26 January 2024 marks the first Invasion Day since the 'Voice to
Parliament' referendum. The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group took theposition that the proposed Voice was "a piece of empty symbolism thatwill do nothing to advance the struggles of Aboriginal peoples forself-determination". Despite this, we also recognised that the Nocampaign had been captured by the forces of white supremacist reactionand therefore saw no reason to wish for or celebrate its victory. Weargued that a victory for the Yes campaign "would be the least worstoutcome" that could be expected.In our statement we echoed the language of the Blak Sovereign Movementto express our sympathy with the radical critique of the Voice's limitsand reaffirm our support for Indigenous self- determination. We madeclear, however, that real self-determination - the capacity forIndigenous people to directly controltheir affairs, in all areas of life - could only come through a socialrevolution against the State and capitalism. This clarification isimportant because we find the concept of Sovereignty to be ill-definedand used to convey conflicting meanings - some of which are notconsistent with our principles.Indigenous and national liberation struggles often think about freedomas something that will be won through constitutional reform or thedeclaration of a new independent state. But if the State and capitalismare left in place, a national liberation movement which overthrowscolonialism will leave in place the domination and exploitation of themajor imperialist powers, now ruling through an indigenous ruling class.Decolonisation in Asia, in Africa, and South America has repeatedlyshown this to be the case. The direct racist rule of foreignimperialists is ended, but the workers and peasants of these countriescontinue to live impoverished and unfree lives. Highly repressiveregimes of local capitalists continue to allow the plunder of theircountry by imperialism and profit handsomely in the process.We all continue to watch in horror as Israel carries out its genocidalassault on Gaza. In the streets we all call for a Free Palestine - butfor most, this demand for liberation is tied up with the question ofStatehood.As anarchist communists, we say that freedom means something much morethan life under capitalist governments. In supporting struggles againstapartheid, colonialism, and imperialism, we argue that the working classmust take the lead, with its own methods of struggle. Nationaloppression can only be eliminated by the working class taking power.Gaza, 2024. Credit: AFPAnarchists and SovereigntyHistorically, sovereignty has typically been invoked in the sense of'State sovereignty' - the idea that a government has the right tocontrol the territory and populations within its internationallyrecognised borders. As opponents of government, private property, andborders, anarchists obviously reject this.With the struggle of exploited classes against ruling classes, new ideasabout sovereignty were born. Some arguments contend that only democraticgovernments have sovereignty. Others have redefined the concept, arguingthat it is only 'the people' or 'individuals' who can be 'sovereign',not government.There are versions of 'Indigenous sovereignty' which reflect the variousdefinitions. For some, it means Indigenous representatives holding powerwithin a government and the transfer of private property to indigenouspeople. Others have adopted aspects of the conspiratorial, right-wing'sovereign citizen' movement. In some contexts, 'sovereignty' is used asa means of exposing the hypocrisy and racism of the settler colonialinvaders, who denied its applicability to a continent they declaredterra nullius - 'land belonging to nobody'.But there is also a radical version of 'Indigenous sovereignty', whichrejects both private property and the idea that political power musttake the form of a State. In expressing our support for sovereignty, itis this anti-capitalist version we are talking about.Rather than redefine a term originally intended to justify State power,we prefer to use the terminology of our own anarchist communist tradition.We want a society without landlords, bosses, politicians. We wantworkers to take democratic control of production so we can meet people'sneeds - not so commodities can be bought and sold for the ruling class'sprofit. We want an end to prisons, police, and armies, which exist toprotect the interests of the capitalists and maintain the power of theState. We want to maintain the health of the environment and the landthat sustains us - not a system which requires endless,planet-destroying growth.This kind of social revolution can't be achieved by Indigenous peoplealone, but it is the only way to achieve genuine Indigenousself-determination. Such a movement will require the Australian workingclass building on the kind of solidarity we have seen at the giganticInvasion Day rallies of recent years.That solidarity must be extended into our workplaces and the unionmovement. When the power of the organised working class can be linkedwith the courage and determination of the movement for Blak Sovereignty,we will have a force capable of hitting the ruling class where it hurtsmost: their profits.Anarchists and Struggles Against National OppressionNations are historically fluid groupings, with no fixed genetic basis orinherent qualities. Today, they are constructed, both by ruling groupswhich want to consolidate their power and through collective experiencesof exclusion and oppression. The division of humanity into nations isuseful to capitalism because it creates the illusion of a common'national interest', which is supposedly shared by both the poorestworker and the most powerful of the ruling class within a nationalgroup. This is the politics of nationalism, and anarchists reject it inevery instance. Instead of 'national solidarity', we argue that thedispossessed and oppressed of the world should build class solidarity.Class solidarity must extend across all borders and be directed againstthe ruling classes of every nation. This is the only force which canabolish national oppression and the imperialism that creates it, whetherthrough direct rule or local agents.Though nations are sometimes invented, and their borders often are, theconflict and hatreds produced by national division can lead to realoppression. When people are denied their most basic rights; when theyare driven from their homes; when they are subjected to daily crueltiesand humiliation; routinely threatened, harmed, even massacred - theywill naturally struggle against this national oppression. Asinternationalists, and enemies of all forms of domination, anarchistssupport these struggles.This is the sense in which we support national liberation. Anarchistssupport the Palestinian struggle against a regime of racial dominationand military rule, but we warn that a new capitalist state would notconstitute national liberation. A state beside Israel would be a set ofpowerless bantustans, where Fatah or Hamas rule on behalf of theimperialist powers and Zionists. It would enrich only a tiny elite. ThePalestinian masses would continue to live in destitution and would stillsuffer daily humiliation, though at least the police enforcing it wouldspeak Arabic rather than Hebrew.The end of apartheid in South Africa was a victory that anarchistscelebrated - not because it gave Nelson Mandela's African NationalCongress (ANC) power in a capitalist State, but because this was onlypossible in a context where the violent maintenance of white supremacistgovernment had been broken, and the Black majority granted basic civilrights.Anarchists have always criticised the limits of national liberationstruggles which don't confront capitalism. The ANC needed the power ofthe working class for apartheid to be smashed: strikes, civildisobedience, and riots - supported by international boycotts and unionsrefusing to handle South African goods - were essential to making whitesupremacist rule untenable. But in government, the ANC has maintainedmuch of the economic disparity of the apartheid era, and the governmentcontinues to violently suppress working class struggles. An Indigenousruling class would be no different.Struggles against national oppression, and for indigenous freedom,should be self-organised on class-lines, using class- struggle methods.All efforts to consolidate power among a privileged leadership must beopposed, and the struggle against national oppression transformed into astruggle for social revolution. Without overthrowing capitalism and theState, national liberation replaces one set of exploiters for another.Through social revolution, the roots of settler colonialism andimperialist war are destroyed for good, and a real universal freedommade possible.REAL SOVEREIGNTY MEANS SOCIAL REVOLUTION!Melbourne Anarchist Communist Grouphttps://melbacg.au/from-australia-to-israel-smash-settler-colonialism/_________________________________________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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