Today's Topics:
1. London Anarchist Communists: New Jackdaw is Flying!
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Red and Black Leeds: Rent strikes are on the rise, again.
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Curitiba-2nd Circle of Libertarian Studies CEL Meeting-
Anarchism: Social Classes and Power (pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE BANGLADESH ANARCHO-SYNDICALIST
FEDERATION [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #294 - Amazon: a colleague
held 5 years ? He is nicknamed "the old" (fr, it, pt)[machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Britain, AFED - Organised - On Anarchism: Dispatches from
the People's Republic of Vermont (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Czech, afed: The second spring zine party -- A brief report
from this year's zine show in Prague. [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Issue Number 5 of the free news sheet of the ACG, Jackdaw, has come out. It contains
articles on Neither Labour nor Tory Nor Lib Dem, UKIps, Farage, TIG, Greens etc, Leave or
Remain on Brexit, and the Anarchist Origins of May Day. Read it online, get a hard copy
from us, or get it in bookshops and social centres or from your friendly local ACGers.
https://londonacg.blogspot.com/2019/05/new-jackdaw-is-flying.html
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Message: 2
From the NUS website. ---- Last Monday, over 150 students at Bristol University started a
rent strike in the face of increasingly unaffordable rents. This was organised by Bristol
Cut the Rent, with similar campaigns being fought around the country for the past few
years. At University College London, a prolonged rent strike in 2017 led to concessions of
around £1.4 million. Since October groups have been set up in King's College London,
Liverpool, Sheffield and York. Rent Strike, the national network of Cut the Rent groups,
provide a detailed account of this movement on their website. ---- But what exactly is a
rent strike and what's it got to do with people living outside of University? Rent strikes
are simply when tenants collectively withhold their rent, accompanied by a series of
demands for their landlord(s). Before a rent strike begins a local Tenant's association is
likely to be established, agitating around rent hikes and other injustices, and eventually
organising the strike itself. These organisations are usually run by local members of the
community. The rent strike is also likely to be met by threats of eviction and thus local
tenants will often have to attempt to prevent this from taking place. In a sense rent
strikes might look more like a boycott than a traditional strike.
Rent strikes are one of the many potential ways of dealing with housing issues. Other
options might be squatting or housing co-operatives. But rent strikes open a new frontier
for many people who are unwilling, or unable, to adopt drastic lifestyles changes. Not
only can people struggle to improve their lives at work through unions, they can also
agitate for lower rent and better conditions at home. This is especially relevant if you
don't have a job. It's understandable that most people will feel alienated from these
campaigns at trendy middle class universities, but tenants organising has a history that
goes beyond the campus and into working class communities.
An attempt to prevent an eviction during the 1915 Glasgow rent strike, taken from here.
In Britain, we have a long and rich history of rent strikes. Perhaps most noteworthy is
the 1915 Glasgow rent strike. In response to landlords profiteering from overcrowding and
undertaking mass evictions, one particular eviction in March was prevented by a crowd
numbering in the hundreds. This was followed by a rent strike and continued organised
opposition to the evictions, with 20,000 households participating in the strike by
November. The strike ended in success with parliament introducing rent controls
nationwide, undoubtedly because of the militant action taken by primarily working class
women during a time of war.
In fact here in Leeds we had two prominent rent strikes. The first strike began in 1914 in
Burley with the support of the Labour Party but eventually spread to areas like Harehills.
Sadly this strike ended in failure, with a number of participants from Harehills being
evicted and blacklisted from renting in Leeds. The failure could partly be due to the fact
that while the strike eventually spread throughout the city its initial proponents were
more affluent skilled workers who saw themselves as being above "slum-dwellers" -
expecting sympathy from the courts. Ultimately they failed to build the mass movement
based around solidarity, necessary to tackle the landlords and courts. However, while the
strike failed at obtaining its immediate goals it seems reasonable to suggest that it
might have contributed to the pressure that forced the government in 1915 to introduce
rent controls across Britain.
The second strike took place against a Labour council itself. This was apparently the
first major strike by council tenants against their council and was headed the Leeds
Federation of Municipal Tenants. However, the tenants' communities were divided by the
Means Test (which encouraged neighbours to rat each other out) as well as having a lacked
of shared identity since they had only recently moved to the suburbs. The strike failed,
only lasting two weeks.
It's important that we try to learn from these failures. Politicians will eventually
betray tenants, the Labour Party played a crucial role in the 1914 strike but by by 1934
were the landlords being opposed. A lack of of cohesion on the part of tenants also played
a key role in the downfall of both of these strikes. Therefore autonomous organisations
built around class solidarity are necessary for direct action to succeed. While there are
plenty of examples of rent strikes succeeding, Leeds demonstrates that this is not always
the case.
When a black flag bearing the words ‘no rent' floats over a single slum, when streets are
torn up and barricaded, when from the windows and roofs of the houses there comes a shower
of hot water and storm of stones and brickbats, what can the police or bailiffs do?
~John Greaghe, Commonweal (1891).
Interestingly anarchists and tenant's unions have a shared history in the case of the
Barcelona rent strike. In 1931 construction workers from the anarcho-syndicalist
Confederation of Labour (CNT) demanded rent cuts of 40%, later adding that the unemployed
should not have to pay rent at all. After a mass rally in July it was agreed to only pay
40% of the rent. There were 100,000 strikers by August, leading to mass participation in
organising against evictions. This was met with harsh repression - after declaring the
strike illegal the government arrested many key organisers and eventually ordinary tenants
on strike. After the strike petered out there was some hope that a more reformist approach
might yield results, unsurprisingly it failed to make any meaningful change.
Did the strike succeed? Results appear to have been uneven, and while a citywide 40% cut
certainly didn't take place some districts were able to negotiate rent cuts or simply to
have their "debt" from the strike wiped. However, the real significance of the strike was
that it shattered any illusion that the new "democratic" state was a friend of the
workers, demonstrating the potential of direct action and working class autonomy. This
undoubtedly paved the way for the social revolution that enabled workers in Barcelona to
fight the forces of fascism in 1936. It's crucial that as anarcho-communists we support
tenant's unions. Being embedded in the community rather than the workplace they might
provide a better predecessor to the society we wish to create that industrial unions.
Furthermore as seen in Barcelona tenant's organising helped build the strength of the
working class.
Same bosses, same fight by The Poster Workshop
A key element of successful strikes is solidarity, without it collective action simply
falls apart. In Leeds a lack of solidarity, whether that be in striker's neighborhoods or
across the city itself, seemed to play a key role in the failure of the strikes.
Solidarity can also extend beyond tenants with potential links between industrial and
community organising, for example in the successful 1889 Great London Dock Strike dock
workers refused to pay rent as part of their industrial strike. Recently we have seen the
emergence of a large environmental movement, headed by Extinction Rebellion and the youth
strikers. Perhaps if a rent strike made basic environmental demands alongside more
substantive economic ones, and some demands do overlap such as insulation, support might
be gained from these movements.
Its crucial that we stand in solidarity with this new wave of rent strikes. If you're a
student renting university accommodation get involved with your local Cut the Rent group,
it would be great to see some action in Leeds. Its crucial that rent strikes spread beyond
the campus and into our communities, for the sake of workers and students alike. After all
most students only spend a year or two in university accommodation. In Leeds tenants
organisations like Harehills' Redbrick Solidarity might be somewhere to start. If there
aren't any tenant's unions nearby you can always start your own, just get in touch with
your neighbours or fellow tenants to organise a meeting. There is no need to rely on large
groups claiming to act on your behalf, plenty of advice can be found online. For example,
here are some guides for organising as tenants from the Autonomous Tenants Union, Buffalo
Class Action, the Democratic Socialists of America and the Solidarity Federation. Its
understandable to be cautious, as demonstrated above rent strikes don't always work. But
you can start with smaller, safer actions to build up your presence. While its important
not to overstate the effectiveness of rent strikes, at the end of the day we can only rely
on each other to struggle against the housing crisis.
https://wearetherabl.wordpress.com/2019/05/06/rent-strikes-are-on-the-rise-again/
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Message: 3
The CEL-Curitiba is one of the groups of studies articulated by the Collective Anarchist
Class Struggle (CALC) in the state of Paraná. We return in 2019 with monthly meetings, on
the last Tuesdays of the month, at the Santos Andrade Campus of UFPR. On request, the
meetings will be at 7:00 PM ---- WHEN: on April 30, Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. ---- Where: UFPR
HISTORICAL BUILDING, PSYCHOLOGY ROOM 205. ---- Anarchism: Social Classes and Power ----
This module aims to expose the understanding that the anarchists (of the masses) have of
the revolutionary subjects, being the conception of these different from the other
currents of socialism for denying the "proletarian" exclusivism. In a second moment, we
will try to establish the notion of power for the anarchists and their proposal of
organization. ---- The basic texts are:
- From the periphery to the center revolutionary subject and social transformation -
Felipe Corrêa
- Our conception of popular power - theoretical Article elaborated by the Brazilian
Anarchist Coordination for the first issue of its magazine Libertarian Socialism,
published in June 2012.
Download here: https://coletivoanarquistalutadeclasse.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/cel-v.pdf
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Message: 4
We do not know anything about an anarcho-syndicalist movement in Bangladesh. Please tell
us, how everything started. Had there been anarchist traditions or a union movement for a
longer time? Had there been contacts to organizations in other countries? ---- The
Bangladesh anarchist workers' movement is less than five years old, born out of the ashes
of failed Marxism-Leninism. ---- I recall the antecedent period in Bangladesh history
where Marxism-Leninism held hegemony. This was a time of deep faith and affection for the
thought of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tsetung, and Trotsky. ---- As far as I
understand, none in the movement knew of anarchism as a political ideology and would not
know of it until decades later. We revered the hanging portraits of Marxist leaders, we
studied their books, and we integrated discussion of their ideas into our daily lives. Our
life's pursuit was to become socialist revolutionaries. We were so fervent in our beliefs
of a better world that we sacrificed clothing for books, food for paper.
The socialist movement was already active in Bangladesh when my generation moved from
studying socialism to helping develop a mass socialist movement. In Dhaka, the capital, we
helped in the dissemination of pro-Soviet papers, we joined student organizations, and we
participated in interviews. We explained socialism to the people, to workers, from the
factories to the fields. Our path was guided by science and freedom of expression, and we
spread our ideas without imposing on others. But we faced public rejection and death in
our efforts.
When speaking in Muslim-dominated areas, many condemned us as atheists and unrighteous.
And where we were not simply denounced, many of us were murdered. Our struggle has been
the history of bloodshed. We have lost many of our companions. And although the oppressive
apparatuses tortured and killed us, we proceeded ahead with the dream of revolution and
continued to take those steps to make the revolution. Our work increased the number of
socialist organizations and supporters across cities and villages. These bodies were
intent to fight against the tyranny of oppression, against the national military
dictatorship and against imperialism.
As early as 1980 we were able to hear about the Soviet Union and China's authoritarian
nature and contradictions. We did not believe this was the truth, that "scientific"
socialism could be false. Rather, we believed this was imperialist and CIA propaganda. The
subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union and the breaking of Lenin's statue greatly shocked
us all. Together with the eastern bloc, the socialist countries of the world changed. They
moved away from having even a veneer of socialism and openly embraced a capitalist
restructuralization.
This produced a tremendous shock in the thought of our movement. We re-read Marxism's
fundamentals over and over. But none of this helped us to better understand the failure of
"socialism."
We did, however, take an interest in the revolutionaries who criticized Marxism-Leninism.
This led us to read the works of many anarchists, such as Mikhail Bakunin, William Godwin,
PJ Proudhon, Peter Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, Errico Malatesta, Alexander Berkman, Max
Stirner, Élisée Reclus, and Noam Chomsky.
Their works are not in print form[in Bangladesh], nor are they in Bengali. So our medium
of learning has been through reading anarchist texts through the internet in foreign
languages.
By 2012, many of us former Marxists acquired a clear idea of anarcho-syndicalism from our
continuous internet studies.
Because I have been involved in tea workers' struggles since 2000, it was among tea
workers and close, political friends that we first introduced anarcho-syndicalist
practices through the development of The Tea Workers' Council. This council did not bear
the name of any specific doctrine or party. Because old, authoritarian ways persisted, a
clear articulation of anarchism and a regrouping along anarchist principles was necessary.
As a result, on 1 May 2014, many militants formed a twenty three-member committee of those
committed to the principles of anarcho-syndicalism. This committee has fostered the
development of anarcho-syndicalist organizations in across 60+ places in Bangladesh today.
Presently, we are receiving help from the Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation of Australia to
improve our organization. With their help, we are also trying to become members of the
IWA-AIT[International Workers' Association - Asociación Internacional de los Trabajadores].
We seek solidarity from sister and brother comrades all over the world. We want to work
together with everyone.
Why do you think anarcho-syndicalism is a good idea for your lives in Bangladesh?
I think that capitalism is based on the subordination and exploitation of the working
class. Workers are oppressed because they are forced to work under a coercive management
regime and they are denied the right to control the use of their own abilities or control
their own work.
For the working class to liberate itself from this situation, it is necessary to have a
strategy. The strategy needs to be workable and show how it has a chance of achieving
liberation. This means that the strategy needs to have a good "fit" with the goal or aim.
If the masses are to fight to replace capitalism with a form of socialism, it is not worth
the struggle if the result is just a new form of oppression, run by some new boss class.
Thus it's necessary to think about how our strategy can lead to a form of socialism where
the masses are actually in control of the society, and workers control the places where
they work.
The advantage to anarcho-syndicalism, as I see it, is that it has the best chance of
creating a form of socialism where there will not be a new ruling class, and where workers
will be in control.
The anarcho-syndicalist strategy means building unions that are controlled by their
members, and building broader solidarity throughout the working class. The idea is to
build a labor movement that isn't narrowly focused on only fights with an individual
employer but has the capacity to fight for more systemic change, and can work in alliance
with other social movements. This means that workers have to build solidarity between
different sectors, different groups of the oppressed. Only a labor movement of this kind
would be able to be a force for basic change in the social structure. Building unions
controlled by the members foreshadows workers managing the industries.
The problem with other socialist strategies is that either they don't seem able to get
beyond the present society (as with electoral socialism and cooperativism) or they end up
putting power into the hands of state leaders, and tend to create a new bureaucratic boss
class. Anarcho-syndicalism, on the other hand, is built to avoid creating a new
bureaucratic boss class by avoiding concentration of power into a state bureaucratic machine.
How many groups are there and in which industries / workplaces are they organizing people?
In which cities are they placed?
Bangladesh Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation (BASF) organizes workers at the lowest levels of
diverse industries. Workers in BASF represent sectors from tea garden to food processing
to rickshaw making to ceramics to brick-fields to construction to transportation to
maintenance work to domestic/factory guards to loaders to sweepers to employed salesmen to
grocery shop workers to metal workers.
BASF, already organized about 60 groups in different places, whose membership currently is
over 1,600 with 45% women, and only accepts employees as their members.
Despite working in some of the largest and most important industrial sectors, workers
receive extremely low wages. For instance, working women in food processing receive 45
Taka (0.54$) after an 8-hour work day. Ceramic workers receive 55 Taka (0.66$) per day.
Moreover, factories don't have proper ventilation, cooling, and supervisors mistreat
workers. BASF, through sectoral associations, is organizing workers to demand higher
wages, paid holidays, and better working conditions. Sectoral associations (shomiti/?????)
allow BASF to form struggles depending on specific needs and maintain sector specific
autonomy. Each sectoral association has a secretary and a treasurer, and the secretary
functions as a delegate to BASF in federation level decision-making. BASF's student
association is working on developing demands for free education for all, while the tea
garden workers' association is developing demands for land rights in addition to better
wages and working conditions. Patriarchy pervades everyday life and hinders organizing
when, for instance, women do not speak up in men's presence in association meetings. This
happens less among tea garden workers since men and women work together in the hills. In
order to address the lack of women's participation, BASF has made efforts toward building
a separate anarcho-syndicalist women's federation.
BASF is working independently and is not yet affiliated with any larger anarchist
organization. BASF understands that capitalism is a worldwide phenomenon and has to be
addressed at a global level through solidarity across locales. However, such
internationalism requires developing a nation-wide organization-a major challenge for
BASF. Assembling while being unregistered as an organization can lead to a five-year
prison sentence for organizers in Bangladesh. BASF now has legal registration papers that
they can use as shield, however it does not have permission from the local police station
to assemble, despite having their organization registered. Anarchism still raises
suspicion among local power-holders. BASF is vigilant about imperialist/colonialist
tendencies among anarchist partners from the global north.
BASF is focusing on the challenges of eliminating entrenched domination in Bangladesh
culture. Dominance has been naturalized across society, from domestic partner relations,
to mullah-believer relation, to student-teacher relation to minister-citizen relation. The
person in the position of authority is seen as unquestionable and is allowed full exercise
of their sadistic impulses. Our student organizers talk about the widespread practice of
"ragging," where upper class students sexually torture lower class students in
universities. When BASF organizers protested widely accepted sexual torture at
universities, thousands of people protested their questioning of upper class authority.
People are habituated to think of politics as partisan politics organized in hierarchical
bureaucracies. As soon as you talk to people about joining the organization (BASF), they
think of being the president, secretary, etc. When they don't get those roles, they lose
interest and leave.
Among the membership base, workers lose work hours participating at BASF events. These are
workers who live hand-to-mouth, unable to pay for food on days they do not work. BASF does
not have enough resources (from food to furniture) to bring all of its association members
together into long conferences and meetings. BASF has 60 associations and has received
interest letters from many more but is unable to integrate all of them or even meet the
interested persons in other parts of Bangladesh.
BASF is committed to moving from just wage struggles to building a broader social
movement. Opposed to vanguardism, BASF wants to create spaces for collective reflection
and action. It believes political praxis requires more education and consciousness raising
among wage workers across sectors, but at the moment BASF is only able to organize workers
in short duration for immediate needs. BASF lacks the infrastructure for further political
education.
It does not have an office, library, or community space. It lacks computers, original and
translated publications, and people capacity to take on popular education projects.
Despite resource drawbacks, BASF shomitis have generated collective "we feelings" among
its members, negotiated higher wages, and engaged in practices of mutual aid within its
sectors. After natural disasters in the region, BASF members work together to rebuild
fellow members' homes without any external aid. During health emergencies or family events
like weddings, members pull together their resources to support one other.
BASF encourages other anarchist organization and federations to develop translations of
publicly available literature for Bengali readers. There are a lot of people who are
reading online nowadays and we can reach them if we have more Bengali anarchist writings.
We should write in Bengali from now on.
Anarcho-syndicalism is an old, but still young idea out of the workers' movement in
Europe. The circumstances in Bangladesh - I guess - are different. Which parts of the
anarcho-syndicalist historical / modern practices had been inspiring, which were not
useful and had to be dropped/changed? How could anarcho-syndicalism be adopted to your
economical and cultural circumstances in Bangladesh today?
While any modern economy will be complex, the simplicity of a future anarcho-syndicalist
economy lies in the fact that it will be defined by a few basic principles. It will be a
true anarcho-syndicalist economy if:
1) There is no mechanism for profit, or for concentrating wealth and capital. 2)
Workplaces are collectively run and are controlled directly and democratically by workers.
3) Any organisational/administrative bodies are composed only of re-callable, accountable
delegates who are elected by mass meetings in the workplace or community. 4) Property is
held in common (though clearly, we all have the right to our own living space, personal
possessions, etc.). 5) All work is voluntary, and goods and services equally accessible.
Money, wages and prices do not exist. 6) There is a significant level of economic
planning, but not centralized. Regional or wider-scale planning is for complex and larger
scale modes of production. Local production and consumption is not subordinate to regional
planning, but is on the basis of self-sufficiency.
An economy that operates under these principles is one that is a lot more desirable and
effective in ensuring quality of life than the current capitalist chaos.
There are lots of ways in which people will feel the incentive to work voluntarily, and
there are lots of different ways in which local and regional economies might work. Some
people may migrate to economies which suit them. Some economies may be simpler, based on
self-sufficiency more than anything else; others will be more integrated and produce
complex goods.
The options are many, but the principles will ensure that everyone has the time and the
inclination to get involved in planning and participating in their economy - a far cry
from the present rotten, corrupt, and cynically selfish system we have the misfortune to
be saddled with.
Getting from here to there is not going to be easy, but humanity created capitalism, and
humanity can replace it. The collective act of wrenching control of our own economic lives
from the hands of capitalism is the long-overdue revolution we so desperately need.
The success of replacing capitalism will be measured by how much we take control of our
own destiny, rather than simply passing it on to some other power, as previous failed
revolutions have done.
Real progress is best made not by producing detailed blueprints (for that way lies the
slide into abstract politics and leadership), but by sticking to basic principles, and
concentrating our efforts on taking action for real change. Real democracy requires real
solidarity - and that means agreeing on the basics and then trusting ourselves and the
rest of humanity to get on with it. "Keeping it real" is the key.
Anarcho-syndicalism is a strategy for the working class to free itself from the capitalist
regime of class oppression and create a system of libertarian socialism based on
worker-managed industry.
This is possible in Bangladesh because it is possible for workers to form unions they
directly control. I realize that since World War Two unions became increasingly
bureaucratic. That was then, this is now. Unions have obvious problems.
What is needed now is for workers to form new unions they directly control, through
general meetings and elected delegate (or shop steward) councils. A more directly
worker-controlled and militant unionism, a unionism based on class-wide solidarity, would
be a much better form of unionism and it would provide workers with a vehicle for making
changes in society.
The basic idea is that unions that are self-managed by their members prefigure and
foreshadow a form of socialism where workers self-manage the workplaces, the industries.
This is a much better model of socialism than the failed statist models of socialism in
the 20th century.
However, the building of self-managed unions is only a starting point. The aim of
anarcho-syndicalism is basic structural change in society, doing away with the capitalist
regime, its system of class subordination, but also anarcho-syndicalism targets the other
oppressive aspects of the capitalist regime - its systemic forms of inequality as on
racism and gender inequality, its reliance on a top down repressive and bureaucratic state
machine. So the question of how possible anarcho-syndicalism is, has to be interpreted as
also asking about the possibility for the transformation of society into libertarian
socialism.
For this to be possible there would need to be an alliance of unions and social movements
of sufficient size, organizational strength and militancy as to pose this kind of threat
to the survival of the capitalist regime.
What do you and your comrades think about a Bangladeshi/German exchange? A big part of
anarcho-syndicalist practice is not only being organized in unions but to take the
production in our own hands. What about the possibility to raise a collective industry and
exchange of goods and labor between Germany and Bangladesh anarcho-syndicalist movement?
So to say not only capitalist "fair trade" but collective "revolutionary economy." Is
there a possibility to build up anarcho-syndicalist collectives for a future economy in
our way of thinking? (This point may lead to a bigger discussion, so take your time to
answer it, please.)
It seems that the germs of a possible Bangladeshi/German exchange or the "revolutionary
economy" as mentioned are already present.
As of now we do not have the technical or financial means to start co-operatives by
ourselves, but we have already considered it as a possibility if the means were to be made
available. Funding co-operatives would be something we could do with surplus funds, if we
ever have them. It is difficult to have surplus funds when we are still having problems
just making sure people have food in their stomach.
As mentioned above, the BASF is currently in a period of rapid growth that it is
struggling to keep up with. The task of building anarchist-worthy workplace unions
consumes all our time.
But this is seeming all the more possible the more sisters and brothers from abroad talk
about this to us. And it is welcomed news that contrasts the immoral spending habits we
have seen our entire lives.
We have seen the terrible injustice of stronger nations and their peoples coming to or
using indigent nations such as Bangladesh to take advantage of the high purchasing power
of their home currencies that is made possible by our cruel impoverishment.
The proposal of such an exchange is in a completely contrary spirit to this. In the least,
its solidaric content excites us.
I know anarchists and workers in the USA would also like to use such an economy to turn
the weapons of the exploiters against the exploiters themselves here in Bangladesh.
I am glad to hear others from abroad wanting to do what little they can to help us.
If such collectives grew here, its participants would have to carefully chart their
development, so that they are in harmony with the general movement and add to its
revolutionary character.
I imagine they would socialize their resources, helping to meet urgent organizational and
material needs among our rank-and-file that could offer unique opportunities that are not
possible outside the framework of such a solidarity economy.
We are seeing successes in our union organizing, and it is difficult to concentrate our
efforts elsewhere, especially while our hands are clenched fighting in so many workplaces.
I imagine comrades from abroad would have to come here to offer us technical assistance to
make this possible since our hands are so full.
This is an idea and sentiment that I hope continues to grow. I thank all comrades who are
discussing this.
What about other aspects of a free society - for example how is the question of women
emancipation realized in your organizations? What do the female comrades think about it?
For the emancipation of women we already formed Bangladesh Anarcho-Syndicalist Women's
Union (BAWU).
The BAWU identifies the cause of women's oppression as the economic systems of feudalism
and capitalism, rather than in a perceived weakness in national character or culture.
Most of its ideology has been formulated by its founding members. They focus on the
class-based exploitation of women, singling out sex workers, domestic servants and female
factory workers as the most oppressed.
They condemn the unequal distribution of wealth and refuse to subordinate working women's
struggle to any other ideological cause. Declaring that "the goal of equality cannot be
achieved except through women's liberation," BAWU views women's freedom as something that
women must accomplish on their own, since relying on others to give them their rights has
not worked up to now and likely never will. Revolutionary change, not reform, is seen as
the only way forward.
At this point, BAWU and the ideas it represent is still a new phenomenon to Bangladeshi women.
There is a mixture of joy, curiosity, and hesitation.
We hope that our liberatory vision and practices continue to grow.
The recent awakening of the anarchist spirit in the Bangladeshi people is causing big
social changes that we hope can continue with the broadening of our experiences and education.
For decades we knew nothing of anarchism, very simple yet profoundly unique ideas that
resonate to the core of our essential humanity.
Some of us who have grown up in authoritarian society and discover anarchism later in life
have the least grounds to assume that our vision of freedom is the most comprehensive.
After all, we lived completely oblivious to something simple and innate for decades, in
some cases.
We will continue to be ready to receive and consider new or better ideas that enrich
individual liberty and dignity. Some will come from our interactions from other
societies. Perhaps we will discover pre-colonialist ways of life that have been hidden
from us and reclaim our heritage.
Being open to new ideas is the easier thing, of course. The task of spreading them and
defending those who wish to elevate them against innate conservatism in ordinary people
and institutions is the more difficult task.
We hope we are cultivating an anarchist generation that will be able to continue this work.
We are just the beginning, of course.
Are there any syndicalist research groups connected to your unions / syndicates?
Not yet.
What are your goals in the next future? How can European comrades support these goals?
Our main goals are as follows:
1) The Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation is a libertarian workers' movement organized
according to anarcho-syndicalist principles. We aim to create a society based on liberty,
mutual aid, federalism and self-management.
2) We believe the working class and the employing class have nothing in common. Between
these two classes a struggle must go on until the workers of the world organize as a
class, take possession of the earth and the machinery of production and abolish the wage
system.
3) In the present we take an active part in the struggle for worker solidarity, shorter
hours, immediate wage increases and improved working conditions. And we actively oppose
all attacks on workers such as conscription of labor, strike breaking, drives for
increased production and longer working hours, wage cuts or unemployment.
4) We want worker/community self-education for complete self-management of production,
distribution, social organisation and preservation of a healthy ecological environment.
This will come about by worker/community expropriation of wealth and the creation of
alternative economic systems.
5) We are opposed to all economic and social monopoly. We do not seek the conquest of
political power, but rather the total abolition of all state functions in the life of
society. Hence we reject all parliamentary activity and other collaboration with
legislative bodies. We believe in fighting organisations in the workplace and community,
independent of, and opposed to all political parties and Trade Union bureaucracies.
6) Our means of struggle include education and direct action. To ensure the full
participation of all in both current struggle and the future self-management of society,
we oppose centralism in our organisations. We organize on the basis of Libertarian
Federalism that is from the bottom up without any hierarchy and with full freedom of
initiative by both local and regional groups. All co-coordinating bodies of the Federation
consist of re-callable delegates with specific tasks determined by local assemblies.
7) We see the world as our country, humanity as our family. We reject all political and
national frontiers and aim to unmask the arbitrary violence of all governments.
8) We oppose all attitudes and assumptions that are harmful and injurious to working class
solidarity. We oppose all ideologies and institutions that stand in the way of equality
and the right of people everywhere to control their own lives and their environment.
European comrades can support these goals in the following fields:
BASF seeks technical and financial support in the following areas:
1) We need some financial assistance to develop our communication infrastructure for our
organizing work. Funds left over would be spent according to our membership's discretion
toward necessary efforts, including education, union campaigns, co-operative
opportunities, transportation, and food.
2) Our movement is currently growing throughout the country. Improving our communication
infrastructure would help our organizing activities in over 60+ locals we have already
established and in different industries we currently have a footing in.
3) Translation costs from English to Bengali language:
The Bangladesh anarcho-syndicalist workers' movement is less than five years old, and we
are in dire need of printed material to educate and organize..
We are undertaking the "Bengali Translation & Publication Project" here in Bangladesh.
We have begun translating some basic books on anarchism written by thinkers such as
Bakunin, William Godwin, Proudhon, Kropotkin, Emma Goldman, Malatesta, Alexander Berkman,
Stirner, Élisée Reclus, Noam Chomsky, and so on.
Our initial plan is to translate and print ten books to build a strong knowledge base of
anarchism in our country.
Most of our Bangladeshi comrades come from very poor family backgrounds, so although the
audience and organizers are there to share these books, but the means to finish printing
them are still lacking.
You can help us print books with a small donation on our website.
Even just one euro would go a long way!
You can also contact us if you have any idea about inexpensive ways to print.
basfsylhet@gmail.com
facebook.com/basfsylhet
We will appreciate your help very much.
Perhaps anarchist, Bengali books will be useful for workers who live outside Bangladesh,
maybe in your places of action. If you want to organize conferences or pre-order books,
contact us through the same means shown above.
Here are the books we are working on printing,
The Conquest of Bread by Peter Kropotkin
What Is Property? by P.J. Proudhon
The Anarchist Revolution by Errico Malatesta
God and the State by Mikhail Bakunin
Anarcho-Syndicalism: Theory and Practice by Rudolf Rocker
Nationalism and Culture by Rudolf Rocker
ABC of Anarchism by Alexander Berkman
Post-Scarcity Anarchism by Murray Bookchin
Program of Anarcho-Syndicalism by G.P. Maximoff
Demanding the Impossible by Peter Marshall
Do you regularly publish any books or magazines with anarcho-syndicalist content?
We have taken the initiative to publish a little magazine.
Is there the possibility to send one or two versed comrades for a rally/connective tour to
the anarcho-syndicalist groups and unions of Europe / Germany?
Yes. It is important to share our news and ideas.
https://loveandragemedia.org/2019/01/05/an-interview-with-the-bangladesh-anarcho-syndicalist-federation/
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Message: 5
Story of a working day at Amazon Douai, by a libertarian communist activist: a generalized
surveillance atmosphere, where the slightest deviation is punishable. Nevertheless, groups
of workers' resistance are active. A few months ago, a section SUD was born, and it
carbure! ---- Here we are ! Before entering the parking lot, first check of a security
officer who asks me for my badge, to check that I am not an interim - it is forbidden to
park in the parking lot. I park according to the rule: in reverse, otherwise penalty. And
I walk up the long parking lot to the huge warehouse withpick towers- storage space on
four floors. I ruminate: What will they still blame me today ? Which mistakes ? How long
is it ? Did I put away my cart before leaving yesterday ? Here, everything is prone to
card. Some of you and some chiefs look at it paternalistically: "If things go wrong, there
will be reprisals ... " With the smile of course, because when arriving at Amazon
everything is beautiful, everything sparkles, welcome to the land of Care Bears with
Haribo sweets and cheerleaders!
All and all temporary workers, who are recognized by their green badge, give their all to
obtain the Holy Grail: the blue badge (which means CDI). However, soon after obtaining
this "privilege" we realize that we are well trapped in this capitalist empire obsessed
with profitability and productivity, where everything is done to push us to the end.
"Does your leader treat you with respect ?Asks you for your scanner every morning. A small
question, supposedly anonymous, but which is asked to you after you have scanned your
badge ... In spite of that, the rate of negative answers approaches the 20% !
Safety , quality , productivity , these are the three slogans that we are hammered upon
our arrival. We mix all three, and we have the feeling that the result is the opposite.
Security, for example, is used more as a sanction tool than to help the worker. For
example: you do not hold the banister ? Go punish sanction. It starts with remonstrances
from the hierarchy ; then you are called in an interview with the management ; and that
can go as far as dismissal.
After that you understand why the day you sign your CDI, we already offer the emergency
exit ("if you have another opportunity, you can leave with 2,000, 4,000 euros ...") . The
turnover is huge. A colleague with a gold border on his badge ? It is that he has 5 years
of seniority. He held. He is nicknamed "the Elder" ...
The scan, this GPS plotter that knows everything about me
In short, with all this, I must not forget to take my tool: the scan, this GPS plotter
that knows everything about me. Every morning, he asks me the same questions, for example:
"Does your leader treat you with respect ?" Small question supposedly anonymous, but that
is asked to you after you scanned your badge ... Forcibly, after that, they have more than
80% of positive answers. The chef, precisely. The brief of beginning of post, it is the
small daily meeting of self-satisfaction before the list of interdicts, rules, incentives
with the denunciation ("if you see something of not good, come to tell us it")and threats
of sanctions. Then comes a small gym session - not mandatory but strongly recommended-
enough to have your head back well before investigating seven hours of work in what is
called a "cell": the workspace where you are alone with your cart, in an alley. Finally
alone, not really: with the vigils that run around, cameras and colleagues who come, in
the name of the leader, blame you all your "errors" of the day before. And to complete the
whole, the chef who passes his little tour in the driveway to finish you morally with his
list of reproaches: downtime, "performance" (as if we were playing sports ...). And all
this of course with ordinary threats: " You know, I'm just warning you ... if it's HR,
it'll be something else ..."
The SOUTH section enjoys a real cohesion
Everything is done to stifle the slightest hint of resistance against this horde of little
chefs who are ready to do anything to "evolve" in the wonderful world of Jeff Bezos ...
And yet there is resistance. In Douai as elsewhere, there are combative unions, which are
as much pebble in the shoe of the Amazon empire. A few months ago, a group of colleagues
created a union section SUD. It is added to the CFDT and the CGT. Well, the CFDT is 80%
composed of leaders, so for an operator to come see them, it's not too obvious ... The CGT
is honest, but in loss of speed and energy demand since the departure of the secretary of
the section.
In March, two unionists from SUD went to support the anarcho-syndicalists of the OZZ-IP in
Amazon Poznan (Poland), fighting against a ruthless employee appraisal system.
The SOUTH section has a real cohesion, and it's nice to see. Everyone has a say ! Since
its creation, it distributes between 1 to 3 leaflets per month - it may not seem like
much, but it's new: before there was almost never. In March, two SUD unionists left for
Poznan, Poland, to support Amazon's OZZ-IP (anarcho-syndicalist) section, fighting against
Feedbackom, a weekly productivity monitoring procedure, with sanctions or even dismissal.
if the worker does not achieve the goals several times. After the multinational has tested
Feedbackom in Poland, will it generalize it ? Other trade union delegations (Spanish CGT,
German FAU) were present for a joint event.
Comrades from SOUTH came back like cuckoos. In short, the carbide section well and it
bothers. The proof: his secretary, Jérôme Guilain, is threatened with dismissal ; he was
recently summoned to a prior interview ... A month ago, it was Habib Latrech, the CGT
secretary, who was entitled to it. Tomorrow we will distribute leaflets to denounce this
repression, and this will be relayed by the unions of the other Amazon sites.
At the exit, the "BAC" monitors the clock
For the moment, the day is coming to an end. It's time to free yourself from the scanner.
At the exit, a squad of leaders (we call them "the BAC" ) monitors the clock: it is to be
pile by the hour, and not a second before ! Throughout your return to the locker, you see
the posters that breathe the good conscience, the announcements of "have fun", kind events
organized by the management and steal the show at the EC ...
Finally in my car. I just have to wait in the final bottling: hundreds of workers, like
me, will escape for a few hours of rest in this world of bar codes and widespread
surveillance.
Makhno (AL Douai)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Amazon-un-collegue-a-tenu-5-ans-On-le-surnomme-l-ancien
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Message: 6
Reading this collection of essays, it's clear David Van Deusen has lived an interesting
life. To start, Van Deusen takes us on an exciting history of his involvement in The Green
Mountain Anarchist Collective. He writes about efforts against racist group The Minutemen,
daily struggles of organization and introduces the question of violence and non-violence
used as a tactic and strategy, a topic he goes in to in more detail later in the book.
Reading the first chapter on the history of Van Deusen and the collective he was part of
does intrigue the reader to get stuck in to the book. It intrigues as you build a mental
image of the man in your head and after the opening stories, you want to know what else he
has been part of. Although the title may suggest more enjoyment for people familiar with
the northeast of the USA, the book still has lots to offer those who are not. The second
set of essays focuses on Theory, including two great reads The Rise of Capitalism and
Authoritarian Communism as An Incomplete Resistance. These two essays are written with
pace and vigor sometimes lacking in other parts of the book. Some of the essays are so
crammed with theories and ideas, I needed a rest between them to let it sink in. A nice
touch here: Van Deusen intersperses the theories with song lyrics from the Who, the Clash,
Public Enemy and many others; this helps the reader to digest the previous essay and get
ready for the next.
Van Deusen describes some comprehensive tactics he has used in demonstrations; this
chapter is extreme and makes you wish there were more Anarchists organizing themselves as
he suggests. Although this section was first published in 2000, it's still relevant and
hopefully some folk will take note. He even compares the tactics of the US Army to what
can be used on the streets. For your information, if there are over 1000 of you hitting
the streets, keep a reserve of about 300. This chapter has over 20 essays and ends with an
account of a huge organized demonstration being postponed when the World Trade Center was
attacked in September 2001.
The forth chapter has essays under the heading Organization. There are more stories from
Van Deusen's experiences; by this point you realize the guy has done a fair bit. He
explores workers' councils and unions and looks at the difference between talking about
them being valuable and the reality of starting one. Reading about bosses intimidating
workers and capitalism generally making lives unhappy rings all too true of struggles
around the world today.
These ideas roll over to the following chapter, ‘Workers'. Van Deusen writes about
starting a union and strategies to help workers. This is met with backlash from bosses who
try to intimidate their workers who join. They use different tactics to respond, claiming
some victories. It takes place in a small New England City, but the stories feel like a
microcosm of larger systems. Tactics like filling diners with people only drinking coffee
during peak dinner time do get a message across. It doesn't feel like this is being
mirrored around the world and, on the grander scale, if only a few people boycott
companies like Nestle, Amazon etc., the bosses will continue to exploit. But without a few
people like Van Deusen getting things going, of course it would be even worse.
The final chapters of this book talk about the 2007 secession from Vermont and a story
about a road trip to New Orleans. Van Deusen visits to assist/witness the aftermath of
Katrina's destruction in 2005. A nice end to the book, a good one to read if you need to
refresh the idea that ACAB.
Anarchists need to communicate and organize themselves, this book is a healthy read to
assist in communication across countries. What has happened and been tried in Vermont can
help someone in China. Anarchists will certainly find interest in some of these essays and
groups can learn from what has worked and what hasn't for Van Deusen. There are many
points which can lead to interesting discussion in established groups, organizers of
radical events and new budding Anarchists. If completely new to Anarchism, this book may
not be an ideal starting point; in parts it is quite heavy. To someone well read on the
topic, there are certainly many essays that can coax progressive ways of thinking about
Anarchy.
Although Van Deusen is yet to have influenced as many as Bernie Sanders in Vermont; let's
hope this book encourages a few more in to direct action. Now the planet is on the verge
of collapse, politicians have lost their people's faith more than ever before and the
Alt-right are gaining a voice, maybe it's time to learn from Van Deusen more than ever.
Hopefully this quote from Jeff Jones, writer of the foreword, will give you an idea about
the author and how the book is written:
"David[Van Deusen]identifies as a revolutionary: that is, he believes in and works for a
complete transformation of our society as presently constituted. What's more, he believes
this transformation is possible."
Let's do it!
Nik Ray occasionally reviews books for magazines. He lives in South East Asia with his
partner and kids, working when he has to. He reads too.
On Anarchism: Dispatches from the People's Republic of Vermont by David Van Deusen /
Algora Publishing, 2017
http://organisemagazine.org.uk/2019/03/20/on-anarchism-dispatches-from-the-peoples-republic-of-vermont/
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Message: 7
After a successful premiere last spring, it was a little obvious that the Spring zine
party did not die during childbirth, so we could look forward to the second year, which
took place in the same place, ie in the attic of the Smíchov Eternie on Saturday 4. May.
The weather was like doing to crawl somewhere and stay there, why not to Eternie. ----
Although it was an official start from two in the afternoon, it was already in place on
the spot, individual authors, collectives and distributors unpacked the prints on the
prepared tables. Just like last year, there was not even a black-and-red flag booth
featuring the Anarchist Federation Publishing House and its offer of several years of
anarchist review Existence , books and brochures.
The snack bar was provided by the local bar and there were also several kinds of
sandwiches and some sweetness for voluntary contributions. Who had been hungry for a long
afternoon, could go to the vegan dining room, part of the Eternie complex. There was also
the opportunity to be tattooed in the program, and even though two tattoo artists were
prepared in the tattoo corner, no one used their services in the end.
The offer of zines and other prints was quite diverse, with art, photographic, comic,
feminist, HC / punk, skateboarding and, of course, anarchist publications at our stand.
There was a presentation of Punx23 graphics, zin printed on receipt paper, Mazinerie
published by the main organizer of the event, fast sold out feminist zine Rote Zora , HC /
metal Telepathy , Drool magazine , older and completely fresh (ninth) XRXmag comics ,
crust BITCH , Skateboarding Krivák , music media from Raw zine distro, nice prints from
the workshop High Forehead press and from Yea, and more and more.
Finally, there was live music and bands announced - local Nulajednanulanula, Croatian
Mališa Bahat and French harcors No More Waiting.
Similar events are particularly excellent in bringing together zine-makers, underground
publishers and distributors, expanding the horizons of zine-making to everyone involved,
not only for buying and selling, but also for exchanges. The event was visited by dozens
of interested parties, many of whom were outside Prague and it was not exceptional to hear
Slovak.
https://www.afed.cz/text/6986/druha-jarni-zine-party
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