WORLD WORLDWIDE GERMANY News Journal Update - (en) Germany, FAU, Direkte Aktion: ORGANIZED NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE FUTURE OF WORKERS' EXCHANGES by Frederik Fuss (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 About the possible connection of different concepts of

self-organization. ---- At the "Kantine Sabot" theory festival[1]At the
beginning of August 2023, we emphasized the somewhat forgotten
anarcho-syndicalist concept of workers' exchanges, both in our lecture
as the Tsveyfl editorial team and in numerous individual discussions, as
we consider it to be an essential component of anarcho-syndicalist
practice. In one of these conversations, a comrade asked whether groups
like Solidarisch in Gröpelingen (Bremen) or Berg Fidel Solidarisch
(Münster) would in principle take on exactly the tasks that would fall
to a workers' exchange. Despite my own involvement with the work of
these and similar groups, I was unable to give an adequate answer to the
question, but I found the idea very exciting. The following text should
be viewed as a further discussion of this question. It should also be
mentioned, however,[2]I am not interested in further developing his
concept, it stands on its own and should be implemented by committed
people wherever possible where there are no corresponding structures.
Rather, this text is intended to shed light on the relationship of those
groups that are outside the anarcho-syndicalist movement and carry out
revolutionary neighborhood work to the concept of workers' exchanges.

THE IDEA OF WORKERS' EXCHANGES IN ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM
Anarcho-syndicalism is often understood (even by anarcho-syndicalists)
as 'just' another, grassroots-democratic, social-revolutionary union
that focuses on direct action. The field of action of this union is
obviously the company. In a further (and definitely more accurate)
understanding of anarcho-syndicalism, it is pointed out that socialism -
according to Rudolf Rocker - is a question of culture, which is why we
must also be concerned with becoming powerful outside of the workplace.
Be it on a 'classic' cultural level or in all places where we come
together as class siblings, are confronted with common problems and can
solve them collectively. In this sense, culture is broadly defined and
encompasses all spheres of human interaction - and we have to have a
different,

As true as this is, it ignores the concrete ideas of anarcho-syndicalism
for socialist construction. Because not only are the syndicates in the
companies considered the 'schools of socialism', in which we learn to
take over production and, after breaking with the system, be able to run
it on our own - there is also another essential instrument that aims to:
to build the new society on a free basis: the workers' exchanges.

While we gather in the syndicates (i.e. company/industry groups) in our
role as producers, the workers' exchanges serve to serve the sphere of
consumption, reproduction and culture, so we organize ourselves in them
as consumers, tenants and whatnot still have roles (e.g. parents; the
workers' exchanges are also places where organizations of women and
youth can explicitly be located, of course with the appropriate autonomy).

The tasks of the workers' exchanges are divided into two areas: the here
and now, and the planning of the future society, although these cannot
always be clearly separated. In the future, the stock exchanges can take
over the assessment of needs in their area and, in coordination with the
company federations, enable sensible planning of the economy and
distribute goods according to needs. They are those institutions for
social administration that are intended to directly replace state
structures.
In the here and now, they have a wide range of tasks: of course
propaganda and agitation, educational events and material, but also the
coordination and support of internal struggles and, above all, the
organization of external struggles. These can be tenant struggles, those
of the unemployed, youth, feminist struggles, anti-racist struggles,
etc. The stock exchanges act as an accessible institution for the
everyday problems of the people in their sphere of influence, in which
they can organize themselves with others in order to address them.

The stock exchanges form their own federal structures, which are set up
parallel to the syndicate structures, and corresponding councils are
formed at the respective levels (local, regional, national). Workers'
exchanges and syndicates relate to each other, work together and support
each other. In the future, they will create a federal social system that
is controlled from the grassroots. In pre-revolutionary times, these
federal structures gather under one roof: that of the
anarcho-syndicalist organization.[3]
THE REVOLUTIONARY DISTRICT WORK
In recent years, there have been discussion processes within the radical
left in various cities, as well as nationally, about the strategic
direction of their own work and the need for grassroots work. Among
other things, these processes gave rise to several groups that carry out
continuous district-related grassroots work. Some of them provide
information in the interview volume "Revolutionary District Work.
Interim review of a strategic realignment of left-wing practice",
published by the Vogliamo Tutto group, provides a deeper insight into
their practice, as well as the theoretical background and strategic goals.

There are of course differences between the groups interviewed, but
these should not be the focus here. Instead, I would like to concentrate
on the question of whether the practice of revolutionary neighborhood
work functions similarly to that of the workers' exchanges.

What is important here is how the groups view their own work in the
social context. Several groups emphasize that district politics create
awareness that the fight is taking place on the doorstep and that a
supra-regional organization is needed - because in the end "it's not
about the community, but about a society."[4](Solidarity in Gröpelingen
) The question remains what such an organization should look like and
whether its own capacities are sufficient for supra-regional organization.

If we look at the group's field of activity, it depends largely on the
needs of the people in the district, or is adapted to this in further
steps. This is sometimes done, as in Münster, by drawing conclusions
from mediocre cultural evenings by conducting targeted surveys, which
then reveal which topics affect a particularly large number of people
(in Münster, the major landlord LEG). Nevertheless, cultural and
educational events are not abandoned, but are usually viewed as
important components. In some places, a distinction is made between what
is offered for the neighborhood and what educational events are held
specifically for the activists. In most cities there are also social
counseling services for people with rental or job center problems.[5]in
which they explain how they want to achieve collective organization by
discussing individual problems. In doing so, they also support the
district union's claim. What could also be viewed critically here is
that the strong advisory focus and the exclusive offer for members are
giving rise to new problems - which are well known in
anarcho-syndicalist unions, such as a strong member base made up of
card-carrying corpses, which, if at all, only have a consumer attitude
organization participate.

The organizational structure of many groups is interesting because it
usually does not simply take place through public meetings, but also not
through closed groups. In various cities - for example Münster, Hamburg,
Bremen - there are structures that may at first remind you of a Leninist
cadre model, but on closer inspection are quite far from it. From an
organizational point of view, ideologically solid core groups have the
main responsibility for strategic orientations, and then there are open
sub-area groups or events in which all people can participate either as
consuming visitors or as active organizers. It is important that the
system is transparent and not closed. The aim is to

On the other hand, it seems somewhat unpleasantly paternalistic that
some groups are specifically looking for poor, migrant neighborhoods in
order to make politics there - without actually living there themselves.
This is very reminiscent of times gone by when academics wanted to go
into companies to explain to the workers what their situation was. But
that is not the case everywhere and the fact that there is also an
approach to be politically active exactly where you live is shown, among
other things, by Wilhelmsburg Solidarisch from Hamburg. When asked why
Wilhelmsburg was chosen as a location and that the activists probably
wouldn't live there, the answer was: "Yes, that's exactly why we started
here. All the people who are currently regularly involved also live here
in the district."[6]
One area is cited by various groups as a problem for their own approach:
labor disputes. This is where district work usually reaches its limits,
as these are problems of people who may live in the district but take
place outside of it or are located in the district but require other
forms of organization. In some cities there were collaborations with the
FAU at these points, but the structures did not grow together
organically - apparently neither of the two actors saw themselves as
counterparts to the other. The municipality of Stadtfeld (Magdeburg),
which regularly works with FAU, could be seen as a counterpart.

THE FUTURE IN THE FEDERATION
What is happening in Magdeburg could follow, become permanent and
institutionalized in many other cities. In their practice, the
revolutionary neighborhood groups are not far removed from the idea of
the workers' exchange. They cover those areas in which external
struggles take place; they become a school of self-organization and
self-empowerment. When looking for the question of how revolutionary
district work could be directed into a socially changing process, the
organizational connection with the structure that covers exactly the
areas that they cannot serve seems obvious. The idea of an
anarcho-syndicalist organization would also define a strategic,
long-term goal of the work - the development of grassroots democratic
administrative structures.

The neighborhood groups would form their own autonomous federation, just
like the syndicates. Appropriate coordination structures can then be set
up at local, regional and national levels so that people don't work past
each other as before and only find each other at certain points, but
rather form a mutually supporting organization that acts according to a
common plan.

The idea can also be expanded - for which there are historical examples.
There are still many communities in rural areas and new ones are
constantly being formed. People live there collectively and farm. The
criticism of such projects is as old as their idea. People would build a
quasi-socialist island and live isolated in its microcosm. But how can
it be otherwise when the organized forces in the cities turn away from
the municipalities? If there is no exchange or cooperation is sometimes
deliberately rejected?[7]There are still numerous projects that see
themselves as explicit political alternatives in our sense; only Gut
Möglich (Sauerland) and WandelGut (near Lübeck) are mentioned here. An
anarcho-syndicalist organization that wants to organize production and
consumption must not turn away from the land. You can't complain about
supposedly reactionary farmers if you're not at all interested in the
progressive ones. The question must be asked today how food supplies can
be organized in a revolutionary situation and what agriculture should
look like in the future. This requires active farmers. With the Kommuja
network, there is already a loose organizational association of
municipalities. The Solidarity Agriculture Network would be just as
interesting for a federal connection. These associations could join
forces as a third pillar alongside the syndicates and neighborhood
groups in an anarcho-syndicalist federation. In this way we would form
an organization that could actually claim to cover all social spheres
and take people seriously in their various roles and offer opportunities
for organization.

https://direkteaktion.org/organisierte-nachbarschaften-und-die-zukunft-der-arbeiterboersen/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca