Today's Topics:
1. France, Alternative Libertaire par AL Angers, AL Nantes - In
Angers as elsewhere: for an antifascism of ground, unitary and
popular (fr, it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. A South African Revolutionary Passes: Jabisile Selby Semela,
1958-2018 (by Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front/ ZACF)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Britain, solfed: Workplace Organiser Training Day
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. US, BLACK ROSE INTERVIEW WITH The Movement of Color podcast
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Holand, ag amsterdam: 6 October - Info talk on repression
against Russian anarchists and antifascists. (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. The International Week of Solidarity with Anarchist
Prisoners 2018 in (A)-Radio von Anarchistisches Radio Berlin
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #286 - Read: Birh, "The
First Age of Capitalism (1415-1763)" (fr, it, pt)[machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. Britain, Class War: WE'RE IN THE MOOD FOR DANCING - CW
STATEMENT ON OCTOBER 20th 'PEOPLES VOTE MARCH'
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Point of view of AL comrades present at Angers for the anti-fascist demonstration of
September 22nd. "We must therefore continue to build an anti-fascism on the ground,
unitary and popular. Let's assume our disagreements in terms of strategy. But let's
respect them so that our solidarities grow up to push back the extreme right." ---- In
Angers as elsewhere: for an antifascism of ground, unitary and popular ---- We are several
libertarian Alternative activists who took part in the anti-fascist demonstration in
Angers on September 22nd. This event, organized by the RAAF (Angevin Antifascist Network)
[1]as part of the local festival " To the West but still anti-fascist " [2], was
announced as a festive and family event. Let us add that the context of anti-fascism in
Angers is particularly complicated, because a bar / local fascist, L'Alvarium, opened a
few months ago.
A first event was also called by the RAAF on February 24th. With the festival, it was a
question of continuing to anchor the anti-fascist fight within the population, with the
aim of enlarging it.
The protest on September 22 had been discussed in advance with groups from other cities,
and everyone seemed to agree that the most visibly violent actions, if they were to take
place, take place after the dissolution of the demonstration. filed. The Angevin social
movement is not accustomed to the various demonstrations that now punctuate many parades
in some major cities - broken storefront banks or other signs of the same kind, or fire
starting in such businesses.
However, barely ten minutes after the start of the demo, the breaks of windows begin. They
punctuated the whole route. In the dispersion, some groups wanted to continue towards
L'Alvarium, despite a strong police presence. Comrades have been in custody and we can
only hope that there will be no prosecution against them.
The RAAF canceled the evening of debates and concert scheduled for the evening to close
the festival. This evening was to take place at the Etincelle, a self-managed place. It
appeared to the RAAF that the security of the evening would not be assured. Indeed, the
Angers cops are not used to such demonstrations in the city center, and a police raid on
the local was likely. Identity checks and intimidation were to be expected, which would
have endangered the people present, first and foremost the organizers and organizers.
Know where you are acting
These events posed problems for Libertarian Alternative activists present that day. It is
obvious that each and every one, in the fight against the extreme right, must be able to
appropriate organized events. But this can not be done in disregard of the local reality
specific to each city, and even less in defiance of what local activists take years to
build. For the activists who broke store windows in downtown Angers are not those who have
held Etincelle for 21 years.
Etincelle is at increased risk of repression following this demo. Because activists who
broke store windows in downtown Angers are not the organizers and organizers of the
festival. However, they face an increased risk of phishing and repression by the cops.
Those who have made the choice to break bank windows in downtown Angers are not those who
try to build an Ange- vian anti-fascism on the ground, on the street, rooted in the social
fabric. However, this construction may be threatened by such actions bursts.
When we move in a city that we know badly, it seems to us elementary to respect the work
of those who militate on a daily basis. They and they know the reality of the city and the
region. Trusting them and ensuring their safety - including once they have left the city -
is a prerequisite for coordinating anti-fascist action in good understanding between
collectives in different cities. Which can only be desirable.
We will even add that this should be part of a basic militant ethic.
Respect collective frameworks
But it's not just that. The contempt of collective decisions is what we find most
damaging, because it breaks the solidarities we want to build, that we must build in our
common fight against the extreme right. Militating is a collective affair, and therefore a
search for consensus. The existence of a deposed, festive and family demonstration, and
possibly a second and more muscular demonstration, could be a way of resolving the
contradictions of certain militant groups. Thus, anger can be expressed in different ways,
in different places, because the diversity of tactics leads to the diversity of places.
Once again, these events risk breaking down trusts and solidarities, and we can not afford
this in this period of rising right-wing extremism,
Defend a plural antifascism
We think that it is normal that lively anger is expressed against the extreme right. "
Break " can be a gesture of anger. Others will express themselves differently. But when
we come to revolutionary, thoughtful and assumed strategies, we must have a real debate.
Our anti-fascism is rooted in the social movement. It is a class anti-fascist, anti-racist
and anti-sexist, which wants to support and promote class solidarities. This is why we
believe that it necessarily involves the construction of local and national structures
able to gather widely. This is the case of the unions we are building, associations that
we are strengthening on various fronts.
But our anti-fascism is also a fight front in its own right. Specific mobilizations are
indispensable, such as those demonstrating the violence of the neo-Nazi militants who
killed Clément Méric in 2013, or those demanding the closure of the Alvarium in Angers. In
fact, closing down the places where the Fachos meet is trying to reduce their capacity to
organize and develop. Demolishing amalgam speeches, of the type " fascists and
antifascists are violent in the same way ", is to emphasize that some are fighting for an
ideology of death and oppression, when others want freedom, equality and social justice.
We must therefore continue to build an anti-fascism on the ground, unitary and popular.
Let's assume our disagreements in terms of strategy. But let's respect them so that our
solidarities grow up to push back the extreme right.
AL activists from Angers, Montreuil, Nantes, Orléans, Rennes, Saint-Denis
[1] The RAAF website: raaf.noblogs.org . His twitter account: @raaf_angers .
[2] The Festival was held from September 7 to 22, the event concluding a week of
anti-fascist debates and conferences.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?A-Angers-comme-ailleurs-pour-un-antifascisme-de-terrain-unitaire-et-populaire
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Message: 2
Selby Semela, a leading figure in the 1976 revolt against apartheid, political exile, and
author (with Sam Thompson and Norman Abraham), of "Reflections on the Black Consciousness
Movement and the South African Revolution", passed away on Wednesday, 22 August, 2018,
aged but 60 years. ---- Born January 23, Pimville, Soweto, South Africa, he played a key
role in the 1976 student and worker revolt against the apartheid regime. The trigger was
the imposition of Afrikaans-language teaching in the wretched segregated schooling system
set aside for the black African working class and poor youth. But the revolt was a broader
response to apartheid, including the low wages and intense workplace racism faced by
parents, and the early onset of neo-liberalism: the state was rapidly raising rates and
charges in townships while cutting education money.
The revolt spread across the industrial heartlands of the Witwatersrand and the Vaal, and
then into the Western Cape - including here many Coloured working class youth, mostly
Afrikaans-speaking. It was part of a wave of struggle beginning with mass worker strikes
in the early 1970s. The struggles of 1976-1977 escalated into three general strikes,
massive confrontations on the streets with the army and police, and tragically, 575 deaths
(451 at police hands alone).
In later years, many political parties have claimed ownership of the revolt, or pretended
their undergrounds caused or led it. In truth, it was young men and women like Semela -
who was key to the African Student Movement, then the Soweto Student Representative
Council (SSRC) - who played the key role. Politically, many were influenced by the Black
Consciousness Movement (BCM), which stressed changing minds as the basis of change; and
some by the bottom-up democracy promoted by the new unions.
Semela, like others, fled the country into exile. Others, like BCM leader Steve Biko, were
killed. From exile, Semela campaigned tirelessly against apartheid, promoting boycotts,
disinvestment, and sanctions.
In the 1979 "Reflections on the Black Consciousness Movement and the South African
Revolution", he was sharply critical of the vanguardist, top-down tendencies to hijack
struggles in pursuit of state power, of what he called "the old spinster-huckster
organisations": the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) and
the South African Communist Party (SACP). He was also dismayed by the BCM's turn towards
political party and militarism after 1976. He argued that "the BCM's official proclamation
as an organisation spells out unfailingly that in its true colours as ideology and
hierarchy, it is an enemy of real black proletarian struggle in South Africa." At the time
he was influenced by Situationism, an anti-statist, anti-Leninist socialist tradition that
emerged in the 1960s; it stressed self-activity, workers' councils (soviets) and an end to
alienation.
At the time of his death, Semela lived in Columbia, Maryland, and leaves behind his wife
(Mary), sons (Linda Mathe, Rise, Naledi and Mohapi), grandchildren (Lwandile, Molemo, and
Warona), his brother (Tumelo) and his aunts (Mary Ntilane, Mavis Moloi, and Dora Simela).
Hamba Kahle, Hero of the Revolution!
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Message: 3
The Solidarity Federation will be holding a workplace organiser training day in Manchester
on November 24th. The training is based on a direct action approach to organising rather
than looking to use employment laws to resolve workplace issues. No experience of
workplace organising is necessary and the training takes place in a fun and friendly
atmosphere. So if you are interested in organising your workplace, or just want to learn
about the organising process, this course is a great way to make a start.
For more information, or if you have any questions or queries, please get in touch at
training@solfed.org.uk
http://www.solfed.org.uk/manchester/workplace-organiser-training-day
------------------------------
Message: 4
https://soundcloud.com/movement-of-color ---- interviews two members of Black Rose/Rosa
Negra Anarchist Federation (BRRN), Markie from Los Angeles and Johnathan from Miami. They
discuss the place of BRRN within the anarchist tradition as well as their experience
within the left as people of color. ---- We also recommend checking out other podcasts
featuring members of Black Rose Anarchist Federation / Federación Anarquista Rosa Negra
(BRRN): ---- Patrick is interviewed by It's Going Down as part one of a three part series
looking electoralism and the rise of the DSA in "Elections, Power, & the DSA: The Failure
of the Left in Power." ---- Jen and Servio discuss revolutionary political organization,
relationships to social movements, state power, and feminism with Revolutionary Left
Radio. ---- Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Antifascist Handbook speaks on Revolutionary
Left Radio giving a history of anarchism and it's ideas.
Enrique and Adam interviewed by It's Going Down episode "The Center Can't Hold" on BRRN's
analysis and strategy document "Below and Beyond Trump."
Romina Akemi, co-author of "Breaking the Waves: Challenging the Liberal Tendency within
Anarchist Feminism" is interviewed on KCHUNG Radio discussing feminism, anarchism and
movement building.
Luis from Austin, Texas is interviewed by A World Without Police about local organizing
with ICE Out and pushing back against use of police to assist with enforcement of
immigration laws.
http://blackrosefed.org/movement-of-color-interview/
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Message: 5
How the FSB is Manufacturing a Terrorism Case Against Antifascists in Russia. ---- In the
run-up to presidential elections and the FIFA World Cup, repressions against antifascists
and anarchists started in Russia. In Autumn 2017, 6 people were arrested in Penza; several
of them had weapons and explosives planted on them. FSB officers then tortured the
antifascists right in the detention facility: they applied naked wires to the activists'
various body parts and turned the electricity on, they beat them up, hanged them upside
down. While torturing them, the agents made the activists learn by heart the story the FSB
needed: they were supposed to confess of having founded and belonging to a terrorist
organization called “The Network”. In late January 2018, two more antifascists were
arrested in Saint Petersburg. They, too, were beaten up, tortured with electric current,
and forced to incriminate themselves by confirming they were members of the “Network”.
Right now, 11 people are under arrest, 2 of them indicted in organizing “Terrorist
Community”. According to Russian laws, this is punishable by 15-20 years in prison.
Please, come on Saturday the 6th of October to the Anarchist library (address Eerste
Schinkelstraat 14-16 Amsterdam) at 18:00 to learn more about this case, how you can help
and to write solidarity letters to Russian Anarchists and antifascists!
Library opens at 14:00
Soup & bread at 17:00
Talk starts at 18:00
For more info about repressions on the repressions against Russian anarchist movement,
click here.
This is organized by the Anarchist Group Amsterdam.
http://www.agamsterdam.org/6-october-info-talk-on-repression-against-russian-anarchists-and-antifascists/#more-3148
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Message: 6
Each year the end of August (23-30.8.) is the time for the International Week of
Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners. And to make sure that you know what this week is
about and why it is needed we made an interview with a comrade who is part of the group
that organized this years‘ Week of Solidarity. ---- This audio has been published
originally as part of the International Anarchist Radio Network's "Bad News" show #15
(September 2018), which you can find here. ---- Length: 7:51 min
You can download the audio at: archive.org (mp3 | ogg).
https://archive.org/details/ARadioBerlinInternationalWeekSolidarityAnarchistPrisoners2018EN
https://fda-ifa.org/a-radio-in-english-the-international-week-of-solidarity-with-anarchist-prisoners-2018/
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Message: 7
After twelve years of research, Alain Bihr publishes L'Expansion européenne , the first
volume of a trilogy on the development of capitalism. ---- How is capitalism possible ?
This question is not rhetorical. Capitalism is defined by a process of capital
accumulation that requires two conditions: on the one hand, there must be a mass of poor
proletarians - even poor, depending on the case - having no choice but to sell their labor
power . On the other hand, there must be a minority with economic capital guaranteed by a
coercive power (a state) that allows these proletarians to work. The problem posed by Marx
is that it constitutes a logical circle: to accumulate capital, one must already have some
... How did this " primitive accumulation of capital" occur even before capitalism ?
The great innovation of Marx was to show that this was a violent extortion and not a
peaceful accumulation by simple hoarders. It was first necessary to impoverish masses to
enrich capitalists. The different stages of this process are known: the enclosures (the
expropriation of the peasants from their lands, then the rural exodus transforming former
peasants from the countryside into proletarians of the cities) ; the various laws
confirming the disappearance of the " commons " (the young Marx, then a journalist,
had studied a law prohibiting the collection of wood) ; the appearance of the
manufactures (and their break with the old cooperations in the work) ; the domination of
the industrial capitalist mode of production at European and then world level.
Conquest and expropriation
Alain Bihr's book, which goes back to the history of this " primitive accumulation ",
shows how the development of industry required, beforehand, the submission of part of the
world to the great European states. Capitalist economics and nation-state development went
hand in hand, and were imposed on the world.
How ? This is the question that the book tries to answer, analyzing all the forms that
this expansion has taken, from the less brutal (trade) to the more violent (colonization).
What resistance did the other companies have ? To understand it, it is necessary to study
the way in which " the attack " occurred (development of the ports and the maritime
trade, the national armies etc.), but also the social conditions of the " defense " of
the companies. Abyssal work of magnitude.
In The Prehistory of Capital (2006), Alain Bihr examined the conditions for the formation
of the emergence of capitalist relations of production within feudalism. He concluded then
that " feudalism, as it was formed in Europe at the end of the first millennium and in
the Japanese archipelago in the course of the first half of the second millennium, is the
most favorable, at the limit the only favorable, to the formation of this report of
production " . But feudalism alone was not a sufficient condition. It also took "
globalization ". Not the one fantasized as a natural extension of the exchanges between
human beings on the Earth and condition of a perpetual peace between the States, but the
violent globalization of the conquest and the expropriation, the one which was nourished
of the blood and tears, in the mud of battles.
Bernard Gougeon (South-Educ 81)
Alain Bihr, The First Age of Capitalism (1415-1763). Volume 1: The European Expansion ,
Syllepse / Page 2, 2018, 700 pages, 30 euros.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Le-Premier-Age-du-capitalisme-1415-1763
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Message: 8
OUR BANNER MAKES OUR POSITION CLEAR - BUT 'WITHOUT ACTION YOU'RE JUST POSING'
At 4pm - 4.30pm CW will gather in parliament square at its junction with Millbank. Then we
will march a few hundred yards to 55 TUFTON STREET - the home of many right wing Brexit
organisations.
55 Tufton Street is a nest of vipers. It harbours groups which form a nexus of influence
which dominates the fringes of right-wing Conservatism. And it provides the spiritual home
of those who believe they are entitled to run the "leave" campaign.
Here we will hold a rally from 5pm onwards.
JOIN US
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