Crisis - Lecture Revolutionary Antifascism ---- As part of the series of
events for the critical start of the semester in Trier, we held our
well-known lecture on "Revolutionary Perspectives on Antifascism" on
Monday, April 26th. It started at around quarter past six, and the
lecture was over a good hour later. The discussion that followed lasted
for another hour and a half and brought interesting perspectives on the
antifascist movement, especially in the context of the waning wave of
protests against the AfD.
-----------------------------------------------------
The wave is over - a reflection on three months of antifascist protests
After three months of widespread protests against the AfD and the shift
to the right, it is necessary to look at the developments and ask
ourselves: What has happened? What have we achieved? Where can we go
now? To do this, in this text we will first document a short chronicle
of the local protests, describe and analyze the development, reflect on
our participation and formulate perspectives for the further development
of the local antifascist movement.
Overview
On January 10th, correctiv published its research Secret Plan Germany
(1). On January 15th, around 400 people took part in a rally organized
by the parties and left-liberal organizations in front of the Porta
Nigra. On January 21st, over 1000 people spontaneously took part in a
rally against an AfD citizens' dialogue in Kasel. On January 27th, a
rally organized by the parties took place with good participation. On
January 28th, Trier's largest rally against right-wing politics to date
took place with over 10,000 people, this time under the motto "Never
again is now". Afterwards, a smaller group of 300-400 people made their
way through the city center with a spontaneous demonstration. On
February 2nd, over 1000 people again took part in a rally against the
AfD's list of candidates at the Domfreihof. On February 25th, around
4500 people took part in a demonstration by the alliance "Never again is
now!". On March 8th, around 400 people demonstrated under the motto
Fantifa* against the shift to the right and for feminism. On April 7th,
around 2,000 people took part in the large demonstration. The development
As the Trier platform, we were surprised, like many others, by the large
number of people participating in the protests. Of course, all the
bourgeois parties tried to use this to position themselves in an
anti-fascist light, while continuing and implementing right-wing
policies. But we did not let that stop us and tried from the beginning
to bring militant analyses and positions to the local protests and
participated wherever we could. Similar to the Antifaschistische Aktion
Süd, we also see the protests as crisis protests (2), under liberal
auspices and without a clear social thrust. In this context, we must
also see the protests as an expression of dissatisfaction with the
current social developments of impoverishment, war and the dismantling
of social security systems. The milieu that took to the streets is
primarily made up of people who would be negatively affected
economically by the AfD's policies, and who are afraid of further
decline. We have to acknowledge that there is an ambivalence. On the one
hand, the protests arise from an existing awareness of the conditions
and fascistization of society and the state, but at the same time they
are currently more of a reactionary "everything should stay as it is".
We can see this, among other things, in the fact that participation has
declined incredibly quickly, even if we think of comparable protest
movements in recent years such as the more reactionary Querdenker
movement or FridaysForFuture. The insistence on maintaining the status
quo, the leadership of the protests by established forces and their
working mechanisms, in Trier primarily through Bunte Trier, have
prevented an independent movement from developing against the right-wing
normality that begins to take hold in people's everyday lives and
develops forms of struggle beyond the focus on elections. We must
acknowledge that various comrades in the alliance's work prevented worse
things from happening. The fact that no parties were able to appear
publicly at the large protests in Trier, were not even visible, and no
national flags were allowed to be waved, is positive and shows the
support that anti-authoritarian positions currently have in the
left-wing political scene in Trier. The criticism of the current asylum
policy by the traffic light government was also given a lot of space,
but in our opinion was hardly taken up by large parts of those present.
The problem of insisting on a pure rejection of the AfD in terms of
external image has also been shown in various other activities in recent
months. The memorial rally for the victims of the attack in Hanau was
not noticeably larger than in recent years, it was only spontaneously
mobilized for and many of the other participants seem largely
indifferent to the fact that the ruling parties ignore racist policies.
This is clearly evident in the much more independent protest on January
21 in Kasel. This was much more self-organized and emerged from old
networks, which led to a much more exciting mix in which German flags
flew and, above all, the economic and social added value of refugees and
their labor was used as a legitimation against the racist ideology of
the extreme right. A class-struggle and social perspective was also
hardly presented. The weak presence and visibility of trade unionists in
Trier shows both how little anti-fascism is anchored in the DGB, as well
as the relatively weak anchoring of the trade unions in Trier. They were
only visible in isolated cases and were not able to become an
independent force that took on a leading role. In this respect, we must
critically ask ourselves how we can get to a similar point as in
Baden-Württemberg, where anti-fascist activists together with the unions
were able to mobilize thousands under the motto "Break the right-wing
wave". Our activities
Although anti-fascism is not one of our core areas of work, we have been
active on this front for years, both as a local group of the
anarcho-communist federation, the platform, and as individuals and a
federation, and have tried to do what we can spontaneously to spread our
current perspective as far as possible. We believe that overall we were
clearly visible at the protests. With a high banner, flags, flyers, a
drum, a coffee and cake stand and a co-organized block at the last
demonstration, we were clearly visible from afar. Thanks to the many
years of work and the development of the local group and some very
active people, it was possible to have a strong external presence. The
coffee and cake stand in particular gave us positive experiences,
especially during the colder demonstrations. The surprise of the large
number of participants at the end of January, which overloaded the
technology, meant that the stand served as a point of contact for
questions. We clearly underestimated how eager many people were to learn
and the few flyers we had were snatched out of our hands within a very
short time. Both the flyers, which were an abridged and adapted version
of our declaration (4), and in our speeches we tried to emphasise the
need for long-term organisation in everyday life, as well as as
anti-fascists, and to build on the experience of previous anti-fascist
protests. In practice, this has meant that since the second major
demonstration by the "Never again is now!" alliance, we have focused on
setting up and supporting the OAT. The OAT enabled us to present a
combative position to the outside world at the last demonstration, with
a focus on creating structures for long-term anti-fascist work. We will
hopefully see the results of this work in the coming weeks and months.
The previous lack of an independent, open and continuous anti-fascist
organization in Trier has been painfully evident. While we have not yet
been confronted with repression by state institutions, the increased
visibility has led to repressive behavior by civil actors and the press,
who have tried to discredit us and our work. At this point in time, we
can see that this has not worked. Perspective
The growing resignation and decreasing participation numbers are an
unsurprising consequence of movement dynamics and the takeover by
established forces. However, it is important not to resign ourselves
now. Our support continues to go to the OAT, but we will also continue
to work in other areas to broaden an anti-fascist perspective. This
year's Feminist Struggle Day in Trier took place under the motto
Fantifa* to draw attention to the growing right-wing threat. So instead
of focusing all our energy on the anti-fascist struggle as part of the
current protests, we are continuing our other work and trying to
meaningfully link the current events to it (3). Thus, antifascism
remains necessary as a movement for the self-defense of social movements
and the rights they have fought for, but it does not take us over
completely.
The call from the statement "Whether AfD or traffic light government:
only from below can we stop the shift to the right!" still applies:
"The anti-fascist mass movement remains the most effective means in the
fight against the fascists. So let us start building it up today.
Shoulder to shoulder on the streets of our cities and squares of our
villages." (4)
To continue to discuss the state of the anti-fascist movement with us,
we cordially invite you to come to the KSJ on April 29th. As part of the
Critical Semester Start in Trier (Kri.Se), we will be giving a lecture
on perspectives on anti-fascism and want to talk about it together.
Footnotes
(1)
correctiv.org/aktuelles/neue-rechte/2024/01/10/geheimplan-remigration-vertreibung-afd-rechtsextreme-november-treffen
(2) antifa-sued.org/analyse-die-eine-welle-mitnehmen-die-andere-brechen
(3)
trier.dieplattform.org/2024/03/13/antipatriarchaler-kampftag-in-trier-ein-bericht
(4)
www.dieplattform.org/2024/01/26/ob-afd-oder-ampel-regierung-nur-von-unten-koennen-wir-den-rechtsruck-stoppen/#more-2859
Post navigation
https://trier.dieplattform.org/2024/05/02/krise-vortrag-revolutionaerer-antifaschismus/
https://trier.dieplattform.org/2024/05/02/die-welle-ist-zuende-eine-reflexion-von-drei-monaten-antifaschistischer-proteste/
_________________________________________
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
events for the critical start of the semester in Trier, we held our
well-known lecture on "Revolutionary Perspectives on Antifascism" on
Monday, April 26th. It started at around quarter past six, and the
lecture was over a good hour later. The discussion that followed lasted
for another hour and a half and brought interesting perspectives on the
antifascist movement, especially in the context of the waning wave of
protests against the AfD.
-----------------------------------------------------
The wave is over - a reflection on three months of antifascist protests
After three months of widespread protests against the AfD and the shift
to the right, it is necessary to look at the developments and ask
ourselves: What has happened? What have we achieved? Where can we go
now? To do this, in this text we will first document a short chronicle
of the local protests, describe and analyze the development, reflect on
our participation and formulate perspectives for the further development
of the local antifascist movement.
Overview
On January 10th, correctiv published its research Secret Plan Germany
(1). On January 15th, around 400 people took part in a rally organized
by the parties and left-liberal organizations in front of the Porta
Nigra. On January 21st, over 1000 people spontaneously took part in a
rally against an AfD citizens' dialogue in Kasel. On January 27th, a
rally organized by the parties took place with good participation. On
January 28th, Trier's largest rally against right-wing politics to date
took place with over 10,000 people, this time under the motto "Never
again is now". Afterwards, a smaller group of 300-400 people made their
way through the city center with a spontaneous demonstration. On
February 2nd, over 1000 people again took part in a rally against the
AfD's list of candidates at the Domfreihof. On February 25th, around
4500 people took part in a demonstration by the alliance "Never again is
now!". On March 8th, around 400 people demonstrated under the motto
Fantifa* against the shift to the right and for feminism. On April 7th,
around 2,000 people took part in the large demonstration. The development
As the Trier platform, we were surprised, like many others, by the large
number of people participating in the protests. Of course, all the
bourgeois parties tried to use this to position themselves in an
anti-fascist light, while continuing and implementing right-wing
policies. But we did not let that stop us and tried from the beginning
to bring militant analyses and positions to the local protests and
participated wherever we could. Similar to the Antifaschistische Aktion
Süd, we also see the protests as crisis protests (2), under liberal
auspices and without a clear social thrust. In this context, we must
also see the protests as an expression of dissatisfaction with the
current social developments of impoverishment, war and the dismantling
of social security systems. The milieu that took to the streets is
primarily made up of people who would be negatively affected
economically by the AfD's policies, and who are afraid of further
decline. We have to acknowledge that there is an ambivalence. On the one
hand, the protests arise from an existing awareness of the conditions
and fascistization of society and the state, but at the same time they
are currently more of a reactionary "everything should stay as it is".
We can see this, among other things, in the fact that participation has
declined incredibly quickly, even if we think of comparable protest
movements in recent years such as the more reactionary Querdenker
movement or FridaysForFuture. The insistence on maintaining the status
quo, the leadership of the protests by established forces and their
working mechanisms, in Trier primarily through Bunte Trier, have
prevented an independent movement from developing against the right-wing
normality that begins to take hold in people's everyday lives and
develops forms of struggle beyond the focus on elections. We must
acknowledge that various comrades in the alliance's work prevented worse
things from happening. The fact that no parties were able to appear
publicly at the large protests in Trier, were not even visible, and no
national flags were allowed to be waved, is positive and shows the
support that anti-authoritarian positions currently have in the
left-wing political scene in Trier. The criticism of the current asylum
policy by the traffic light government was also given a lot of space,
but in our opinion was hardly taken up by large parts of those present.
The problem of insisting on a pure rejection of the AfD in terms of
external image has also been shown in various other activities in recent
months. The memorial rally for the victims of the attack in Hanau was
not noticeably larger than in recent years, it was only spontaneously
mobilized for and many of the other participants seem largely
indifferent to the fact that the ruling parties ignore racist policies.
This is clearly evident in the much more independent protest on January
21 in Kasel. This was much more self-organized and emerged from old
networks, which led to a much more exciting mix in which German flags
flew and, above all, the economic and social added value of refugees and
their labor was used as a legitimation against the racist ideology of
the extreme right. A class-struggle and social perspective was also
hardly presented. The weak presence and visibility of trade unionists in
Trier shows both how little anti-fascism is anchored in the DGB, as well
as the relatively weak anchoring of the trade unions in Trier. They were
only visible in isolated cases and were not able to become an
independent force that took on a leading role. In this respect, we must
critically ask ourselves how we can get to a similar point as in
Baden-Württemberg, where anti-fascist activists together with the unions
were able to mobilize thousands under the motto "Break the right-wing
wave". Our activities
Although anti-fascism is not one of our core areas of work, we have been
active on this front for years, both as a local group of the
anarcho-communist federation, the platform, and as individuals and a
federation, and have tried to do what we can spontaneously to spread our
current perspective as far as possible. We believe that overall we were
clearly visible at the protests. With a high banner, flags, flyers, a
drum, a coffee and cake stand and a co-organized block at the last
demonstration, we were clearly visible from afar. Thanks to the many
years of work and the development of the local group and some very
active people, it was possible to have a strong external presence. The
coffee and cake stand in particular gave us positive experiences,
especially during the colder demonstrations. The surprise of the large
number of participants at the end of January, which overloaded the
technology, meant that the stand served as a point of contact for
questions. We clearly underestimated how eager many people were to learn
and the few flyers we had were snatched out of our hands within a very
short time. Both the flyers, which were an abridged and adapted version
of our declaration (4), and in our speeches we tried to emphasise the
need for long-term organisation in everyday life, as well as as
anti-fascists, and to build on the experience of previous anti-fascist
protests. In practice, this has meant that since the second major
demonstration by the "Never again is now!" alliance, we have focused on
setting up and supporting the OAT. The OAT enabled us to present a
combative position to the outside world at the last demonstration, with
a focus on creating structures for long-term anti-fascist work. We will
hopefully see the results of this work in the coming weeks and months.
The previous lack of an independent, open and continuous anti-fascist
organization in Trier has been painfully evident. While we have not yet
been confronted with repression by state institutions, the increased
visibility has led to repressive behavior by civil actors and the press,
who have tried to discredit us and our work. At this point in time, we
can see that this has not worked. Perspective
The growing resignation and decreasing participation numbers are an
unsurprising consequence of movement dynamics and the takeover by
established forces. However, it is important not to resign ourselves
now. Our support continues to go to the OAT, but we will also continue
to work in other areas to broaden an anti-fascist perspective. This
year's Feminist Struggle Day in Trier took place under the motto
Fantifa* to draw attention to the growing right-wing threat. So instead
of focusing all our energy on the anti-fascist struggle as part of the
current protests, we are continuing our other work and trying to
meaningfully link the current events to it (3). Thus, antifascism
remains necessary as a movement for the self-defense of social movements
and the rights they have fought for, but it does not take us over
completely.
The call from the statement "Whether AfD or traffic light government:
only from below can we stop the shift to the right!" still applies:
"The anti-fascist mass movement remains the most effective means in the
fight against the fascists. So let us start building it up today.
Shoulder to shoulder on the streets of our cities and squares of our
villages." (4)
To continue to discuss the state of the anti-fascist movement with us,
we cordially invite you to come to the KSJ on April 29th. As part of the
Critical Semester Start in Trier (Kri.Se), we will be giving a lecture
on perspectives on anti-fascism and want to talk about it together.
Footnotes
(1)
correctiv.org/aktuelles/neue-rechte/2024/01/10/geheimplan-remigration-vertreibung-afd-rechtsextreme-november-treffen
(2) antifa-sued.org/analyse-die-eine-welle-mitnehmen-die-andere-brechen
(3)
trier.dieplattform.org/2024/03/13/antipatriarchaler-kampftag-in-trier-ein-bericht
(4)
www.dieplattform.org/2024/01/26/ob-afd-oder-ampel-regierung-nur-von-unten-koennen-wir-den-rechtsruck-stoppen/#more-2859
Post navigation
https://trier.dieplattform.org/2024/05/02/krise-vortrag-revolutionaerer-antifaschismus/
https://trier.dieplattform.org/2024/05/02/die-welle-ist-zuende-eine-reflexion-von-drei-monaten-antifaschistischer-proteste/
_________________________________________
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
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