike 4 Repeal Press Release
https://www.wsm.ie/c/strike-for-repeal-2-video
------------------------------
Message: 6
Given the importance of the topic we've republished this piece originally appearing in
Perspectives on Anarchist Theory published by our friends with the Institute for Anarchist
Studies. -BRRN Social Media Team ... With the growth of the Alt-Right and the Trumpist
movement in the US, the Left has grappled with how to understand and define fascism in the
21st century context. The conditions, players, and tactics are fundamentally different
than its first manifestations, and so many antiquated studies have left inarticulate
descriptions or inadequate culprits as roadmaps for understanding fascism today. Instead,
these twenty-five statements are a proposal for how to understand the essential core of
fascism-what binds it together as a modern impulse despite its different manifestations
across cultures and time.
-1-
Fascism in the 21st century has direct continuity to the insurgent movements that tore
apart Europe, culminating in the Second World War. The methods, tactics, and strategies
have changed, but the potential of the genocidal-racialist machine remains, and the
ideologies are linked through history.
-2-
Fascism does not necessitate a specific type of statecraft (or a state at all), nor does
it require a particular party apparatus, a fixed demographic of finance capital, or
economic depression. What it does require is mass politics, popular support, and the
ongoing destructive upheaval of class society.
-3-
When inequality is sanctified, identities made to be fixed and essential, and a mythic
past is demanded in a distinctly post-industrial, modern world, fascism is the
manifestation of the "True Right," a distinct political identity revolting against
democracy and equality. This real right wing exists throughout history, with fascism
acting as the "reactionary modernist" version of the tendency towards violent inequality
and essentialized identity. Fascism represents the iconic manifestation of the "True
Right," which then presents itself as a repudiation of the founding principles of liberal
democracy.
-4-
Nihilism, as an apolitical destructive force, is a part of the fascist process, one that
requires a destruction of the old infrastructure of morality so that a new mythic one can
be built. Fascism often tries to colonize methods used on the Left/post-Left to achieve
this creative destruction, disingenuously adopting revolutionary deconstruction.
-5-
The impulsive nature of reactionary violence is stoked by fascist ideology and ideologues
in an effort to center an irrationalist response to the unbinding rage of modernity. In a
culture that trains the working class in systems of bigotry, energy is forced toward
scapegoating rather than directing that alienation at the oppressive institutions that
birth it.
-6-
Today, fascism is largely built on metapolitics rather than explicit politics. Fascist
projects attempt to influence culture, perspectives, and morality as precursors to
politics. This puts much of their work into the realm of art and music, philosophy and
lectures, counter-institutions and counterpower. This is the development of a fascist
value and aesthetic set, not simply a fascist political program.
-7-
The values set by fascists enable them to use methodologies traditionally associated with
the Left, including mass politics, postcolonialism, anti-imperialism, and anti-capitalism.
Fascists employ the power of the marginalized classes and redirect their anger against
systemic inequality and alienation against other marginalized people, thus reframing the
source of the crisis.
-8-
Because of their strategic and revolutionary orientation, fascists have historically been
able to draw on disaffected areas of the Left. There is no revolutionary tradition that is
free from far-right entry, wherein the flaws in radical Left analysis and practice allow
for fascists to present an alternative and recruit.
-9-
Nationalism is itself considered the core motivating vision in fascism, yet it is actually
only a subset of the larger identitarian trend. Tribalism, of which nationalism is only
one type, is the key component of this assertion of essential identity. Nationalism is a
version of this that will always be tied to the nation state, and therefore tribalism
placed in a modern context necessitates itself through nationalism, but this is not
universal. The modern fascist movement redefines itself consistently in praxis, and
reimagining that tribalism means that how they divide up tribe, and the social authorities
that reinforce the boundaries of that tribe, can change.
-10-
Ethnic nationalism is a foundational principle of fascism today, a type of racial
tribalism, which is not relegated only to white nationalism or the civic nationalism of
Western nations. This draws on an ethnopluralist ethic of "nationalism for all peoples,"
which attempts to ally with nationalist components of Third World national liberation
movements, minority nationalist movements, and those resisting Western imperialist powers.
When racial nationalism is used as a component solution to confronting oppressive powers,
it makes itself the potential ally of a fascist logic that sees the answer to capitalism
and imperialism in authoritarian forms of identitarianism.
-11-
Fascism's focus on immigration, founded on the desire for monoracial countries, draws on
the anxieties that are often tied to Left organizing. The "offshoring" of jobs due to
neoliberal globalization, isolationist rhetoric in the anti-war movement, labor
institutions' fears of immigrant workers driving down wages, environmental fears
associated with population growth, the scapegoating of Islamic immigrants for supposedly
repudiating liberal norms, and the smug liberal secularism of the US coasts, are all well
mobilized by fascist movements attempting to use liberal modes of thought for their own
anti-immigrant populism.
-12-
The Alt-Right is the most coherent and fully formed fascist movement in several decades.
The mislabeling of all Trump supporters as true Alt-Right adherents, whether those in
Patriot or militia organizations, or those in New Right or Alt-Lite projects of right
populism, has created a fuzzy media spectacle that misses the Alt-Right's true
motivations. The belief in human inequality, social traditionalism, racial nationalism,
and an authoritarian vision founded in the resurrection of heroic mythologies are what
distinguish the Alt-Right as a self-conscious fascist movement.
-13-
Third Positionism, which draws Left ideas into fascist politics, is the dominant form of
open fascism today. True fascist ideologues, the "idea makers" in these movements who
currently make up the most radical element, necessarily consider themselves
anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, and opposed to current Western governments.
-14-
Fascism has often been described as a process of multiple stages, in the way that it
starts from a radical cadre and develops to the point of acquiring political power. But
this is a description of a particular historical moment of fascism, rather than a
universal description of its operational trajectory. This understanding should be revised
for different periods and countries where power, influence, and social cohesion appear
differently. For instance, in interwar Europe, party politics developed coalitions for
state power, but in other times and places power could also involve the church, the media,
or cultural centers. In modern America, fascists are allying with an online culture that
helped the Alt-Right grow and take over influential cultural spaces with the ability to
influence essential parts of the larger society. In the 21st century US, party politicians
have waning influence while internet celebrities are more influential than anyone could
have ever dreamed.
-15-
While "The Five Stages of Fascism" described by scholar Robert O. Paxton outline the
process by which fascism took power, and then went into decline in Europe before and
during the Second World War, both the conditions and movements are fundamentally different
now.[1]Predicting the process for power acquisition and possible failure in a period when
fascism remains primarily influential in culture and insurgent movements is impossible to
predict fully in advance.
-16-
The crisis for fascists today comes from the contradictions in their approach to their own
growth. Fascism of the interwar period relied first on political organizing, which then
had to consider media representation. The Alt-Right of the 21st century developed almost
entirely online through a culture of memes and hashtags. While this has given them a huge
jump in the expanse of their messaging, they have since had trouble translating this into
real-world engagement and subsequent organizing. The vulgarity of their language, the
style of their approach, and the demographics of their retweeters does not necessarily
extend to radical organization and organizing.
-17-
If fascists see cultural spaces as premeditating political ones, then the movement of
fascists into cultural spaces is effectively political. If fascist public speech is
intended to recruit and organize, then fascist public expression is indistinguishable from
fascist organizing. If fascist organizing results in violence, whether explosions of
"seemingly random" street violence, or genocide if they were to take power, then fascist
organizing is fascist violence. Unlike other forms of revolutionary politics, fascism
seeks to sanctify violence, built directly into their conception of identity and a
correctly hierarchical society. Therefore, even the most muted fascist ideologue holds the
kernels of brutality.
-18-
Fascism can only hide its violence for so long. The history of white nationalism has been
the history of bloodthirsty terrorism, a point which marks all fascist parties and
organizations in all countries in all times. While fascist intellectuals and movement
leaders desperately want to decouple the image of identitarian nationalist ideas from
street and state violence, this is impossible in the real world. Within a long enough time
frame there will always be killing.
-19-
Fascism could not exist in a period before mass politics. While it is decidedly elitist-it
believes that society should be run, in part, by an elite caste-it also requires the mass
participation of the public. This means recruiting from large segments of the working
class, requiring their complicity in increased oppression. Hannah Arendt described the way
this works as the "banality of evil," to characterize the casual complicity and
bureaucratic malaise of the German people in the events of World War II and the Holocaust.
This banality is a requirement for fascism to take power, for a mass to believe its
benefits worth its cost. This is the unity of populism with elitism, resetting the
mentality of the masses so that they can walk themselves to destruction.
-20-
The conditions that breed fascism, the unfinished equation of late capitalism, are only
likely to become more ingrained and dramatic. Crisis is essential to capitalism and will
increase as global economic markets continue to shake with instability. That penchant for
crisis, mixed with the stratification built into capitalism and the state's reliance on
bigotry, makes fascist explosions inevitable.
-21-
The Left's inability to provide a real and viable alternative to the current system, and
its capitulation to institutions of power, are what give fascism its strongest rhetorical
appeal. An effective anti-fascist movement would do more than simply oppose the fascists
in order to then return society to its previous order. Instead, the Left should present a
radically different vision that answers the same feelings of alienation and misery to
which fascism presents itself as a solution.
-22-
Fascism's ability to adapt to changes in technology, social systems, values, ethics, and
the politics and practices of the Left is profound. As progress is made in Left circles
toward confronting legacies of colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy,
heteronormativity, and other systems of oppression, fascist ideologues will find ways of
manipulating those projects for their own advancement. Preventing this cooptation requires
understanding the core ideology and methodologies of fascism while being consistent about
the motivating ideas of Left organizing, always striving towards greater freedom and equality.
-23-
Donald Trump rode into the White House on the same kind of right populism that led to
Brexit, the UK's exit from the European Union, emboldened Marine Le Pen and the National
Front in France, and allowed the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party to enter the
state. This creates the possible bridge between the mass populace and fascist or
proto-fascist ideologues, who want to see a society of enforced inequality and
essentialized identity. This bridging is a necessary precondition for a mass fascist
societal shift, and should be seen as a part of the concentric circles that give fascism
its ability to enact mass violence.
-24-
Resistance to fascism must then take on the form of mass politics as well, going after the
macropolitics of right populism that bridge mainstream conservatism to the fascist cadre.
This cannot be done only by a radical fringe, but should be done by mobilizing both the
base that fascism recruits from and the mass marginalized communities that it targets
(which make up the vast majority of the working class). The most effective counter to
fascist recruitment is Left mobilization, and the only thing that stops mass violence is
mass refusal.
-25-
White supremacy and social hierarchy are implicit in class society, but fascism seeks to
make it explicit. The Left's counter to this can also be to make that oppression explicit,
to spell out the underlying hierarchies of civilization so as to undermine the fascist
progression. The only thing that will end fascism in perpetuity is to destroy the
mechanisms that allow it to arise in the first place. Destroying the impulses of
authoritarianism and intrinsic inequality is a requirement for eradicating fascism from
collective consciousness. The only thing that can do this is a revolutionary movement that
goes far beyond simple reactions to the brutal movements of fascists.
~~~~
[1]Robert O. Paxton, "The Five Stages of Fascism," The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 70,
No. 1. (Mar., 1998), pp. 1-23.
***********************************************************************************
Shane Burley is the author of Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It (AK Press,
2017). His work has appeared in places like Jacobin, In These Times, Waging Nonviolence,
Roar Magazine, and Upping the Anti. You can find him at ShaneBurley.net and on Twitter
@Shane_Burley
http://blackrosefed.org/twenty-five-theses-fascism/
------------------------------
Message: 7
At 12.30 in the afternoon, the gathering - a memory and struggle for the 9 years since the
assassination of Alexis Grigoropoulos by the cops of Corkonas and Saraliotis, and the
outbreak of the great social uprising that shook the country in December 2008 for more
from two weeks. ---- The attendance was small. Approximately 250 people participated in
the process, mainly in student clubs and political organizations. Around 50-60 people
participated in the anarchist bloc formed after a call from the anarchist group
"Dumbbell". The banner reads: "9 years after the December uprising, the passage from the
spontaneous insurrection to the organized struggle for the social revolution remains
open." They shared dozens of printed Earth and Freedom of Anarchist Political
Organization, as well as the Announcement of the Anarchist Collective Circle of Fire for
the December uprising.
Nine years after the December uprising, our eloquent project on tomorrow's society has
begun to acquire material substance through the upgrading and development of the anarchist
struggle today. Our revolutionary vision has been forged further in the furnace of
everyday social and class war. It does not stop at the outbreak of spontaneous
insurrection. It openly places the necessity of organizing in the workplace, in schools,
in schools, everywhere. The question of the political constitution of the organized
Anarchist and Liberal Movement, the creation of structures that can convince them to bring
and keep even more in the fight. So to win!
With these characteristics we traveled to the streets of Patras on December 6th and this
is the mainstay of our political action every day. And we do not negotiate it.
In order to "get off the bows of insurrection, into the open sea of total social and class
retaliation and emancipation. To break down the aging world of fear, subjugation, poverty.
To live the only life that is worth living, the struggle for the Social Revolution. "
The passage from the spontaneous uprising organized in a rDNA c k Society Equality,
Solidarity and Freedom, c k Anarchy and Libertarian Communism is still open ...
anarchist group "dwarf horse" - a member of the APO
------------------------------
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten