Black Tuesday and the 1912 Waihi Strike

On 'Black Tuesday' November 12, 1914, Frederick George Evans became the first worker killed in an industrial dispute in New Zealand. This short film shows the strike and the struggle which lead up to his death, in a hope to share more of New Zealand's militant labour history.

My account of this part of our history doesn't pretend to be objective or unbiased — as they say, you can't be neutral on a moving train. Watch at full screen size to get a better view of the subtitles.

Beyond Resistance: a new collective of class struggle anarchists

After a few local events and discussions, a new anarchist group has formed in Otautahi.

Beyond Resistance is a collective of revolutionary class struggle anarchists in Otautahi/Christchurch, Aotearoa, who have come together in the hope of creating a coherent and organised anarchist presence in our area. Our name reflects our intended approach to struggle — a visible and constructive anarchism that goes beyond mere reaction, both in the workplace and the community.

We are a new collective which hopes to grow and develop over time — through good group process, regular events such as our monthly film nights and forums, our own paper, and most importantly, clear strategy and vision for constructive struggle. Feel free to check out our aims & principles for where we stand, or visit our (very new) website: Beyond Resistance.

Our group strategy will be coming soon (after our first strategy hui), but we recognse that an anarchist position should be that in order to have improvements, it is necessary to struggle. So if we are a fighting organisation, then strategy and tactics must be applied to advance our anarchist positions and in order to build dual power — to take concrete tactical steps which bring us closer to a position of breaking with and destroying the prevailing order. Without a program, we have nothing to offer those wanting to empower themselves through class struggle, and the potential of anarchist input in this struggle, as a result, becomes near to naught.

This is the task in front of us as a small collective wanting to punch above it’s weight. We look forward to this struggle, and hope to build strong relationships with other groups around Aotearoa with similar positions.

If you’re in Otautahi and would like to get involved then please get in touch, or to be informed of local upcoming events (such as the film screening of Lucio this Thursday at the WEA), sign on to the Otautahi anarchist announcement list. We meet every second Thursday at the WEA from 6.30pm, but if you can't make regular meetings and are keen to help out, then you can become a support member with the option of paying dues and being involved in other ways. Again, feel free to get in touch to find out more.

In solidarity!
Beyond Resistance

Email: otautahianarchists (at) gmail.com
Web: http://beyondresistance.wordpress.com/
List: http://lists.anarchism.org.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/otautahi

Emroy Douglas in New Zealand

The former Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party will deliver a public lecture and mount a solo exhibition when he visits New Zealand as the Elam International Artist in Residence at The University of Auckland.

Emory Douglas created the striking graphic images that came to represent the Black Panther Party in the 1960s, '70s and early '80s. The group was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, and was one of the first organisations in US history to militantly struggle for ethnic minority and working class emancipation.

Symbolising the civil unrest of the times, Emory Douglas’ images were used to illustrate the Black Panther, the party’s weekly newspaper. Over the years, the Black Panther’s “Revolutionary Artist” made countless artworks, illustrations, and cartoons, which were reproduced in the paper and distributed as prints, posters, cards and sculptures.

Thanks in large part to Emory Douglas’ powerful visuals the Black Panther Party delivered a forceful message to a community ravaged by poverty, police brutality, and poor living conditions. The organisation was discontinued in the early 1980s.

While in Auckland, Emory Douglas will deliver a public lecture, “Emory Douglas and the Art of Revolution”, about the graphic art he created while Minister of Culture for the Black Panthers. He will also give lectures in New Plymouth, Dunedin and Wellington, where he is being hosted as part of his visit to New Zealand.

He is also the subject of a solo exhibition, “Emory Douglas, Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party”. The show, on display at the Gus Fisher Gallery, will include newspapers, posters, memorabilia and a busy schedule of public programmes.

Emory will also accept a number of community and iwi-based invitations. He will travel to the Ureweras, Taranaki and parts of wider Auckland. As part of their welcome to Emory Douglas, the Polynesian Panthers will host a public concert in his honour. The event will comprise talks, music and other activities.

“What makes this artist residency so significant is the historical ties between the New Zealand Polynesian Panther Party and the American Black Panther Party. Their battles for civil and human rights reflect the fight that Māori today continue their struggle to achieve,” says Emory Douglas, who is making his first visit to New Zealand.

“Emory Douglas is a highly respected artist whose work reflects the power, politics and passion of the causes in which he believes. More than just a glimpse at past political conflicts, Emory Douglas’ art is compelling precisely because of its relevance today. We are delighted to host such a prestigious figure of yesterday’s radical politics and today’s art world,” says Professor Jonathan Mane-Wheoki, Head of Elam School of Fine Arts.

“Emory Douglas and the Art of Revolution” will be delivered at 6.30pm on Monday 24 August in room 1.439, “Glass Box”, Engineering Building, (20 Symonds Street). The lecture and Power Point presentation is free and open to the public.

“Emory Douglas, Minister of Culture, Black Panther Party” will be mounted at the Gus Fisher Gallery (74 Shortland Street) from 21 August – 3 October. For details visit www.gusfishergallery.auckland.ac.nz

Telco workers strike against Telecom

From Indymedia.org.nz: More than a hundred telecommunications engineers in Auckland's North Shore have started lightning strike action to protest moves by Telecom to force them into becoming dependent contractors - a situation that would dramatically decrease their incomes.

The workers are responsible for the North Shore's phone, internet and eftpos provision and say they will strike until Telecom fronts up to them.

EPMU national secretary Andrew Little says the strike action is part of an ongoing national campaign and Telecom can expect more over the next few weeks.

"Our members have had a gutsful of Telecom and its contractors attacking their terms and conditions and are determined to fight back with sporadic strike action around the country over the next few weeks.

"For members in Auckland and Northland the fight is particularly urgent because they've been told they'll be redundant by Telecom contractors Transfield and Downer EDI and picked up as dependent contractors by another Telecom contractor, Visionstream.

"The dependent contracting model represents a serious threat to our members' incomes and their income security and they are determined to refuse to transfer to Visionstream until they have a proper employment offer.

"It's time for Telecom to front up and work with union members to develop long-term and stable employment to ensure a stable future for the telco industry and the New Zealand network.

"We understand that this campaign may result in disruption for members of the public but we have committed to working with Telecom's contractors to ensure emergency services are not affected."

Wednesday's action follows a two-day strike by Downer EDI telco workers in Northland on Monday and Tuesday and national strike action by Transfield workers a week and a half ago.

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Quote of the Week

"So off we went to Atlanta. There was a curious object stuck by means of a suction cup to the glove compartment in front of me, I remember. Coming out of the cup and aimed at my breastbone was what looked like about a foot of green garden hose. At the end of the shaft was a white plastic wheel the size of a dinner plate. Once we got going, the wheel began to hypnotize me, bobbing up and down when we went over bumps, swaying this way and then that way as we went around curves.
So I asked about it. It was a toy steering wheel, it turned out. Lawes had a seven-year-old son he sometimes took with him on trips. The little boy could pretend to be driving the limousine with the plastic wheel. There had been no such toy when my own son was little. Then again, he wouldn't have enjoyed it much. Even at seven, young Walter hated to go anywhere with his mother and me.
I said it was a clever toy.
Lawes said it could be an exciting one too, especially of the person with the real steering wheel was drunk and having close shaves with oncoming trucks and sideswiping parked cars and so on. He said that the President of the United States ought to be given a wheel like that at his inauguration, to remind him and everybody else that all he could do was pretend to steer."

From Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut.

Free hardcore punk anyone?

Although the actual artifact of rare vinyl can never be replicated, thanks to the internet we can a least enjoy the music of those hard-to-find bands. And enjoying them I am! Stumbling upon Nation of Fire last week was simply the tip of the iceberg — there's more free download sites out there than I thought, and that's only in the realm of hardcore punk!

There's too many for me to list, but I thought I'd post links to the sites I found most fruitful:

Nation on Fire: mainly british anarch-punk and UK82 hardcore, with a good links page to other similar sites. Use the search bar top left to save time, or scroll through the recent posts section to find a band.

Punk As Fuck: a Polish blog with both British and international hardcore, punk, thrash and crust, which can be translated using google. Best thing about this site is all the bands are listed alphabetically down the right hand side! Here I found Crucifix, a band I've been looking for for ages, as well as a lot of other bands that I had heard but never had full EP's of. Check out Boston band Seige... fast and mean! The only downside of this site is the .rar host program only allows one download per 15 minutes unless you pay, so it's time consuming, but well worth the wait.

Budda Khan: haven't downloaded a lot here but the links page is huge, which means there's bound to be a lot more downloads via this site.

Bloodjunkies: this is a real gem. This morning I downloaded about 10 US hardcore bands that are quite hard to find on vinyl, including the classic 'This Is Boston Not LA' compilation and bands like MDC, Circle One, Jerry's Kids, Gang Green, Hated Youth, Necros and YDI. Mainly american bands, they're all listed in regions — but use the search bar to find what you're after. Also, the 'next page' button is in another language but often there's more than one page, so check that out too.

A lot of the downloads don't come as MP3's, so you'll need to convert them if you want to listen to them on itunes or your stereo (however if you have VLC Player or other programs you can listen to them on the computer). On Mac I use Switch, which converts .rar files to MP3, and it's free to download. There's a lot more out there though, so just google them.

I think it may be time to start another band while I'm inspired!

Aiding communism via free and rare punk downloads...

Just stumbled upon Nation on Fire, an amazing site which hosts free, downloadable punk from the UK 80's, anarcho and hardcore period (ie the best stuff). I just downloaded the 1985-90 discography of REVULSION! Hundreds more on there too. Check it out!

Images courtesy of New Humorist.

Quote of the Week

"Knowledge is power — but knowledge is useless without the social and economic power to acquire and apply it."

— Charles Weigl in the 2007 introduction to Kropotkin's Conquest of Bread.

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Black Flame: the revolutionary class politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism

Black Flame is now available online as a PDF! Download it here.

Anarchism, as a body of thought, has been misinterpreted, misused and mystified by both those who agree or disagree with it, yet according to the authors of the recently published book Black Flame, despite the wide berth of anarchist ideas some important definitions and distinctions can be made. Using a fresh and thoughtful framework, Black Flame analyses the revolutionary class politics of anarchism and syndicalism, producing a coherent and cohesive overview of tactics, strategies and praxis to both illustrate an anarchist history of struggle and revolution, and to push the current movement forward.

"A good definition is one that highlights the distinguishing features of a given category, does so in a coherent fashion, and is able to differentiate that category from others, thereby organising knowledge as well as enabling effective analysis and research. The usual definition of anarchism fails on all these grounds."

For Schmidt and van der Walt, the usual definition of anarchism, or at least one that is held up by some, is its antistatism. The 'seven sages' of anarchism — Godwin, Stirner, Proudhon, Bakunin, Kropotkin, Tucker and Tolstoy — are generally accepted as developing or influencing anarchist thought. Yet as Black Flame illustrates, while antistatism is a necessary component of anarchist thought, the grouping of these loose figures and their ideas are "simply too vague to really distinguish anarchism from other bodies of thought and action, resulting in anarchism being defined so loosely that it is not clear what should be included and what should not, and why some things are included and others are not".

Instead, Black Flame uses a framework identifying anarchism as a result of specific socialist and working class praxis developed in the 1860's and the realm of the First International, and firmly placed in the tradition of revolutionary class struggle: "It is our view that the term anarchism should be reserved for a particular rationalist and revolutionary form of libertarian socialism that emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century". The argument that anarchism can be traced back into antiquity or is a natural or universal aspect of society or the psyche is disputed and convincingly disproved: "not only is it the case that anarchism did not exist in the premodern world, it is also the case that it could not have, for it is rooted in the social and intellectual revolutions of the modern world."

"Anarchism was against social and economic hierarchy as well as inequality — and specifically, capitalism, landlordism, and the state — and in favour of international class struggle and revolution from below by a self-organised working class and peasantry in order to create a self-managed, socialist, stateless social order. In this new order, individual freedom would be harmonsised with communal obligations through co-operation, democratic decision making, and social and economic equality, and economic coordination would take place through federal forms."

Having established their framework, named in the book as the 'broad anarchist tradition,' Black Flame goes on to re-examine anarchist ideas, its relationship with technology, classical Marxism, syndicalist struggles and tactics, organisation, unions, the IWW, and race and gender — and portrays an internationalism refreshingly void of the narrow focus on Western sources. This 'broad anarchist tradition' enables the authors to critique past definitions:

"it follows that commonly used categories such as 'philosophical anarchism', 'individualist anarchism', 'spiritual anarchism', or 'lifestyle anarchism' fall away. Because the ideas designated by these names are not part of the anarchist tradition, their categorisation of variants of anarchism is misleading and arises from a misunderstanding of anarchism. Likewise, adding the rider 'class struggle' or 'social' to the word anarchist implies that there are anarchist who do not favour class struggle or who are individualists, neither of which is an accurate usage."

Many agree with the framework and resulting definitions used in the book (myself included). Black Flame has sparked some very positive discussion since it was published earlier this year (see any anarchist forum or Wayne Price's review), and of course, disagreement from the 'post-left anarchists' and 'anarcho-primitivists', who, as a result of the book's framework, fall into the traditions of Stirner, individualists, or other thinkers outside of the 'broad anarchist tradition'.

Definitions aside, Black Flame is a truely valuable and practical book, with something to offer both the newbie to anarchist thought, or those looking to further their own previous understandings.

Salt of the Earth: film screening

You are warmly invited to the screening of...



SALT OF THE EARTH
Come and see the only film ever blacklisted by the US government!

Join us for a film on feminism, class struggle and community way ahead of its time! Based on a 1950 strike by zinc miners in Silver City, New Mexico and against the backdrop of McCarthyism, Salt of the Earth uses the real protagonists of the strike to re-tell their own story. During the course of the strike, the unionists and their wives find their roles reversed — an injunction against the male strikers moves the women to take over the picket line — confronting the company and their own husbands in the process, and evolving from male subordinates into their allies and equals.

Salt of the Earth is a powerful and emotionally charged feature length film. It was banned by the US government and is remarkable, not just because of the fact that the producers used only five cast members who were professional actors — the rest were locals from Grant County, New Mexico, or members of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers, Local 890 (many of whom were part of an actual strike that inspired the story) — but because of its pro-feminist and anti-patriarchy themes years before the civil rights movement and 60's wave of feminism.

Food, drinks and childcare will be provided on the night, so come down and join your local anarchists for a night of film and fun!

Thursday 30 July, 6.30pm.
WEA (59 Gloucester Street), Otautahi/Christchurch.
Entry by Koha/donation.

Film length:
1 hour 30 minutes.

For more information contact:
otautahianarchists@gmail.com

See you then!

RIVET 4 — The 'Art' Issue

Garage Collective presents the fourth and final installment of RIVET, with a special focus on ideas around 'art'. Filled with the usual graphics, quotes and opinion you'd expect from someone with complete control of the production process... download here.

There has been a lot of great debate around concepts of artistic practice and consumption over the last couple of months, and while the original concept for RIVET 4 was to validate the use of artistic praxis in struggle, it's turned into a sort of reader of anti-art ideas. While some have thought these ideas were purely mine, RIVET 4 shows that there is a wide tradition of thought that I merely plundered (often to my detriment).

So I hope you enjoy the readings and ideas put forward within. The publishing of RIVET 4 marks the laying to rest of these topics on my behalf as I look to put the ideas herein into practice.

Contents:
LICK MY ART HOLE: THE RIVET GUIDE TO ART — Jared Davidson.
THE SCREAM — Edvard Munch.
THE TERM ART — Stewart Home.
FRANK MASEREEL — The City.
DESTROY THE UNIVERSITIES — Karen Elliot.
ART: WHATALOADA CRAP! — Karen Elliot.
THE WHOLE ART THING — Clifford Harper.
FRANS MASEREEL — The City.
THIS IS NOT A MANIFESTO — Jared Davidson.
NO GODS, NO MASTERS, NO ART STARS — Magpie.
LOLA RIDGE: THE POETRY OF ACTIVISM — Mark Derby.
RED FEDS: CELEBRATE PEOPLE’S HISTORY — Garage Collective.
ADBUSTERS/CAPITALISMO/BLACK MASK #4 — Jared Davidson.
MAIL ART — Stewart Home.
FRANS MASEREEL — The City.
DO-IT-OURSELVES: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHERRY BOMB COMICS — Jared Davidson/Cherry Bomb.
ART AS DIALOUGE: MORE DIALOGUE ON ART — Rivet Rhetoric and Replies.
SMILE/NEOISM — Art Press Review. ART STRIKE 1990-1993 — Scott Macleod/Karen Elliot.
YAWN #7/JERRY DREVA — Jared Davidson.
BLACK MASK #1/CULTURE AND REVOLUTION — Black Mask.
GIVE UP ART/SAVE THE STARVING — Tony Lowe.

RIVET, 2007 - 2009. RIP.

Monty Python and Anarcho-Syndicalism

Grassroots Unionism in the Workplace

From Notes on the Swedish Workers' Movement

Finally got the translation of this text finished – there remains some idiosyncracies in structure that we have left from the Swedish text, but we have altered some of the terms to make it understandable to an Anglo audience. I’m really pleased we got it done, it’s a really good text. The author is describing how she applies a grassroots unionism style to organising within a mainstream trade union and brings up some really interesting points – I particularly liked the criticism of ‘the union world’ (something that I think applies to mainstream and syndicalist unions alike), and the discussion of voting and organising with the whole workforce rather than just the ‘most advanced’ workers.

Working conditions are getting worse and attacks on workers similar to what we on Bagarn (the Baker) had to go through in 1995 are nothing unique, on the contrary. And surely there are others fighting against it. But what is heard most of all is that nothing can be done, that such are the times. But it is that kind of spirit which creates such times!

How come we took the struggle and won the way we did?
I think the answer lays in the form of unionism that our club uses. Maybe we would have reacted and risen up against the harsh attacks, even without organizing in that way. But would we have been able to resist the threats for such a long time? Would we who negotiated trust the members to keep going? Would the members have confidence in us struggling on? I honestly don’t think so. We needed all the experience and all the methods we had gotten during several years.

The most important experience we have is that you have to dare to trust in the members.
We at Bagarn are just as fuzzy, slow, bickering and impossible as all workers are – and together we have the same enormous strength that all other workers have. When we who lead the local union have had confidence in that strength, we have succeeded. When we have missed out on it, forgotten or not had courage to address the members, we’ve fucked up. We had enough experiences of both success and failures to handle a stretched-out struggle.

We gained those experiences during the years we have tried to develop a struggling, independent union ruled by the members.
Our method and our goal is that people should be active, in movement – that is grassroots unionism! The people should take the decisions and the people should act. The ideas we develop should come out of this movement. The organisation should be set in movement, going from experience to experience, from worker to worker, from members to the elected representatives and back again.

Inform the members about everything – speak clearly
We do this, amongst other channels of communication, through our info-paper Livstecken (Life-sign). It’s a simple A4-paper handed out to all members where we try to inform everyone about what’s going on.

Ask, don’t guess, what the members think that the club should be doing.
We use members-referendums, surveys and meetings where we discuss a single issue. When we develop our demands and suggestions, we often run them through a cycle of meeting, survey, meeting and referendum. If the company makes a move or comes with a suggestion, then we have to reach our members to the same extent, and ask them what they think about the company’s latest move and how the club should act. Each time we have thought that we could skip this step, we have overlooked something important – and let our members down. Not another referendum! Our colleagues sigh sometimes. But it’s better that they complain about us nagging on them, than us not asking them. We would rather ask to often than to seldom. And it is right to put demand on the members, to show them that everything depends on them. That it is a strength for the club to have a members-decision to back it up, and to vote about the deals with the company, probably doesn’t need to be explained.

We don’t just ask what demands and suggestions our members have, but also how important the different demands are. If you ask – what do you want?, you easily get a bunch of tough suggestions. But you also have to ask – are you prepared to fight for it? What does this mean for the company, what will their countermove be? And then what, how far are we willing to go?
Questions like that can make the members soften up their demands – but we make people aware of the fact that we aren’t getting anything else than what we are prepared to fight for!

Don’t underestimate the members!
It’s absolutely fundamental to speak with everyone, to build from the grassroots, and to avoid building a group out of likeminded people or the ones with ‘the highest revolutionary awareness’. If you only focus on those forming ‘the front’ and race away with them, you’ll be stretching the workers-collective out like a rubberband. It will break or lash back.
But if you succeed in getting those who are at ‘the back’ of the workers-collective to get moving, they will push everyone else in front of them! We assume that all members can take responsibility for their colleagues and the club after their own conditions/prerequisites. During some years, we tried that idea out by appointing each and every member to the role of contact-person (contact agent, contact proxy, contact-ombudsman?). They took turns of one month each to be representative for a group of 12 members. Everyone took on the task, even those who said they would never take on a union assignment – when the assignment was something that everyone took turns doing, their attitude changed.
But getting the time to gather and discuss with the ‘contact-person of the month’ turned out to be too hard, because of all our different working-hours.

That meant that what they were able to do as contact persons was quite limited, and they ended up mostly just distributing Livstecken (the union paper mentioned above). We gave up on our trial. But it wasn’t because of the members, but because we failed to adapt the organisation to the members real capacity!

When in negotiations – bring the people whom it concerns
When we negotiate we are much better off bringing people who know all the details of the issue from their own experiences. Then, we add experienced negotiators from the board of the local union and that gives us the best results. We also show that the union is the members organisation. And being a part of the negotiations is the best school for future elected representatives – which is all of our members!

Return to the members when things go badly
In union education we are taught how to go to the ombudsman and to central negotiations. And yes, it does happen that we take things to a central level, and we have taken up conflicts in the labor court a couple of times, but that’s not what’s important. When we say that we go to higher court, we mean the members. Thats what we’re supposed to do in any situation where we’re in doubt on how to act – if negotiations grind to a halt, we’re supposed to report back to our members and ask – Are we gonna back off? Or stand our ground? What are you prepared for?

Use all proposals and initiatives, including criticism.
This should be obvious. But you have to remember this when you’re all busy with what’s already going on, and the members propose something. But you have to remember that there’s always a reason for criticism, so be glad that you get to hear it – if you don’t it’s still there, but growing without any dialogue.

Encourage opposition and discussion in the club
Unity makes us strong. Try to decide what you want and fight for it together. That’s something we tell our members a lot. But to get a solid unity, it’s essential to have a free discussion where nothing is taken for granted. We almost always use anonymous voting regarding both big and small question. Sometimes members say that they think it unnecessary to write ballots, since we already know what we think. But using anonymous votes is a way of telling each and every member that we want to know what they think. In anonymous voting you can’t listen half-heartedly to the discussions and vote like your buddy or the chairman. You have to think for yourself.

When we count votes, we often find that one or some have voted differently than the majority – even if we have seemed to agree in the discussions. That’s an important reminder that there are many different opinions, and that we should always bring that to the surface and into the debate. Imagine a meeting where a member argues for an opinion that is deviant from the opinion of the majority. The member is talked and voted down. Maybe he feels stupid after this, and won’t have the courage to say something unpopular again. We try to fight that effect. When we make a discussion, we applause – for the minority. We underline that everyone who comes with proposals and participate in our discussions and debates are coming with very important input for the club.

A lot of times, we reach new conclusions and decisions, because of the discussions we’ve had. With time,we might be shown that the minority was right.

Avoid being sucked into the ‘union-world’
We sometimes talk about ‘pacifying union-courses’. That might sound provocative – knowledge is power, the saying goes. So can education really be pacifying? Yes, if you go to a bunch of union-courses where you aren’t taught to trust your members and use grassroots unionism, then you are learning something else. This something else might be the union-world that exists in it self and for it self – courses, tools, socializing with other representatives, the party.

‘The union’ becomes something you take a trip to, not the slow work back at your home-club with your grumpy colleagues. If that happens,you’re fucked! The union-world must never be confused with union-struggle. Union-struggle is something you do with your colleagues, nothing else. Everything else is just frills. And those frills might grow into an air-castle if you haven’t built a basis at work.

To sum it up – we’re trying to make the union into an organisation for struggle
This doesn’t mean struggles and strikes every day, but fighting together for our interests. We don’t ask our colleagues about their political opinions. We take it for granted that since we work together and share the same conditions, we have common interests and will fight together. And when we have faith in peoples common interests and common sense, that’s almost always the way it ends up. It’s with that faith and trust for each other you win struggles. That is what you could proudly call unity on the basis of class-struggle! It might sound as if we’re sitting on high horses, but this is really simple things – it’s bread and solidarty!

— Frances Tuuloskorpi 1996

Reading the Maps to a place stuck on replay...

Scott Hamilton over at the acclaimed 'Reading The Maps' blog has indulged in another swipe at opinion not suited to his own — in this case, mine. Now that's fine, dialogue on ideas is welcomed. But to include a two line attack on an old debate in every second post, without any kind of recourse to meaningful dialogue, is getting tiresome. Obviously Scott feels challenged by my position, if so, that's fine. It's hard to deconstruct one's privilege.

I feel like I've moved on from those discussions, but obviously the knee jerks are still lingering in the Hamilton household. Scott, I'm sincerely apologetic that my humble opinion may have dented your authority on all things cultural. I will abstain from having any kind of radical perspective on the current consumer culture we live in, and leave art to those in the know.

I re-post below a link to what (I thought) were final thoughts from about two months ago, for the sake of Scott.
garagecollective.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-as-dialogue-more-dialogue-about-art.html

I also post my comment from his blog:

Scott, you really need to let it go my friend... not only do you still not understand the perspective I was putting forward at the time (ie not simply to give up art, but to open art up to everyone and to everyday intent) but your diggs at me personally are no better than the rhetoric you so deplore.

Again, I've repeatedly given you my email to have a chat, and I will do so again (you may find I'm not the raving 'activist' you make me out to be).

garage.collective (at) gmail.com

Enough on art. And enough with the cheap shots.

Pierre Besnard: Anarcho-Syndicalism and Anarchism

Great historical document on the relationship between anarchist communist groups and anarcho-syndicalism. Apart from the super patriarchal language, the messages of this text are still relevant today.

Pierre Besnard: Anarcho-Syndicalism and Anarchism

I. What is Revolutionary Anarchism?

Revolutionary Anarchism is a movement whose doctrine is designed to institute an individual and collective existence from which the State, Government and Authority will be barred.

Incontrovertibly, the foundation of that society will be man.

So Anarchism is the affirmation of an ongoing social demand in the here-and-now and into the infinite future, into the indefinite future.

It implies an economic, administrative and social project and has to begin right now…

Historically, Revolutionary Anarchism is the third branch of traditional socialism.

By contrast with the other two branches, Socialism and Communism — both of them political, authoritarian and statist — it is a-political, anti-parliamentary and anti-statist.

Its essential feature is freedom in a context of accountability, individual and collective alike.

Its chief tasks at present are: propaganda, popularization and social education of the labouring masses today and, tomorrow, the administration of society.


II. What is Anarcho-Syndicalism?

Anarcho-Syndicalism is an organizational and organized movement. It draws its doctrine form Anarchism and its organizational format from Revolutionary Syndicalism.

It is the contemporary expression of the anarchist doctrine as regards matters economic and social.

In terms of the revolution, it is also, as the Spanish experience itself has demonstrated, the essential agent of realization.

At the world level, it is represented by the IWA and its National Centres.

Its doctrine has been defined by the founding Congress of the 2nd IWA (25-31 December 1922 [Anarchism, Volume 1, Selection 114]), by succeeding congresses, and by the works and writings of its militants.

In Spain, the CNT stands for the Anarcho-Syndicalism of the IWA.

Practically and no less historically, Anarcho-Syndicalism is the organizational format assumed by Anarchy for the purposes of the fight against capitalism. It is fundamentally at odds with political and reformist trade unionism.

Anarcho-Syndicalism’s substitution of the idea of Class for the notion of Party makes it an essential tool for workers obliged to defend their living conditions in their preparation for economic and social liberation.

The Anarcho-Syndicalist movement makes possible a yoking together of action in pursuit of day-to-day demands and the loftiest aspirations of the workers.

It achieves an amalgamation of the two in terms of material, moral, short-term and future interests.

Out of a commonality of interests, it brings forth an identity of aims and, as a logical and natural consequence, a reconciliation of doctrines.


Anarcho-Syndicalism: a movement of trial and error

Like any truly social doctrine, Anarcho-Syndicalism is essentially a matter of trial and error.

Proof of this is the fact that, today, in Spain, its doctrine, having been consecrated and confirmed by the facts, is achievable in the short-term.

Based on trial and error? Just like every social movement and all the sciences.

In sociology as in physics or chemistry or mechanics, the idea springs from the act and returns to it.

The fact always predates the idea and conjures up the doctrine, the philosophy from which the realization is to sprout.

The doctrine, the idea, the yearning for further experiment as a means to the end, follow from the phenomena recorded which give rise to laws acknowledged by all and authenticated by experience.


Historical Comments

Down through the ages, what has social experience in every country and in the modern world in particular taught us?

1. That within their own class, individuals are more and more sure to band together on the firm ground of their interests.

2. That antagonistic classes seek, through elimination of their own contradictions, to realize their common interest; capitalistsby means of the establishment of state capitalism, of which fascism is the most distinct expression; the workers, throughexpropriation of capital, abolition of wage slavery, abolition of the state and establishment of libertarian communism.

3. That, like their adversaries — and unfortunately, after them — workers try to achieve unity and a pooling of all their resources, because they have come to realize, at last, that the crucial battles taking place require methodical organization, coordination and massive, orderly deployment of these forces; because they have learnt the lesson taught by facts and experience, which plainly indicates that action should be well-prepared, direct, widespread and synchronized.

4. That the age of political revolutions is over; that everywhere the social revolution has come into its own; that no specially class-based, proletarian party or group can, by opposing the disparate interests of its heterogeneous membership, serve as a revolutionary spearhead, a class organization; that, whereas an employer might profess to be a socialist, communist or anarchist — they exist – and while he might see eye to eye withhis worker ideologically within the group, he in fact has no class interest in common with him, once they both return to the factory, yard, workshop, office, etc. In real life, they are and remain: in the case of one, an employer, and, in the case of the other, a worker, with all of the antagonisms that their circumstances imply.

5. That the only genuinely class group with the potential, by virtue of its name, power and the resources at its disposal — which it alone can set in motion — simultaneously to destroy capitalism and make a reality of libertarian communism, is theTrade Union. Even now it brings manual, technical and scientific operatives together organizationally — and this is something it will take further tomorrow — ensuring that the life of society is sustained throughout. The Trade Union is also the typical grouping, the free and concrete model of association that can furnish libertarian communist society with the sound economic foundations vital to the new order that will spring from the revolution.


Revolutionary Anarchism and Anarcho-Syndicalism Share a Common Objective

The IWA Charter has extracted from all these historical considerations that which is common to all of the world’s anarcho-syndicalists. In concert with the FAI, the CNT is even now striving to put this into effect.

This notion does not at all imply that anarcho-syndicalism — which is, remember, against the State and federalist — means and aims to be everything and that nothing else should exist alongside it.

Instead, anarcho-syndicalism is of the view that men, while they cannot refrain from producing in order to survive, ought not to have production as their sole aim. It very candidly admits and has no hesitation in announcing that man has and rightly should have other aspirations — the highest ones at that — toward the good, the beautiful, the better, and this in every realm to which his faculties afford him access; that administrative and social agencies are called for equal to all the demands of a full, rounded, complete life, operating with the enlightened assistance and under the watchful, constant and unrelenting supervision of all.

It accepts without question that individuals are entitled — or rather, have a duty — to administer themselves. It formally invites them to do just that, right here and now.

Likewise, it fervently wants communes to federate on a regional basis, confederate with one another nationwide and for the confederations to link arms internationally, after the pattern of the unions and the CGT [Confédération Générale du Travail].

It is even convinced that this is crucial and it stands ready to add its efforts and the efforts of its trade unions to the efforts of individuals operating as such and to the efforts of the federated, confederated and combined communes in making a reality of that genuine libertarian communism which cannot but be anarchism’s handiwork…

Of necessity, agreement between anarcho-syndicalists and anarcho-communists on libertarian communism as the objective is complete, permanent and absolute.

So it is clear and self-evident that the place of the workers, the exploited of whatever sort, whose ideal is anarcho-communism, cannot be other than in the anarcho-syndicalist unions and nowhere else.

Their doctrine makes this an imperious, specific and ineluctable duty.

Moreover, it is their best practical means of actually achieving that unity of action so necessary for the modern revolutionary anarchist movement.

It is only in action and through action that anarchists will discover their real unity of thought; that the anarcho-syndicalist movement, out of kilter for the past 30 years, will also rediscover its equilibrium and its vigour; that all anarchists will at last come to look upon the social revolution as an imminent event and a feasible proposition.


The Role of the Anarchist Groups and the Unions

All of the above leads naturally and logically to consideration of the role of the anarchist groups and the trade unions.

Anarcho-syndicalists have no difficulty in agreeing that anarcho-communist groups, being more mobile than the trade union organizations, should go prospecting among the labouring masses; that they should seek out recruits and temper militants; that they should carry out active propaganda and intensive pioneering work with an eye to winning the greatest possible number of workers hitherto deceived and gulled by all the political parties, without exception, over to their side and thus to the anarcho-syndicalist trade unions.

This wholly ideological undertaking, this psychological-typepropaganda drive falls, without question, within the purview of the anarcho-communist groups, on the express condition that they identify with the work of the anarcho-syndicalist trade unions which they complement and reinforce, for the greater good of libertarian communism.

But let me state bluntly that the decision-making responsibility, action and supervision of the latter should reside in the here-and-now with the trade unions as the executive agents and operatives carrying out revolutionary tasks.

I am also of the opinion that it is incumbent upon these unions to prepare all such undertakings of an economic, defensive or offensive order.

Finally, in my view, the economic, administrative and social system ought to be homogeneous, harmonious, etc., and the basis of that system, if it is to be real, sound and lasting, cannot but be economic.

On behalf of the trade unions, I claim the right to handle revolutionary and post-revolutionary economic tasks becausethe organization of production is the true calling of the workers.

On the other hand, logic dictates that the communes, administrative agencies and their technical and social services, should handle distribution of goods: interpreting the wishes of men in social terms, organizing life in all its manifestations.Starting right now, the anarchist groups have a duty to lay the groundwork for these revolutionary accomplishments.

The task of every one of these bodies is therefore extremely clear-cut and perfectly defined. Broadly speaking, it will be enough to welcome everyone‘s acting and making an effort in every sphere of activity, depending on the individual’s actual abilities.

At no time, and let me offer you the most formal guarantees here, at no point will the anarcho-syndicalist trade unions be able to constitute an obstacle to the onward march of revolutionary communism.

And at no point, either, will they be able to turn reformist, because they are and will remain revolutionary, federalist and anti-statist, because, like the anarcho-communist groups, their purpose is to establish libertarian communism.

To conclude this part of my address, let me affirm:

1. The anarcho-syndicalist movement cannot deviate, because of the close and unrelenting supervision exercised over its organizations and militants.

2. That, in current terms, in the realm of revolution, the anarcho-syndicalist movement represents the means whereby libertarian communism can be achieved. That it is up to the anarcho-communist groups, operating exclusively on ideological terrain, to take propaganda as far as it will go.

3. That the anarcho-communist movement should concern itself primarily with propaganda and education tasks: the study of society and the popularization thereof.

4. That the best ongoing contact achievable will be achieved, as in Spain, through the unrestricted recruitment into the anarcho-syndicalist trade unions charged with preparing for and carrying out action (they being the only ones capable of bringing this to a successful conclusion, having the requisite membership and resources) of all anarcho-communists in every country; that anarcho-syndicalism’s trial-and-error doctrine, which is the doctrine of anarchism itself, is sound and solid enough not to incur the risk of any infringement, attenuation or deviation.

5. That anarcho-communism, the real face of socialism, was spawned by the utter inadequacy of all the political parties; that anarcho-syndicalism, that movement’s modern, active form, deriving from anarchism, currently caters to all of the positive tasks of anarcho-communism and paves the way for libertarian communism, of which it will be the chief midwife; that anarcho-communism’s tasks — like anarcho-syndicalism’s tasks — will be accomplished in the post-revolutionary period when men, due to the evolution and development of their capacity for understanding, will be capable of acceding to free communism, anarchy’s goal.

In short, anarcho-syndicalism is the force required for the struggle under the existing regime and the agent of the economic construction of libertarian communism in the post-revolutionary period.

Anarchism assists the anarcho-syndicalist movement, without supplanting it.

The activities of its militants blend in with those of anarcho-syndicalist militants within the trade unions.

The two movements therefore owe each other ongoing mutual aid.

And later, come the peace, harmony and concord, anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism, amalgamating into a single movement, will pursue the achievement of libertarian communism, anarchy’s ultimate aim.

Anarcho-syndicalism’s most pressing task today is to organize the workers under its aegis with an eye to the decisive battle against capitalism; to make technical preparations for that battle, to bind the forces of production together for the revolutionary construction of the libertarian communist order; and, tomorrow, to organize the economy until such time as free communism is established; and finally, to defend the revolution.

That of revolutionary anarchism consists of deploying all of the resources at its disposal to help bring this about.


Relationship between Anarchism and Anarcho-syndicalism

Self-evidently, there must be a relationship between anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism, nationally as well as at the international level. Moreover, the IWA, at its founding congress, anticipated just such an eventuality.

Relations between them should be founded upon each movement’s independence and autonomy of the other and they must remain on a footing of the completest equality.

Besides the cross-fertilization of the two movements through the actions of their militants, it is to be wished that in every locality, region and country, contacts may be established between anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist organizations.

If these relations are to be fruitful and lasting, they will have to rest on the groundwork of mutual toleration, facilitated by doctrinal common ground in every realm and a precise understanding of the tasks incumbent upon the two movements…

But those relations can only be established on two conditions:

1. Anarchists in each country be of one mind, doctrinally.

2. The unification of the anarchist groupings within each country on the basis of a single doctrine of revolutionary anarchism.


General Conclusions

Whatever the wishes of Congress and of the IWA may be with regard to practical realization of these relations, they can only achieve this, as circumstances require that they do, if those two conditions are met beforehand by the anarchist movements in each country.

It would have been infinitely preferable, as well as consistent with our known principles, namely, federalist principles, had that doctrinal unity and unification of anarchist forces taken place prior to the meeting of the Congress that is due to give birth to the Anarchist International.

On behalf of the anarcho-syndicalists who achieved that double objective through the launching of the present IWA back in 1922, I call upon all our revolutionary anarchist comrades to follow suit.

If they all agree, the International that emerges from this Congress will deserve the title with which they will surely endow it and which cannot be other than: The Revolutionary Anarchist International — and I say again — they will accomplish this without a hitch.

It is sufficient but it is necessary that they all agree to break once and for all with the so-called forces of democracy, be they political or trade unionist; that they affirm that revolutionary anarchism, by dint of its goals, its methodology and its doctrine,has nothing and can have nothing in common with these so-called “democratic” forces which are, in every country, capitalism’s finest servants.

If, taking this to its limits, the revolutionary anarchist movement also breaks with all of the dissenters from the authoritarian political parties who, like their parties of origin, have but one ambition — to seize or to seize back power – the revolutionary anarchist movement and the anarcho-syndicalist movement will be able to stride fearlessly and in step toward their common goal: revolutionary social change through the establishment of libertarian communism, a necessary step along the road to free communism.

Pierre Besnard, IWA General Secretary
May 30, 1937