Today's Topics:
1. avtonom: Proposal of the minimum program for the period of
the uprising in Belarus [machine translation]
the uprising in Belarus [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Greece, APO: Anti-state-anti-fascist-anti-repression
demonstration of Memory and Resistance
demonstration of Memory and Resistance
[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Juventud Estudiantil de Base: In the context of the
deepening of the health-social-economic crisis, (ca) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
deepening of the health-social-economic crisis, (ca) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Poland, rozbrat: FREEDOM FIGHTERS # 12 - REPORT
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. surrey anarchist communist group: Putting the Record
Straight on Mikhail Bakunin (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
The anarchists of Belarus ("Pramen" group) came up with a minimum program for the uprising in the country. ---- During the years of Soviet
and Lukashenko's propaganda, many might think that anarchists in Belarus are barricades and clashes with riot police. But anarchism is much
more than that. Somewhere behind the scenes of street fighting pictures, there is the idea that people can live with dignity and equal
without the dictator and the Bolsheviks. ---- Anarchists in Belarus noted even before the start of the protests that getting rid of
Lukashenka just like that was just the first step in the struggle for people's freedom. The regime was not built in one day and its
destruction will require the will of the people. All bureaucrats and officials who supported this regime will have to leave. And their posts
and posts must be dismantled in such a way that no one can recreate the dictatorship.
We understand that today's revolution, despite its self-organization and enormous collective energy, is still not anti-authoritarian. And we
do not see it as a relevant and appropriate decision to declare an anarchist program. But even in such conditions, we consider it necessary
to formulate a minimum program, which is necessary to avoid the formation of another authoritarian regime. We have been ruled by strong
rulers for over a hundred years. It's time to show that people can do better!
We repeat - the anarchist program is much more radical than the one presented below, but we tried to make realistic demands, taking into
account the context of the uprising, and set the vector of self-organization and grassroots self-government for political and social
transformations.
Decentralization of power
Organization of real regional self-government instead of today's sham.
Accountability of delegates / deputies to the bottom, not the top.
Retention of an imperative mandate for delegates / deputies. This means that at any time the elected deputy / delegate can be recalled by
the collective that elected him, if, in the opinion of the collective, he does not perform the work assigned to him.
Decentralization and federalization of power structures. Transfer of greater responsibility to regional elected assemblies.
People in administrative roles in enterprises, education and medicine, and other government agencies are selected by the employees of these
institutions.
Drastic reduction of employees of administrations and state control bodies of all levels, as well as of courts.
The president
To resolve all violations during the rule of Lukashenko, a tribunal is created.
Money from personal accounts and Lukashenka's property are transferred to local budgets.
The office of the president is being liquidated
Referendum
The power in the country is the people, therefore all decisions on changing legislation, international treaties and other important
decisions must be submitted to a general referendum.
The referendum is held 4 times a year.
Any citizen has the right to raise the issue of changing the law in a referendum when collecting 100,000 signatures.
Decriminalization
Reinstatement of all workers and students dismissed during the protests.
Release and rehabilitation of all those detained and arrested during the protests.
Release of all political prisoners.
Exclusion of political articles from the administrative and criminal codes.
Ban on censorship on the Internet and in the media.
Abolition of the death penalty.
Complete abolition of all repressive laws: the law on mass events and the law on countering extremism.
Freedom of speech, press, assembly, enshrined at the legislative level.
Militia
Tribunals over all security officials responsible for repression, violence and murder.
Dissolution of OMON, GUBOPiK and internal troops.
Transfer of police control to local authorities. Election of the heads of regional police departments.
Reducing the state budget for the police.
Trucks and water cannons for scrap - these cars should never appear on the streets of our cities!
A ban on the formation of trade unions within the security forces.
Military establishment
Cancellation of general conscription.
Removal of all officers responsible for the introduction of troops into the country's cities.
Reducing the military budget.
Medicine
Increasing the health budget.
Raising the salaries of medical personnel.
Transfer of a parallel medical system for officials and security officials into the general health care system - hospitals and clinics
should serve people, not government posts!
Dismissing every executive responsible for falsifying data on coronavirus.
Education
Increasing the education budget.
Cancellation of compulsory work for state employees.
Autonomy of universities - police and other security forces are prohibited from entering the territory of educational institutions.
Free education for everyone.
Reinstatement of all professors and teachers dismissed during the protests.
Freedom of Association - Everyone has the right to join student trade unions and participate in the student council.
Dissolution of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union.
Courts
Dismissal of judges responsible for political repression.
Judges are elected, not appointed, for a term of 4 years.
A jury trial may be used at the request of the accused.
Work
The right to independent trade unions. The union does not need to request registration.
The right to strike - workers have the right to strike when they see fit and to make political, economic and social demands.
Factories for workers! Administrative posts are elective and are appointed from below, not from above, for a limited period. The
administration is responsible to the work collective.
A ban on the privatization of large enterprises.
Reduction of workers only with the consent of the workers' collectives.
Cancellation of the contract system and replacement by collective agreements.
Dissolution of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus ..
Cancellation of decree No. 3 .
Financial and social support for the unemployed. The level of unemployment benefits must not be lower than the minimum wage.
Cancellation of the pension reform.
Cooperative movement support program.
Modernization of unprofitable enterprises. If it is necessary to reduce the number of workers, state structures should ensure the
possibility of retraining for relevant specialties.
Economy
Progressive income tax - the rich must pay more to the poor to finance the state budget.
Actively attracting investments in the IT sector.
Simplification of migration rules to attract specialists from other countries.
Attaching the salary of managers to the minimum. Officials' salaries should not exceed 3 times the minimum wage in the country.
A digital system for production and consumption planning to minimize surplus and avoid shortages.
Equalization of wages in state-owned enterprises between the capital and the regions.
Return of the external public debt at the expense of Lukashenka and his family, as well as from the Presidential Fund.
The property of those convicted by the tribunal is confiscated and sold, the funds are channeled in favor of the victims and their families.
Termination of the regime of tax breaks for the Belarusian Orthodox Church.
Transparency of power
Any government initiative is published online to inform citizens.
When requested, any citizen should have access to the official correspondence of elected delegates and officials.
Opening of the KGB archives.
Access to government documents upon request.
No secret state expenditures.
https://avtonom.org/news/predlozhenie-programmy-minimum-na-vremya-vosstaniya-v-belarusi
------------------------------
Message: 2
We do not forget the murder of Pavlos Fyssas on September 18, 2013 in Keratsini. ---- We do not forget the murders of S. Lukman, Al.
Grigoropoulos, by Zak Costopoulos, by P. Ziffle. ---- We do not forget the hundreds of murderous attacks on refugees and migrants. Not even
the dozens of brazen attacks on squatters, on self-governing areas and on anarchist, leftist and anti-fascist militants. ---- Calls for
Anti-state-anti-fascist-anti-repression Demonstration of Resistance and Memory 7 years since the murder of anti-fascist P. Fyssas on Friday
18 September ---- Athens: P.Fyssa 60, Keratsini, 17.00 ---- Thessaloniki: Kamara, 18.30, pre-assembly 18:00 during the occupation of Mundo
Nuevo ---- Patra: Branch, 19.00 ---- Announcement and calls for the completion of 7 years since the murder of Pavlos Fyssas
Anti-State-Anti-Fascist-Anti-Suppression Rally on Wednesday, October 7, the day of the announcement of the decision of the ATHEX trial at
the Athens Court of Appeals, at 10.00
Anarchist Political Organization - Federation of Collectivities
https://maurokokkino1936.wordpress.com/2020/09/18/2661/
------------------------------
Message: 3
....the Argentine State advances in a new attack against those who fight. ---- Taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic and the quarantine,
the Federal Judicial Power ratified the prosecution of 27 students from the National University of Córdoba, in an attempt to bring to trial
and convict them for fighting against the macrista emptying by means of or the occupation of the Argentine Pavilion (administrative center
of the UNC) two years ago. ---- The 2018 student movement struggle in Argentina was one of the most critical in recent years, due to its
magnitude and the radical nature of its methods.
Mobilizations, mass assemblies and more than 50 occupations of institutions throughout the country was the response of the combative student
movement against the emptying of public education by the macrista government.
In an attempt to discipline and instruct the student movement, progress was made in the trial of teachers and students of the UNRN (Río
Negro), and today the prosecution of 27 comrades of the UNC is ratified. The persecution that began with the Macri government today
continues with the "progressive" government of Alberto Fernández in the hands of Judge Miguel Hugo Vaca Narvaja, alleged "defenders of human
rights", in an attempt to set a nefarious precedent that criminalizes those of us who resist the outpost of those above.
It is a new case among the infinity of attacks by States throughout the continent against whom every day we organize from below and fight
against adjustment, misery and the repression of governments, businessmen, landowners.
From the student organizations, territorial organizations, and fellow Latin American unions that make up ELAOPA, we are firmly convinced
that the way to face the misery that capitalism has to offer is in our own hands, in the construction of a strong people and the
organization of our oppressed class.
The only way out against the criminalization of those who fight is the mobilization in the streets, the direct action of the people and the
solidarity among the oppressed from all over the continent!
?UNC STUDENTS ALREADY DISPRODUCED!
?ENOUGH CHASING THE FIGHTING!
?SOLIDARITY BETWEEN COMPANION ORGANIZATIONS ON THE CONTINENT TO RESIST ATTACKS FROM THOSE ABOVE!
??Up with those who fight!!??
? Barricada - Trend in education (Córdoba, Argentina)
? Base Student Youth (Rosario, Argentina)
? Social Center Cabin 9 (Rosario, Argentina)
? Melena Cantero Mercantile Group in FAECyS (Rosario, Argentina)
? Máximo Suarez Hotel Gastronomic Group in UTHGRA (Rosario, Argentina)
? Luisa Lallana State Association in ATE (Rosario, Argentina)
? Raúl Olivera Chemical Association (Rosario, Argentina)
? Julia García Teaching Association in AMSAFE (CTERA) (Rosario, Argentina)
? Free Vía Grupo Libertario ( Bogotá, Colombia)
? Student Libertarian Action (Bogotá, Colombia)
? Occupation Vila Resistência (Santa Marta, Brazil)
? Elena Quinteros Community School (Santa Marta, Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Porto Alegre (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Araraquara (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Fronteira Sul (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Floripa (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Paraná (Brazil)
? Autonomy and Struggle (Mato Grosso, Brazil)
? Women Resist - MT (Mato Grosso, Brazil)
? Movimiento Solidario Vida Digna (Santiago, Chile)
? Resistencia y Libertad (Santiago , Chile)
? Resistencia y Solidaridad ROE (Montevideo, Uruguay)
facebook.com/104708984258346/photos/a.105086307553947/385382609524314
------------------------------
Message: 4
On 12-13.09 the twelfth edition of the Freedom Fighters league took place, along with a muay thai training seminar. ---- The event was
originally supposed to take place in June, but the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to carry it out - however, we did not want to
give up and moved the league to the September date, linking the event with the XXVI anniversary of the Rozbrat squat. ---- Ultimately, 10
fights were organized, although no one was 100% sure if the event would even take place - especially due to its international character.
---- Fortunately, we got our way, there were 6 fights in the K-1 formula, 2 in lowkick and one in muay thai, boxing and MMA in the ring. The
fights, as usual, were varied in terms of level, both rookies and more advanced ones took part - which resulted in fights in which the
competitors decided to fight without helmets, and in one case even without shin pads, thanks to which the audience was numerous gathered
around the ring could enjoy a professional spectacle. There were more duels than in the previous year, in which the fight ended prematurely
- fortunately, more serious injuries ended up with one broken nose.
The next day there was a muay thai seminar with Marta Gusztab, who replaced Peter Irving who was unable to reach us this year due to
restrictions. Marta focused on several aspects that apply not only to the national sport of Thailand, including on shortening and extending
the distance, building a combat overview or changing the pace and areas of attack.
To sum up, despite many adversities this year, the league was successfully held annually. As usual, apart from many guests from the country,
we were visited by friends of from Germany and the Czech Republic. We would like to thank them, thank the judges, people responsible for
medical assistance, for the photo ( Piataesencja ) and video coverage ( Radoslaw Sto ) - effects soon, and to Marta Gusztab for the seminar.
See you in June!
On 12-13.09 12th edition of Freedom Fighters league and muay thai seminar took place. It was to be held in June, but coronavirus pandemic
forced us to postopne it, and as result it was part of Rozbrat squat XXVI birthday. 10 bouts were organized despite noone was 100% sure if
all the event will happen to the last days. Hopefully we've made it. There were 6 K-1 match-ups, 2 lowkick, muay thai, boxing and MMA fight.
There were both beginners and advanced, some of them decided not to wear headgear and in one bout, not to wear even shinpads, so the
spectators could enjoy pro-show. More fights than last year ended up before the time - luckily there was only one serious injury - broken nose.
Next day a muay thai seminar with Marta Gusztab took place. She replaced Peter Irving that couldn't make it this year because of the
pandemic restrictions. Marta focused of few aspects that could be utilized not only in muay thai - different distances, sharpening defense,
working with different pace and seeking various attack areas.
To sum up, despite this year's obstacles, we managed to have the league. As usual, except guest from all over Poland, we had international
friends here - from Germany and Czech rep. among others. Thank you, thanks judges and referee, medical help, our photographer (Piataesencja)
and video maker (Radoslaw Sto) - both works soon and thank you Marta Gusztab. See you in June!
Poland, rozbrat:
https://www.rozbrat.org/informacje/poznan/4729-freedom-fighters-12-relacja
------------------------------
Message: 5
ACG introduction ---- Unlike in the Marxist movement, where the interpretation of the writings of Marx has often taken on the
characteristics of the interpretation of Biblical scripture, the anarchist movement hasn't tended to get into prolonged argument concerning
what did Bakunin really mean? What is authentic Bakuninism? ---- Anarchists have tended to follow the dictum of Errico Malatesta that "We
follow ideas and not men, and rebel against this habit of embodying a principle in a man." ---- However, lack of clarity and fuzzy thinking
amongst anarchists is far from unknown and a rigorous engagement with the ideas of what are considered the intellectual founders of
anarchism is often missing in anarchist circles.
The short article Putting the Record Straight on Bakunin, published in the early 1970s by the Alliance Syndicaliste Revolutionnaire et
Anarcho-syndicaliste in France, attempts to interpret Bakunin's "true theory of revolutionary action" for the purpose of rectifying what it
considers the shortcomings of contemporary anarchist movements. The authors claim that the libertarian movement, in both its
anarcho-syndicalist and anti-organisational forms, has "completely rejected" the "scientific and sociological nature of Bakuninist analysis
of social relations and political action" leading it to apoliticism and spontaneism, amongst other errors.
This position, or one very similar, is today held by the anarcho-communist especificists (1) in Latin America and elsewhere amongst some of
the Platformist (2) groups. The idea is that, following the death of Bakunin, the Kropotkin and Malatesta 'schools' of anarchism took the
movement in a wrong direction: away from Bakunin's thinking and towards an emphasis on small affinity groups and loose federations on the
one hand and an immersion into syndicalism on the other.
We sometimes imagine that the anarchist communist movement of the so-called Golden Era of anarchism in the late 19th and early 20th Century
was coherently organised, with a unified social practice. This was not always the case. There was a strong localist, individualistic and
small, 'affinity' group tendency amongst those inspired by Kropotkin. In some places this parochialism and individualism led anarchist
communists to a sect-like existance and a fetishisation of revolutionary violence and group 'autonomy' which in turn led to
self-marginalisation.
This was combated by those, such as the French anarchist communist Amédée Dunois, who argued "The exaggerated fear of alienating our own
free wills at the hands of some new collective body stopped us above all from uniting" and "the stronger we are - and we will only become
strong by organizing ourselves - the stronger will be the flow of ideas that we can send through the workers' movement, which will thus
become slowly impregnated with the anarchist spirit." (From the debate at the 1907 International Anarchist Congress on Anarchy and
Organisation).
Whilst there is much to be agreed with in the perspective of the authors of Putting the Record Straight on Bakunin, they over-egg the
pudding somewhat and their dismissal of Malatesta as being incapable of "understanding the relationship of interdependence which exists
between the human race and environment" is unfair to a militant whose life was dedicated to organised anarchism. And the reader can be
forgiven for thinking that when the authors claim that Bakunin opposed "indiscriminate struggle against all the fractions of the
bourgeoisie" when the proletariat was "weak", they are actually arguing for class collaboration with 'progessive' elements of the
bourgeoisie: a position wrong, though perhaps understandable, in 1868 but which was wrong and dangerous when the article was written.
Ultimately, the article, whatever its limitations, forces anarchists to re-consider the legacy of Bakunin's thought and to look at what
organisation means for libertarian communists in the present time.
1. Anarcho-communists who favour the creation of specific political organisation of anarchists, working towards 'social insertion' in
popular struggles of workers and peasants/
2. Anarcho-communists who are in agreement with the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists, a document written in 1926 by,
amongst others, the Ukranian Nestor Makhno.
The article below, originally published by Solidarite Ouvriere, the monthly paper of the Alliance Syndicaliste Revolutionnaire et
Anarcho-syndicaliste, was first translated into English in the 1970s and published in Libertarian Communist Review #2, and then made
available online by the struggle.ws website. Also available on Libcom: Putting the Record Straight on Mikhail Bakunin
Original Libertarian Communist Review introduction
The following text is a translation from the French. It comes from Solidarite Ouvriere, the monthly paper of the Alliance Syndicaliste
Revolutionnaire et Anarcho-syndicaliste. We have many criticisms of syndicalism, and this includes its anarcho-syndicalist variant.
However, the ASRAS, in its reassessment of the libertarian movement, its commitment to revolutionary class politics and to a materialist
dialectic, represents one of the more worthwhile and progressive libertarian groups in France, along with the Organisation Cominuniste
Libertaire and the Collectif pour un Union des Travailleurs Communiste Libertaire.
_______________________________________________________
Putting the record straight on Mikhail Bakunin
On the eve of the centenary of Bakunin, the return of all the gross stupidities which have been said about Bakunin requires a considerable
work. Without hesitation whatsoever, the prize for falsification goes to Jacques Duclos, the former head of the PCF, who has devoted a huge
book of several hundred pages to the relationship between Marx and Bakunin, which is a masterpiece of fiction. Now is the time to compile a
catalogue of falsifications that surround Bakunin. For if Duclos holds - with Marx himself - the sad privilege of the thought of Bakunin,
the anarchists are unrivalled in being his greatest unconscious falsifiers. Of the things in common that the two leaders of the First
International have, the foremost is perhaps that their thought has been misrepresented in an identical way by their own disciples. We wish
here to follow the development of this misrepresentation of Bakunin's positions. Later, we will explain what we think to be his true theory
of revolutionary action.
Bakunin continually moves between the mass action of the proletariat and action of organised revolutionary minorities. Neither of these two
aspects of the struggle against capitalism can be separated: however, the libertarian movement after the death of Bakunin divided into two
tendencies which emphasised one of the two points while neglecting the other. The same phenomenon can be found in the Marxist movement with
the reformist social democrats in Germany and the radical and Jacobin social democrats in Russia.
In the anarchist movement, one current advocates the development of mass organisation, exclusively acting within the structures of the
working class, and arrives at a state of a-politicism completely foreign to the ideas of Bakunin; another current refuses the very principle
of organisation as this is seen as the beginnings of bureaucracy: they favour the setting up of affinity groups within which individual
revolutionary initiative and the action of example will facilitate the passage without transition to an ideal communist society, where
everyone will produce according to their his/her ability and will consume according to his/her need: joyful work and taking from the common
store.
The first current advocated the action of the mass of workers within a structured organisation, collectivisation of the means of production
and the organisation of these into a coherent whole, preparation of the workers for social transformation.
The second current completely refused authority and the discipline of organisation; tactically this is seen as temporisation with capital.
This current defines itself in an essentially negative way: against authority, hierarchy, power and legal action. Its political programme is
based in the concept of communal autonomy, directly inspired by Kropotkin, in particular 'The Conquest of Bread'. This current triumphed in
the Congress of the CNT at Saragossa in 1936, whose resolutions expressed misunderstanding of the economic mechanisms of society, scorn for
economic and social reality. The Congress developed in its final report "The confederal concept of libertarian communism", founded on the
model of organisational plans of the future society which flourished in socialist literature of the 19th century. The foundation of the
future society is the free commune. Each commune is free to do what it wishes. Those which refuse to be integrated outside the agreements of
"conviviencia collective" with industrial society could "choose other modes of communal life, like for example, those of naturists and
nudists, or they would have the right to have an autonomous administration outside the general agreements"
In today's parlance, one could say that the followers of Bakunin can be divided in one "right wing deviation" which is traditional
anarcho-syndicalism, and one "leftist deviation" which is anarchism. The first one emphasises mass action, economic organisation and
methodology. The second one hangs on to the objectives. "the programme" quite independent of immediate reality. And each of these currents
claims for itself - by the way very frequently - Bakunin.
We have distinguished four principal misrepresentations of Bakunin's thought:
Spontaneism: From time to time, Bakunin seems to sing the praises of spontaneity of the masses; at other times he affirms the necessity of
mass political direction. In general anarchists have clung to the first aspect of his thought, and completely abandoned the second. In
reality, Bakunin said that what the masses lacked in order to emancipate themselves was organisation and science, "precisely the two things
which constitute now, and have always constituted the power of governments" (Protest of the Alliance). "At the time of great political and
economic crisis when the instinct of the masses, greatly inflamed, opens out to all the happy inspiration, where these herds of slave-men
manipulated, crushed, but never resigned, rebel against the yoke, but feel themselves to be disoriented and powerless because they are
completely disorganised, ten, twenty or thirty men, well-intentioned and well-organised amongst themselves, and who know where they're going
and what they want, can easily carry with them a hundred, two hundred, three hundred or even more" (Oeurres 6, 90).
Later on, he says, similarly, that in order that the minority of IWMA can carry with it the majority, it is necessary that each member
should be well versed in the principles of the International.
"It is only on this condition," he says "that in times of peace and calm will he be able to effectively fulfil the mission of propagandist
and missionary, and in times of struggle, that of a revolutionary leader."
The instrument for the development of Bakunin's ideas was the Alliance of Socialist Democracy. Its mission was to select revolutionary
cadres to guide mass organisations, or to create them where they didn't already exist. It was an ideologically coherent grouping.
"It is a secret society, formed in the heart of the International, to give it a revolutionary organisation, and to transform it and all the
popular masses outside it, into a force sufficiently organised to annihilate political, clerical, bourgeois reaction, to destroy all
religious, political, judicial institutions of states."
It is difficult to see spontaneism here. Bakunin only said that if the revolutionary minority must act within the masses it must not
substitute itself for the masses.
In the last analysis, it is always the masses themselves that must act on their own account. Revolutionary militants must push workers
towards organisation, and when circumstances demand it, they must not hesitate to take the lead. This idea contrasts singularly with what
anarchism subsequently became.
Thus, in 1905, when the Russian anarchist Voline was pressed by the insurgent Russian workers to take on the presidency of the soviet of St
Petersburg, he refused because "he wasn't a worker" and in order not to embrace authority. Finally, the presidency fell to Trotsky, after
Nossar, the first President, was arrested.
Mass action and minority revolutionary action are inseparable, according to Bakunin. But the action of revolutionary minorities only has
sense when it is linked to mass working class organisation. If they are isolated from the organised working class, revolutionaries are
condemned to failure.
"Socialism ... only has a real existence in enlightened revolutionary impulse, in the collective will and in the working class's own mass
organisations - and when this impulse, this will, this organisation, falls short, the best books in the world are nothing but theories in a
vacuum, impotent dreams."
Apoliticism: Anarchism has been presented as an apolitical, abstentionist movement by playing with words and giving them a different meaning
to that which the Bakuninists gave them.
Political action, at the time, meant parliamentary action. So to be anti-parliamentarian meant to be anti-political. As the marxists at this
moment in time could not conceive of any other political action for the proletariat than parliamentary action, the denial of the electoral
mystification was understood as opposition to every form of political action.
The Bakuninists replied to the accusation of abstentionism by pointing out that the term was ambiguous and that it never meant political
indifference, but a rejection of bougeois politics in favour of a "politics of work".
Abstention is a radical questioning of the political rules of the bourgeoisie's game.
"The International does not reject politics generally. It will certainly be forced to involve itself insofar as it will be forced to
struggle against the bourgeois class. It only rejects bourgeois politics."
Bakunin condemned suffrage as an instrument of proletarian emancipation. He denies the use of putting up candidates. But he didn't elevate
abstentionism to the level of an absolute principal. He recognised a degree of interest in local elections.
He even advised Gambuzzi's parliamentary intervention.
Nowhere in Bakunin will you find hysterical, vicious condemnations that became dear to anarchists after his death. Elections are not
condemned for moral reasons, but because they risk prolonging the bourgeoisie's game. On this point, Bakunin proved to be right over and
above the Marxists, right up to Lenin.
Anti-parliamentarianism was so unfamiliar to Marxists that from the start of the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks - at least at the
beginning - passed as Bakuninists in the European workers' movement.
The Refusal of Authority: The Bakuninists called themselves "anti-authoritarians". The confusion that arose as a result of the use of this
word has been bitterly taken up since Bakunin's death. Authoritarian in the language of the time meant bureaucratic. The anti-authoritarians
were simply anti-bureaucratic in opposition to the Marxist tendency.
The question then was not one of morals or character, and attitude to authority influenced by temperament. It was a political standpoint.
Anti-authoritarian means "democratic". This last word existed at the time but with a different meaning.
Less than a century after the French Revolution, it described the political practices of the bourgeoisie. It was the Bourgeoisie who were
"democrats".
When it was applied to the working class movement, the word 'democrat' was accompanied by 'social' or 'socialist', as in 'social democrat.
The worker who was a. 'democrat' was either a 'social-democrat' or anti authoritarian.
Later democracy and proletariat were associated in the expression 'workers democracy'.
The anti-authoritarian tendency of the International was in favour of workers democracy, the tendency qualified as authoritarian was accused
of bureaucratic centralisation.
But Bakunin was far from being opposed to all authority. His tendency allowed power if it came directly from the proletariat, and was
controlled by it. He opposed the revolutionary government of the Jacobin type with insurrectionary proletarian power through the
organisation of the working class.
Strictly speaking, this is not a form of political power but of social power.
After Bakunin's death, anarchists rejected the very idea of power. They only referred to the writings that were critical of power, and to a
sort of metaphysical anti-authoritarianism. They abandoned the method of analysis which came from real facts. They abandoned this as far as
the foundation of Bakuninist theory based on materialism and historical analysis. And with it they abandoned the field of struggle of the
working class in favour of a particular form of radicalised liberalism.
The Class Movement: Bakunin's political strategy did not depart from his theory of the relations between the classes. This should be
established once and for all.
When the proletariat was weak, he advised against indiscriminate struggle against all the fractions of the bourgeoisie.
From the point of view of working class struggle, not all political regimes are equivalent. It is not a matter of indifference whether the
struggle is against the dictatorial regime of Bismarck or the Tsar, or against that of a parliamentary democracy.
"The most imperfect of republics is a thousand times better than the most enlightened monarchy."
In 1870, Bakunin recommended using the patriotic reaction of the French proletariat and turning it into revolutionary war. In his 'Letters
to a Frenchman' he makes a remarkable analysis of the relationships between different fractions of the bourgeoisie and the working class,
and develops some months in advance and prophetically, what were to be the Paris and provincial Communes.
A thorough reading of Bakunin shows that his entire work consisted of constant enquiry, the relationships which could exist between the
fractions which make up the dominant class and their opposition with the proletariat. His strategy for the workers movement is intimately
linked with his analysis of these relationships.
In no case can it be separated from the historical moment in which these relationships take place. In other words, not every time is ripe
for revolution, and a detailed understanding of the relationship of forces between the bourgeoisie and the working class permits one at the
same time not to miss suitable occasions and to avoid making tragic mistakes.
Bakunin's successors thought, on one hand, that there existed between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat a sort of immutable and constant
relationship; on the other hand, that the relationship between the classes could not in any way enter into the scheme of things to determine
revolutionary action. In the first case, they adopted a certain number of basic principles that were considered essential, and they gave
themselves the objective of putting them into practice at some time or another in the future, whatever the circumstances of the moment.
Thus, the report of the Saragossa Conference already mentioned could have been written at any period. It stands absolutely outside time.
On the eve of the Spanish Civil War, the military problems for example, and agitation in the heart of the army, are dealt with one phrase:
"Thousands of workers have been through the barracks, and are familiar with modern revolutionary warfare."
In the second case, they thought that the relationships of power between the classes were unimportant as the proletariat must act
spontaneously. It is not related to any social determinism, but on the contrary to the hazards of exemplary action. The whole problem lies
then in creating the right detonator.
The history of the anarchist movement is full of these sensational actions, which were useless and bloody. In the hope of encouraging the
revolution, they attacked the town hall by the dozen: they made speeches, they proclaimed - very often in an atmosphere of complete
indifference - about libertarian communism. They burnt local archives whilst waiting for the police to arrive.
Attentism or voluntarism, in either case the reference made to Bakunin is insulting. Very often, the libertarian movement has replaced the
scientific method of analysis of relations between classes with magical incantations. The scientific and sociological nature of Bakuninist
analysis of social relations and political action was completely rejected by the libertarian movement.
The intellectual failure of the libertarian movement can be seen in the accusations of 'marxism' made about every attempt to introduce the
slightest notion of scientific method in political analysis.
For example Malatesta said: "Today, I find that Bakunin was in political economy and in the interpretation of history, too Marxist. I find
that his philosophy debated without any possibility of resolution, the contradiction between his mechanical conception of the universe and
his faith in the effectiveness of free will over the destinies of man and the universe."
The "mechanical conception of the universe", that is in Malatesta's mind, is the dialectical method which makes of the social world a moving
whole, about which one can determine general laws of evolution. "The effectiveness of free will" is voluntarist revolutionary action. The
problem can therefore be reduced to the relationship of mass action on society and the action of revolutionary minorities.
Malatesta is incapable of understanding the relationship of interdependence which exists between the human race and environment, between the
social determinism of the human race and its capacity to transform the environment.
The individual cannot be separated from the environment in which he/she lives. Even though the individual is largely determined by
environment, he/she can act upon it and modify it, provided the trouble is taken to understand the laws or evolution.
Conclusion
The action of the working class must be the synthesis of the understanding of the "mechanics of the universe" - the mechanics of society -
and "the effectiveness of free will" - conscious revolutionary action. There lies the foundation of Bakunin's theory of revolutionary action.
Two Bakunins do not exist - one which is libertarian, anti-authoritarian and who glorifies the spontaneous action of the masses; the other
one 'marxist', authoritarian, who advocates the organisation of the vanguard.
There is only one Bakunin, who applies to different times in diverse circumstances principles of action which flow from a lucid
understanding of the dialectic between the masses and the advanced revolutionary minorities.
https://surreyanarchistcommunistgroup.blogspot.com/2020/09/putting-record-straight-on-mikhail.html
------------------------------
Straight on Mikhail Bakunin (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
The anarchists of Belarus ("Pramen" group) came up with a minimum program for the uprising in the country. ---- During the years of Soviet
and Lukashenko's propaganda, many might think that anarchists in Belarus are barricades and clashes with riot police. But anarchism is much
more than that. Somewhere behind the scenes of street fighting pictures, there is the idea that people can live with dignity and equal
without the dictator and the Bolsheviks. ---- Anarchists in Belarus noted even before the start of the protests that getting rid of
Lukashenka just like that was just the first step in the struggle for people's freedom. The regime was not built in one day and its
destruction will require the will of the people. All bureaucrats and officials who supported this regime will have to leave. And their posts
and posts must be dismantled in such a way that no one can recreate the dictatorship.
We understand that today's revolution, despite its self-organization and enormous collective energy, is still not anti-authoritarian. And we
do not see it as a relevant and appropriate decision to declare an anarchist program. But even in such conditions, we consider it necessary
to formulate a minimum program, which is necessary to avoid the formation of another authoritarian regime. We have been ruled by strong
rulers for over a hundred years. It's time to show that people can do better!
We repeat - the anarchist program is much more radical than the one presented below, but we tried to make realistic demands, taking into
account the context of the uprising, and set the vector of self-organization and grassroots self-government for political and social
transformations.
Decentralization of power
Organization of real regional self-government instead of today's sham.
Accountability of delegates / deputies to the bottom, not the top.
Retention of an imperative mandate for delegates / deputies. This means that at any time the elected deputy / delegate can be recalled by
the collective that elected him, if, in the opinion of the collective, he does not perform the work assigned to him.
Decentralization and federalization of power structures. Transfer of greater responsibility to regional elected assemblies.
People in administrative roles in enterprises, education and medicine, and other government agencies are selected by the employees of these
institutions.
Drastic reduction of employees of administrations and state control bodies of all levels, as well as of courts.
The president
To resolve all violations during the rule of Lukashenko, a tribunal is created.
Money from personal accounts and Lukashenka's property are transferred to local budgets.
The office of the president is being liquidated
Referendum
The power in the country is the people, therefore all decisions on changing legislation, international treaties and other important
decisions must be submitted to a general referendum.
The referendum is held 4 times a year.
Any citizen has the right to raise the issue of changing the law in a referendum when collecting 100,000 signatures.
Decriminalization
Reinstatement of all workers and students dismissed during the protests.
Release and rehabilitation of all those detained and arrested during the protests.
Release of all political prisoners.
Exclusion of political articles from the administrative and criminal codes.
Ban on censorship on the Internet and in the media.
Abolition of the death penalty.
Complete abolition of all repressive laws: the law on mass events and the law on countering extremism.
Freedom of speech, press, assembly, enshrined at the legislative level.
Militia
Tribunals over all security officials responsible for repression, violence and murder.
Dissolution of OMON, GUBOPiK and internal troops.
Transfer of police control to local authorities. Election of the heads of regional police departments.
Reducing the state budget for the police.
Trucks and water cannons for scrap - these cars should never appear on the streets of our cities!
A ban on the formation of trade unions within the security forces.
Military establishment
Cancellation of general conscription.
Removal of all officers responsible for the introduction of troops into the country's cities.
Reducing the military budget.
Medicine
Increasing the health budget.
Raising the salaries of medical personnel.
Transfer of a parallel medical system for officials and security officials into the general health care system - hospitals and clinics
should serve people, not government posts!
Dismissing every executive responsible for falsifying data on coronavirus.
Education
Increasing the education budget.
Cancellation of compulsory work for state employees.
Autonomy of universities - police and other security forces are prohibited from entering the territory of educational institutions.
Free education for everyone.
Reinstatement of all professors and teachers dismissed during the protests.
Freedom of Association - Everyone has the right to join student trade unions and participate in the student council.
Dissolution of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union.
Courts
Dismissal of judges responsible for political repression.
Judges are elected, not appointed, for a term of 4 years.
A jury trial may be used at the request of the accused.
Work
The right to independent trade unions. The union does not need to request registration.
The right to strike - workers have the right to strike when they see fit and to make political, economic and social demands.
Factories for workers! Administrative posts are elective and are appointed from below, not from above, for a limited period. The
administration is responsible to the work collective.
A ban on the privatization of large enterprises.
Reduction of workers only with the consent of the workers' collectives.
Cancellation of the contract system and replacement by collective agreements.
Dissolution of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus ..
Cancellation of decree No. 3 .
Financial and social support for the unemployed. The level of unemployment benefits must not be lower than the minimum wage.
Cancellation of the pension reform.
Cooperative movement support program.
Modernization of unprofitable enterprises. If it is necessary to reduce the number of workers, state structures should ensure the
possibility of retraining for relevant specialties.
Economy
Progressive income tax - the rich must pay more to the poor to finance the state budget.
Actively attracting investments in the IT sector.
Simplification of migration rules to attract specialists from other countries.
Attaching the salary of managers to the minimum. Officials' salaries should not exceed 3 times the minimum wage in the country.
A digital system for production and consumption planning to minimize surplus and avoid shortages.
Equalization of wages in state-owned enterprises between the capital and the regions.
Return of the external public debt at the expense of Lukashenka and his family, as well as from the Presidential Fund.
The property of those convicted by the tribunal is confiscated and sold, the funds are channeled in favor of the victims and their families.
Termination of the regime of tax breaks for the Belarusian Orthodox Church.
Transparency of power
Any government initiative is published online to inform citizens.
When requested, any citizen should have access to the official correspondence of elected delegates and officials.
Opening of the KGB archives.
Access to government documents upon request.
No secret state expenditures.
https://avtonom.org/news/predlozhenie-programmy-minimum-na-vremya-vosstaniya-v-belarusi
------------------------------
Message: 2
We do not forget the murder of Pavlos Fyssas on September 18, 2013 in Keratsini. ---- We do not forget the murders of S. Lukman, Al.
Grigoropoulos, by Zak Costopoulos, by P. Ziffle. ---- We do not forget the hundreds of murderous attacks on refugees and migrants. Not even
the dozens of brazen attacks on squatters, on self-governing areas and on anarchist, leftist and anti-fascist militants. ---- Calls for
Anti-state-anti-fascist-anti-repression Demonstration of Resistance and Memory 7 years since the murder of anti-fascist P. Fyssas on Friday
18 September ---- Athens: P.Fyssa 60, Keratsini, 17.00 ---- Thessaloniki: Kamara, 18.30, pre-assembly 18:00 during the occupation of Mundo
Nuevo ---- Patra: Branch, 19.00 ---- Announcement and calls for the completion of 7 years since the murder of Pavlos Fyssas
Anti-State-Anti-Fascist-Anti-Suppression Rally on Wednesday, October 7, the day of the announcement of the decision of the ATHEX trial at
the Athens Court of Appeals, at 10.00
Anarchist Political Organization - Federation of Collectivities
https://maurokokkino1936.wordpress.com/2020/09/18/2661/
------------------------------
Message: 3
....the Argentine State advances in a new attack against those who fight. ---- Taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic and the quarantine,
the Federal Judicial Power ratified the prosecution of 27 students from the National University of Córdoba, in an attempt to bring to trial
and convict them for fighting against the macrista emptying by means of or the occupation of the Argentine Pavilion (administrative center
of the UNC) two years ago. ---- The 2018 student movement struggle in Argentina was one of the most critical in recent years, due to its
magnitude and the radical nature of its methods.
Mobilizations, mass assemblies and more than 50 occupations of institutions throughout the country was the response of the combative student
movement against the emptying of public education by the macrista government.
In an attempt to discipline and instruct the student movement, progress was made in the trial of teachers and students of the UNRN (Río
Negro), and today the prosecution of 27 comrades of the UNC is ratified. The persecution that began with the Macri government today
continues with the "progressive" government of Alberto Fernández in the hands of Judge Miguel Hugo Vaca Narvaja, alleged "defenders of human
rights", in an attempt to set a nefarious precedent that criminalizes those of us who resist the outpost of those above.
It is a new case among the infinity of attacks by States throughout the continent against whom every day we organize from below and fight
against adjustment, misery and the repression of governments, businessmen, landowners.
From the student organizations, territorial organizations, and fellow Latin American unions that make up ELAOPA, we are firmly convinced
that the way to face the misery that capitalism has to offer is in our own hands, in the construction of a strong people and the
organization of our oppressed class.
The only way out against the criminalization of those who fight is the mobilization in the streets, the direct action of the people and the
solidarity among the oppressed from all over the continent!
?UNC STUDENTS ALREADY DISPRODUCED!
?ENOUGH CHASING THE FIGHTING!
?SOLIDARITY BETWEEN COMPANION ORGANIZATIONS ON THE CONTINENT TO RESIST ATTACKS FROM THOSE ABOVE!
??Up with those who fight!!??
? Barricada - Trend in education (Córdoba, Argentina)
? Base Student Youth (Rosario, Argentina)
? Social Center Cabin 9 (Rosario, Argentina)
? Melena Cantero Mercantile Group in FAECyS (Rosario, Argentina)
? Máximo Suarez Hotel Gastronomic Group in UTHGRA (Rosario, Argentina)
? Luisa Lallana State Association in ATE (Rosario, Argentina)
? Raúl Olivera Chemical Association (Rosario, Argentina)
? Julia García Teaching Association in AMSAFE (CTERA) (Rosario, Argentina)
? Free Vía Grupo Libertario ( Bogotá, Colombia)
? Student Libertarian Action (Bogotá, Colombia)
? Occupation Vila Resistência (Santa Marta, Brazil)
? Elena Quinteros Community School (Santa Marta, Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Porto Alegre (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Araraquara (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Fronteira Sul (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Floripa (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
? Popular Student Resistance Paraná (Brazil)
? Autonomy and Struggle (Mato Grosso, Brazil)
? Women Resist - MT (Mato Grosso, Brazil)
? Movimiento Solidario Vida Digna (Santiago, Chile)
? Resistencia y Libertad (Santiago , Chile)
? Resistencia y Solidaridad ROE (Montevideo, Uruguay)
facebook.com/104708984258346/photos/a.105086307553947/385382609524314
------------------------------
Message: 4
On 12-13.09 the twelfth edition of the Freedom Fighters league took place, along with a muay thai training seminar. ---- The event was
originally supposed to take place in June, but the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to carry it out - however, we did not want to
give up and moved the league to the September date, linking the event with the XXVI anniversary of the Rozbrat squat. ---- Ultimately, 10
fights were organized, although no one was 100% sure if the event would even take place - especially due to its international character.
---- Fortunately, we got our way, there were 6 fights in the K-1 formula, 2 in lowkick and one in muay thai, boxing and MMA in the ring. The
fights, as usual, were varied in terms of level, both rookies and more advanced ones took part - which resulted in fights in which the
competitors decided to fight without helmets, and in one case even without shin pads, thanks to which the audience was numerous gathered
around the ring could enjoy a professional spectacle. There were more duels than in the previous year, in which the fight ended prematurely
- fortunately, more serious injuries ended up with one broken nose.
The next day there was a muay thai seminar with Marta Gusztab, who replaced Peter Irving who was unable to reach us this year due to
restrictions. Marta focused on several aspects that apply not only to the national sport of Thailand, including on shortening and extending
the distance, building a combat overview or changing the pace and areas of attack.
To sum up, despite many adversities this year, the league was successfully held annually. As usual, apart from many guests from the country,
we were visited by friends of from Germany and the Czech Republic. We would like to thank them, thank the judges, people responsible for
medical assistance, for the photo ( Piataesencja ) and video coverage ( Radoslaw Sto ) - effects soon, and to Marta Gusztab for the seminar.
See you in June!
On 12-13.09 12th edition of Freedom Fighters league and muay thai seminar took place. It was to be held in June, but coronavirus pandemic
forced us to postopne it, and as result it was part of Rozbrat squat XXVI birthday. 10 bouts were organized despite noone was 100% sure if
all the event will happen to the last days. Hopefully we've made it. There were 6 K-1 match-ups, 2 lowkick, muay thai, boxing and MMA fight.
There were both beginners and advanced, some of them decided not to wear headgear and in one bout, not to wear even shinpads, so the
spectators could enjoy pro-show. More fights than last year ended up before the time - luckily there was only one serious injury - broken nose.
Next day a muay thai seminar with Marta Gusztab took place. She replaced Peter Irving that couldn't make it this year because of the
pandemic restrictions. Marta focused of few aspects that could be utilized not only in muay thai - different distances, sharpening defense,
working with different pace and seeking various attack areas.
To sum up, despite this year's obstacles, we managed to have the league. As usual, except guest from all over Poland, we had international
friends here - from Germany and Czech rep. among others. Thank you, thanks judges and referee, medical help, our photographer (Piataesencja)
and video maker (Radoslaw Sto) - both works soon and thank you Marta Gusztab. See you in June!
Poland, rozbrat:
https://www.rozbrat.org/informacje/poznan/4729-freedom-fighters-12-relacja
------------------------------
Message: 5
ACG introduction ---- Unlike in the Marxist movement, where the interpretation of the writings of Marx has often taken on the
characteristics of the interpretation of Biblical scripture, the anarchist movement hasn't tended to get into prolonged argument concerning
what did Bakunin really mean? What is authentic Bakuninism? ---- Anarchists have tended to follow the dictum of Errico Malatesta that "We
follow ideas and not men, and rebel against this habit of embodying a principle in a man." ---- However, lack of clarity and fuzzy thinking
amongst anarchists is far from unknown and a rigorous engagement with the ideas of what are considered the intellectual founders of
anarchism is often missing in anarchist circles.
The short article Putting the Record Straight on Bakunin, published in the early 1970s by the Alliance Syndicaliste Revolutionnaire et
Anarcho-syndicaliste in France, attempts to interpret Bakunin's "true theory of revolutionary action" for the purpose of rectifying what it
considers the shortcomings of contemporary anarchist movements. The authors claim that the libertarian movement, in both its
anarcho-syndicalist and anti-organisational forms, has "completely rejected" the "scientific and sociological nature of Bakuninist analysis
of social relations and political action" leading it to apoliticism and spontaneism, amongst other errors.
This position, or one very similar, is today held by the anarcho-communist especificists (1) in Latin America and elsewhere amongst some of
the Platformist (2) groups. The idea is that, following the death of Bakunin, the Kropotkin and Malatesta 'schools' of anarchism took the
movement in a wrong direction: away from Bakunin's thinking and towards an emphasis on small affinity groups and loose federations on the
one hand and an immersion into syndicalism on the other.
We sometimes imagine that the anarchist communist movement of the so-called Golden Era of anarchism in the late 19th and early 20th Century
was coherently organised, with a unified social practice. This was not always the case. There was a strong localist, individualistic and
small, 'affinity' group tendency amongst those inspired by Kropotkin. In some places this parochialism and individualism led anarchist
communists to a sect-like existance and a fetishisation of revolutionary violence and group 'autonomy' which in turn led to
self-marginalisation.
This was combated by those, such as the French anarchist communist Amédée Dunois, who argued "The exaggerated fear of alienating our own
free wills at the hands of some new collective body stopped us above all from uniting" and "the stronger we are - and we will only become
strong by organizing ourselves - the stronger will be the flow of ideas that we can send through the workers' movement, which will thus
become slowly impregnated with the anarchist spirit." (From the debate at the 1907 International Anarchist Congress on Anarchy and
Organisation).
Whilst there is much to be agreed with in the perspective of the authors of Putting the Record Straight on Bakunin, they over-egg the
pudding somewhat and their dismissal of Malatesta as being incapable of "understanding the relationship of interdependence which exists
between the human race and environment" is unfair to a militant whose life was dedicated to organised anarchism. And the reader can be
forgiven for thinking that when the authors claim that Bakunin opposed "indiscriminate struggle against all the fractions of the
bourgeoisie" when the proletariat was "weak", they are actually arguing for class collaboration with 'progessive' elements of the
bourgeoisie: a position wrong, though perhaps understandable, in 1868 but which was wrong and dangerous when the article was written.
Ultimately, the article, whatever its limitations, forces anarchists to re-consider the legacy of Bakunin's thought and to look at what
organisation means for libertarian communists in the present time.
1. Anarcho-communists who favour the creation of specific political organisation of anarchists, working towards 'social insertion' in
popular struggles of workers and peasants/
2. Anarcho-communists who are in agreement with the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists, a document written in 1926 by,
amongst others, the Ukranian Nestor Makhno.
The article below, originally published by Solidarite Ouvriere, the monthly paper of the Alliance Syndicaliste Revolutionnaire et
Anarcho-syndicaliste, was first translated into English in the 1970s and published in Libertarian Communist Review #2, and then made
available online by the struggle.ws website. Also available on Libcom: Putting the Record Straight on Mikhail Bakunin
Original Libertarian Communist Review introduction
The following text is a translation from the French. It comes from Solidarite Ouvriere, the monthly paper of the Alliance Syndicaliste
Revolutionnaire et Anarcho-syndicaliste. We have many criticisms of syndicalism, and this includes its anarcho-syndicalist variant.
However, the ASRAS, in its reassessment of the libertarian movement, its commitment to revolutionary class politics and to a materialist
dialectic, represents one of the more worthwhile and progressive libertarian groups in France, along with the Organisation Cominuniste
Libertaire and the Collectif pour un Union des Travailleurs Communiste Libertaire.
_______________________________________________________
Putting the record straight on Mikhail Bakunin
On the eve of the centenary of Bakunin, the return of all the gross stupidities which have been said about Bakunin requires a considerable
work. Without hesitation whatsoever, the prize for falsification goes to Jacques Duclos, the former head of the PCF, who has devoted a huge
book of several hundred pages to the relationship between Marx and Bakunin, which is a masterpiece of fiction. Now is the time to compile a
catalogue of falsifications that surround Bakunin. For if Duclos holds - with Marx himself - the sad privilege of the thought of Bakunin,
the anarchists are unrivalled in being his greatest unconscious falsifiers. Of the things in common that the two leaders of the First
International have, the foremost is perhaps that their thought has been misrepresented in an identical way by their own disciples. We wish
here to follow the development of this misrepresentation of Bakunin's positions. Later, we will explain what we think to be his true theory
of revolutionary action.
Bakunin continually moves between the mass action of the proletariat and action of organised revolutionary minorities. Neither of these two
aspects of the struggle against capitalism can be separated: however, the libertarian movement after the death of Bakunin divided into two
tendencies which emphasised one of the two points while neglecting the other. The same phenomenon can be found in the Marxist movement with
the reformist social democrats in Germany and the radical and Jacobin social democrats in Russia.
In the anarchist movement, one current advocates the development of mass organisation, exclusively acting within the structures of the
working class, and arrives at a state of a-politicism completely foreign to the ideas of Bakunin; another current refuses the very principle
of organisation as this is seen as the beginnings of bureaucracy: they favour the setting up of affinity groups within which individual
revolutionary initiative and the action of example will facilitate the passage without transition to an ideal communist society, where
everyone will produce according to their his/her ability and will consume according to his/her need: joyful work and taking from the common
store.
The first current advocated the action of the mass of workers within a structured organisation, collectivisation of the means of production
and the organisation of these into a coherent whole, preparation of the workers for social transformation.
The second current completely refused authority and the discipline of organisation; tactically this is seen as temporisation with capital.
This current defines itself in an essentially negative way: against authority, hierarchy, power and legal action. Its political programme is
based in the concept of communal autonomy, directly inspired by Kropotkin, in particular 'The Conquest of Bread'. This current triumphed in
the Congress of the CNT at Saragossa in 1936, whose resolutions expressed misunderstanding of the economic mechanisms of society, scorn for
economic and social reality. The Congress developed in its final report "The confederal concept of libertarian communism", founded on the
model of organisational plans of the future society which flourished in socialist literature of the 19th century. The foundation of the
future society is the free commune. Each commune is free to do what it wishes. Those which refuse to be integrated outside the agreements of
"conviviencia collective" with industrial society could "choose other modes of communal life, like for example, those of naturists and
nudists, or they would have the right to have an autonomous administration outside the general agreements"
In today's parlance, one could say that the followers of Bakunin can be divided in one "right wing deviation" which is traditional
anarcho-syndicalism, and one "leftist deviation" which is anarchism. The first one emphasises mass action, economic organisation and
methodology. The second one hangs on to the objectives. "the programme" quite independent of immediate reality. And each of these currents
claims for itself - by the way very frequently - Bakunin.
We have distinguished four principal misrepresentations of Bakunin's thought:
Spontaneism: From time to time, Bakunin seems to sing the praises of spontaneity of the masses; at other times he affirms the necessity of
mass political direction. In general anarchists have clung to the first aspect of his thought, and completely abandoned the second. In
reality, Bakunin said that what the masses lacked in order to emancipate themselves was organisation and science, "precisely the two things
which constitute now, and have always constituted the power of governments" (Protest of the Alliance). "At the time of great political and
economic crisis when the instinct of the masses, greatly inflamed, opens out to all the happy inspiration, where these herds of slave-men
manipulated, crushed, but never resigned, rebel against the yoke, but feel themselves to be disoriented and powerless because they are
completely disorganised, ten, twenty or thirty men, well-intentioned and well-organised amongst themselves, and who know where they're going
and what they want, can easily carry with them a hundred, two hundred, three hundred or even more" (Oeurres 6, 90).
Later on, he says, similarly, that in order that the minority of IWMA can carry with it the majority, it is necessary that each member
should be well versed in the principles of the International.
"It is only on this condition," he says "that in times of peace and calm will he be able to effectively fulfil the mission of propagandist
and missionary, and in times of struggle, that of a revolutionary leader."
The instrument for the development of Bakunin's ideas was the Alliance of Socialist Democracy. Its mission was to select revolutionary
cadres to guide mass organisations, or to create them where they didn't already exist. It was an ideologically coherent grouping.
"It is a secret society, formed in the heart of the International, to give it a revolutionary organisation, and to transform it and all the
popular masses outside it, into a force sufficiently organised to annihilate political, clerical, bourgeois reaction, to destroy all
religious, political, judicial institutions of states."
It is difficult to see spontaneism here. Bakunin only said that if the revolutionary minority must act within the masses it must not
substitute itself for the masses.
In the last analysis, it is always the masses themselves that must act on their own account. Revolutionary militants must push workers
towards organisation, and when circumstances demand it, they must not hesitate to take the lead. This idea contrasts singularly with what
anarchism subsequently became.
Thus, in 1905, when the Russian anarchist Voline was pressed by the insurgent Russian workers to take on the presidency of the soviet of St
Petersburg, he refused because "he wasn't a worker" and in order not to embrace authority. Finally, the presidency fell to Trotsky, after
Nossar, the first President, was arrested.
Mass action and minority revolutionary action are inseparable, according to Bakunin. But the action of revolutionary minorities only has
sense when it is linked to mass working class organisation. If they are isolated from the organised working class, revolutionaries are
condemned to failure.
"Socialism ... only has a real existence in enlightened revolutionary impulse, in the collective will and in the working class's own mass
organisations - and when this impulse, this will, this organisation, falls short, the best books in the world are nothing but theories in a
vacuum, impotent dreams."
Apoliticism: Anarchism has been presented as an apolitical, abstentionist movement by playing with words and giving them a different meaning
to that which the Bakuninists gave them.
Political action, at the time, meant parliamentary action. So to be anti-parliamentarian meant to be anti-political. As the marxists at this
moment in time could not conceive of any other political action for the proletariat than parliamentary action, the denial of the electoral
mystification was understood as opposition to every form of political action.
The Bakuninists replied to the accusation of abstentionism by pointing out that the term was ambiguous and that it never meant political
indifference, but a rejection of bougeois politics in favour of a "politics of work".
Abstention is a radical questioning of the political rules of the bourgeoisie's game.
"The International does not reject politics generally. It will certainly be forced to involve itself insofar as it will be forced to
struggle against the bourgeois class. It only rejects bourgeois politics."
Bakunin condemned suffrage as an instrument of proletarian emancipation. He denies the use of putting up candidates. But he didn't elevate
abstentionism to the level of an absolute principal. He recognised a degree of interest in local elections.
He even advised Gambuzzi's parliamentary intervention.
Nowhere in Bakunin will you find hysterical, vicious condemnations that became dear to anarchists after his death. Elections are not
condemned for moral reasons, but because they risk prolonging the bourgeoisie's game. On this point, Bakunin proved to be right over and
above the Marxists, right up to Lenin.
Anti-parliamentarianism was so unfamiliar to Marxists that from the start of the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks - at least at the
beginning - passed as Bakuninists in the European workers' movement.
The Refusal of Authority: The Bakuninists called themselves "anti-authoritarians". The confusion that arose as a result of the use of this
word has been bitterly taken up since Bakunin's death. Authoritarian in the language of the time meant bureaucratic. The anti-authoritarians
were simply anti-bureaucratic in opposition to the Marxist tendency.
The question then was not one of morals or character, and attitude to authority influenced by temperament. It was a political standpoint.
Anti-authoritarian means "democratic". This last word existed at the time but with a different meaning.
Less than a century after the French Revolution, it described the political practices of the bourgeoisie. It was the Bourgeoisie who were
"democrats".
When it was applied to the working class movement, the word 'democrat' was accompanied by 'social' or 'socialist', as in 'social democrat.
The worker who was a. 'democrat' was either a 'social-democrat' or anti authoritarian.
Later democracy and proletariat were associated in the expression 'workers democracy'.
The anti-authoritarian tendency of the International was in favour of workers democracy, the tendency qualified as authoritarian was accused
of bureaucratic centralisation.
But Bakunin was far from being opposed to all authority. His tendency allowed power if it came directly from the proletariat, and was
controlled by it. He opposed the revolutionary government of the Jacobin type with insurrectionary proletarian power through the
organisation of the working class.
Strictly speaking, this is not a form of political power but of social power.
After Bakunin's death, anarchists rejected the very idea of power. They only referred to the writings that were critical of power, and to a
sort of metaphysical anti-authoritarianism. They abandoned the method of analysis which came from real facts. They abandoned this as far as
the foundation of Bakuninist theory based on materialism and historical analysis. And with it they abandoned the field of struggle of the
working class in favour of a particular form of radicalised liberalism.
The Class Movement: Bakunin's political strategy did not depart from his theory of the relations between the classes. This should be
established once and for all.
When the proletariat was weak, he advised against indiscriminate struggle against all the fractions of the bourgeoisie.
From the point of view of working class struggle, not all political regimes are equivalent. It is not a matter of indifference whether the
struggle is against the dictatorial regime of Bismarck or the Tsar, or against that of a parliamentary democracy.
"The most imperfect of republics is a thousand times better than the most enlightened monarchy."
In 1870, Bakunin recommended using the patriotic reaction of the French proletariat and turning it into revolutionary war. In his 'Letters
to a Frenchman' he makes a remarkable analysis of the relationships between different fractions of the bourgeoisie and the working class,
and develops some months in advance and prophetically, what were to be the Paris and provincial Communes.
A thorough reading of Bakunin shows that his entire work consisted of constant enquiry, the relationships which could exist between the
fractions which make up the dominant class and their opposition with the proletariat. His strategy for the workers movement is intimately
linked with his analysis of these relationships.
In no case can it be separated from the historical moment in which these relationships take place. In other words, not every time is ripe
for revolution, and a detailed understanding of the relationship of forces between the bourgeoisie and the working class permits one at the
same time not to miss suitable occasions and to avoid making tragic mistakes.
Bakunin's successors thought, on one hand, that there existed between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat a sort of immutable and constant
relationship; on the other hand, that the relationship between the classes could not in any way enter into the scheme of things to determine
revolutionary action. In the first case, they adopted a certain number of basic principles that were considered essential, and they gave
themselves the objective of putting them into practice at some time or another in the future, whatever the circumstances of the moment.
Thus, the report of the Saragossa Conference already mentioned could have been written at any period. It stands absolutely outside time.
On the eve of the Spanish Civil War, the military problems for example, and agitation in the heart of the army, are dealt with one phrase:
"Thousands of workers have been through the barracks, and are familiar with modern revolutionary warfare."
In the second case, they thought that the relationships of power between the classes were unimportant as the proletariat must act
spontaneously. It is not related to any social determinism, but on the contrary to the hazards of exemplary action. The whole problem lies
then in creating the right detonator.
The history of the anarchist movement is full of these sensational actions, which were useless and bloody. In the hope of encouraging the
revolution, they attacked the town hall by the dozen: they made speeches, they proclaimed - very often in an atmosphere of complete
indifference - about libertarian communism. They burnt local archives whilst waiting for the police to arrive.
Attentism or voluntarism, in either case the reference made to Bakunin is insulting. Very often, the libertarian movement has replaced the
scientific method of analysis of relations between classes with magical incantations. The scientific and sociological nature of Bakuninist
analysis of social relations and political action was completely rejected by the libertarian movement.
The intellectual failure of the libertarian movement can be seen in the accusations of 'marxism' made about every attempt to introduce the
slightest notion of scientific method in political analysis.
For example Malatesta said: "Today, I find that Bakunin was in political economy and in the interpretation of history, too Marxist. I find
that his philosophy debated without any possibility of resolution, the contradiction between his mechanical conception of the universe and
his faith in the effectiveness of free will over the destinies of man and the universe."
The "mechanical conception of the universe", that is in Malatesta's mind, is the dialectical method which makes of the social world a moving
whole, about which one can determine general laws of evolution. "The effectiveness of free will" is voluntarist revolutionary action. The
problem can therefore be reduced to the relationship of mass action on society and the action of revolutionary minorities.
Malatesta is incapable of understanding the relationship of interdependence which exists between the human race and environment, between the
social determinism of the human race and its capacity to transform the environment.
The individual cannot be separated from the environment in which he/she lives. Even though the individual is largely determined by
environment, he/she can act upon it and modify it, provided the trouble is taken to understand the laws or evolution.
Conclusion
The action of the working class must be the synthesis of the understanding of the "mechanics of the universe" - the mechanics of society -
and "the effectiveness of free will" - conscious revolutionary action. There lies the foundation of Bakunin's theory of revolutionary action.
Two Bakunins do not exist - one which is libertarian, anti-authoritarian and who glorifies the spontaneous action of the masses; the other
one 'marxist', authoritarian, who advocates the organisation of the vanguard.
There is only one Bakunin, who applies to different times in diverse circumstances principles of action which flow from a lucid
understanding of the dialectic between the masses and the advanced revolutionary minorities.
https://surreyanarchistcommunistgroup.blogspot.com/2020/09/putting-record-straight-on-mikhail.html
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