Today's Topics:
1. Belarus, pramen: Iran - The mother of Soheil Arabi arrested
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Britain, AFED, organise magazine: Fashy Social Media Site
Now Comes In Pink | Investigation (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. London Anarchist Federation: Open Meeting on The 2nd of
October (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. avtonom, Greece: Interview with the Anti-Authoritarian
Movement [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Greece, Jellyfish, APO: Fight against the new
'developmental' bill and criminalize resistance [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. ait russia: Anarcho-syndicalists on climate action in
Cologne [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. anarkismo.net: Notes on the National Civic Unemployment of
1977 by ViaLibre (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Farangis Mazloum, the brave mother to Soheil Arabi, a Anarchist political prisoner has
arrested in Tehran. Monday, July 22, 2019, Farangis Mazloum was arrested of the Shia
Islamic Caliphate's fascist security police in Tehran. She has been transferred to an
unknown place so far. ---- Farangis Mazloum is the brave mother to Soheil Arabi, the
34-year-old Anarcho-Syndicalist political prisoner in Fashafouyeh prison in southern
Tehran. Soheil Arabi has been on hunger strike in protest of horrible prison conditions
and lack of security for prisoners since June 15, 2019.
See also: An interview with Union of Anarchists of Iran And Afghanistan
http://www.ainfos.ca/en/ainfos39087.html
https://pramen.io/en/2019/09/the-mother-of-soheil-arabi-arrested/
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Message: 2
On August 12th, a new social media platform Spinster, targeted at creating a safe space
for transphobic speech was launched promoting itself as "Free Speech for Feminists". It
immediately came under questions from trans advocates and anti fascists for its
connections to Alt-Right social media networks. Within a week it had onboarded over 4500
users, the vast majority of them drawn from the "Gender Critical" movement, and instances
had been seen of users dehumanising and promoting the murder of trans people. ---- A bit
of background on alternative social media ---- The first alarms were raised pre-launch
over the developers unusual choice to base their platform on the source code for Gab. Gab
was founded originally as a safe space for far right internet personalities and activists
ejected from major social media platforms in the wake of protests that tech companies had
been too soft on fascist content, making Gab a sort of neo nazi replacement for Twitter
and Facebook. While this created a temporary clubhouse for extreme right wing content
dominated by open celebrations of lynching, genocide, holocaust denial and more, Gab has
since been trying to find ways to re-connect its userbase with the more mainstream social
media by converting the site to link into the open source Mastodon, an decentralised
social media platform where different instances are able to regulate themselves as part of
a wider federated network. Gab presents itself as simply being a "Free Speech"
fundamentalist network, but its origins, far right userbase, and history of connections
with neo-nazi mass killers have meant that much of the rest of the "Fediverse" (the
federation of other autonomous servers which make up the Mastodon network) have blocked
Gab aligned servers.
So where do feminists come into this
After the digital blockade against gab, it's founder Andrew Torba called out for
supporters to set up a range of instances which would federate with Gab in order to ensure
there was a viable social media ecosystem. Gab is perfectly functional as it's own unit,
open to registration by anyone on the internet, but it's founder and backers have chosen
to present the choice of fascism intolerant instances to defederate as being "against free
speech".
One of those individuals to answer the call was Alex Gleason (screenshot of him saying
immediately "I'm planning to set up an instance).
A few days later, his girlfriend Mary Kate Fain lost her job at a software cooperative in
response to her publication of transphobic blog posts, and the pair of them launched
Spinster for testing. The couple are well known for their work in the animal liberation
circuit. Fain is now the CEO of spinster and Alex appears to be handling day to day
technical maintenance.
When questioned about why the developers chose to adapt their code from Gab instead of the
mainstream mastodon codebase, Spinster tried to explain it away as simply a preference for
Gab's user interface. After the first week, when Spinster's app (a clone of the already
banned app Gab) was removed from the Google Play Store for openly refusing to curb hate
speech in user generated content, Spinster immediately reached out to the Gab development
account precipitating offers of help and suggestions to integrate more closely with Gab's
app infrastructure. (Screen shots available of them @ing the @developers@gab.com account).
This demonstrates one of the big concerns with Spinster: that by choosing to open a
platform deliberately linked with an alt right platform, their fate, with their codebase
and need to maintain daily operations is tied up with Gab's.
But there's more to it than that
It's clear from Gleason's posts (and patreon) that he presents himself as a left-anarchist
and sees this whole project as part of creating some libertarian free speech autonomous
zone, but he also repeatedly devolves into Red-Brown daydreaming, minimised the killing of
Heather Heyer as merely an incident of "Male Violence" and has suggested that anti-fascism
is a form of sexual perversion.
From the way he addresses his far right colleagues on Gab it is clear he sees them as
allies to his work and is trying to overthrow the injustices created by "leftists" and
"SJWs" by allying himself with them. Somehow trans people's existence, claims to space in
our communities and safety from violence have become emblematic of all of the issues he
has with the left.
From a bigger picture point of view this amounts to an enormous pull of feminists ranging
from those who are merely skeptical of trans activism to those who are outright hostile to
it being pulled into a space adjacent to and endorsed by the far right. Due to the
decision to fork (adapt) Gab's code, much of the app infrastructure and the Mastodon
network itself has already cut spinster off in anticipation that this is simply an
offshoot of a far right project that needs to be isolated - meaning that the women drawn
to this platform are likely to be targetted by even more concentrated efforts to recruit
them to the right.
This is following a well tried and tested pattern of publicity where Gleason presents the
likely future cutting off of Spinster (as a Gab satellite) as a form of misogyny -
specifically silencing women's voices. Like with Gab this claim falls hollow - the women
using Spinster are as able to speak their minds as freely as they like (so long as they
follow the Spinster moderation policy - racism, sexism, ablism, even animal cruelty are
banned, everything is covered in their policy other than transphobia!) whether other
servers in the Mastodon network choose to federate with them or not. But this narrative
nevertheless serves to help create an atmosphere of shared victimhood with all those
silenced fascists on Gab all the same.
How has it panned out
It's early days still but we've already seen incidents of the fascist attitudes amongst
users. In one instance, noted TERF Posie Parker described trans women as insects crawling
around on flypaper. In another, a stills taken from film of a trans woman's murder was
celebrated as righteous justice using a fictional narrative about her having entered a
women's toilet, and this false narrative was used to promote more widespread transphobic
action (screenshots available). It is yet to be seen how relations will develop between
users on Spinster and users on Gab. ?
This story was written by a source who wished to remain Anonymous. If you would like to
contribute and expand upon it please send an email to organise@afed.org.uk
http://organisemagazine.org.uk/2019/09/22/fashy-social-media-site-now-comes-in-pink-investigation/
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Message: 3
In September 2020 the government will be rolling out compulsory lessons about LGBT+
relationships nation wide. When this scheme was trialed in Birmingham earlier this year
there was a backlash against it and a rise in hate crime in the area, with the far right
trying to jump on the band wagon. ---- With the potential for a national backlash in 2020
and a year to plan ahead, our gender and sexuality working group want to start discussing
what we might be able to do to fight that backlash in London and further afield.
We will be holding an open meeting at 19:00 on Wednesday the 2nd of October at Freedom
Bookshop to get our strategic thinking caps on.
https://aflondon.wordpress.com/2019/09/23/1561/
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Message: 4
What is the history of the anarchist movement of Greece? Does it have roots in the 19th
and early 20th centuries? ---- The anarchist movement in Greece began at the end of the
19th century. The first anarchists appeared in 1870-80. At that time, the "grape
movement," i.e. the movement of grape growers. Through it, the anarchists spread to the
municipalities of Ilias and Achayas. Later, the Patras Democratic Society appeared, which
was a significant anarchist group. A similar group arose in the city of Pyrgos. The first
anarchist newspapers appeared in Athens and Patras. It should be understood that the early
socialists in Greece were actually with an anarchist bias. ---- In many ways, anarchism
was introduced by the Bulgarian anarchist movement from the historical region of Thrace,
which is located in northern Greece, Turkey and Macedonia. In those days, 300 delegates
could participate in the congress of Bulgarian-Thracian anarchists.
Also, in the 19th century, a strong anarcho-Christian influence was felt in Greece.
Prominent representatives of this trend were Marinos Andipas from the peasant movement of
Thessaloniki. The anarchist movement continues to develop at the beginning of the 20th
century, but begins to fade after the creation of the first Greek Communist Party and the
rise of the Communist movement. In the 1920s, that first wave of anarchism was supplanted
by the Communists. There were also anarchists during the 1st World War, but during the
World War they were almost absent. Costas Speras, a syndicalist anarchist, was among those
several anarchists, and was killed by OPLA, the military wing of the Greek Communist
Party. One of the last anarchists of the first wave was Carabillias of Patras.
The revival of the anarchist movement takes place in the 1970s. Among its participants
were people like Kyriakos Vasiliadis, who recently published a book. In the early 1980s,
the anarchist movement began to grow rapidly, thus acquiring some new features of the
Western European and North American movements of the 50s, 60s and 70s. The ideas of the
so-called. emancipation movements such as the sexual revolution, but also the rock scene.
This trend in anarchism - anarcho-autonomy - was the most numerous and was strongly tied
to a way of life. And most of all it was popular among young people and students.
At that time, more politicized anarchist groups also appeared, not so much connected with
the way of life. Among them were the International Library, the Black Sun magazine, and
the people around Michalis Protopsaltis. This trend was present mainly in Athens, but also
in Arginio, where the anarchist movement was very similar. They were active, published the
journal Libertarian Movement, which was frankly political, and one of the first among
anarchist groups to be interested in the ideas of Cornelius Kastoriadis.
It is worth mentioning that throughout this period, except for those who called themselves
anarchists, there were people[leftists]who eventually moved to libertarian positions. Such
people were Yannis Tamtakos and Agis Stinas, who began with Trotskyism, but eventually
became either anarchists or with greater anti-authoritarianism. In particular, these two
people were active before and during the Second World War, and were among the political
"teachers" of Kastoriadis. Kastoriadis himself initially called himself a Trotskyist, but
later this went against his libertarian views.
What were the anarchists at the time of the uprising at the Polytechnic in 1973?
Anarchists were noted during the uprising at the Polytechnic in 1973. At that time, there
were groups of new wave anarchists who were influenced by the events of the 60s of the
whole world. The occupation of the Polytechnic University itself was initiated by a small
demonstration of hundreds of anarchists. The demonstration entered the territory of the
Polytechnic and that historical occupation began. Therefore, among the slogans that
appeared on the camps of the Polytechnic buildings, "Down with the State" and "Down with
the Power" met.
Today, that anti-authoritarian component of the uprising at the Polytechnic is forgotten,
and the Left tried to appropriate the historical memory of those events. In the days of
the uprising, anarchists were also active in demonstrations and riots that took place
outside the walls of the Polytechnic.
What is the spectrum of the modern anarchist movement in Greece?
Speaking directly about the anarchist movement, today there are a number of large groups.
There are two federations of classical anarchists, although they are not very popular.
There are a couple of anarcho-syndicalist organizations that have some positions among
waiters, hotel workers and couriers. But they are not so influential in the movement itself.
In the development of the economic crisis, the so-called movement became popular.
"Solidarity economy", although the radical left also participated in it. They organized
direct exchange markets, without intermediaries, etc. Now this trend has already run out.
Today a new trend has appeared, very popular, the synthesis of anarchism and communism. To
clarify, not communist anarchists, what constitutes pure anarchism, namely anarchism &
communism, i.e. Bakunin and Lenin. The class counterattack group is very active, and even
the Rubicon, but to a lesser extent, can be attributed to such a synthesis. More on this
below.
Also, there is a trend of nihilists. This trend sharply gained strength after the uprising
in December 2008, although it was present in the movement before. The "Fiery Cell
Conspiracy" comes precisely from these anarchist circles. This movement was represented in
the Anarchist Union of Greece, formed in 1987. The Union included three large group
associations: from Athens, from Thessaloniki, and from Agrinion. It lasted 3-4 years, and
there was a definite presence of nihilists in it. Repressions fell upon the nihilists'
shares and many members of the Union went to jail or were constrained by courts lasting up
to 10 years.
Some members of the Anarchist Union, especially those from Agrinion, withdrew from
nihilism and life-style anarchism over time and became one of the founders of the
Anti-authoritarian Movement, using its strong politicization for social cohesion and
direct democracy.
Basically, they are openly at odds with other movements, but they can also cooperate with
some groups. They have their own infrastructure, their own squats, they are strong enough.
Nihilists are a heterogeneous phenomenon, some of them call themselves anarchists,
extensionists, but there are also those who are rather ultra-individualists who respect
Stirner, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer. It should be borne in mind that this type resonates more
with the reality of Athens, where many young people have already absorbed the anger and
social isolation of a huge metropolis, experiencing loneliness and aggression. Not
surprisingly, such a way of thinking and practicing has been attractive to many.
In Greece, the libertarian movement never consisted only of anarchists. The wider
anti-authoritarian circle consists of diverse people who associate themselves with the
movement. Famous personalities like the journalist Giorgos Votsis or the writer Periklis
Korovesis position themselves as anti-authoritarian, although they are not anarchists.
Part of the libertarian movement is the so-called. autonomies. Their views are very close
to the Left, are based on class analysis and workerism, but anti-static elements are also
present. They do not use the symbol A in the circle, only black and red stars.
Politicalized antifa groups that preach autonomy are very popular. However, unlike the
above autonomies, which are the heirs of the Italian autonomist movement, the antifa
autonomy was imported directly from Germany. These guys are very closed and resemble sects.
Until 2003, Greek mainstream media did not talk about "anti-authoritarianism," but only
about "anarchists." With this term they described a certain violent and illlegistic
tendency, which mainly manifested itself in Athens and, in particular, in the region of
Exarchy. But in 2003, there were demonstrations against a meeting of the European Union in
Thessaloniki. The people and groups participating in the demonstrations called themselves
Thessaloniki Anti-Authoritarian Movement 2003. This name was chosen in order to
distinguish itself from the insurrectional and life-style anarchists, highlighting
primarily the importance of direct democratic organization. But when the
anti-authoritarian movement took to the streets, the media rushed to associate it with
those anarchists, and the term "anti-authoritarian" replaced the term "anarchist" to
describe the rebels, regardless of their views.
How familiar is Greek society with anarchism and sympathize with anarchist ideas?
The anarchist movement is often antisocial, and therefore Greek society is not sympathetic
to anarchists. Society rather associates anarchists with violence, chaos and Molotov
cocktails. Although there is a small segment of society (mainly lumpen), which would be
equally happy if the anarchists burned the parliament or the Nazis from the Golden Dawn
went inside and killed the politicians.
At the same time, despite the negative attitude towards the anarchist movement, society
has a positive attitude towards stateless, anti-capitalist direct democracy.
Unfortunately, society has lost its community traditions and it is becoming increasingly
difficult for it to organize horizontally. In the 1950s, wild capitalism quickly burst
into the life of Greek society and corroded the communal relations existing at that time.
In addition, political parties played a negative role in the destruction of these
relations, pursuing a policy of bribing voters with small handouts and fogging the mind
with fabulous promises.
How many anarchists / libertarians in Greece? How many friends come from other countries
to take part in the local movement?
We believe that today several thousand people identify themselves as anarchists or
libertarians. As for foreign comrades, they come mainly as part of anarcho-tourism. Some
come for a few days to take part in a particular demonstration or riot, others can stay
for several months, only for squatting and participation in promotions. This is especially
true of the Exarchy. This leads to a negative impact on the local anarchist movement,
because foreigners come for a short period of time, with the opportunity to always return
home, and commit many thoughtless and violent acts, without understanding the features of
the Greek context.
The culture of the Greek movement is very different from the culture of the movements of
Western Europe. What is the relationship with western movements? Can we talk about the
penetration of Western European narratives?
The anarchist movement in Greece since the 70s and 80s was under the distinct influence of
the West: the events of May 1968 and the Western emancipation movements, which were not
strictly anarchist. At the same time, the influence of the directly anarchist European
movement, such as CNT, CGT and FAI, was weaker. In the 90s, a new wave of influence began
from the West, it was a punk price. Squats of that period had a pronounced punk character,
a strong emphasis on lifestyle and were very antisocial. In recent years, new topics have
emerged, such as veganism and gender identity, they have an impact on certain segments of
the anarchist movement.
Which countries are the Greek comrades in contact with most? How strong are ties with Turkey?
Speaking of history, in the 19th and early 20th century the Greek anarchist movement
developed relations mainly with France, which at that time was the center of anarchism.
Today, the Greek movement is in contact with movements from around the world, and since
the 2008 uprising has become a global reference point for resistance and rebellion. Many
from the West come for the so-called. "Anarcho-tourism" to take part in riots and then
return to their safe daily routine. But besides this, there are also relationships in
political and social movements around the world, mainly from the West. The Greek anarchist
movement could never establish strong ties with the Turkish movement. Some links exist
with DAF, and the Anti-Authoritarian Movement also works with them. But for the Greek
anarchist movement, Turkish anarchists look too traditional. Some movements of the
anarchist movement of the 80s (mainly illlegalists and nihilists) had connections with
Turkish militant communist groups.
The Greek libertarian movement is known for having an armed underground. What is the
relationship of combatants with non-combat groups?
In a narrow segment of the anarchist movement, links between the military underground and
non-combat groups do exist. But besides them there are no ties with other political
groups, and especially with social movements. Moreover, they often act in contradiction
with each other. When social mobilization occurs against certain actions or intentions of
the state and business, battle groups do not support it, and instead conduct their own
actions, trying to demonstrate that social struggle is ineffective, while the fighting
approach is correct.
It should be noted that in Greece, not only militant and illlegalist groups, but also a
wider range of anarchist and leftist groups enter into antagonism with social movements.
One example is the construction of a dam on the Aheloos River. When local communities
began resistance, they created a network of open assemblies and initiatives to coordinate
the struggle and organize actions. These social movements succeeded in adhering to clear
democratic and anti-authoritarian approaches, but a significant part of the anarchist
movement rejected them. Instead, they created their own initiative against the dam,
refusing to join forces with local residents, preferring to conduct their own campaign
with little or no support for social movements.
A similar thing happened during the fight against hydrocarbon production in the region of
Epirus, where a network of local communities was also created, through which they
organized their resistance. Once again, anarchists chose to form their own initiative,
instead of joining the struggle of ordinary people. Thus, there is a distance between the
anarchist movement and the rest of society. Therefore, social movements in general do not
support anarchist prisoners and the anarchist struggle, such as the one that goes for the
future of the Exarchy. Even the anarchists themselves at times refuse the help of
non-anarchists (for example, the rejection of support from the Anti-authoritarian Movement).
During the crisis years, thousands of people took to the streets and organized assemblies
in squares, discussed sensitive issues, made decisions. Many anarchists said that these
meetings were attended by people of different classes, that many of them were
conservative, and that they did not understand direct democracy, and that they should not
go there. But what else to expect from popular movements? Class purity and strict
adherence to ideological dogmas? Naturally, in contrast to the anarchists, AD attended
these assemblies and tried to influence in a constructive and radical spirit.
After SYRIZA came to power, the anarchist movement is in decline and is experiencing
frustration. Why?
It is believed that the anarchist movement was already in decline at the time Syriza came
to power. In fact, the anarchists were in decline after the uprising in December 2008,
because they were selfish and appealed to themselves. The movement believed that if you
want to make a revolution and change the world, you must first become an anarchist. This
belief was refuted by the December uprising. It was not started by anarchists; instead, it
had a social basis and widespread public approval. Then, a few years later, there was a
"movement of squares" (like Indignados in Spain), during which people occupied the squares
and held popular assemblies on them. Once again, society has wiped its nose on ideological
movements. After this, the decline of the anarchist movement only continues to gain momentum.
With the advent of SYRIZA in power, in Greece as a whole, the decline of social movements
is gaining ground. This is reflected in the anarchist movement (and on the Left as well),
fewer people took to the streets and self-organized. But the autonomous activity of large
segments of society continued.
What is the relationship of anarchists with communists?
In the past, the anarchist movement was characterized by some hatred towards the
communists. For example, in the generations of the 80s and 90s. There were even physical
clashes, sometimes even more often than with the police.
But in the last decade, partly due to the neglect of theory and political action, a
phenomenon has emerged of the charm of anarchist groups by communism and ideological
interweaving with it, up to Stalinism (!). This trend has been reinforced by the rise of
the extreme right across the country in recent years, which is why many anarchists, given
the lack of a theoretical base, have fallen into the pseudo-dipole "Communism vs Nazism".
This can be seen in anti-fascist posters, and even in those anarcho groups that began to
use historical communist symbols and slogans (for example, "red versus brown") to show
their commitment to the fight against fascism. There were cases when Soviet marches were
played at the meetings of anarchists in Exarchy.
How do anarchists relate to the military conflict in the Donbass?
Most anarchists in Greece, because of the belief that Ukrainians are fascists, support
LDNR and, in general, the anti-fascist pro-communist front. And if not, they claim that
they do not support any side of the conflict, but at the same time they denounce US
imperialism, and thus indirectly support Russia.
In Greece, anti-Americanism is generally widespread among the left and the anarchist
movement, which often leads them to support (often, indirectly) oppressive regimes such as
Islamic Iran, Putin's Russia, Assad's regime, etc.
Many anarchists are inspired by the Rozhava and many join the PKK. What does it look like
in Greece?
With respect to the Rozhava, the Anti-authoritarian Movement takes a position of critical
support. We welcome certain political approaches that seem to really work, such as
councils, assemblies, communes, confederations. We support these things and urge them to
expand in order to eliminate any traces of hierarchy and domination. But we do not
associate ourselves with the PKK; nevertheless, there are problems around this party and
how it functions.
What is the situation with immigrants? Do the anarchists work with them, is there any
support for the movement on their part? How do Greeks feel about immigrants?
The situation with emigrants is terrible. People from the Anti-Authoritarian Movement have
begun to create squatting for refugees to cope with the humanitarian crisis, as well as
offering a democratic alternative to camps and refugee centers. After some time, the
anarchists also began to create squatting for refugees, but stumbled upon many problems.
Even in the very first squats, the organizers realized the difficulties of working with
people with such a diverse cultural background, so they introduced a strict set of rules
for cohabitation, which was adopted jointly by all refugees and movers involved in each
individual squat. True self-government arose in these houses, moreover, with the
realization of the very idea of self-government.
In the squats that were later organized by the anarchists, no rules were introduced, no
self-government. Instead, there was a mess when everyone did what he wanted, which led to
violent clashes between different groups of refugees, the infiltration of the mafia, etc.
For example, in one case, refugees kept to those hostel rules while the anarchists lived
with them. But when the anarchists left, the refugees immediately began to quarrel, steal
food from common supplies and forcefully seize the best premises.
Can you tell how the struggle with the mafia in the Exarchy is going on? Is it true that
many anarchists want the police to finally enter the center of the district and kick the
bandits out?
In their theories, all anarchists oppose the mafia. But in practice, in many anarchist
groups in the Exarchy there are mafia elements. These elements are strengthened if the
group does not have a strong political basis. Unfortunately, the entire Greek anarchist
movement tends to less theorize and more shock. But precisely because of the lack of
theoretical work, they often end up acting more like a street gang.
But a more important obstacle in the fight against the mafia is the internal indecision of
the anarchists. Police use the drug mafia to corrupt Exarchy from within. And they
succeed. Once upon a time, anarchists were able to shoot one of the drug bosses, but did
not show consistency. Once the Anti-authoritarian Movement, together with some anarcho
groups, including with Rubicon, they calculated the migrant squat, which was the center of
criminal activity in the Exarchy. We gathered people, attacked this squat and made a
search. It turned out that street robbers stored stolen phones and laptops there, there
were hundreds of them. But the flags of ISIS turned out to be the most terrible find! When
we began to evict this squat, a large demonstration gathered against us from the Chaos
anarchists, punks and others who accused us of trying to become the "Exarchy Police".
Another time, we attacked drug dealers standing in the central square of the district. We
beat and knocked them out, and at night a car drove up and shot the windows of our squat
from a machine gun. Many are ready to the end to fight capitalism, the state and the
police, but pass to the mafia.
Now the situation has become terrible. In addition to thefts and fights on the streets of
Exarchy, several rapes occur every month. There were even such feminists who opposed
giving this public resonance because "people will think poorly about refugees." Even the
girls from the movement began to fear walking past the center in the late hours. And once
it was the safest area of Athens!
The Anarchist groups of the Exarchy for decades adhered to anti-garbage policy and were
able to create a situation in which the police in this area are completely absent. The
problem is that these groups were not able to create horizontal democratic institutions
through which residents of the area could maintain order.
What does a typical anarchist assembly look like with neighborhood residents?
There are no anarchist assemblies with residents of the districts. There are groups that
claim to be allegedly such, but they still function as closed ideological organizations.
You cannot just go and get involved if you are not out of traffic.
However, in Greece there are district assemblies that are not ideological, but have
democratic and anti-authoritarian features. Many of them appeared as a result of the
"movement of squares," when ordinary people of different lifestyles were inspired by the
spirit of direct democracy and organized into horizontal structures in their areas, some
of them are active even today. But they are not the product of ideological anarchism, but
only the autonomous activity of individual segments of society, trying to avoid the
bureaucratic and capitalist system.
Do you think the revolution is real in the coming years? Will it be global, or do you need
to use any chance of a riot? How do Greek anarchists see the "coming rebellion"? Is there
an understanding of what to do if the regime falls?
There is no consensus on all of these issues. Older, more experienced anarchists believe
in a global revolution. They carry the spirit of classical anarchism, but there are not
many such people and groups. In general, the anarchist movement is in a fog over these
issues. For many of the anarchists, a real revolution would mean being left without a
hobby. Therefore, when social unrest occurs in Greece, some anarchists resist to support
them, as, for example, in the case of the "movement of squares". The Greek anarchist
movement is a classic resistance movement that does not particularly fit into the plans of
the future.
However, there is a tendency among the libertarian movement that supports direct democracy
as an alternative to capitalism and the state. This trend lies outside the anarchists and
the left, it does not limit itself to a specific ideological framework, however, it does
not neglect the development of theory (which is not the same with ideology). Moreover, she
seeks to put this theory into practice. This practice takes various forms, such as certain
types of cooperatives, collectives, local structures, etc., which have a clear political
subtext and contain the seeds of direct democracy.
This libertarian tendency does not care about how to lead the masses to revolution, but
about how to find radical democratic and emancipation initiatives that spontaneously
emerge in society, and unite them together, designate their common oppressors and enemies,
and nourish their emancipatory potential. This trend seeks revolutionary potential outside
the narrowness of the anarchist movement.
The anti-authoritarian Movement is one example of this trend. HELL does not enter into
antagonism with social movements; instead, it tries to work with them, relying in its
practice not on ideology, but on ideas.
What is the greatest danger today?
The biggest danger is not to succumb to the logic of representation. Many social movements
have lost their strength, such as the environmental movement against the gold mines in
Skouries, which has linked its hopes to SYRIZA. The latter promised many movements with
the rise to power to solve their problems, but when SYRIZA did not fulfill its promises,
it had a devastating effect on the movements.
If we talk about the liberal movement, then the danger lies in the desire for
entertainment, the emphasis on violence and ideology. Speaking of entertainment, we mean
the danger of involvement in actions that leave wide circles on the surface, but do not
penetrate into the depths. The problem of emphasizing violence already exists: there are
anarchists who care only about violence and consider themselves the only ones who are able
to use it, and ultimately all their activity comes down to violence alone.
Ideology also conceals a great threat, because due to ideological blinders, the movement
may be unable to discern the changes taking place in society, and instead of recognizing
the facts, remain trapped in its own dogmatic world.
august 2019
Translated by a2day
https://avtonom.org/freenews/greciya-intervyu-s-antiavtoritarnym-dvizheniem
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Message: 5
RACE AGAINST NEW DEVELOPMENT POLICY AND CRIMINALIZATION OF RESISTANCE THEIR "DEVELOPMENT"
SCANS THAT THEIR - Critique. ---- The new neoliberal, far-right government of New
Democracy , pressing on the road that SYRIZA opened - on the one hand with the
implementation, planning and implementation of all anti-social counter-measures, and on
the other, with the illusions it cultivated to better manage the system. integration,
denervation movements and where this was not enough, by hitting and smashing the social
and class antistaseon-, continues to deepen the terms of exploitation to even more
extensive sections of the population crew in line with the recommendations of the
bourgeoisie, the local and international elites and transnational mechanisms.
Workplace accidents, inadequate security measures, the constant extortion of unemployment
with armies of the unemployed and underemployed living in poverty and social exclusion,
layoffs, the abolition of collective agreements, wage and pension cuts, low wages and
salaries Hunger wages, the abolition of Sunday holidays, excruciating working conditions,
and excruciating hours are factors that make up today's working reality. A reality
complemented by the overt infringement of any labor and social acquis. The frenzied attack
on any form of organization and claim contributes to this.
The new 'development' bill comes as a 'pavilion' to the already burdened reality of
working galleysthat we are experiencing. On the one hand it provides all the necessary
facilities to capital, registers "entrepreneurship without bureaucratic hurdles",
continues the sale of public property, dissolves sectoral contracts (generously sharing
business exemptions from the application of collective agreements - so-called "social
finance companies" "non-profit" legal entities, companies facing "serious financial
problems" -), resilient work, legislate sanctions on employers who have uninsured workers,
on the other hand, are hard at work for workers' struggles, the right to strike (forming a
suffocating framework in which it becomes difficult to preach) and criminalizing unionism
and all forms of action.
Specifically, the workers 'dossier is regulated by the creation of a General Register of
Workers' Trade Unions which will keep records such as statutes, number of members,
composition of management bodies, even financial statements or sources of funding for
unions, while promoting online voting for union decisions. declaring a strike. This
arrangement comes to a close in Achtsioglou's law, which imposed 50% + 1 of members on a
strike decision. Essential targeting is the state control of the unions, turning them into
tools useful for employing and stripping them of any racing logic of organization,
resistance, contention, conflict and discipline in the bosses' plans.
In the current context, the government is announcing the transition to the period of
coveted "growth" and the return to the "regularity" of the state-capitalist way of life.
The modern working age is once again baptized with "development" and "modernization" in
the "new language" of modern totalitarianism.In reality, however, "development" marks a
new round of antisocial attack on the part of the state and bosses. Now, the memorandum
measures of previous years and their applicable laws are permanent and permanent laws of
the state. The political and economic elites continue to favor the country. Their
agreement with the Greek state to further exacerbate decades of state and capitalist
aggression, the continuation of the committee by supranational mechanisms, and the
commitment to meeting high economic goals herald the transition to this new phase of
social robbery and abolition. the increasingly violent poverty of the social base and the
endless destruction of the natural world.
At the same time, the state launches a widespread repressive operation against the
anarchist movement and socio-class resistances, solidarity structures and spaces of
struggle to subvert those pieces that are practically disputing its barbarism and passing
on its message of subjugation. the rest. From the earliest days of this political
management, immigrants and refugees, anarchists, militants and workers have been targeted.
They are the main goals of repression as disabling them will help in the smooth
implementation of the state's anti-social plans.
In the face of the strike of the strike's acquis communautaire, the criminalization of
trade unionism and every form of struggle, in the attempt to depreciate and disarm the
strike so that the strike becomes a weapon again in the hands of the workers. In the face
of the depreciation of unionism as a form of struggle, to fight to make it dangerous
again. In the face of widespread terrorism and repression, in conditions of slavery and
misery imposed by the state and bosses at work, there is another way. The road of worker
organization, resistance, contention and socio-class struggle. The workers themselves, the
unemployed, the youth, the locals and the immigrants, knowing our real needs, have to take
our lives in our hands, organize and fight,With class unions and workers' initiatives to
shape the militant trade unionism of the base and to claim that it belongs to us, far from
the trade union elites who have a complementary role in employment.
Although this option may seem difficult, especially in today's circumstances, it is the
only one that can give perspective to our struggles and make them victorious, breaking the
wider climate of employer arbitrariness and dishonesty. Connect and reinvigorate
individual social and class resistances for permanent and stable work, for better pay and
better working conditions, for access to the social goods of housing, care, education, for
the protection of labor and social rights, for protection of nature, with the overall and
timely social and political demand for the overthrow of the world of power and the free
transformation of society.
AGAINST STATE-CAPITAL CRUISE, EMPLOYEE TERRORISM AND TRADE UNION Bureaucrats
CLASS SOLIDARITY AND LACK OF WORKERS 'WEAPON
ORGANIZE SOCIAL AND CLASSICAL IMPLICATION
ENERGY CONCENTRATION:
TUESDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 10 am in ANNEX
Strike-in coffee shop to follow (87 Patreos Street)
anarchist group 'malevolent horse' member of the Anarchist Political Organization
Patras, 22 September 2019
ipposd.wordpress.com | d_ippos@hotmail.com
Contact: Every Tuesday 7-10 at Self-Managed Onsite (87 Patreos Street )
https://ipposd.wordpress.com/2019/09/22/
------------------------------
Message: 6
Activists of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Network (ASN) and other anarchists took part in a
mass demonstration in Cologne on September 20 as part of global protests against policies
that lead to catastrophic global warming. ---- Demonstrators for 3 hours walked from the
West Station via Neumarkt to Rudolfplatz Square. The action of September 20 opened the
world week of action in climate protection, which will last until September 20. ---- The
organizers of the demonstration from the Friday for the Future movement. who have been
organizing weekly strikes of schoolchildren for almost a year now, were themselves stunned
by the scope of the march. They expected that only a small number of participants would
come. However, 70 thousand people gathered in Cologne! Protesters temporarily blocked
traffic at the intersection of Venloer Strasse and Inner Canal Strasse, staging a sit-in.
Mass protests on September 20 swept through the countries and cities of Europe, Asia,
Africa and America. In Germany alone, 1.4 million people took to the streets in more than
500 cities, protesting the industrial impact on the planet's climate.
Demonstrators demanded an immediate rejection of coal burning and a reorientation of
energy to renewable resources.
Speeches at the final rally at Hohenzollernring spoke not only about the dramatic
consequences of climate change, but also about the fault of the military-industrial
complex in destroying the planet. Participants vigorously applauded the representative of
the anti-capitalist bloc, who called for the socialization of private energy concerns and
public control over the energy sector, as well as for a radical change in the catastrophic
capitalist economic system by taking enterprises into their hands by those who work for them.
Anarcho-syndicalists and anarchists took part in actions throughout the day and, together
with environmental activists, exposed fuel capitalism with its pursuit of profits as the
cause of the climate catastrophe. They emphasized that the struggle to protect the
environment and human health is at the same time a struggle against exploitation,
oppression and war.
In the photo: Poster by anarcho-syndicalists "From the struggle for climate to a general
strike! Direct action against exploitation and oppression"
https://asnkoeln.wordpress.com/2019/09/20/globaler-klimastreik-auch-in-koeln/
https://aitrus.info/node/5323
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Message: 7
In this paper some reflections are made on the national civic strike of September 14,
1977. The international and national situation in which the movement, the preparation and
the development of the general strike is registered is analyzed, and some perspectives are
raised. for the present ---- International situation ---- In 1977, the world stands out
for the limited openness of the administration of Democrat Jimmy Carter in the United
States that limits US intervention in some countries and the conservative policy of Leonid
Brézhnev in the Soviet Union that plunges the country into the bureaucratic crisis. In the
People's Republic of China, the hermetic transition process is taking place after Mao's
death and the rise of liberal leader Deng Xiaping, who begins his policy of technical and
economic modernization of the country. In Western Europe in Britain, the neo-conservative
government of Margaret Tatcher begins and continues the agreed transition towards
democracy in Spain with the new monarchical constitution led by the traditionalist Adolfo
Suarez. Globally, the decade is marked by weak growth,
In Latin America there is the rise of the Sandinista insurgency in the process of
unification in Nicaragua against the dictatorship of Anastasio Somoza and a deepening of
the armed conflict in El Salvador and Guatemala. In the Southern Cone the military civic
dictatorships that implement political genocide plans against the left, led by Videla in
Argentina, Pinochet in Chile, Strossner in Paraguay and the Military Board in Uruguay and
Brazil, experience economic crises as a result of the pioneering application that They
make neoliberal policies. In Peru and to a lesser extent Brazil itself, there is a
relative political openness. In Castro's Cuba, a process of economic slowdown and greater
institutionalization of the single party regime begins.
National situation
In Colombia, the slow dismantling of the National Front regime begins amid rapidly
frustrated hopes. Thus, in April 1974, the first presidential elections open since 1945
are presented, from which the former governor and senator Alfonso López Michelsen, son of
the historic former president Alfonso López Pumarejo, wins by a large margin. The
bourgeois and oligarchic "Pollo" López, taking advantage of the image of change forged in
his distant years in the MRL and aligned with the authoritarian modernization project of
Llerismo whose boss takes distance, wins with 56% of the votes in a specially attended
election , being elected with the "Clear Mandate" program that popular irony would later
baptize as "Expensive Mandate" and the "To close the gap" development plan,
López Michelsen starts a contradictory government program that includes on the one hand a
government alliance with conservatism and the maintenance of many bipartisan agreements
and an economic modernization program to turn the country into the "Japan of South
America" that meant a strong turn towards the market and public deregulation. On the other
hand it involved an initial lifting of the state of siege, the granting of legal status
for the CSTC and the CGT, the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba and an initial
support for university autonomy. The tension is resolved more or less early since 1975,
when your government is promoting a more closed authoritarian program,
The economic situation in the country was marked by high inflation that reached 25.4% in
1976, the highest record in a decade, as well as a reduction in salary purchasing power by
16.8%. Although in 1977 there was a significant decrease in unemployment that, for the
first time in three years, stood at a single digit with 9.4%, the situation was framed by
a significant reduction in wages as a percentage of national income between 1970 and 1975
went from representing 41.2% to 36.5%.
The preparation of unemployment
The national civic strike is the first general strike at the national level since the most
localized protest of 1971 and the great unifier of struggles after the peak of labor and
popular conflicts of 1975. Archila frames it in the long period 1971-1979 in matters of
history politics and in the cycle of struggles 1975-1977. This last year there are 17
civic strikes and 130 strikes, which is in fact a significant decrease compared to 1976
figures with 21 and 131 and 1975 with 34 and 213 respectively. At the same time, 95
collective actions of civic sectors, 29 of peasants, 158 of salaried employees are
presented, which represents an important rebound compared to the previous year, 114
students, 3 indigenous and 5 women, for a total with the aggregate of other sectors , of
434 popular collective actions, again a smaller number than the previous biennium,
Gestation splices with the important local civic strikes in Medellín and Barrancabermeja
in the first half of that year, the strikes of Indupalma workers in Cesar led by Utrasan
since August 17 for the cut of long working hours and the Elimination of the system of
contractors and Cement workers from 8 companies in the sector since July 26, finally
repressed by the government. This also includes the staggered national strikes of state
teachers gathered in Fecode for the claim of the Teaching Statute with several detained
leaders and Ecopetrol oil tankers since August 25, joined in the USO, which was outlawed.
The national civic strike is called by the National Trade Union Council (CNS) formed in
the second half of the year by the confluence of the 4 trade union centers, the majority
UTC yellows but diminished and distanced from the government although with an internal
sector opposed to the protest, the CTC in crisis and fractured between the management and
the restructuring sector, the ambiguous CGT in right-wing processes and the CSTC classist
with significant growth, and that will be the main force in leading this call since May 1.
The centrals organize a list of demands that demand higher wages, price control, the end
of repressive policies against organizations and social struggles, the cessation of
compulsory arbitration courts in trade union conflicts and the restructuring of the ICSS.
After a militant coordination between the CSTC and CGT that presented a list of demands
without a governmental response, the confluence of these organizations with sectors of
independent trade unionism and classism such as Fecode and Fedepetrol in different
short-term unitary organizations and the accession of the concertation centers, allows
call to the general strike, which is crossed out by the López government as a subversive
and political strike. In the preparatory work, Popular, feminine and neighborhood Meetings
or Town Halls are convened that are held with good participation by the end of August and
from which the newspaper "Cabildo Open" is published in September.
One negative note is the sectarianism of the so-called Marxist-Leninist sectors, which
with some valid criticism of the movement's directions, decide to marginalize it, but
actively boycott the realization of an urgent and legitimate popular protest, which ends
up becoming a Mass action of historical proportions. Thus, the assembly of students of the
University of Antioquia, Maoist Bastion, in solidarity with the teachers' strike, as well
as the decreased Sintrapopular and Sintrabanca addresses after the defeat of the bank
strike, voted resolutions against the opportunist, revisionist and electorate strike . A
series of posters were displayed in Medellín that say: "No to unemployment promoted by the
oligarchy and social imperialism."
The general strike
The strike initially scheduled for September 1 is finally linked to the 14th of the same
month, following the failure of the last UTC-CTC negotiations with the government. The day
that the López government had sought to avoid with the 2004 decree that stipulated arrest
sentences of up to 180 days for participants in illegal protests, began with the launch of
gunpowder in the early hours of September 14 and has its last shot with the nightly
streaks from the night of September 15.
Its axis was the popular neighborhoods of the big cities, mainly Bogotá, Cali,
Barranquilla and Bucaramanga, although there are peasant mobilizations in Cundinamarca and
Cauca led by the ANUC, as well as labor concentrations and strike pickets in industrial
areas such as Puente Aranda and of services such as the center of the capital, avoiding as
initially agreed mass concentrations that could facilitate repression.
The strike largely achieves the paralysis of urban transport, as well as educational,
banking, health, commerce and public administration services. There are massive blockages
of roads and railways, as well as clashes with the police that in some cases lead to
looting of large stores. The day is settled with more than 30 people killed, mostly by the
Army and Police, and the granting of an emergency salary increase by the cornered López
government.
On a general balance sheet we must note the passive participation in the strike of between
3 and 5 million workers and the inclusion in protest activities of more than a hundred
thousand people throughout the country. The strike becomes the interpretation of Archila
in the largest mass protest of the second half of the twentieth century and together with
the 1948 Colombianazo the main mass action of the century. Medina sees it as the largest
organized protest in Republican history and the main mass action influenced by the radical
left. Sectors of the armed insurgency such as FARC, M-19 and ADO that had minor
participation in the event, read that it inaugurates a revolutionary cycle in the country,
which justifies the insurectional strategy,
Perspectives for the present
The national civic strike of 1977 was a turning point in the social and popular struggles
of the country. The same with its relative success, stimulated the organization of the
smallest movements of the second strike of 1981 and the third of 1985, the regional
strikes of 1986-1987, the days of 1999 or the agricultural strike of 2013, highlighted the
importance of the union and union unity, and showed the power of the combination of
organization of those below and direct popular action.
In the last period we have experienced the comparatively small movements of national
unemployment of November 28, 2018 and April 25 of the current year, especially days of
labor mobilization, with partial sectorial stoppages and variable student participation
key in November, peasant relevant in April and neighborhood. The tools of the popular
organization in terms of federalism and horizontality, as well as programmatic discussion
and political decision from the base are still weak. To strengthen them, it is very
important to think about the specificity and originality of the movement of 77, in order
to incorporate their experience for the challenges and struggles of our own present.
With sticks, machetes, another 77!
Up those who fight!
Related Link:
https://grupovialibre.org/2019/09/22/apuntes-sobre-el-paro-civico-nacional-de-1977/
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31562
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