WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, Monde Libertaire - Come on, guys, let's sabotage hard! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 When the list of weapons available to workers in their fight against

their bosses and, more broadly, capitalism, comes up, the strike is
mentioned. And that's about it. A sad arsenal, summed up as an approach
that is certainly necessary, liberating, and powerful, but also costly
and dangerous, because it inevitably carries the risk of weakening the
determination of workers, who, on an empty stomach, cannot compete in
financial endurance with their bosses' sweatshops. And yet! There are
other levers. Levers that were theorized almost simultaneously, always
by the same people, the anarchists. Émile Pouget, in this case. Pouget,
Le Père Peinard, the CGT activist who participated in the drafting of
the Amiens Charter. Pouget spoke of boycotts (also mentioned in the
book), but also, and above all, of sabotage. Sabotage has a sad
reputation. It was quickly consigned to the drawer of obsolete practices
when, subsequently, the factories were occupied in 1936. It was now
necessary to seize the means of production, not destroy them. And
sabotage was forgotten, relegated to the glorious memories of FTP
operations and other daring actions by Resistance fighters against the
Nazi occupiers.

But this criticism from a section of the left was based on only a
partial definition of sabotage. Sabotage is not only destruction; it
does not consist solely of the permanent neutralization of work
tools-far from it. It is also, and above all, a means of influencing the
balance of power that is the class struggle. In this thematic collection
of texts, Émile Pouget returns in particular to its origins and the "go
canny" of the Scottish proles, those workers who urged their overly
rushed colleagues to take their time and do the job, but quietly,
slowly, or even badly. "Bad pay means bad work!" was their motto. And
they were right. Pouget explains it: when you buy a piece of meat for
five cents, you get five cents for it. If you pay ten cents, you'll get
a piece of better or more, but inferior, barbecue. If you pay only two
cents, you'll get a stale, sinewy loin.

"Everything is commerce!... That is to say, deception."

Why shouldn't the worker caught in this ruthless system manage his labor
force in the same way? Would he have to exhaust himself for a pittance?
No. Well paid, he works as best he can. Underpaid, he's slower or
clumsier. He shortens his shovel, makes a few calculated blunders, only
to end up producing a product of lower quality. And as a result, this
direct but discreet action guarantees him a certain anonymity and
protects him from reprisals. And if the boss decides to cut his pay
again, he'll quickly realize that what he gains at the expense of the
worker, he'll lose tenfold in sales volume... That's also what sabotage
is all about. A means of struggle that Pouget and those who would later
be referred to by the supposedly demeaning, but later adopted, nickname
of "anarcho-syndicalists" managed to incorporate into the motions of the
young CGT. And this highly flexible (huhu) method was as effective in
fighting a wage cut in a factory as it was in extending it to broader
dimensions, once coordinated, with a revolutionary goal. Sabotage was
also intended to combat mobilization and attempt to prevent the outbreak
of wars, in a context of widespread patriotic thirst.

The book offers the opportunity to (re)discover the indescribable wit of
Pouget/Peinard, to dwell on other texts he wrote, notably in La Guerre
sociale, but also articles by Sébastien Faure or a superb publication by
Henriette Valet, from 1933, on her experience among the "telephone
ladies." It also includes some very practical articles on how to cut
telegraph wires or damage a locomotive, immersing us for a moment in the
struggles of the companions of yesteryear. And what's truly Ruspinskoff
is the final glossary, which details a slew of flowery terms from the
good guys and shapely women that Père Peinard reels off in his smarmy
reflections. Victor Cachard,
Émile Pouget and the Revolution through Sabotage
Éditions Libre, 2022, 244 p., EUR16

https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8359
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