From the Flotilla to solidarity with Palestine: in Italy's squares, a
collective voice is being reborn, a voice that those in power are trying
to silence. But when society moves from the bottom up, anarchism returns
to live practice. ---- There's a new air wafting through the squares,
schools, workplaces, and even the smallest towns. For weeks, we've seen
a surge in marches, demonstrations, and assemblies. These aren't the
usual ritual demonstrations or party parades: they're living spaces,
where people look each other in the eye, where they discuss, argue, and
build together. It's the return of a word that for too long seemed
buried under the rubble of resignation: self-organization.
The "Flottilla," with its courage and determination, had the merit of
breaking the silence and rekindling consciences. It pushed millions of
people to take a stand, to not remain neutral in the face of injustice,
to choose a side. You don't have to call yourself an anarchist to feel
that, when a besieged population is bombed and starved, those who reach
out are performing an act of humanity and rebellion. But for those who
experience anarchism every day, this wave of participation is an
important signal: direct action is once again perceived as natural,
necessary, and just.
Solidarity with Palestine has become the rallying point for a broader
awareness. In the streets, one senses that the war in Gaza is not just a
distant tragedy, but a mirror of our own oppressions: control,
censorship, disinformation, police repression. When assemblies are
banned in universities, when protesters are registered, when symbols of
solidarity are criminalized, freedom is not being defended: it is being
trampled upon. And yet, despite everything, the streets are filling up.
It's not a romantic return to the past, but something profoundly new.
The new generations no longer wait for mediators; they no longer trust
parties or leaders. They take to the streets because they feel it's the
only place where their voice truly matters. And alongside them return
faces they haven't seen for years: those who work, those who study,
those seeking a future, those who have always resisted. It's a meeting
of diverse experiences, a fusion that generates collective strength and
intelligence.
This awakening doesn't come from nowhere. It's the product of years of
precariousness, growing inequality, a political system that has emptied
the word "democracy" of meaning. But when the measure is full, something
breaks. Fear breaks. The myth of delegation breaks. We rediscover that
power can and must be challenged from below, directly, without
intermediaries.
In the popular assemblies that have multiplied in recent weeks, the
practice of listening, consensus, and collective construction is being
rediscovered. There is no single word, no center that decides: there is
a need to reclaim the word. And within this collective word, anarchism
finds space and meaning again. Not as an imposed ideology, but as
concrete practice: solidarity, mutualism, self-management.
Solidarity isn't demanded: it's practiced. It's demonstrated, built,
lived. And when thousands of people move together, without waiting for
anyone's permission, that is direct action. It's the common thread that
ties the Flotilla to those on strike, those who occupy, those who open
social spaces or defend a neighborhood. It's the awareness that no
authority will ever give back what's ours: we must take it together,
with intelligence and determination.
Today, in Italy, there's something akin to hope again. Not naive, not
messianic, but human and concrete. It's the desire for justice that
comes from below and can no longer be ignored. If we can cultivate it,
if we can intertwine our struggles, perhaps this time the wind will not
blow in vain.
Totò Caggese
https://umanitanova.org/il-risveglio-delle-piazze-praticare-solidarieta/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
collective voice is being reborn, a voice that those in power are trying
to silence. But when society moves from the bottom up, anarchism returns
to live practice. ---- There's a new air wafting through the squares,
schools, workplaces, and even the smallest towns. For weeks, we've seen
a surge in marches, demonstrations, and assemblies. These aren't the
usual ritual demonstrations or party parades: they're living spaces,
where people look each other in the eye, where they discuss, argue, and
build together. It's the return of a word that for too long seemed
buried under the rubble of resignation: self-organization.
The "Flottilla," with its courage and determination, had the merit of
breaking the silence and rekindling consciences. It pushed millions of
people to take a stand, to not remain neutral in the face of injustice,
to choose a side. You don't have to call yourself an anarchist to feel
that, when a besieged population is bombed and starved, those who reach
out are performing an act of humanity and rebellion. But for those who
experience anarchism every day, this wave of participation is an
important signal: direct action is once again perceived as natural,
necessary, and just.
Solidarity with Palestine has become the rallying point for a broader
awareness. In the streets, one senses that the war in Gaza is not just a
distant tragedy, but a mirror of our own oppressions: control,
censorship, disinformation, police repression. When assemblies are
banned in universities, when protesters are registered, when symbols of
solidarity are criminalized, freedom is not being defended: it is being
trampled upon. And yet, despite everything, the streets are filling up.
It's not a romantic return to the past, but something profoundly new.
The new generations no longer wait for mediators; they no longer trust
parties or leaders. They take to the streets because they feel it's the
only place where their voice truly matters. And alongside them return
faces they haven't seen for years: those who work, those who study,
those seeking a future, those who have always resisted. It's a meeting
of diverse experiences, a fusion that generates collective strength and
intelligence.
This awakening doesn't come from nowhere. It's the product of years of
precariousness, growing inequality, a political system that has emptied
the word "democracy" of meaning. But when the measure is full, something
breaks. Fear breaks. The myth of delegation breaks. We rediscover that
power can and must be challenged from below, directly, without
intermediaries.
In the popular assemblies that have multiplied in recent weeks, the
practice of listening, consensus, and collective construction is being
rediscovered. There is no single word, no center that decides: there is
a need to reclaim the word. And within this collective word, anarchism
finds space and meaning again. Not as an imposed ideology, but as
concrete practice: solidarity, mutualism, self-management.
Solidarity isn't demanded: it's practiced. It's demonstrated, built,
lived. And when thousands of people move together, without waiting for
anyone's permission, that is direct action. It's the common thread that
ties the Flotilla to those on strike, those who occupy, those who open
social spaces or defend a neighborhood. It's the awareness that no
authority will ever give back what's ours: we must take it together,
with intelligence and determination.
Today, in Italy, there's something akin to hope again. Not naive, not
messianic, but human and concrete. It's the desire for justice that
comes from below and can no longer be ignored. If we can cultivate it,
if we can intertwine our struggles, perhaps this time the wind will not
blow in vain.
Totò Caggese
https://umanitanova.org/il-risveglio-delle-piazze-praticare-solidarieta/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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