Workers Solidarity Movement

“Pacifism simply does not resonate in people’s lives everyday realities, unless those people live in some extravagant bubble of tranquillity from which all forms of civilization’s pandemic reactive violence have been pushed out by the systemic and less violence of police and military forces.”

“Ultimately, nonviolence is created and encouraged by the State, and antithetical to anarchist revolution”

After almost three years of prisoner support activity by various
concerned individuals only, Anarchist Black Cross of Moscow was finally
reorganised as a functioning group last summer, as criminal persecutions
against anarchists in Russia reached their highest level in years.

Porsche has given a bonus to its entire full-time staff. The 11,000 people who actually build cars got €5,200 each. The six person management board, none of whom has ever built a car, awarded themselves a whopping €113 million.

In het laatste nummer van Workers Solidarity (
http://wsm.ie/story/2829) keken we
naar hoe de oorzaken van klimaatverandering diep ingebed zijn in de economische
en sociale structuren die door de weinige rijken worden gecontroleerd. De
toenemende niveaus van kooldioxide en andere opwarmende gassen die in onze
atmosfeer worden gepompt worden in de eerste plaats veroorzaakt door het
kapitalistische model van 'economische groei' en diens begeleidende vormen van
ellende voor miljoenen op de planeet.

In a time of International repression against activists all over the globe, we are calling out for letters of support and solidarity for anarchists arrested and facing severe repression after the G20 economic forum protests of November 2006 in Melbourne, Australia.

Last year a Belfast anarchist travelled to the West Bank to work with the International Solidarity Movement and Palestinians and wrote this report on his impressions of the Palestinian struggle.

In the last issue of Workers Solidarity we looked at how the causes of climate changes are deeply embedded in the economic and social structures controlled by the rich few. The increasing levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being pumped into our atmosphere are primarily caused by the capitalist model of 'economic growth' and its accompanying miseries for millions around the planet.

A running theme of this issue of Red & Black Revolution has been the question of how we as anarchists should orientate ourselves towards the non-revolutionary elements of our class and towards non-revolutionary social struggles. We have suggested that we cannot remain peripheral to our class defending the purity of our ideals, rather we, as anarchists, need to be at the centre of working class social struggles. It is only thus that we can create a movement capable of abolishing class society.

The recently launched Scottish platformist group 'Praxis' offers an example of this type of anarchist activism. They have been deeply involved in trying to develop working class community organistions in Glasgow. Here we ask one of their members a few questions about what they are up to.

Anarchism is today finally emerging out of its long held position as ‘the conscience of the workers’ movement’, as the eternal critic of Leninism and state centred politics. It long took the side of the working class against the Party, a position Lenin mocked when he wrote: “The mere presentation of the question—"dictatorship of the party or dictatorship of the class(1); dictatorship (party) of the leaders, or dictatorship (party) of the masses?"—testifies to most incredibly and hopelessly muddled thinking....to contrast, in general, the dictatorship of the masses with a dictatorship of the leaders is ridiculously absurd, and stupid.”(2) Interestingly this was not written about anarchists, but rather about the position held by a Dutch-German Marxist tendency that was part of the Comintern.  This tendency and others comprise what is known as ‘left-communism’.

Over the weekend of November 24-25, protesters clashed with police in Sucre, Bolivia - they were demanding that the capital of the country be moved to Sucre. Three people died and over some 100 were wounded in the clashes. Yesterday Morales announced plans for a nationwide referendum to resolve a deepening political crisis in the country. A few months ago, two recent works on Bolivia were given a look over for the WSM's Red and Black Revoltuion 13. The review now appears on line for the first time.