WORLD WORLDWIDE GERMANY News Journal Update - (en) Germany, LIKOS: Antifascism as self-protection of the working class (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 

In 2016, Paula Lamont and Ella Gilbert founded the left-wing and
anti-fascist boxing & MMA club "Solstar" in London. In an interview from
2020 they are asked what they mean by "anti-fascism". Lamont replies: "I
would see antifascism as a defense of the working class and its
communities."(1) A sentence that stuck in my mind. ---- How do
antifascism and the working class belong together? When one speaks here
of defense, protection or, better yet, self-protection of the working
class, social struggles and anti-fascism are combined. But why is that
so? The following text attempts to clarify this question.

The terms antifascism, self-protection and working class were not chosen
arbitrarily by Lamont or the authors of this text; they are not
arbitrary. Nevertheless, we know that these terms themselves need to be
explained or clearly defined. The structure of the text is also based on
this. What the working class is will be discussed at the beginning
before we look at what is meant by fascism and fascist politics. The
role and necessity of antifascism is then discussed, and the text ends
with the consequences arising from all this.

We - the working class
The working class, that is us. Of course, our jobs, our working
circumstances and processes, the payment of our wage work or our ability
to go on vacation differ... there are many things that differentiate and
separate us, which ensures that we don't understand the reality of life
and the circumstances of everyone around us cannot understand. At first
glance it may seem that way. But what unites and connects us all is: we
are all the working class.

Every day in the morning it means dragging your tired body to work way
too early (or sitting in rooms at the university that are way too
small), doing sometimes more sometimes less boring work processes and
tasks and at the end of the day falling exhausted on the couch at home .
We all know this only too well. The reason for this can be found in the
means of production. We don't have any! We don't own the PCs in the
office, we don't own the office anyway, and the same applies to the
machines, the assembly lines or the trucks. Because that is the case, we
cannot let other people work on these machines etc. for us, we have to
sell our labor. (2) And it is precisely this reality that we share with
so many people, with poor people, homeless people, people who are not...
Christian faith, black, racialized and queer people. Although not
necessarily, they can all, and to a large extent do, constitute the
working class. The working class therefore does not only consist of
white workers in the VW factories who are called Thomas. In order to
face our sorry and sad situation and fight for our rights and for a
better life (for all of us!), we have to do exactly that: fight.

To do this, we, the working class, have to organize ourselves, exchange
ideas and become quick-witted. Because we have never been given better
and less harmful working conditions, fewer working hours per day, higher
wages, etc. (a lot of applause doesn't pay for the rent in the end). It
is clear that this cannot be in the interests of the capitalists - after
all, their companies, factories and companies are in competition with
each other ("eat or be eaten"). Alongside and all too often with
capital, our interests and our class as a whole are always threatened
and attacked by fascists.

Fascism and fascist politics
In the following there will be no complete definition of the term
fascism; this would go beyond the scope of this paper. (3) Rather, the
focus should be on what people, movements or parties can be clearly
identified as fascist (Mussolini, "fasci di combattimento", Hitler /
NSDAP, Höcke/ AfD, Meloni...) actually do or want to do and why and how
this must be prevented in an anti-fascist manner.

Robert Paxton analyzes: "Once in power, fascist regimes banned strikes,
dissolved independent unions, reduced the purchasing power of wage
earners and channeled large financial flows into the defense industry to
the extreme satisfaction of employers."(4) In addition, they "only did
that Property of political opponents, foreigners and Jews[confiscated]."(5)

These are or were attacks on all of us, on our class, and we are united
in that respect. But this unity, which can and must be demonstrated
through lived solidarity and actual effectiveness against capital and
fascism, is and has been constantly tried to be destroyed.  The working
class is being tried to divide through racism, trying to pit "bottom
against bottom". Instead of directing my anger at the boss who pays and
treats me like shit, I should instead direct my anger at migrants or the
unemployed. "Increased competition in the labor market is made possible
by a consistently high number of unemployed people. They are always
willing to work for less money because they depend on these jobs. They
are the so-called industrial reserve army. If this increased supply of
labor does not exist in this form, workers must be imported through
forms of migration."(6) That they are not only exploited equally, but
are generally exploited significantly more than proletarians called
Müller, Meier or Schulze , should be blurred and the real reason for the
competition and precarious and brutal situation should not be
eliminated. Instead of solidarity and a democratic mode of production in
which we, who work day in and day out on the means of production,
determine and decide for ourselves what we need for a good life, elbows
must and should be extended. "European workers and petty bourgeois in
particular can make use of racist ideologies in the face of the
possibility of social declassification, which is omnipresent in class
society, because supposedly the only thing that prevents them from
sinking to the lowest level of the social hierarchy is the maintenance
of the[barrier to racialized people.]" (7)

"Exploitation is the general mode of all class societies."(8)
And nationalism in various forms is also repeatedly used against us by
the ruling class when it comes to our class interests. Sometimes in
foreign policy crises you have to defend yourself against (supposed)
enemies and put your own needs second to those of the nation. This often
results in wars and conflicts, which in turn affect us the most (and
even if these do not occur, stricter laws are usually no longer
withdrawn). It is sometimes said that "Germany as a location" and with
it its economic strength are in danger. The second argument also ignores
the fact that competition, exploitation and impoverishment do not stop
even with a flourishing economy and that at the end of the day we can
hardly lead a good and liberated life from a strong economic location in
Germany. Quite apart from the fact that it is always directed against
our class sisters and brothers in all other parts of the world outside
of Germany. Nationalism as an ideology benefits the ruling class; we
(working class people in Germany) have a minimal stake in the "success"
of such a policy. Above all, such an attempt is made to contain
rebellion against the prevailing conditions and this always happens at
the expense of the people of the working class outside German borders,
with whom German capital is in competition. It should be noted that
these lines of argument are not only put forward by ultranationalists
and fascists; conservative and more "moderate" parties also do this -
which is no less problematic.(9)

Fascists and the extreme right are inseparable from nationalism. The
fact that the well-being of our class or even the abolition of class
society could not be further from their minds will be briefly shown
below (historical and current). "[An]event[in September 2022]in the
Paul-Löbe-Haus entitled "A winter without gas" was about the gas supply,
the energy crisis and its social consequences. Regarding the assessment
of the invited AfD politician Helmut Waniczek that the situation is
becoming dramatic, Federal Executive Board member of the AfD, Harald
Weyel, said: "You have to say: hopefully. If it doesn't get dramatic
enough, then it's business as usual."(10) He had forgotten that his
microphone was still on. It is clear from this and other statements from
AfD politicians, such as that of the former spokesman for the Bundestag
faction Christian Lüth, "The Federal Republic must be doing worse
because the AfD benefits from it" (11) that there is no impoverishment,
especially of the proletarianized is only consciously accepted, but is
actually wanted and associated with the hope of benefiting party
politically. It must also be noted at this point that this also contains
the (not entirely unfounded) hope of the extreme right that crises also
bring with them the potential for people in the working class to join
authoritarian, sometimes fascist currents, movements, parties, etc Turn
to promises and follow them. (12) The reasons can be different: from the
(false) hope of not slipping into conditions that are even more
precarious, to the assumption that one will now be united as a "people"
against "the elites" successfully Being able to take a stand(13) and
benefit from then on, including one's own "upgrading" compared to
racialized or otherwise devalued people who are designated as "enemies".(14)

Even if the AfD is not in a government position in Germany, fascists
have always been in such positions throughout history. A look at their
actions is important and necessary to understand why this has never been
or will never be in the interests of the working class. In his analysis,
Robert Paxton continues: "None of these regimes changed the social
hierarchy."(15) But this is exactly what we have to be concerned with!
The defense of fascism and its attacks on our class on the one hand and
the advent and beginning of the construction of a new, classless society
on the other hand must determine and shape our political practice. Not
only in Italy, the Nazis also smashed the unions after they came to
power. It must be said at this point that trade unions were not or are
not the panacea for all of our concerns. Horkheimer criticizes(16): "The
labor power of a worker is not only bought by the factory and
subordinated to the requirements of technology, but also managed by the
unions."(17) And yet: unions contributed then and now to this The rights
and achievements of the working class can be defended and improvements
in working conditions, pay, etc. can be achieved (which Horkheimer does
not deny). (18) This is also why they quickly became the target of the
fascists; There could not be an organization alongside or contrary to
one's own fascist one, and one that claimed to be by and for workers -
alongside their own.(19)

But it's not just about our structures, neighborhoods and organizations,
but last but not least, it's also about each individual. "In the fascist
value system, respect for individual rights or the demand for a fair
legal system[must]give way to "service to fate" by the "people." (20)
Here too, the connection between racism and fascism emerges: "The truth
was therefore always whatever allowed the new fascist man to dominate
others and whatever allowed the chosen people to triumph over
others.[What should be created and stoked is]the warm feeling of
belonging to a "race" that now becomes fully aware of its identity, its
historical destiny and its power." (21) A demarcation that, as explained
above, does not cover class society , people are not considered equal
and does not touch the property and production relations.

The topicality and danger of all this is currently evident in Italy,
among other places: "The Italian government under Prime Minister Meloni
has passed a budget law for 2023 - and in it has largely abolished
citizens' money (22). In doing so, she is implementing one of her
election promises. (...) In 2023, citizens who are able to work
according to the government's regulations will only be paid citizen's
benefit for eight months. From 2024 onwards, they will no longer receive
any money if they reject a job offer that is "appropriate" according to
the government's definition. Other people who receive the support should
be examined intensively. These include, among others, older people."(23)
So far, 169,000 households have been affected by this abolition of the
previously insufficient support for the poor people of Italy, with more
to come. Well over a million people have received this money so far.
They were informed by SMS.(24) If you look at Hungary, which is ruled by
Viktor Orbán's right-wing Fidesz party, the fight against the
proletariat there is also being waged with severity and brutal measures.
Among other things, a weekly working time of up to 60 hours and only one
day of rest per month was legally legitimized by decree and under the
pretext of the corona pandemic. (25) And in Germany the extreme right is
also trying to further promote social cuts. For example, the right-wing
(sham) union "Zentrum Automobil" is trying to gain a foothold in
companies and intervene. Members of the AfD also organize themselves in
the ZA.

"The Automobile Center represents less the interests of workers and more
the interests of right-wing radical networks, explained extremism expert
Matthias Quent[...]. In 2019, the Automobile Center published a film
online that made two Daimler employees who were fired by the company
because of racism allegations into victims of an intrigue. The Stuttgart
labor court declared the dismissal of the two employees to be
legal."(26) The metal worker Antonio Potenza, who is organized in the
union (IG Metall), takes a stand against the Automobile Center and its
actors and clearly formulates what the task of a union is or that The
interest of the working class must be: "We have to fight the conflict
between labor and capital (in the company)."(27)

The core element of fascists and the extreme right of all stripes is a
reactionary image of women and families, which they also propagate. They
share a radical hostility towards emancipatory and feminist aspirations,
queer people and women's right to self-determination. This outdated and
unscientific image of gender coupled with a rigid understanding of
roles, which should be enforced just as forcefully as the maintenance of
the "classic, bourgeois nuclear family", have several consequences. On
the one hand, at the individual level: FLINTAs (28) are denied their
rights, are discriminated against and attacked, and the constant state
of fear becomes "normal". In addition, the impact on our class must be
examined: more than half of society is disempowered by the reactionary
ideas of fascists and the extreme right. If corresponding parties are in
power and/or fascist movements and protagonists can shape society, the
isolation of FLINTAs is or would be the result, which also harms the
organization of this part of our working class.(29)

Antifascism as a consequence
To get to the point: "Fascism is fundamentally directed against the
possibility of social emancipation."(30) Fascists assume the inequality
of people and "the existence of private property and classes in itself
was never criticized by fascists because they economic inequality is in
principle considered to be natural or ordained by God."(31)

Furthermore, "fascist movements could never have grown without the help
of ordinary people, even conventionally considered "decent." The
fascists could never have come to power without the quiet or even active
consent of the traditional elites - heads of state, party leaders, high
government officials - many of whom abhorred the brutality of the
fascist activists." (32) All of this must be rejected, fought and the
breeding ground for the fascist swamp must be drained.

Because, and this is particularly important to emphasize again at this
point: Fascists don't just engage in social cuts or act in companies
against the interests of our class and try to divide them according to
nationalist, anti-Semitic and racist beliefs: they attack the class,
they attack us physically every day! They do not only act at the
parliamentary and party political level. They insult, beat and kill poor
people, homeless people, leftists, people of non-Christian faith(33),
black, racialized and queer people. All of them and every single person
must be protected from right-wing and fascist attacks! And fundamentally
it should be noted: Fascist violence is always anti-emancipatory and
therefore not in the spirit of our class. Research by non-governmental
organizations and journalists reveals 219 deaths from right-wing
violence in Germany after the end of the GDR; the number of unreported
cases is likely to be much higher. In Osnabrück on September 14, 1994,
Peter Hamel was kicked to death by well-known thugs after he witnessed a
homophobic attack on two young men, rushed to their aid and intervened.
The aim of the three perpetrators that evening was to "clap gays".(34)
The perpetrators were not organized into fixed fascist structures. And
yet this killing took place, which cannot be viewed separately from
their anti-queer attitude and reactionary worldview. This shows even
more that this is exactly where intervention needs to be made. The
brutal reactionary violence that became visible here can be understood
as fascist violence - the perpetrators denied the victims their dignity
and their right to self-determination. They viewed it as incompatible
with their idea of society or (national) community. In the extreme
right-wing ideology, people are "kicked down." This ideology gathers in
the AfD, among others, where it is bundled and formulated. It is
important to intervene not only when fascists, extreme right-wingers and
reactionaries organize themselves, but beforehand! This evening in
Osnabrück shows this, and hundreds of other evenings in Germany and far
beyond show this.

The following consequences emerge from this analysis:
The working class can only protect itself. The bourgeois state does not
protect them against right-wing and fascist movements, we experience
that every day. "Self-protection" means nothing else.

As part of the working class, you cannot be neutral and disinterested in
today's conditions. You have to behave towards them and act in the
self-interest of the class and yourself and this can only be done in an
anti-fascist way! Fascism and its history must be analyzed, fascist
tendencies must be exposed and attacked with the necessary means. It
can't be about seeing anti-fascism as an exciting leisure activity or
being part of a complacent scene. Rather, it is important to organize,
train and, on the basis of theory and the constant comparison of this
with practice in everyday life, at work and elsewhere, to fight for and
bring about the good life for everyone in a classless society in a
democratic and anti-authoritarian way. (35)

Alerta antifascista!
(1) "10 Questions for the Antifa Fight Club" (VICE), at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGQhEa_0NVU; English original sound: "I
would regard antifascism as the defense of working class people and
communities."

(2) The fact that not all people (can) sell their labor or that it is
bought by capitalists will be discussed again in the next chapter.

(3) If you would like to read more about the concept of fascism and the
definition(s), you can read "Robert O. Paxton: Anatomy of Fascism -
Introduction" (2016) and Matthias Wörsching: "The Concept of Fight"
(iz3w, Nov./Dec. 2013 ) recommended. (Both texts are referred to here
and serve as a basis, so to speak.)

(4) Robert O. Paxton: "Anatomy of Fascism - Introduction" (2016), p. 21.

(5) Ibid.

(6) Bafta Sarbo: Racism and social production relations - a
materialistic concept of racism, in: Eleonora Roldán Mendívil, Bafta
Sarbo (ed.) The diversity of exploitation - On the criticism of the
prevailing anti-racism, p. 51.

(7) Ibid. p. 59.

(8) Ibid. p. 43.

(9) Conservative parties are also problematic and do not act in the
interests of our class. For example, in the summer of 2023, CDU leader
Friedrich Merz spoke of the CDU as an "alternative for Germany - with
substance". The book "Radical Conservatism" by Natascha Strobl can be
recommended at this point.

(10) Gareth Joswig: "AfD board hopes for gas crisis", at:
https://taz.de/Vergessen-das-Mikro- ausmachen/!5876687/.

(11) Gareth Joswig: "AfD board hopes for gas crisis", at:
https://taz.de/Vergessen-das-Mikro- ausmachen/!5876687/.

(12) Alex Struwe: "What is authoritarianism?", at:
https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1168096.kritik-der-gesellschaft-was-ist-autoritarismus.html.

(13) Vera King, Ferdinand Sutterlüty: Keyword - Destructiveness and
Regression in Right-Wing Populism, at:
https://www.ifs.uni-frankfurt.de/publikationsdetails/ifs-detreibität-und-regression-im-rechtspopulismus.html.

(14) At this point we should refrain from any crude heroization of the
working class, although the working class should still be understood as
a revolutionary subject.

(15) Robert O. Paxton: "Anatomy of Fascism - Introduction" (2016), p.22.

(16) Less abbreviated quote from Horkheimer: "The labor leaders are the
managers of the labor force, manipulate them, advertise them and try to
set their price as high as possible. At the same time, their own social
and economic power, positions and income, all of which are far superior
to the power, position and income of the individual worker, depend on
the industrial system.

(17) Max Horkheimer, On the Critique of Instrumental Reason (ed. Alfred
Schmidt), p. 141.

(18) At this point we do not assess to what extent this struggle(s) can
still be spoken of as revolutionary struggles.

(19) It has already been pointed out that class society needs to be
considered and analyzed. Our class, the working class, must not allow
itself to be divided based on nationality or racism. Although the German
Labor Front (DAF) existed during National Socialism, it was only founded
as a result of the dismantling of all existing trade unions and promoted
the "national community" instead of the class struggle. Wages were
negotiated in terms of the "national body" and no longer by the working
class and its organizations. Black, Jewish or politically oppositional
female workers were excluded from potential leisure activities that the
DAF's sub-organization, the KdF, promised to appease them. Rather, they
are known to have been persecuted, imprisoned, tortured and murdered.

(20) Robert O. Paxton: "Anatomy of Fascism - Introduction" (2016), p.36.

(21) Ibid., p.31.

(22) It should be pointed out at this point that the term is misleading
and euphemistic. People who received this money only received it if they
could prove their "need". What this means is determined not by the
people themselves, but by the state. The maximum rate was EUR780 before
Meloni and the extreme right-wing government in Italy confiscated this
money. You can read it at:
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/italien-proteste-socialhilfe-100.html.

(23) labournet.de: "The neo-fascist government is taking action against
the unemployed", at:
https://www.labournet.de/internationales/italien/lebenconditions-italien/die-neofaschistische-regierung-geht-gegen-kaufslose-vor
-italy-abolishes-civil-money/.

(24) tagesschau: "A fight against the poor", at:
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/europa/italien-proteste-socialhilfe-100.html.

(25) IG Metall: "Eldorado for the German auto industry - background
information on Hungary", at:
https://www.igmetall.de/download/20220407_No_12_Ungarn_Eldorado_f_r_die_deutsche_Autoindustrie_4e9e3a2ae37f878ad22f80abc1e1a5441d4f0ab3.pdf.

(26) Hans Böckler Foundation, issue 01/2021, at:
https://www.boeckler.de/de/magazin-mitdetermination-2744-rechts-sein-heisst-fur-den-verbrenner-sein-30704.
htm.

(27) Ibid.

(28) FLINTA stands for women, lesbians, intersex, non-binary, trans and
agender people.

(29) see Mariarosa Dalla Costa: "Women and the overthrow of society" (1972).

(30) Matthias Wörsching: "The concept of struggle" (iz3w, Nov./Dec. 2013).

(31) Ibid.

(32) Robert O. Paxton: "Anatomy of Fascism - Introduction" (2016), p. 26.

(33) "Once in power, the fascists confiscated only the property of
political opponents, foreigners and Jews. None of these regimes changed
the social hierarchy." (Robert O. Paxton: "Anatomy of Fascism -
Introduction" (2016), p. 22.).

(34) Memorial against homophobia and for civil courage - in memory of
Peter Hamel, at: http://www.mahnmal-zivilcourage-os.de.

(35) The "How?" can and must be (continued and increasingly) discussed
and discussed in plenary sessions, Antifa cafés or open Antifa meetings
and also elsewhere.

https://likos.noblogs.org/2023/11/12/antifaschismus-als-selbstschutz-der-arbeiterinnenklasse/
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