We echo the anti-militarist initiative that the critical ecosystem of
the book, projects among which is the FAL, are carrying out against war.A space of dissident thought from the bases of the cultural world with a
manifesto that we encourage you to read on its website
(https://www.libroscontralaguerra.org) and we cannot help but subscribe to.
Libertarian thought has always gone hand in hand with anti-militarist
movements. Although in numerous cases attempts have been made to link
anarchy with chaos, disorder and violence, its basis is trust in human
beings and their capacity for organization in the face of injustice.
That is, for example (excuse the obviousness) a union like CNT: a union
- that is the word with which it is translated in the Anglo-Saxon world
- of people who work in different areas to fight against the injustices
of businessmen. Without intermediaries, with direct action and the
legitimacy that reason and solidarity give us.
Therefore, the ideological position underlying a union like ours in the
face of the wars waged by those in power, which are basically always the
same, perpetuated over time, can only be that of critical thinking and
dissent from what is official. Far from a simplistic position, of taking
sides with one faction of power or another, anti-militarism is the fruit
of a profound reflection on human behavior, power and nations.
No one can deny, and in fact no one has deigned to dissemble in this
regard, that armed conflicts, at least since the end of the Second World
War, are a result, and another process, within globalized capitalism. A
mechanism to keep the wheel turning and providing benefits and interests
to the same people as always. And with the excuse of war, we are all
seeing it: a generalized inflation with which the others as always are
harmed. With war, prices rise, but not salaries, although many make
business out of it. Perhaps it would be better to do the opposite: put
down weapons and raise wages, as the international slogan that has been
circulating in different demonstrations called by grassroots unions and
a wide range of movements and social realities against the policies
resulting from the Ukrainian conflict says.
The media of power leave no space for this thought, or for any dissident
form of thought, in the latest conflict that we can call mainstream
(since many other current wars have no place in the news): the unanimous
support for Ukraine makes every dissident assimilated to the enemy,
according to the well-known "with me or against me." There is no space
for reflection, only to make a sensationalization of reality.
And between killing or dying, as Virginia Wolf said, there is always a
third possibility: living. There is always another way, another way of
thinking and doing.
This quote is brought to us by an independent community that revolves
around the world of books: publishers, booksellers, distributors, fairs,
libraries, etc., also dissidents of the large corporations that dominate
this field. Reflection on conflict, applicable to all wars, does have a
place in the quiet space where thought has always developed: in books.
More books, it's war!
The seed was sown in the Critical Ecosystem of the Book, which held a
conference last February in Madrid and from which a working group on the
subject emerged. The result is the union of - for now - almost a hundred
independent projects with one goal, a campaign against war: More books,
it's war!, which began a year after the invasion of Ukraine, in the face
of the escalation of war that was generated since then.
The campaign has begun by developing www.libroscontralaguerra.org1, a
space with reading suggestions, and where they announce their
activities, fulfilling what they point out in their manifesto, which is
not to be missed and we encourage you to read on the web. From the same
site any independent project can join the campaign. An initiative like
this can only be self-managed, and that is never without difficulties:
for this reason, projects are asked for a small initial contribution. It
is also open to individual membership, in which case the contribution is
voluntary. "The more of us there are, the more the costs can be shared,
it is important that laziness does not cause many who would like to join
to pass up."
The participating projects have decided to join forces in the face of
the helplessness produced by the normalisation of the conflict and the
pain of the victims: «We believe that culture must take a stand against
the way in which these events are spread in society, and without a doubt
a large part of the weight of culture continues to be in the publishing
world, so we feel responsible for this» -they declare from Libros contra
la Guerra-. «We were surprised that there had not yet been any powerful
voices denouncing this barbarity, and we wanted to create a platform
from which to raise our voices against this nonsense from a critical
perspective».
Libros contra la guerra
They are in favour of halting the shipment of arms to Ukraine, which
only perpetuates the conflict, and of redirecting Spanish military
spending allocated to the Ukrainian conflict to independent
organisations working there for peace, caring for victims.
They also advocate dialogue as a solution; The path of peace, which in
many wars of the past has been what has ended them, always too late,
when there have already been too many victims: "Why not bet on that
solution as soon as possible? Europe must find a way to mediate between
the parties, with the support of other countries in order to reach a
negotiation and reconcile peace through coexistence between the
populations in conflict. Just as all countries have taken sides in the
war, so it must be with the reconstruction of Ukraine, but without
Western multinationals taking advantage of it for their own interests,"
they explain.
In their manifesto they encourage the actions of people involved by
force who must not be left without protection: "Those who desert are the
true dissidents in the face of violence, the true heroes. And they are
the first who should be welcomed among the refugees fleeing from these
countries." By supporting desertion and conscientious objection in the
countries involved, Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, join the international
war resistance movements #ObjectWarCampaign.
Proposals: more collaboration with organisations and with the university
«One of the pending tasks from this course onwards is precisely to
promote mutual support with anti-militarist organisations. We cannot be
part of an elitist vision of culture that is also transmitted by the
very same economic powers that benefit from the war. There are many
people who have been denouncing this not only since the beginning of
this war, but long before. Our intention is to join them, to add the
voice of culture from the base».
Another of the fundamental pillars of culture is the university. For
this reason, they want to accompany the beginning of the academic year
with the dissemination of the campaign in this area. «As far as our
possibilities allow, but with the confidence that student associations,
etc. will support the proposal. If there is a space where critical
thinking has always been developed, it is in the university, and it is
from there that dissident movements towards the powers that be have
always emerged, even within their own environment», they declare. But
that is why they are concerned that until now there have been hardly any
protests coming from this environment: "perhaps it is because the media
has not given them space, but the truth is that in universities there is
an increasingly aseptic atmosphere. Posters, banners, everything that
was a form of free expression for those who are part of that community
beyond the institutional have disappeared. But there are still those who
organize and propose things, who move that fabric of solidarity, and it
is to them that we are going to appeal."
https://www.cnt.es/noticias/libros-contra-la-guerra/
_________________________________________
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