The traces left by the anarchist movement make up a map of the paths
traveled and also of those that are yet to be traced. In this presentand future work where there is still everything to do, we do not want toforget a group that celebrated its tenth anniversary this year: thelibertarian organization Embat en Catalunya. A decade ago, a broadprocess of building an organization based on social anarchism and thestrategic concept of popular power began. We wanted to do an interviewto find out the details of this decade of activity and, above all, learnmore about the panorama of the anarchist movement and its coordinationtoday.Todo por Hacer (TxH): Start by telling us about the origins of Embat,what were the drives that led you to meet and the first steps that weretaken in that direction to unite the Catalan anarchist movementEmbat was born in 2013, in the heat of the general strikes. If there wasa strike on March 29, our first meeting was on April 15. In fact, we hadbeen debating for a few years with other compañeras from all over theSpanish State, around the anarchist organization. From time to time,meetings or debates were held, but we were the first group of those whomanaged to achieve them. Later, the manifesto "Building a Strong People"would be promoted, which gave rise to Apoyo Mutuo.Our birth coincided with a rise of the anarchist movement. For example,there is the anarchist meeting at the end of June of that year, which weattended. On that occasion we got together no less than 32 groups fromCatalonia. This indicated that our ideas were quite alive.TxH: Tell us about how the libertarians recognized themselves in thatamalgamation of assemblies that existed in the social movements prior tothe existence of Embat and, if today there was a new broad movement inthe streets like 15M, how we should organize the movement libertarianEmbat was born after the debates that followed the 15M. We saw that theanarchist ways of organizing were very much in vogue. That everywherethere was talk of self-management and cooperativism. That direct actionwas not frowned upon. The slogans of the movement were clearlyanti-authoritarian. And yet we had no way of channeling all that spiritinto a mass revolutionary trend.We were also aware of how the political organizations of other currentswere in the squares. We realized that a group of 10 well-organizedpeople was stronger than 100 or 1,000 unorganized, confident inspontaneity. And it is that ideological neutrality does not exist.People already come with some predetermined ideas of home. There arepolitical options that will inevitably add to any kind of streetmovement that people have.Therefore, anarchism needed to have a political organization. We had tobe able to go to these types of common mass spaces with a strategy andtactics shared by a number of comrades.TxH: Give us a synthesis of the specific path in anarchism. Whatexperiences led you to bet on an anarchist proposal that was so unknownin Europe? And how do you understand popular power?Specifism is nothing more than having a specific anarchist organizationto intervene in society. We understand that this is quite out of thebox, but given the refusal to intervene in the problems of our societythat a good part of the anarchist movement had in its day, we decided tomake it more explicit. Our referent, in this aspect, was Latin Americananarchism (with organizations such as the FARJ of Rio de Janeiro, theFAG of Portoalegre, the Uruguayan FAU, among others), which around2000-2010 established a way of doing things that seemed very appropriateto us. .We refer to the acceptance of the paradigm of popular power and itsadaptation in the tactical ideology of anarchism. It is understood thatthe people themselves carry out struggles on their own or throughpopular movements that generate a collective experience and empowerment.Popular power is the very constructive and fighting spirit of thepeople, which builds new paths towards emancipation, which sometimessurpass on the left the organizations that are considered revolutionary.Our interest was to contribute to these struggles, to be part of them,to learn by building. We were not interested in continuing with thesmall self-referential circles that we had around here, more likesubcultural scenes than a popular movement.TxH: What do you consider intervention in the masses? What intention andwhat objectives do you have? How to practice it ethically having anagreement between ends and libertarian means?In the first analyzes that we did as an organization, we detected in thesocial movements (beyond anarcho-syndicalism) a huge number of comradeswho were either from the libertarian movement or had broken with it. Wewondered why. The answer that we were offered used to be because thelibertarian movement did not want to get involved in social struggles.When he did, it was from perceived maximalist positions that werequickly out of the question because no one else followed.All these people who were (and are) already active in social movementslacked any tool or structure to coordinate them, to give themorientation or a specific meaning. Each one went for free, wouldn't itbe more effective if they could have meeting spaces and strategicdebate? That's what political organizations are for. Not to tell peoplewhat to do, but to give them logistical support and the idea that theyare not alone, and that behind them they have an organization thatwatches over them.A specific organization is prepared to intervene in society, in itsstruggles and movements. Naturally, it also decides what such a movementshould do to advance the construction of a revolutionary project. But itis understood that the effort comes from below. It is a demand of thebase, not of some dome hidden in the shadows.TxH: It is interesting for us to learn about internationalism in theCatalan scene. We imagine that being anarchists in the Catalan politicalworld is complicated. How does international anarchism see left-wingCatalanism?Anarchism is seen as a part of the traditional political ideas ofCatalonia. Obviously there will always be someone who wants to excludeus. Anarchism is always looked down on and if they pat us on the back itis because we are still a minority current. But the fact that almosteveryone here has a CNT grandfather or great-grandfather makes it easierto have a minimum of legitimacy at the popular level.TxH: Where are you currently intervening? What objectives have been metand what are the paths to follow in the future stage?At the moment we intervene in the trade union field, in the educationalfield (in the organization of the Escoles Feministes Days) and in thatof the ecosocial transition. We also participate in the debates that theanarchist environment of Barcelona is setting up. We have a lot of workahead of us. We have barely socialized our discourse, which is no longerseen as alien by the movement.But we are not managing to reach other movements due to lack ofstrength. You have to understand that being in an organization ofmilitants implies multi-military. Therefore, an effort is required inthe social and political organization, which not everyone is capable ofcarrying out. The challenge is to have enough people to open new frontsof struggle.TxH: With what other collectives or movements in the same anarchist lineare you coordinated internationally and what other organizations wouldthere be in the spectrum of current Spanish anarchism?Currently the international coordinator of social and organizedanarchism has about twenty organizations. Now it can be said that we allsituate ourselves in anarcho-communism, specificism or platformism.Right now we are on a campaign for some fellow anarchists from Sudan whohave to leave the country.In addition, we are collaborating with others in the Spanish State,although they do not always claim this space, such as Apoyo MutuoAragón, Liza, Batzac, FEL or CGT-Catalunya. With these last three weform the Taula Llibertària de Catalunya, which is a space to callmobilizations and to establish debates. In recent times these debateshave been opened to other groups. And with Liza, an anarchist platformin Madrid, we are collaborating to edit printed material to generatediscourse and contribute to the change of the militant culture.all to doInterview with Embat, the libertarian organization of Cataloniahttps://www.todoporhacer.org/entrevista-embat/http://acracia.org/entrevista-a-embat-organizacion-libertaria-de-catalunya/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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