Today's Topics:
1. US, black rose fed: CHOOSING HOPE: INTERVIEW WITH NOAM
CHOMSKY (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, - Communiqué of the Libertarian Communist Union
(UCL) -- Greece: Fascist aggression against Yannis Youlountas
(fr, it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #295 - Campaign of
actions, The nuclear exit network is reviving (fr, it,
pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Britain, freedom news: Mutu: rethinking our radical media
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Greece, AN ANARCHIST FESTIVAL IN EVERY CITY - report from
the 5th anarchist book festival in Patras [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Noam Chomsky discusses socialism, anarchism, and the fight for social change in U.S.
politics today. This interview originally appeared in the Boston Review. ---- Scott
Casleton: In the past you've suggested that the Democrats and Republicans aren't too far
apart where it counts, such as in their support for corporate power. Do you still think
this, or is the small but growing shift in the younger wing of the Democratic Party a
promising sign of change? ---- Noam Chomsky: There have been changes, even before the
recent shift you mention. Both parties shifted to the right during the neoliberal years:
the mainstream Democrats became something like the former moderate Republicans, and the
Republicans drifted virtually off the spectrum. There's merit, I think, in the observation
by Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein that increasingly since the Newt Gingrich years-and
strikingly in Mitch McConnell's Senate-the Republican Party has become a "radical
insurgency" that is largely abandoning normal parliamentary politics. That shift-which
predates Donald Trump-has created a substantial gap between the two parties. In the media
it's often called "polarization," but that's hardly an accurate description.
Both in the United States and Europe, neoliberal/austerity programs have sharply
concentrated wealth while also stagnating wages for the majority, undermining benefits,
eroding functioning democracy, and encouraging what former Fed Chair Alan Greenspan hailed
as "growing worker insecurity." These socioeconomic policies, quite naturally, have
engendered anger, resentment, and bitterness-which are often exploited by demagogues. As
centrist political institutions have declined, sometimes virtually disappearing, both
political parties have been affected. The Republican establishment used to be able to
crush extremist candidates who rose from the voting base in primaries, but not in 2016.
Among Democrats, the Bernie Sanders campaign broke sharply with over a century of U.S.
political history by achieving remarkable success both without support from private wealth
and corporate power and in the face of disregard from the media and contempt by Party
managers. Sanders's success both reflects and has contributed to the shift among the
younger wing that you mention, which has a great deal of promise, I think.
But what Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mean by "socialism" seems to be something
similar to New Deal social democracy. Sanders's platform, for example, wouldn't have
greatly surprised Dwight Eisenhower, who argued strongly that anyone who challenged New
Deal programs didn't belong in the U.S. political system-an indication of how far to the
right politics has drifted in the neoliberal years.
For more critical analysis of electoral politics, check out our reader "Socialist Faces in
High Places."
SC: You've criticized the once-every-four-years voting extravaganza, after which public
participation effectively stops until the next election. Do you still find this
problematic? What would you suggest replace it?
NC: Highly problematic. Formal public participation keeps to the ritual of pushing buttons
in the quadrennial extravaganzas (i.e., elections), which effectively abandons the regular
political engagement that is the foundation of functioning democracy.
The U.S. political system is regressive in important ways. Some commentators have argued
that if a country with this system sought to join the EU, it would probably be barred by
the European Court of Justice. The Senate is, of course, grossly undemocratic, a residue
of compromises to ensure ratification of the Constitution, and unchangeable by amendment
because of the voting power of the smaller states. Same with the electoral college. This
lack of proportional representation virtually guarantees the two-party monopoly.
Worst of all, as research by Thomas Ferguson and his colleagues has shown, electability
for both Congress and the Executive is predictable with remarkable precision from the
single variable of campaign spending. One consequence is that representatives spend hours
a day appealing to donors while corporate lobbyists (whose ranks have exploded during the
neoliberal years) meet with staffs to craft legislation. Studies by Martin Gilens and
Benjamin Page have shown that the majority of voters are literally unrepresented, in that
there is virtually no correlation between their preferences and the legislative actions of
their representatives, who are listening to other voices.
"We have two choices: to abandon hope and help ensure that the worst will happen; or to
make use of the opportunities that exist and perhaps contribute to a better world. It is
not a very difficult choice."
I referred above to formal public participation. The public can and should participate in
other ways because the effectiveness of public activism has always been evident. Examples
are legion, but most recently the young people involved in the Sunrise Movement succeeded
in placing a Green New Deal program on the policy agenda. Such a policy-perhaps modified
in such a way as economist Robert Pollin has suggested-is a necessity for survival.
Steps towards a more democratic system are possible in many ways, but they will always be
limited so long as economic power is highly concentrated, basic decision-making is in the
hands of huge private tyrannies with little public accountability, and much of the
population is living near the edge of financial disaster.
See our three part series on the traditional of libertarian socialism in Latin America.
SC: Unsurprisingly, there has been a lot of debate trying to define socialism. You have
quoted Anton Pannekoek for saying socialism is "workers themselves being masters over
production." Can you elaborate on what this might look like?
NC: Pannekoek is voicing the conventional understanding of socialism in its early years,
before it was transmuted to efforts to soften the harsh edges of capitalist oppression and
came to be associated with the monstrous perversion of socialism in Bolshevik Russia. A
genuine left Marxist and leading figure in the council Communist movement, Pannekoek was
one of the "infantile ultra-leftists" against whom Lenin inveighed. The idea that workers
themselves should be masters of production is a natural inheritor of core ideals of
classical liberalism from John Locke to Thomas Paine to Abraham Lincoln and John Stuart
Mill, all of whom regarded wage labor as a form of servitude that should not exist in a
free society.
More significantly, this was the understanding of working people in the early days of the
industrial revolution, many of them young women, "factory girls," driven from farms to
work in the mills. They had a lively independent press, in which they condemned "the
blasting influence of monarchical principles[of capitalism]on democratic soil." They
recognized that this assault on elementary human rights will not be overcome until "they
who work in the mills own them," and sovereignty is in the hands of free producers. Then
working people will no longer be "menials or the humble subjects of a foreign despot . . .
slaves in the strictest sense of the word."
The solution was as clear to working people as to leading political thinkers. Mill wrote
that "The form of association, however, which if mankind continue to improve, must be
expected to predominate is . . . the association of the labourers themselves on terms of
equality, collectively owning the capital with which they carry on their operations, and
working under managers electable and removable by themselves."
This thought evolved into Pannekoek's workers' councils and is hardly a utopian ideal. As
philosopher Elizabeth Anderson has recently emphasized, most people today spend the bulk
of their waking lives as subjects of private tyrannies in which their rights are
restricted beyond the norm of totalitarian states-when they can go to the bathroom or talk
to a friend, let alone play some role in determining the conditions of work or the goals
of the enterprise. There are now successful worker-owned enterprises ranging from huge
conglomerates such as Mondragon in the Basque country to small-scale firms in the old rust
belt, with varying degrees of authentic self-management. There is also a proliferation of
cooperatives, localism, and other initiatives that open the way to a revival of the
consciousness and could flourish in more free and just societies.
Podcast interview on the climate crisis with Arthur Pye of Black Rose/Rosa Negra.
SC: It is clear climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity, aided and abetted by
Republican policies. What kind of radical action is called for?
NC: It is impossible to find words to describe what we are witnessing. Global
warming-euphemistically called "climate change"-is the most urgent problem ever faced in
human history, with the possible exception of nuclear war. Yet only a quarter of
Republicans regard it as an urgent problem. On issues that are important for voting,
conservative Republicans rank global warming last, well below such cosmic threats as
Russian interference in U.S. elections. These are startling and frightening results.
Major energy players have dedicated great efforts to downplaying the threat, which their
own scientists informed them was real and dire, and for a long time, the media barely
covered the impending disaster, with portrayals giving equal emphasis to "both sides." The
dramatic actions of such groups as Extinction Rebellion, Sunrise Movement, and School
Strike for Climate are of great value in opening minds-but those minds have to be engaged
in unremitting action to implement changes on the ground, to pass legislation, to educate
and organize.
The task is particularly critical in the United States, not only because of its
incomparable power and global influence, but also because under Republican rule it has
become the global arch-criminal. Other countries are doing at least something to mitigate
the threat, while the most powerful state in world history is vigorously fanning the
flames, led by a narcissistic megalomaniac-and consummate political demagogue-who knows
exactly what he is doing. Donald Trump appealed to the government of Ireland for a permit
to build a wall (he loves walls) to protect his golf course from the anticipated sea level
rise.
Under the Trump bureaucracy, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released
one of the most amazing documents in history-and this is not hyperbole. A detailed
environmental impact study, it assumes a 4-degree Celsius rise in temperature by 2100,
which would mean the end for organized human life in anything like the forms we know. The
argument it makes is in opposition to emission standards for vehicles since we're going
off the cliff pretty soon anyways so why bother? Never mind that transportation is only
"the largest source of global warming emissions in the United States," according to the
Union of Concerned Scientists.
Can one find words for this? A historical analogue? I can't. The only words I know are:
there is a lot of work to do in this strange country. And not here alone.
SC: Shifting to foreign policy, you were a vocal critic of scholarship on Vietnam that
didn't focus on the general trend of imperial foreign policy that had been developing for
decades. Do you think the same narrowness limits our understanding of our ongoing
conflicts in the Middle East?
NC: The Vietnam War was unprovoked imperial aggression. Bernard Fall, the highly respected
and bitterly anti-Communist military historian and Indochina specialist, wrote in 1967
(with still worse to come) that "Vietnam as a cultural and historic entity . . . is
threatened with extinction . . .[as]the countryside literally dies under the blows of the
largest military machine ever unleashed on an area of this size." Scholarship and other
commentary are deeply flawed unless this basic framework is adopted for analysis and
discussion-a minimal standard that is rarely met in discussion of the acts of one's own
state and its allies and clients.
The same concerns are very much alive, not least with regard to the Middle East, though
there have been some salutary changes. The days are past when much of conventional media
fare depicted Israel as "a society in which moral sensitivity is a principle of political
life" (New York Times opinion piece) and whose army is "animated by the high moral purpose
that has guided Israel throughout its tumultuous history" (Time). Both quotes were from
pieces that appeared immediately after the Sabra-Shatila massacre-a massacre that was the
coda to Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, another crime of aggression without credible
pretext.
It will be instructive to see whether scholarship and other commentary can depart from
today's norm regarding the U.S. assault against Iran. Stuxnet, for example, was a highly
praised cyber attack on Iran that was largely believed to be a joint mission between the
United States and Israel. Yet the Pentagon itself defines cyber attacks as acts of war
that justify military response. More recently, the current, extremely harsh sanctions
against Iran are supposed to punish the country for living up to the terms of the
international nuclear agreement (JCPOA) that the United States alone has chosen to undermine.
While the international community fumes, it is too intimidated to defy the global
Godfather. Commentary often reflexively parrots the U.S. government propaganda line,
sometimes with timid qualifications. Since Washington so declares, Iran is labeled the
greatest threat to peace-in contrast to global opinion which, according to the Gallup
polling organization, confers that honor on the United States. Iran must cease to
"destabilize" the Middle East and learn to behave like a "normal nation" (Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo's mantra, repeated by many others).
A "normal" nation is one like the leading U.S. allies in the region, those peace-loving
nations and scrupulous defenders of human rights such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Egypt's military dictatorship, and Israel. Or like Iran itself when it was under
the rule of the U.S.-imposed dictator, the Shah, who was quite openly seeking to develop
nuclear weapons with unremitting U.S. support while compiling one of the worst human
rights records in the world according to Amnesty International. At the time, President
Carter-one of the lesser U.S. enthusiasts of the Shah-lauded the Shah's "great leadership"
in creating "an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world." The
Shah was basking, according to Carter, in "the respect and the admiration and love which
your people give to you"-just months before he was overthrown by a popular uprising. But
no accusations of destabilization then, as the Shah's Iran joined the Saudi dictatorship
and Israel as the pillars of U.S. control over what Eisenhower had called the most
"strategically important part of the world."
It would be all too easy to continue.
SC: Over the course of your life, you've commented on everything from the sad defeat of
socialism and anarchism in the Spanish civil war to the atrocities in Vietnam. What keeps
you working in the face of these miseries? And what sacrifices have you had to make to
achieve your success?
NC: We have two choices: to abandon hope and help ensure that the worst will happen; or to
make use of the opportunities that exist and perhaps contribute to a better world. It is
not a very difficult choice. There are, of course, sacrifices; time and energy are finite.
But there are also the rewards of participating in struggles for peace and justice and the
common good.
http://blackrosefed.org/choosing-hope-noam-chomsky/
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Message: 2
A well-known libertarian activist, filmmaker and debater, our comrade Yannis was
hospitalized after being molested by three neo-Nazis in Piraeus. ---- The Communist
Libertarian Union learned this Friday, June 14, the aggression of our comrade Yannis
Youlountas by neo-Nazis while leaving the self-managed social center " Favela " in
Piraeus (Greece). Our thoughts of support are directly addressed to him and to Maud his
companion and all his relatives, especially his comrades in the neighborhood of Exarcheia
in Athens, a popular area and high place of social struggles where Yannis sits safely and
where he treats his wounds, which are fortunately light. ---- We have often crossed the
course of Yannis in the struggles that we lead. He tirelessly propagates through his
interventions anti-capitalist and self-managing libertarian ideas by informing and
popularizing the autonomous struggles of anarchist comrades in Greece.
His in-depth work on antifascism leads us to meet him regularly and to debate in different
settings and to fight together as in the identity campaign in the Mediterranean and the
Alps or more recently in support of the comrades of the Rouvikonas group.
Since the death of Clement Meric six years ago, fascist attacks against migrants or
anti-fascist activists are still relevant. They are multiplying lately with attacks
against the revolutionary processions within the events of the Yellow Vests (among others
in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse). Recently, it is a comrade of the Publico bookstore
of the Anarchist Federation who suffered a knife attack.
This succession of attacks is more than disturbing at a time when the extreme right is
coming to power in many countries. But they must not curb the strengthening of the fight
against fascism and against capitalism in the image of the mobilization against the
pension reform ordered by the government of Bolsonaro in Brazil.
In Greece, France, Brazil and elsewhere, the fight against fascism is international !
Libertarian Communist Union (UCL), June 15, 2019
Download the press release in PDF
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Grece-Agression-fasciste-contre-Yannis-Youlountas
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Message: 3
The Nuclear Exit Network, still weakened by the divergences that crossed it a dozen years
ago, launches a campaign with a line of sight, an opposition to EDF projects to start the
construction of a new generation of nuclear power plants. ---- The Nuclear Departure
Network never really recovered from the crisis that rocked it in 2009-2010. Disagreements
began with the so-called "Climate Ultimatum", signed by WWF-France, Greenpeace France, the
Nicolas Hulot Foundation and Friends of the Earth, a call that "resented " an acceptance
of nuclear power as an alternative to the effect greenhouse ». The differences of opinion
of this call led to a blockage of the network. Since then, the network remains largely
weakened. Although there are 110 groups and associations specifically antinuclear in
France, only 34 of them would be up to date dues within the network. This situation is
obviously prejudicial to the antinuclear cause. Yet the actuality of the struggles, with
that of Bure against the burial of waste, the fight for the closure of the power plant
"out of age" Fessenheim or facing the prospect of reviving the electro-nuclear program in
France, would require to seek new forms of convergence between all and all antinuclear.
The campaign launched by the Exit Nuclear Network in the spring of 2019 could be one of
these unit triggers. In any case we wish it and invite to participate.
"Hand in hand with the nuclear lobby, the government is preparing the continuation - even
the revival - of nuclear. Extending nuclear plants and factories means running cracked
tanks, old pumps, obsolete electrical equipment, corroded pipes ... And instead of
stopping the production of radioactive waste, there are not enough new projects: between
low-cost EPR, mega-pool of irradiated fuels, laundry of contaminated linen or new
radioactive waste storage sites ... The nuclearization of territories is under way! More
than ever, in 2019, a burst is needed to prevent the extension of old factories and
dangerous reactors and to block new projects that are economically and ecologically
absurd. That is why the Nuclear exit network is launching its new national campaign with
the slogan: no extension or new installation, in 2019, the nuclear, it is still no !"
This campaign is built in three stages. Right now: "Let's ask for the shutdown of aging
plants and plants" . Starting this summer: "We will act to prevent the installation of new
projects" . And at the end of the year: "We will propose actions to do without nuclear
power" . On its website Sortirdunucleaire.org , the network details precisely the course
of this campaign and provides tools to participate.
Seb (AL Nantes)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Le-reseau-Sortir-du-nucleaire-se-relance
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Message: 4
The seriousness of our times hardly needs restating. In contrast to the temporary
"tightening of belts" we were promised, we're now over a decade into what is increasingly
being understood as a permanent austerity that the ruling class wanted all along, while
Britain's biggest far-right demonstrations since the 1930s combine with Tory overtures
towards overt white nationalists. ---- Yet on the other side, while the rise of Corbyn
channelled energy away from the post-crisis student and anti-austerity movements into
reanimating the corpse of social democracy, increasing dissatisfaction with Corbynism -
and its promise of better-funded borders, increased police numbers, etc. - means that a
return to extra-parliamentary working-class politics seems not just necessary, but inevitable.
The issue, then, will be how to create the infrastructure which can bring together these
existing pockets of grassroots organising into a movement really capable of changing the
world.
Notes from a dying media
Even in these difficult times for libertarian radicals, there are numerous examples of
local groups waging class struggle. But these struggles are often poorly promoted, relying
on already over-stretched groups to publicise them via an array of blogs and social media
platforms. In bigger towns and cities, protests and actions fail to attract the numbers
they could, partly because people don't know about them. And there exists an over-reliance
on social media to promote our activities, rendering pages redundant (and therefore also
the archive of content on them) as social media usage shifts from one platform to another.
All this has taken place in the vacuum created by the collapse of numerous anarchist
publications. Arguably however the disappearance which had the biggest material effect on
grassroots activism in Britain was the collapse of an online outlet, Indymedia.
For all its faults, Indymedia, with its slogan "Don't hate the media, be the media,"
functioned as a crucial hub which held various activist movements together from 1999 to
the mid-2010s with sites across the country. As the anti-globalisation movement from which
it had emerged started to ebb away however Indymedia went into free fall. The open
publishing nature which had allowed anybody to take part, write up action reports and
publicise events, proved also to be its weakness as conspiracy theorists and anti-Semites
began posting whatever they liked.
It was partly in reaction to these drawbacks that we launched what eventually became
libcom.org. We felt there was a need to have an editorial collective able to stop
reactionary content being posted to activist websites and maintain a clearer commitment to
everyday class struggle within anti-authoritarian politics.
Ultimately, while our theory and history archives succeeded in this goal, our news
coverage (with the exception of specific struggles like France's anti-CPE movement or the
Visteon occupation) remained patchy.
Our aim of covering every working-class struggle everywhere in the world was, in the end,
a tad too broad for our small collective. Though we had lots of good individual articles,
we failed at producing a news resource which consistently covered - and was used by -
collective social movements.
The task, then, for building radical media infrastructure is in finding a way to marry
these diverging elements: open publishing with editorial checks; a specific remit within
which individual articles can reflect and feed into wider movements.
Mutu's model: transforming radical media
In May 2018, we attended a conference of the Mutu network in France, a network of local
radical media websites which operate much like Indymedia did, but with a completely
transparent editorial process.
We were blown away to discover how each of these sites, many we hadn't even heard of, were
acting as hubs for the various social movements taking place in cities and regions across
France, focusing on local struggles and issues. With this focus, they became places where
people went to find out about social conflicts when they broke out. But as we listened to
descriptions of these sites connecting with groups of striking workers or occupying
students, we also realised they function to draw together the various struggles within a
given locality into a multi-faceted working-class movement.
Map showing the extent of the Mutu network
Each Mutu website (there are 15 at the time of writing) is run by an editorial collective
aiming to be representative of anti-authoritarian tendencies in their areas. In France
this typically involves a mixture of Tiqqunists*, anarcho-communists, green anarchists and
insurrectionaries and varied from place to place.
When we argued that nothing so multi-tendency would work in the UK we were told the same
thing was said about Paris: "Everyone in Paris hates each other." Today Paris Luttes is
the most popular site in the network with 10,000-25,000 readers a day.
The network is committed to participatory publishing: like Indymedia, anybody can submit
an article or add an event to listings, but everything has to go through an editorial
process before it goes live on the site, with typically two or three editors' approval
needed before something can appear. But this editorial process is completely transparent
and visible to all logged in users. If an article is rejected or changes need to be made,
users can see why.
By using this approach, Mutu has essentially fixed what was Indymedia's problem with
reactionary content, while remaining true to the ethos of open publishing. Moreover, it
has turned radical media from something produced by overworked media collectives into a
resource which can be used by radical groups and social movements.
Being our own media
A Mutu-style network in the UK would be a massive boost for anti-authoritarian politics at
a time when we really need one. Website collectives in every major town and city could act
as vital infrastructure for local struggles while also serving as an entry point to
radical politics which we're sorely lacking. Rather than having to navigate various blogs
and social media accounts to find out about local activity, there could be a central
resource for people interested in their area's social movements.
The way the sites would operate, with self-organised collectives transparently editing
content anybody could submit, would be a practical example of how our politics can work.
And by working together to publicise our activity, we can begin to build a unity based
around the various struggles we're involved in, from workplace and housing activism to
migrant solidarity and anti-fascism, saving services for domestic violence survivors to
stopping fracking.
To create such a network, we need to start by forming local editorial collectives. If you
want to start one, contact existing groups in your area and see who wants to be involved,
post on social media and forums to find people nearby to collaborate with. When you've got
enough, call a meeting and get your collective launched.
Most of the work done by the collectives will be editorial, such as editing articles or
making decisions on what to publish; not everyone needs to have an in-depth knowledge of
how to set up websites. The Mutu network use the same code for all their sites so they can
share technical support across the network; we could do something similar quite easily
with a small tech collective supporting multiple sites.
Once multiple collectives and websites are set up, we can begin to talk about networking.
Experience tells us we shouldn't spend too much time thinking about how we network until
we have the local collectives to network in the first place. This must be built from the
bottom up; it may take time, but the result will be vital infrastructure for a radical
working-class movement and a radical media that is not simply the produce of overworked
media collectives, but a tool we can all use in the struggle for a better world.
E & J
libcom.org
Interested in starting a new network of anti-authoritarian local news sites? Email
towardsafreshradicalmedia at riseup.net
https://freedomnews.org.uk/mutu-rethinking-our-radical-media/
------------------------------
Message: 5
"Anarchist books are a weapon against modern totalitarianism" ---- On 30-31 of May and 1
of June, the 5th anarchist book festival took place in the center of Patras city (in
Esperos, King George's square). During these three days many people passed from the
festival venue, where they came in touch with anarchist/radical books and they attended
political and cultural events, in a particularly successful organization, both politically
and organizationally, and at the level of address and acceptance. Thus, an area free from
state and commodity was formed, a public space which was transformed into a meeting place
for discussion, interaction and criticism. ---- As we have also mentioned in the political
call: ---- "The aim of this festival is to bring out the wealth of anarchist,
anti-authoritarian and libertarian concepts and diffuse anarchist ideas into society,
especially young people across the city. This is particularly important at a time when
state propaganda against those who opt for self-organization and grass-roots initiatives
as a means to fight prevails, and racism, social cannibalism and turning to fascism are
presented as the sole options to overcome the unfolding crisis. At the same time, even
within the resistance movement, political discussion and exchange of ideas to achieve a
more in-depth analysis is treated with contempt; we thus believe that promoting
self-education, political and theoretical investigation, preserving social and
working-class memory against lifestyle anarchism and political hooliganism are of prime
importance in the direction of a wider reconstruction of the radical and revolutionary
movement".
In times of radical retreat, where the individualization and the fragmentation of the
resistances appear to predominate on the society, we consider it as very important to hold
such events, which are organized anti-hierarchy and from the base, through which, people
of all ages have the opportunity to come close to the wealth of anarchist ideas and
believes in a direct, unmediated way, free from the distortions of the dominants.
The first day began with the presentation of the second round of events about "Libertarian
ideas in literature" (the first round took place on November of 2018 as a part of events
for the 5 years of the self-organized social center "epi ta proso").The event began with a
contribution of a comrade from "Epi ta Proso" with the title: "Tearing down the super-hero
myth: the Dark Knight in the services of Sovereignty" and also with the presentation of
the comic book "Goodbye, Batman" of Red'n'noir publications, by Tasos Theofilou. After
these events, followed the presentation of the book: "Nono's adventures" of Jean Grave and
Modern School, by Stasi Ekpiptondes publications. Both events opened criticism issues to
the present both for the role of the superheroes (as they are made by the dominants) and
for the fairytales and the libertarian education.
The second day, took part a very interesting presentation of the book: "When the cock was
crying in the dark...", an anthology of anarchist texts 1971-1978 edited by Michael
Protopsaltis, of Vivliopelagos publications as well as a Video viewing about: "The
anarchists at the 70s. The struggle of memory against oblivion is a struggle against
power." After the video followed a discussion about the anarchists of this period, their
texts and their sayings and we end up in useful conclusion about the present. The day
closed with a "rebetiko" live for the financial support of the fair, which took place in
"Patreos stairs" and many people participated in this.
The third and final day of the festival began with the presentation of the book: "The last
flames of Resistance. A story of a fighter of Volante Rossa", of Diadosi publications
which was followed by a video viewing about: "We did what we had to", a testimony of Paoli
Finardi. The festival finished with a hip-hop live, for the economic support of the
festival, with TNT (Rationalistas), Penthimos/Clown, Spira & KK, DJGzas and Hiphopathi.
This live was the best closure for such festival, full of sounds, lyrics, slogans and
stories from the road and the struggle for the revolution.
At the same time with the book fair, which took part during the three days of the
festival, there was a political/radical book exhibition, political poster and photo
gallery, texts and magazines of the anarchist/anti-authoritarian movement, as well as
t-shirts for the outrelief of the rebuilding of "Libertatia" squat in Thessaloniki, which
was burnt by fascists in January of 2018.
As self-organized social center "Epi ta Proso"(1) we would like to thank all those who
responded positively to our invitation for participation in the 5th Patras Anarchist Book
Festival (publishing collectives, authors, political groups, music groups, comrades who
supported with their presence the events and everyone who showed interest about the
festival). The great response which the festival had this year, is also due to those
comrades who support it since the first year when it took place, as well as to those new
people who learned about the festival and they recognized that is really important to
support it through the years. Without all these people and the projects that they form,
such an organization would not be possible.
In regard to us, we can say that we will keep to promote the unmediated communication, the
self-organized expression, the equitable and horizontal participation and the
collectivization, with the belief that the way we fight should be in direct relevance with
the world we want to build with the revolution. We will continue our emancipated
intervention in a variety of issues that have to do with our lives and with the impact
that the plans and decisions of the political and economic dominants have above our lives.
Against the belief of assignment, against every electoral illusion that cultivates the
submission and the abdication, we recognize that this festival was just one more moment,
one more piece in the fight we give, as anarchists, for a society liberated from the
fetters of state and capitalism, for a world of equality, solidarity and freedom.
This struggle will be continued...
Self-organized social centre "epi ta proso"(1) | 87 Patreos st., Patras, Greece
epitaprosw@gmail.com /epitaprosw.espivblogs.net/ anarchistbookfairpatras.wordpress.com/en/
1 This was the name of an anarchist newspaper, published from 1896 to the early 20th
century in the city of Patras. The group of anarchists running the newspaper had the same
name; allegedly, they were the first anarchist-communist group in the country. Epi ta
proso can be freely translated as "going forward".
https://anarchistbookfairpatras.wordpress.com/2019/06/16/an-anarchist-festival-in-every-city-correspondence-from-the-5th-anarchist-book-festival-in-patras-greece
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