What is resistance? Explaining this concept can be complex and could
lead to long conversations and interesting disagreements. It is a
concept that does not only belong to the political sphere, but also to
chemistry, psychology, medicine, physics, engineering and even ecology.
The Italian dictionary describes resistance as "action that strives to
resist someone or something, that tries to counter them. Synonym:
opposition" (Italian Diz. Sabatini Coletti). The Cambridge English
dictionary definition instead speaks of "the act of fighting against
something that is attacking you, or the act of refusing to accept
something".
I believe that resistance, the socio-political one, is the conscious act
of a person and a community of knowing how to first recognize oppression
on themselves and to give themselves the right to protect themselves
with various acts of opposition, often creative and non-violent.
Resisting means giving yourself the right to say NO to further abuse, an
individual NO which then becomes collective, empathetic and often even
organised. Becoming aware of oneself and of the oppressions that
surround us is what I believe constitutes the essence of resistance, it
is the first act that the psychologist Martin Baró in his work
Liberation Psychology considered central in the process of individual
and social liberation when analyzed the historical and political
oppression of Salvadoran campesinos in the 1970s under a dictatorial and
corrupt government.
Camus in his book "The Man in Revolt" explains to us:
«What is a man in revolt? A man who says no. But if he refuses, he still
doesn't give up: he is also a man who says yes, right from his first
move. A slave who has received orders all his life suddenly finds a new
command unacceptable."
But while the revolt is often armed, the resistance is not necessarily.
In fact, I believe that most resistance movements are first and foremost
nonviolent and above all creative. The example of Radio Out by Peppino
Impastato and his companions is creative resistance to the Mafia.
Capoeira dance is the creative resistance of South American slaves
against Portuguese colonization. The education processes in clandestine
schools in Afghanistan created by the women of the Revolutionary
Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is resistance.
From a socio-psychological point of view, allowing oneself to be able
to resist a form of oppression is an internal movement, a voice from
deep within, a bodily feeling of passion, an individual, personal and
then also social need that moves a lot along empathic paths and feelings
of equality and justice. Resisting is a complex attitude mixed between
hope, desperation, pain and passion also driven by an awareness. And as
it becomes more articulated in its forms it combines with feelings of
sisterhood and brotherhood, of empathy, until it becomes a social
resistance.
The right of resistance is a fundamental natural right of individuals,
according to which they can oppose the activity of the State or the
prescriptions of positive law that threaten fundamental human rights.
This right has a very long history, John Locke in his work which
constitutes a classic of democratic and liberal thought, "Two Treatises
on Government" (1790), justifies resistance to a government which, by
violating the natural rights of man, violates the pact social on which
the subjects' duty of obedience is based.
The right of resistance is present in international law and in the
constitution of around 42 states, many of which are emblematic in that
this right was included in their constitutions following events of
dictatorships, Nazism (Germany) and genocides (Rwanda), it is also
present in the United States Constitution from 1776 and in the early
French constitutions. It was not introduced, however, into the Italian
constitution, although in Italy it was discussed for a long time until
it was eliminated on 5 December 1947. One of the first drafts of the
Constitution subjected to analysis by the Constituent Assembly, in
article 50 (which then would become the current article 54) reported, in
the 2nd paragraph[10]:
«When public powers violate fundamental freedoms and rights guaranteed
by the Constitution, resistance to oppression is the citizen's right and
duty». This formulation is similar to that of the French revolutionary
Constitution of 1793, but replacing the word "insurrection" with
"resistance".
However, the art. 2 of our constitution protects the "inviolable rights"
of man also in relation to acts carried out by the State, sanctioning
their unconstitutionality and illegitimacy.
In this historical moment, sparking discussions on multiple fronts on
the right of resistance, both strictly legal/constitutional and social
and psychological, could be of profound value for the anarchist cause,
which is also the cause of the freedom of individuals and of
communities. This right is of great relevance for anarchists and has a
privileged place in their actions because it refers to the particular
relationship of anarchists with obedience to authorities and their
legitimacy. Anarchists are not against any authority but have a
skeptical attitude towards them and resist them from the beginning,
returning to the authorities the burden of proof of justifying their
action towards others.
The point is that often over time we also forget that we have this
right, the right to say NO to all oppression, which often coincides with
the right and duty to say YES to ourselves, to our nature and to our
human needs. . It is thought that resistance is made up of heroic acts
of armed revolt against a clear enemy but in reality it is made up above
all of small daily gestures, of a constant attitude of defense of one's
own and other people's rights. I believe that only a widespread culture
of resistance, from schools to families, from workplaces to squares, can
secure people's inalienable rights and make them increasingly active in
their defense of their acquired rights and freedoms, now increasingly
risk or for emergency reasons, or for economic reasons, or for other
misfortunes, even invented, by the public authorities on duty.
What is happening in Palestine has undoubtedly awakened the souls of
millions of people, a sign that the feeling of resistance and its right
to oppression always dwells in the human soul, although poisoned daily
by the capitalist morality of individualism, accumulation and abuse. The
squares and streets have been flooded in these four months by
populations from all over the world who, although they shout Free
Palestine and Stop the genocide... in the air they also make the beating
of what is hidden in their hearts heard... the silent cry of "all free!!!"
Gabriele Cammarata
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
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
lead to long conversations and interesting disagreements. It is a
concept that does not only belong to the political sphere, but also to
chemistry, psychology, medicine, physics, engineering and even ecology.
The Italian dictionary describes resistance as "action that strives to
resist someone or something, that tries to counter them. Synonym:
opposition" (Italian Diz. Sabatini Coletti). The Cambridge English
dictionary definition instead speaks of "the act of fighting against
something that is attacking you, or the act of refusing to accept
something".
I believe that resistance, the socio-political one, is the conscious act
of a person and a community of knowing how to first recognize oppression
on themselves and to give themselves the right to protect themselves
with various acts of opposition, often creative and non-violent.
Resisting means giving yourself the right to say NO to further abuse, an
individual NO which then becomes collective, empathetic and often even
organised. Becoming aware of oneself and of the oppressions that
surround us is what I believe constitutes the essence of resistance, it
is the first act that the psychologist Martin Baró in his work
Liberation Psychology considered central in the process of individual
and social liberation when analyzed the historical and political
oppression of Salvadoran campesinos in the 1970s under a dictatorial and
corrupt government.
Camus in his book "The Man in Revolt" explains to us:
«What is a man in revolt? A man who says no. But if he refuses, he still
doesn't give up: he is also a man who says yes, right from his first
move. A slave who has received orders all his life suddenly finds a new
command unacceptable."
But while the revolt is often armed, the resistance is not necessarily.
In fact, I believe that most resistance movements are first and foremost
nonviolent and above all creative. The example of Radio Out by Peppino
Impastato and his companions is creative resistance to the Mafia.
Capoeira dance is the creative resistance of South American slaves
against Portuguese colonization. The education processes in clandestine
schools in Afghanistan created by the women of the Revolutionary
Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) is resistance.
From a socio-psychological point of view, allowing oneself to be able
to resist a form of oppression is an internal movement, a voice from
deep within, a bodily feeling of passion, an individual, personal and
then also social need that moves a lot along empathic paths and feelings
of equality and justice. Resisting is a complex attitude mixed between
hope, desperation, pain and passion also driven by an awareness. And as
it becomes more articulated in its forms it combines with feelings of
sisterhood and brotherhood, of empathy, until it becomes a social
resistance.
The right of resistance is a fundamental natural right of individuals,
according to which they can oppose the activity of the State or the
prescriptions of positive law that threaten fundamental human rights.
This right has a very long history, John Locke in his work which
constitutes a classic of democratic and liberal thought, "Two Treatises
on Government" (1790), justifies resistance to a government which, by
violating the natural rights of man, violates the pact social on which
the subjects' duty of obedience is based.
The right of resistance is present in international law and in the
constitution of around 42 states, many of which are emblematic in that
this right was included in their constitutions following events of
dictatorships, Nazism (Germany) and genocides (Rwanda), it is also
present in the United States Constitution from 1776 and in the early
French constitutions. It was not introduced, however, into the Italian
constitution, although in Italy it was discussed for a long time until
it was eliminated on 5 December 1947. One of the first drafts of the
Constitution subjected to analysis by the Constituent Assembly, in
article 50 (which then would become the current article 54) reported, in
the 2nd paragraph[10]:
«When public powers violate fundamental freedoms and rights guaranteed
by the Constitution, resistance to oppression is the citizen's right and
duty». This formulation is similar to that of the French revolutionary
Constitution of 1793, but replacing the word "insurrection" with
"resistance".
However, the art. 2 of our constitution protects the "inviolable rights"
of man also in relation to acts carried out by the State, sanctioning
their unconstitutionality and illegitimacy.
In this historical moment, sparking discussions on multiple fronts on
the right of resistance, both strictly legal/constitutional and social
and psychological, could be of profound value for the anarchist cause,
which is also the cause of the freedom of individuals and of
communities. This right is of great relevance for anarchists and has a
privileged place in their actions because it refers to the particular
relationship of anarchists with obedience to authorities and their
legitimacy. Anarchists are not against any authority but have a
skeptical attitude towards them and resist them from the beginning,
returning to the authorities the burden of proof of justifying their
action towards others.
The point is that often over time we also forget that we have this
right, the right to say NO to all oppression, which often coincides with
the right and duty to say YES to ourselves, to our nature and to our
human needs. . It is thought that resistance is made up of heroic acts
of armed revolt against a clear enemy but in reality it is made up above
all of small daily gestures, of a constant attitude of defense of one's
own and other people's rights. I believe that only a widespread culture
of resistance, from schools to families, from workplaces to squares, can
secure people's inalienable rights and make them increasingly active in
their defense of their acquired rights and freedoms, now increasingly
risk or for emergency reasons, or for economic reasons, or for other
misfortunes, even invented, by the public authorities on duty.
What is happening in Palestine has undoubtedly awakened the souls of
millions of people, a sign that the feeling of resistance and its right
to oppression always dwells in the human soul, although poisoned daily
by the capitalist morality of individualism, accumulation and abuse. The
squares and streets have been flooded in these four months by
populations from all over the world who, although they shout Free
Palestine and Stop the genocide... in the air they also make the beating
of what is hidden in their hearts heard... the silent cry of "all free!!!"
Gabriele Cammarata
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
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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