#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #CANADA #ANARCHISM #News #Journal #Update - (en) #Canada, Collectif Emma Goldman - Anarchist Social Action, a libertarian approach to social work and community organizing (ca, de, it, fr, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 For about seven years, with the beginning of the Marmites autogérées (public

distribution of free meals), in Saguenay, on the stolen territories of
Nitassinan, the Anarchist Collective Emma Goldman has been promoting the
principle of Anarchist Social Action. It is a concept that he himself has woven
through his discussions, practical experiences and collective reflections. In
addition to carrying out actions and disseminating information, Anarchist Social
Action has been considered as a means of intervening directly in the community
and interacting with people horizontally. In this regard, parallels can be drawn
with certain definitions of social work. It should nevertheless be noted that the
approach undertaken by the collective was nourished by experiences of
implications (in different capacities) often disappointing within the community
movement[1]in Saguenay. In the text "Some principles of the self-managed pot",
released in August 2015 in a context marked by austerity measures, were for
example denounced:
- "the stigmatization of low-income people involuntarily exercised in many
community organizations in the region", even "a wall of prejudice and the need to
prove one's status as poor";
- "institutionalization and practices akin to Christian charity";
- "the system of donors (state or private)[...][whose]criteria and demands
constitute direct attacks on the people that the organizations supported would
like to help[2]".

The professionalization of social work or social organization seems to us most of
the time achieved (involuntarily) to the detriment of the help offered and
mobilization in the communities. The gap is widening more and more with the
optics of social transformation. Instead, we are witnessing the production of
technocrats. In many settings, such as CLSCs, the tasks of community organizers
are now more akin to those of a manager or specialist responsible for
facilitating consultation[LORD 2015, p.2]- and, could- to add, serve as a conduit
for the directives and orientations of the health network. What is referred to in
Quebec as "autonomous community action" has little to do with the principles of
collective autonomy and paradoxically suffers today from its dependence on state
funding methods. At a time of state disengagement, several groups are throwing
themselves headlong into the "social economy". Popular movement discourse subtly
gives way to integration through economic activity since it takes low-income
earners to operate these businesses... It is clear that despite certain
positions, autonomous community action fits into the neoliberal economy and is
unable to fight the transformations. Professor Georges A. Lebel even wonders
whether, like a precarious public service, it does not take part in "the
communitarization which constitutes one of the tactics of deconstruction of the
public service[LEBEL 2010, p.125]". With regard to the professionalization of
social work, Nicolas Delisle-L'Heureux quite rightly writes: "we are now dealing
with a profession that is becoming more technical and whose professionals
are[...]loaded with diplomas and privileges, protected by a statute which gives
them particular power and significant advantages[DELISLE-L'HEUREUX 2008, p.151]".
The advocacy approach, although made possible through struggles, on the one hand
accomplishes very little for the advancement of rights and on the other hand
opens the door to neoliberal tendencies and aims in the work social. A report
from the Institute for Research and socio-economic information (IRIS) concluded
in 2013 that it is market logic "that characterizes the new entrepreneurial
governance established in the public sphere and which now trickles down to
community circles[DEPELTEAU, FORTIER AND HÉBERT 2013, p.36]". Ultimately, based
on the system's deeply unequal playing field, the advocacy framework legitimizes
and maintains the status quo in the face of system violence. We see today how the
resources of the latter are heavily affected by budget cuts and the search for
funding, while the requests received are multiplying and worsening. Social work
and community organizing must question and reinvent itself. is the market logic
"which characterizes the new entrepreneurial governance established in the public
sphere and which now trickles down to community circles[DEPELTEAU, FORTIER AND
HÉBERT 2013, p.36]". Ultimately, based on the system's deeply unequal playing
field, the advocacy framework legitimizes and maintains the status quo in the
face of system violence. We see today how the resources of the latter are heavily
affected by budget cuts and the search for funding, while the requests received
are multiplying and worsening. Social work and community organizing must question
and reinvent itself. is the market logic "which characterizes the new
entrepreneurial governance established in the public sphere and which now
trickles down to community circles[DEPELTEAU, FORTIER AND HÉBERT 2013, p.36]".
Ultimately, based on the system's deeply unequal playing field, the advocacy
framework legitimizes and maintains the status quo in the face of system
violence. We see today how the resources of the latter are heavily affected by
budget cuts and the search for funding, while the requests received are
multiplying and worsening. Social work and community organizing must question and
reinvent itself.

Based on these observations, the Collective came out in favor of the creation of
militant grassroots groups at the service of the population to promote mutual
aid, collective mobilization and popular education in the neighbourhoods. This
for and by (since the initiative came from the unemployed and poor wage-earners),
in marked rupture with the community model which makes organizations
technocratized subcontractors of a brutal system, aimed at development with
people of the district of struggles against the system. It was not simply a
question of allowing people to get their heads above water for a little while
before the next attacks from the state, but rather of reclaiming power over their
lives (promoting collective empowerment and autonomy and spreading
self-organizational practices). The collective was inspired in this by the social
animation of Saul Alinsky, various anarchist groups in Greece in particular, the
transnational movement Food Not Bombs, but also the "survival programs" of the
Black Panthers Party for Self-Defense (BPP) . In an announcement of July 4, 2015,
the Collective noted that the BPP envisaged: "social actions as acts of
propaganda by the fact, intended to make aware of the 'Have-not' of this world
(young people without a future, unemployed and long-term unemployed, exploited
employees, destitute pensioners, student movements) eager to take action that
they could self-organize and together form a common front in the face of
government discrimination and the arrogance of the capitalists[3]". The BPP was
at the origin of several initiatives in the communities such as the distribution
of free breakfasts for children, the organization of liberation schools, housing
cooperatives, free medical clinics and assistance programs for the elderly. For
its part, the Collective has since materialized several projects in Chicoutimi,
including the self-managed Marmites, the free markets, the Espace social libre (a
self-managed social center) and the Parc du 19 Juillet (a self-managed park). In
addition to disseminating ideas and putting forward anarchist proposals, these
interventions have made it possible to develop new links with people in the
neighborhood, to stimulate new struggles (for example against an apartment owner)
and by the many exchanges, to better understand the reality with the needs and
problems experienced in the neighborhood. In short, around the concept of
Anarchist Social Action and the direct response to the needs that it offers, we
can observe three objectives that are jointly deployed: the construction of power
relations with the authorities, the development of autonomous spaces defying the
commercial and oppressive relations and the resumption of individual and
collective power in a perspective of clear social change.

The crucial contribution of an anarchist approach

It must be said: "social work" has been undermined by capitalist society and the
colonial state. The image that many have of them as professionals in
standardization, compliance of individuals[ANDRIEN 2009, p.61], social control
and integration into the labor market often reflects the sad reality of the
reduction of a job to what the state and the economy expect of it. In Chicoutimi,
we even saw the participation of the Service de travail de rue in the "joint
operation" to evict the squat from the Racine street autostation in March 2022.
This is reminiscent of the treatment granted to vagabonds dispossessed of their
land in the beginnings of this system is obviously a thousand leagues from what
the anarchists defend.

The anarchists do not wait for the "Great evening" of the social revolution to
put their ideas and social alternatives into practice. The foreshadowing of
egalitarian social relations is necessary here and now in the struggles, as is
the site of experimentation and preparation of new practices and forms of
organization. Anarchism defends the possibility of an egalitarian and ecological
society freed from the state, organized according to a bottom-up approach through
decentralized local voluntary collaboration, collective autonomy, mutual aid and
direct democracy. . Its goal is to satisfy the needs of each and everyone and the
full development of individuals through their liberation from systems of
oppression and capitalist exploitation.

As we can see, conflictuality is necessarily at the heart of an anarchist
approach to community organization or social work. We reject the neoliberal
approach that claims equal opportunities and considers that it is simply
necessary to want to be able to get by. To effectively target problems at their
root and act without intermediaries, power relations, privileges and systems of
oppression are called by name. It is these material conditions that largely
determine people's lives, not their attitude, morality or way of thinking. It is
a political approach, we assume it, because it takes ideas to radically transform
society, but it breaks with the political system and its partisanship. From this
perspective, State institutions and the general idea of the rule of law are
criticized for their bias towards the status quo, citizen passivity and obedience
to the rules enacted by the dominant class. This is not to say that anarchists
are against the rights of the population, but rather that they do not rely on
state institutions to enforce them - it is a clear separation from the
defense-based approach. Rights. We can only rely on our own resources. "Because
of having had too much confidence in the government, wrote the anarchist Pierre
Kropotkine, the citizens have ceased to have confidence in themselves; they are
unable to find new paths. The State only has to intervene and crush the last
freedoms[KROPOTKINE 1906, p.287.]". And Ivan Illich explained in his own words
several decades later: "admittedly, poverty has always implied the impossibility
of acting on the social level, but trusting more and more in institutions to
eradicate the evils of society gives this impotence a new dimension: it now
overwhelms the mind, it removes from man all will to defend himself[ILLICH 1971,
p.7]". Anarchist Social Action assumes total autonomy from coercive institutions
and the state. The refusal of subservience to the logics of public procurement by
financial backers arises as a necessity for the sake of remaining faithful to
one's objectives; the means chosen are decisive as to the possible ends. poverty
has always implied the impossibility of acting on the social level, but trusting
more and more in institutions to eradicate the ills of society gives this
impotence a new dimension: it now overwhelms the mind, it removes from man all
will to defend himself[ILLICH 1971, p.7]". Anarchist Social Action assumes total
autonomy from coercive institutions and the state. The refusal of subservience to
the logics of public procurement by financial backers arises as a necessity for
the sake of remaining faithful to one's objectives; the means chosen are decisive
as to the possible ends. poverty has always implied the impossibility of acting
on the social level, but trusting more and more in institutions to eradicate the
ills of society gives this impotence a new dimension: it now overwhelms the mind,
it removes from man all will to defend himself[ILLICH 1971, p.7]". Anarchist
Social Action assumes total autonomy from coercive institutions and the state.
The refusal of subservience to the logics of public procurement by financial
backers arises as a necessity for the sake of remaining faithful to one's
objectives; the means chosen are decisive as to the possible ends. but trusting
institutions more and more to eradicate the evils of society gives this impotence
a new dimension: it now overwhelms the spirit, it removes from man all will to
defend himself[ILLICH 1971, p.7]". Anarchist Social Action assumes total autonomy
from coercive institutions and the state. The refusal of subservience to the
logics of public procurement by financial backers arises as a necessity for the
sake of remaining faithful to one's objectives; the means chosen are decisive as
to the possible ends. but trusting institutions more and more to eradicate the
evils of society gives this impotence a new dimension: it now overwhelms the
spirit, it removes from man all will to defend himself[ILLICH 1971, p.7]".
Anarchist Social Action assumes total autonomy from coercive institutions and the
state. The refusal of subservience to the logics of public procurement by
financial backers arises as a necessity for the sake of remaining faithful to
one's objectives; the means chosen are decisive as to the possible ends.
subservience to the logics of public procurement by donors arises as a necessity
for the sake of remaining faithful to its objectives; the means chosen are
decisive as to the possible ends. subservience to the logics of public
procurement by donors arises as a necessity for the sake of remaining faithful to
its objectives; the means chosen are decisive as to the possible ends.

In recent decades, under the influence of the institutionalization of practices,
social work and community organization have increasingly focused on the word (the
helping relationship) in their interventions to the detriment of the 'Collective
action. The approach of social workers too often individualizes the difficulties
encountered from what they consider their clients. Consequently, they make the
person alone responsible for their situation by admitting a priori their
powerlessness in the face of the structural elements that condition it. Rather,
we believe that direct action should be at the fore since it allows people to
experience their ability to act together against the problems of the system and
their environment. It is a question of nurturing the power to act (empowerment)
of individuals by restoring their confidence in their means, not from the
perspective of a quest for individualistic social ascent, but in that of
commitment to the collective struggles and the construction of counter-powers. To
clarify the meaning that we give to the concept of empowerment, it is interesting
to also appeal to that of the spirit of revolt formulated by Kropotkin. He
defined it as the life drive present in every human being, a will, which awakens
through the passage to action and which germinates consciences, insubordination
and audacity against the unequal social order.[KROPOTKIN 1885]. Sure, all the
problems of individuals are not only of a structural nature and are compounded by
multiple more personal problems. But society broke people. To get out of it, they
must be able to regain confidence in their abilities (rather than resign
themselves to a sordid conformism) and forge new bonds of solidarity. The
principle is simple: you have to be able to act in order to flourish and
transform the world. Then, on a collective level, small victories, which
sometimes seem trivial, build counter-powers and can generate great mobilizing
stories. The boycott in opposition to the racial segregation of buses in the city
of Montgomery, Alabama in the mid-1950s is a good example of this. Added to this
are multiple, more personal issues. But society broke people. To get out of it,
they must be able to regain confidence in their abilities (rather than resign
themselves to a sordid conformism) and forge new bonds of solidarity. The
principle is simple: you have to be able to act in order to flourish and
transform the world. Then, on a collective level, small victories, which
sometimes seem trivial, build counter-powers and can generate great mobilizing
stories. The boycott in opposition to the racial segregation of buses in the city
of Montgomery, Alabama in the mid-1950s is a good example of this. Added to this
are multiple, more personal issues. But society broke people. To get out of it,
they must be able to regain confidence in their abilities (rather than resign
themselves to a sordid conformism) and forge new bonds of solidarity. The
principle is simple: you have to be able to act in order to flourish and
transform the world. Then, on a collective level, small victories, which
sometimes seem trivial, build counter-powers and can generate great mobilizing
stories. The boycott in opposition to the racial segregation of buses in the city
of Montgomery, Alabama in the mid-1950s is a good example of this. they must be
able to regain confidence in their abilities (rather than resign themselves to a
sordid conformism) and forge new bonds of solidarity. The principle is simple:
you have to be able to act in order to flourish and transform the world. Then, on
a collective level, small victories, which sometimes seem trivial, build
counter-powers and can generate great mobilizing stories. The boycott in
opposition to the racial segregation of buses in the city of Montgomery, Alabama
in the mid-1950s is a good example of this. they must be able to regain
confidence in their abilities (rather than resign themselves to a sordid
conformism) and forge new bonds of solidarity. The principle is simple: you have
to be able to act in order to flourish and transform the world. Then, on a
collective level, small victories, which sometimes seem trivial, build
counter-powers and can generate great mobilizing stories. The boycott in
opposition to the racial segregation of buses in the city of Montgomery, Alabama
in the mid-1950s is a good example of this. which sometimes seem trivial, build
counter-powers and can generate great mobilizing stories. The boycott in
opposition to the racial segregation of buses in the city of Montgomery, Alabama
in the mid-1950s is a good example of this. which sometimes seem trivial, build
counter-powers and can generate great mobilizing stories. The boycott in
opposition to the racial segregation of buses in the city of Montgomery, Alabama
in the mid-1950s is a good example of this.

In all editions of La Marmite autogérée, the direct reappropriation of public
space, i.e. the occupation of places without the permission of the authorities,
is openly claimed with the help of posters in the city, banners, leaflets and of
invitation texts. On the one hand, it is a gesture of resistance in the face of
the war of space waged in particular by the dominant classes who are gentrifying
our neighborhoods, by market relations which eat up the time of our lives and
atomize communities, by the police who represses, criminalizes and profiles and
by racists and LGBTQ+phobes who harass and assault. On the other hand, it is to
temporarily free up a space where we can practice collective autonomy together.
This form of reappropriation of the city that we defend is close to what the
philosopher Manola Antonioli calls "urban war machines", i.e. forms of
organization (improvised places and uses) in space that escape authority and town
planning. We have chosen to carry out our actions in the sectors of the city
center where the needs are greatest. We deal creatively with the situations that
arise. This approach teaches us a lot and reinforces the projects. The police
relentlessness towards the most vulnerable is flagrant, but also the friendliness
of people in need. Then, each event is organized around a theme that politicizes
an issue. Austerity, gentrification, owner-operators and major projects that
destroy the environment were some of the themes discussed. With the collaboration
of artists and people from different backgrounds, some events have given rise to
happenings to break the distance between art and culture and the street in order
to make it a direct action against the society of the spectacle. Finally, we take
advantage of these moments to ask open-ended questions to participants such as:
"What could improve living conditions, or simply life, in the neighborhood?" ".
This approach has frequently fueled the orientation of subsequent actions (with a
view to responding directly and independently to the needs of the district).
environment were some of the topics discussed. With the collaboration of artists
and people from different backgrounds, some events have given rise to happenings
to break the distance between art and culture and the street in order to make it
a direct action against the society of the spectacle. Finally, we take advantage
of these moments to ask open-ended questions to participants such as: "What could
improve living conditions, or simply life, in the neighborhood?" ". This approach
has frequently fueled the orientation of subsequent actions (with a view to
responding directly and independently to the needs of the district). environment
were some of the topics discussed. With the collaboration of artists and people
from different backgrounds, some events have given rise to happenings to break
the distance between art and culture and the street in order to make it a direct
action against the society of the spectacle. Finally, we take advantage of these
moments to ask open-ended questions to participants such as: "What could improve
living conditions, or simply life, in the neighborhood?" ". This approach has
frequently fueled the orientation of subsequent actions (with a view to
responding directly and independently to the needs of the district). some events
have given rise to happenings to break the distance between art and culture and
the street in order to make direct action against the society of the spectacle.
Finally, we take advantage of these moments to ask open-ended questions to
participants such as: "What could improve living conditions, or simply life, in
the neighborhood?" ". This approach has frequently fueled the orientation of
subsequent actions (with a view to responding directly and independently to the
needs of the district). some events have given rise to happenings to break the
distance between art and culture and the street in order to make direct action
against the society of the spectacle. Finally, we take advantage of these moments
to ask open-ended questions to participants such as: "What could improve living
conditions, or simply life, in the neighborhood?" ". This approach has frequently
fueled the orientation of subsequent actions (with a view to responding directly
and independently to the needs of the district). "What could improve living
conditions, or simply life, in the neighborhood? ". This approach has frequently
fueled the orientation of subsequent actions (with a view to responding directly
and independently to the needs of the district). "What could improve living
conditions, or simply life, in the neighborhood? ". This approach has frequently
fueled the orientation of subsequent actions (with a view to responding directly
and independently to the needs of the district).

Faced with the exclusion from the political sphere of the exploited and oppressed
majorities and the resulting fatalism, popular education, together with social
conflicts, is one of the keys to bringing people to understand social antagonisms
(the class struggles) and the need to build power relations with the dominant
classes to bring about change. Popular education is a participatory process that
involves the co-construction of knowledge through the collective analysis of
situations experienced in all their complexity. We also deepen each other's
understanding of structural causes. It is important to say this since we see it
very frequently reduced to an effort to popularize and disseminate knowledge. L'
exchange with people leads us on the contrary to reciprocally get rid of
simplistic and schematic representations. Popular education is not a neutral
tool. It is a tool for the dominated to emancipate themselves, become aware of
their position in class struggles and organize themselves. It makes it possible
to better understand the dynamics of inequality in society and to discern those
who benefit from this state of affairs and those who suffer from it. Finally,
understanding the complexity of situations often makes it possible to jointly
prepare targets and more effective means of action while taking care of each
other. For us, consistency between ends and means is essential. We thus
categorically reject the forms of voter education who claim to take advantage of
election campaigns to inform and reach people through their political
partisanship. We believe that this medium wanders by causing more helplessness in
people as if to wait and support some change from above. On the left and on the
right, these are unidirectional communication efforts, the real function of which
is to support the rise to power of politicians and politicians.

A libertarian approach could not exist without tapping into the anarchists'
indomitable love for humanity. Love frees from fear and the shackles that govern
our lives. On the other hand, we are not saviors or saviors and refuse to be.
Rather than the paternalistic and authoritarian professional-client relationship
strongly inspired by the medical model, this approach places the activist as a
simple participant in a process of action among others who share their condition.
The social kitchen the Other Human (O Allos Anthropos), which distributes free
meals in Greece, is a good example of this. The human Other rejects charity,
where more favored people help others by being moved by pity and mercy. VS' is
rather an action of horizontal solidarity, guided by the love of one's neighbour,
where each and every one offers what he or she can offer to others and receives
what he or she needs. Each person is favored around the huge pots of the social
kitchen; everyone cooks and eats together, regardless of their differences. In
addition to the food, different people contribute their skills in mobilizing for
the events, by sharing their knowledge and talents on the spot or by simply
brightening up a moment of living together by their participation. The initiative
is not neutral or apolitical. On the contrary, it engages people in another
vision of society, breaking with unequal systems. "Food is not the main thing,
says Konstantinos 'Kostas' Polychronopoulos in the movie "Love and Revolution".
Food is the Trojan horse! The Trojan horse to bring us closer. It's nothing more
than that! Even for the hungriest, it's not the food that draws them here! They
come to be with us, to discuss the time of a shared meal! That's it: a way out of
indifference". Anarchist collectives are called upon to act as facilitators of
these processes by sharing resources. We bring our ideas to life and share them
through common experience. In conviviality, activists must still keep a critical
mind when faced with power relations and their privileges. It's not enough to be
aware of these so that they are "deconstructed"; they rest on systems of
oppression that are socially well established and interrelated with other forms
of domination. At the present time, people who are militant must, in the course
of their interventions, recognize a permanent line of tension between their
privileges and their libertarian ideal in order not to reproduce these and to
prefigure more egalitarian relationships. It must be admitted that the
confrontation of practices by other activists is also healthy from the
perspective of building such a movement. the people who are militant must, over
the course of their interventions, recognize a line of permanent tension between
their privileges and their libertarian ideal in order not to reproduce these and
to prefigure more egalitarian relationships. It must be admitted that the
confrontation of practices by other activists is also healthy from the
perspective of building such a movement. the people who are militant must, over
the course of their interventions, recognize a line of permanent tension between
their privileges and their libertarian ideal in order not to reproduce these and
to prefigure more egalitarian relationships. It must be admitted that the
confrontation of practices by other activists is also healthy from the
perspective of building such a movement.

The defensive posture of several libertarians regarding the community movement,
limited to a short-term perspective of meeting immediate needs, can be
understandable from certain angles given the proximity of several defended
values. Activists justify it under the pretext of a lack of maturity of the local
libertarian collectives or quite simply their absence[4]. Still, the development
of such groups will not fall from the sky. There is no valid reason to wait for
the appearance of libertarian collectives, counter-powers, collective autonomy
and coherent revolutionary strategies going beyond reformism. Anarchists don't
have to defend the state's "social net" that the ruling class has willfully
pierced, because it is on the backs of the poorest that its wealth is built. As
the Ontario organization Common Cause put it in 2014: "It has been historically
demonstrated that working-class people have the potential to organize their own
support networks, which can exist independently of those administered by the
state and which do not oblige us to wait for the dawn of a post-revolutionary
utopia. These emerging counter-power networks have revolutionary potential in the
struggle to build a better world - a world where the well-being of individuals is
the shared responsibility of the communities of which they are a part[COMMON
CAUSE 2014, p.38]". It is understandable that existing social and economic
conditions lead, by compromise, to a large number of libertarians to take up
social work or community organization as a job. Without falling into judgment or
dogmatic rejection, we observe how the workforce and state executives mutilate
and imprison the transformative potential of these two areas - just like all
jobs. Kropotkin thought that: "literature and science will only take their true
place in the work of human development when, free from all mercenary servitude,
they will be exclusively cultivated by those who love them and for those who love
them. Literature, science and art must be served by volunteers. It is only on
this condition that they will succeed in freeing themselves from the yoke of the
State, of Capital and of the bourgeois mediocrity which suffocates
them[KROPOTKINE 1892, p.141-142]".

Along with capitalist exploitation, a multitude of systems of oppression
(patriarchy, racism, colonialism, ableism, LGBTQ+phobia, etc.) destroy and
tarnish life. We want a world free from exploitation and forms of oppression. Our
initiatives in the communities are intended to be inclusive; each and everyone
can bring their color with their differences. The latter are a collective wealth
that the current unequal society, recruited through nationalism, productivism and
individualism, condemns through systemic oppression, stigmatization and
exclusion. Care is customary among members of many marginalized groups such as
immigrants, queers, trans, Indigenous, racialized, disabled, etc. The formation
of informal networks often appears to be a matter of survival for many of them.
These experiences of social action are just as valid even if they are more
"underground", out of sight and invisible[LEFRANÇOIS 2022, p.500]. Anarchist
Social Action has much to learn from them, is called upon to support them and
must also refuse any form of standardization whatsoever. Then, it should be noted
that this self-organization of "care" is often an alternative solution to the
relationships of domination experienced with professionals. "Those usually
excluded from mainstream/mainstream society have in the past been dominated by
professionals, who have attempted to regulate their sexuality, gender, their
racialized cultural system of knowledge, thoughts, emotions, behavior, feelings
and desires deemed 'deviant' by the police, psychiatry and other state
institutions, including social work[LEFRANÇOIS 2022, p. 507]". We conceive that
it is impossible to liberate other groups of people for them; this task falls to
their members independently. As the feminist slogan goes, "Don't set me free,
I'll take care of it". The mobilizations of permanent and permanent paid-es, as
it is too often seen in the community medium, seem vain to us. Rather, they
participate in further supporting the development of the power to act of these
professionals; it is the drift that occurs when empowerment is thought out"
supporting the (re)production of the colonial state and acting as a buffer zone
to contain and pacify Indigenous communities who are in direct confrontation with
the colonial state or facing crises caused by extractive practices resources and
dispossession of the State and companies[FORTIER AND HON-SING WONG 2018, p.6]".
The traditional practices and ways of life of Indigenous peoples, whose memories
colonialism sought to erase, would however have much to teach us - their forms of
social organization being more egalitarian. colonial state or who face crises
caused by the practices of resource extraction and dispossession of the state and
companies[FORTIER AND HON-SING WONG 2018, p.6]". The traditional practices and
ways of life of Indigenous peoples, whose memories colonialism sought to erase,
would however have much to teach us - their forms of social organization being
more egalitarian. colonial state or who face crises caused by the practices of
resource extraction and dispossession of the state and companies[FORTIER AND
HON-SING WONG 2018, p.6]". The traditional practices and ways of life of
Indigenous peoples, whose memories colonialism sought to erase, would however
have much to teach us - their forms of social organization being more egalitarian.

In conclusion, this article has attempted to draw the contours of a libertarian
approach to social work and community organization. In all humility, it can be
said that Anarchist Social Action remains altogether rather vague, but that can
be a good thing. After all, the important thing is not to develop a new current
that can be added to the classifications taught at university, but to articulate
reflections around our militant experience. Such an approach should not lock its
practices into a static state. It is called upon to renew itself constantly over
the course of events if it wants to remain faithful to its principles. Adeline De
Lépinay quite rightly writes: "The experiences from which we can draw inspiration
are numerous. If trying to reproduce and formalize ' tools' and 'methods' is to
risk taking away their subversive and emancipatory potential, we can all go and
draw on what exists, to try new things in our turn, by adapting to the political
realities in which our actions are anchored. The challenge is to build
self-constituted processes, and not to propose devices 'from above', without
wanting to reinvent the powder and despise the existing[DE LÉPINAY 2016]". Around
the world, libertarian activists are engaging in a host of inspiring experiences.
With the people of their neighborhood, some have rehabilitated sports facilities,
built ramps to facilitate access for everyone to different places, opened squats
for the poorly housed and immigrants, grew vegetable gardens and cleaned green
spaces, etc. These are of course only drops of water in front of the violence of
a system, but what is built during these autonomous actions is as important as
the needs that are met. The future is not written; let's be creative and
creative. "There will be no future, underlined Henri Laborit, if we do not
imagine it[LABORIT 1976, p.85]". let's be creative and creative. "There will be
no future, underlined Henri Laborit, if we do not imagine it[LABORIT 1976,
p.85]". let's be creative and creative. "There will be no future, underlined
Henri Laborit, if we do not imagine it[LABORIT 1976, p.85]".

Point-by-point summary of an anarchist practice in social work or community
organization:
- deprofessionalizing and breaking down positions of power and coercion;
- support the development of people's power to act, the resumption of power over
their lives and the resuscitation of their spirit of revolt;
- support the development of networks of mutual aid and active solidarity in the
communities;
- target the social structures responsible for the problems experienced by people
through popular education;
- enter into conflict with social relations of domination, institutions and
capitalists / collectively generate social struggles and practice direct action;
- make practices completely autonomous in relation to the State and public or
private funders;
- support, open the door and be inspired by the self-organizational practices of
"care" of marginalized communities / avoid any static mentality and renew oneself
in a horizontal militant posture.

Notes
[1]The concept of community movement in Quebec refers to what is more often
called the associative movement in Europe.
[2]Emma Goldman Collective. "Some Principles of the Self-Managed Pot", August 25,
2015, http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.com/p/action-sociale-anarchiste.html
[3]Collectif Emma Goldman. "Facing Austerity: Anarchist Social Action", July 4,
2015,http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.com/2015/07/face-lausterite-laction-sociale.html
[4]The critical analysis produced by Marc-Aurel from Quebec, "Community and
anarchist movements: a fruitful encounter? ", published in the 6th edition of the
journal Ruptures (spring 2006) is a good example. You can find the publication
online at this address: https://causecommune.net/publications/ruptures/6.html

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by Collectif Emma Goldman

http://ucl-saguenay.blogspot.com/2022/10/laction-sociale-anarchiste-une-approche.html
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