"Nothing is decided. Everything is to be discussed." -- Pierre Bance
sets the tone with the very first words of his book The GreatFederation, published by Noir et Rouge. "All alienations, all forms of
domination have the same origin: the symbiotic couple formed by the
State and Capital." Too often people are content with this. Yet Pierre
Bance proposes another path. "Political, social, economic, ecological,
cultural, and feminist alternatives are multiplying, overturning the
obvious and bringing the Commune to life in an extraordinary blossoming
of new ideas." He calls to "awaken consciences in order to reconnect
with the roots of socialism from the First International, the Paris
Commune, and to imagine a liberated society of freedom, equality, mutual
aid, and solidarity."
If another world is possible, it must be prepared. The alliance between
State and Capital will not collapse abruptly, and another society will
not emerge from nothing. "The utopian order is prepared long before the
revolution. The intention of this book is to begin laying the
foundations for the institutions and rights of a constellation of
autonomous communes united in a great federation of direct democracy,
self-administered and self-managed."
Opening the debate
Will the reader receive instructions to follow? On the contrary, "far
from any imposed doctrine, it proposes to open the debate." Capital is
easy to define: materially, it relies on money, profit, exploitation. It
is just as easily attacked. The State, however, seems "useful": it would
protect, create the rule of law guaranteeing freedoms, yet in reality it
contains the apparatus of domination over the individuals who make up
society - the famous legitimate violence. Not to mention a
pseudo-democratic legitimacy. It must therefore be analyzed in order to
dismantle it more effectively.
How can direct democracy be built? And how should it be defined?
Pierre Bance structures his response around four well-documented
theorems, each opening up questions so as not to close the debate.
Believing that the State can be non-dominating is like believing that
Capital can be non-exploitative.
Without a movement for direct democracy, the commune, and federalism,
another future is impossible.
Failing to think through the institutions of the society to come, the
communalist revolution is doomed to failure.
Failing to define the rights and freedoms of the society to come, the
communalist revolution is doomed to failure.
A roadmap
The content of the book stands apart from empty indignation and the
romantic or even poetic literature of revolution. "It is, in a way, a
roadmap that aims to contribute to the historical advancement of the
anti-authoritarian socialist project," without dodging complex questions
and following a universal approach. Pierre Bance cites his references:
Proudhon, Kropotkin, Reclus, Simone Weil, Pierre Besnard, and more
recent thinkers such as Murray Bookchin and Abdullah Öcalan.
A jurist by training, Pierre Bance had previously published an in-depth
study, The Fascinating Democracy of Rojava, with Noir et Rouge in 2021;
here he revisits that experience, emphasizing its difficulties. He also
recalls the Paris Commune, the Russian Revolution, libertarian Spain,
and Chiapas. What hypotheses of stateless federalism are possible? The
revolutionary union, open to all, outside of parties, practicing direct
action and direct democracy, with an imperative mandate? Bookchin's
libertarian municipalism, founded on the notion of social ecology? The
federalism of democratic confederalism, with its complex organization
but grounded in the idea of equality?
How to protect
The author does not hesitate to detail the institutions and their
functioning to prevent power from being seized by a minority. Law must
allow the resolution of conflicts based on the concept of contract (cf.
The Anarchist Jurists, Ed. Classiques Garnier, 2024). It is also law
that addresses rights and freedoms. This part of the work is
particularly interesting. How to organize private life? How to ensure
the safety of people? How to administer justice? And above all, how to
guarantee freedom of thought?
Modestly, Pierre Bance calls his book a "draft to be criticized,
amended, extended, in order to finalize it after a pluralistic and
orderly debate. And finally to put it into practice without too much
delay." And this very libertarian invitation in spirit: "Nothing is
decided. Everything is to be discussed."
Pierre Bance
The Great Federation
Direct Democracy and Federal Life
Ed. Noir et Rouge, 2025
We will welcome Pierre Bance to discuss his book on Wednesday, October
8, on the program Au fil des pages on Radio Libertaire from 5 p.m. to
6:30 p.m.
https://monde-libertaire.net/?articlen=8605
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