Anarchists
Social Anarchism or Lifestyle Anarchism: An Unbridgeable Chasm
by Murray Bookchin
For some two centuries, anarchism -- a very ecumenical body of anti-authoritarian ideas -- developed in the tension between two basically contradictory tendencies: a personalistic commitment to individual autonomy and a collectivist commitment to social freedom. These tendencies have by no means been reconciled in the history of libertarian thought. Indeed, for much of the last century, they simply coexisted within anarchism as a minimalist credo of opposition to the State rather than as a maximalist credo that articulated the kind of new society that had to be created in its place.
Which is not to say that various schools of anarchism did not advocate very specific forms of social organization, albeit often markedly at variance with one another. Essentially, however, anarchism as a whole advanced what Isaiah Berlin has called 'negative freedom,' that is to say, a formal 'freedom from,' rather than a substantive 'freedom to.' Indeed, anarchism often celebrated its commitment to negative freedom as evidence of its own pluralism, ideological tolerance, or creativity -- or even, as more than one recent postmodernist celebrant has argued, its incoherence.
[The historic development of Primitivism, and its popularity in North America, should be of particular concern to all those anarchists who follow the true legacy of the anarchist tradition. The following essay by Brian Oliver Sheppard from 2003 is still the best case against identifying Primitivism with anarchism.]
Read the full text here
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The Demonology of Primitivism: Electricity, Language, and other Modern Evils
Brian Oliver Sheppard
Gar Smith, editor of the Earth Island Institute journal, The Edge, and critic of modem technology, recently complained to journalists, "I have seen villages in Africa that had vibrant culture and great communities that were disrupted and destroyed by the introduction of electricity." He added: "I don't think a lot of electricity is a good thing. It is the fuel that powers a lot of multi-national imagery." When asked why lack of electricity - a hallmark of poverty - ought to be considered advantageous, Smith said, "The idea that people are poor doesn't mean that they are not living good lives." He added, "there is a lot of quality to be had in poverty."
By Chris Crass
Leadership and leadership development can play important roles in moving forward with our commitment to equality in organizations, movements and society. Leadership development, as defined by organizer Dara Silverman, is working with others to build skills, analysis and confidence. Anti-authoritarian organizing, as it relates to this essay, is building the capacity of people and their organizations to challenge illegitimate authority – which includes capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, heterosexism and the state. Anti-authoritarian organizing, like other forms of radical organizing, uses principles of solidarity, cooperation and participatory democracy to build movements for social change. Anti-authoritarian organizing over the past century has helped to advance a politics that challenges the idea that the ends justify the means. The emphasis on empowerment, democratic participation and transparent decision making are based in the strategy that our organizing prefigures the society we’re working to build. Anti-authoritarians generally argue that revolution is a process made through day-to-day struggle rather then one historic moment.
[Or how not to commit yourself to the fight, an "anarchist-moronist" primer- TFGC]
MUNI SOCIAL STRIKEOUT
By Kevin Keating
A critique of our efforts to foment a mass "self-reduction" movement on San Francisco's Muni public transit system.
INTRODUCTION:
In early 2005, bureaucrats in San Francisco's Municipal Transit Authority announced plans for a fare increase and service cuts for Muni, SF's main public transit system. Fares had been hiked in 2003 from $1.00 to $1.25, and the 2005 fare hike, slated to begin Sept.1st, was to be from $1.25 to $1.50. Several dozen bus lines would see drastically reduced service; other lines would be cut altogether. Plans were also announced for mass layoffs of Muni employees, focusing in particular on bus drivers.
In response, a small group of anti-authoritarians initiated an effort aimed at uniting Muni riders and drivers in large-scale action that could spike the attacks.
Brooklyn Agit is a small publishing and distro outfit in Brooklyn, NY.
Please contact me if you'd like this title or any of the titles below.
Titles:
Every Cook Can Govern by CLR James
Anarchism and Revolution in Black Africa by S Halbrook
Organization and Spontaneity by K Mohammed
Self Management and Hierarchy by Castoriadis
The Zapatistas and Peoples Power by Esteva
Notes on Anarchism in North America by Mike Hargis
False Promises: An Indigenous... by Ward Churchill
Anarchism: the Feminist Connection by Peggy Kornegger
1917: The Russian Revolution In Myth And Reality by Laurens Otter
Ron Taber's book A Look at Leninism is a critically important work detailing the ethos and practical applications of Leninism. It is a MUST READ for any student of revolutionary theory and action, on any side of the Leninist debate.
Please send me an email if you'd like a copy (it's currently out of print, although Open City Collective happens to have a box in their basement).
Dec, 2001 NYC
Yellow Overalls Must Rise! (in order to lay down again)
By Mira Jovanovich
MJ: I'm wondering if you can give us a little background on Ya Basta and the yellow overalls, as it has played out here in North America.
TFGC: The New York City Ya Basta! Collective formed just a few weeks after the pictures and stories from the protests in Prague [IMF meetings, Sept 2000] were transmitted across the Atlantic. Like many people inspired by these communications, we were interested in understanding the dynamics of this relatively new and somewhat poetic tactic of civil disobedience, and attempted, as far as possible, to gather intelligence on the efforts of the "tute bianche". We had the fortunate privilege of having an Italian activist as a member of our local collective, one who was more than familiar with the developments of the white overalls and the Ya Basta Association, specifically as things evolved in cities like Milan and Genoa. We received greatly informed reports as developments would happen.
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