This is a lightly edited transcription of a talk given by Prof. Lucien van der Walt on a panel on the eve of the 2019 national elections in South Africa: the International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG)/ Workers World Media Productions (WWMP) Public Forum, Isivivana Centre, Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa 25 April. read full story / add a comment

Kritik ist ein Geschenk. Üblicherweise ist aber gerade dieses spezielle Präsent ein wenig lieblos verpackt, weswegen es dann auch so ungern entgegengenommen wird. read full story / add a comment

Salud!
Mit diesem Schriftstück haltet ihr unseren ersten öffentlichen Text (24 Seiten) in den Händen, das Startsignal für unsere Organisierung, den Anfang des Aufbaus einer neuen anarchokommunistischen Organisation für den deutschsprachigen Raum.

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The YPG/YPJ have also held the dictatorship at bay (and they have brought a relative stability to this region of Syria). But what deserves our respect is not simply their military prowess, but rather the type of society which they seek to create in liberated areas. They hold socialist tendencies, but what sets them apart is their desire to organize their world according to directly democratic means; something like a secular, decentralized, Town Meeting system where all the people have an actual voice and an unabstracted vote concerning the issues that face them as a people and as a community. Here they take political influence from the anarchist Vermont sociologist Murray Bookchin. Their vision, similar to that espoused by the EZLN & the Zapatistas (Chiapas, Mexico), is as far reaching as that which was dreamed of on CNT/FAI barricades in Spain from 1936-1939. Their fight has parallels to Mahkno and his brigades in the Ukraine in 1919. They do not fight for an ethic Kurdish state, but rather for a new social formation whereby the individual and the community collectively control the world in which they live. Their dreams, perhaps, are not dissimilar those who manned the walls of the Paris in 1871. And to this very point in time, remarkably, they have been winning.
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The so-called Syrian Civil War is Syrian in name only. It has seen combatants from scores of countries flooding into the jihadist fanatic armies, while Israel, Turkey, the US, France, the UK, Iran, Russia, the Arab monarchies, they all have meddled, bombarded, funded their own armed proxies and contributed in many ways to destroy the country. Syria is a shame on humanity, seen by everyone as an opportunity to flex their muscles and test each other’s red lines, limits and capacities. And we’ve been surprised to see the Russian emperor come out absolutely naked in this power-game. read full story / add a comment

La presente coyuntura electoral ha ofrecido un circo con más ingredientes que en años anteriores, pues no solo el centro de atención ha sido la “legitimidad” de la participación política de la insurgencia mencionada (en su recién fundado partido político), sino que las funciones incluyen también el terror “castrochavista”, que ha venido siendo difundido en los discursos de la derecha criolla con el acólito de los medios de comunicación, argumentando un futuro económico y social “deficiente” a la venezolana. Lo cierto, es que el escenario de crisis no es exclusivo del país vecino pues “Colombia es el segundo país del mundo con más desplazados internos: 6,5 millones”[1], así como “en desigualdad (económica) pasa del puesto 11 a ser el octavo más desigual, entre los 141 países (informe del año 2017)”[2]. Cuestión que no termina allí, ya que si nos detenemos en el sistema de salud, educación o vivienda como tal, no pararíamos de mencionar tristezas y miserias para la gente de a pie, pues es bien sabido que las clases oprimidas somos quienes más llevamos del bulto con este sistema económico-social, sin embargo, no caemos -y esperamos no lo malinterpreten- en la visión del Estado de bienestar para las clases explotadas, o mejor dicho, no estamos pidiendo migajas a las instituciones del Estado ni nada que se parezca, nuestras apreciaciones parten de la crítica a la democracia burguesa y sus contradicciones. read full story / add a comment

An overview of the important links and differences that exist between anarchism and marxism. read full story / add a comment

Contribución a un debate sobre evaluaciones y perspectivas para el movimiento anarquista ibérico planteado desde ALB. read full story / add a comment

Publicado en Ekintza Zuzena #43. read full story / add a comment

Dal maggio del 1992 alla fine del 1993, l’Italia è insanguinata da una decina di attentati firmati dal gruppo terroristico che si fa chiamare “Falange Armata”. Sono numerosi i morti che provocano in tutto il paese. read full story / add a comment

This text is a commentary of the contribution of Wayne Price recently published on anarkismo.net, « The First International and the Development of Anarchism and Marxism » (http://www.anarkismo.net/article/30330)
Wayne made a review of my book (among others) : "Social Democracy and Anarchism in the International Workers' Association 1864-1877" (Trans. A.W. Zurbrug.) London: Anarres Editions. read full story / add a comment

In this article, we respond to the brief exchange between the Workers’ Solidarity Alliance (WSA-IWA) and the Center for a Stateless Society (C4SS). read full story / add a comment

Murray Bookchin è stato un prolifico autore ed un influente teorico anarchico. Recentemente il suo lavoro è tornato alla ribalta. Se da un lato si possono apprezzare i suoi significativi contributi, dall'altro egli commise un grave errore nel rifiutare il ruolo della classe lavoratrice quale importante componente all'interno della rivoluzione anarchica. In questo articolo si mette a fuoco il percorso teorico di Bookchin al riguardo e -di converso- si dimostra come la classe lavoratrice debba essere considerata quale forza decisiva perchè la rivoluzione anarchica abbia successo. read full story / add a comment

As the civil war in Syria continues, in the territory of Rojava – in Kurdish, 'the West' – the northern Syrian Kurdish political movement is attempting to implement 'libertarian municipalism', based on the thoughts of United States (US) anarchist Murray Bookchin. Since the withdrawal of Syrian regime forces in 2012, the movement has consolidated significant territorial gains as a US ally in the anti-Islamic State (IS) struggle, while simultaneously securing Russian support. Viewed with suspicion by Turkey, Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan, the geopolitical conditions of Rojava's emergence are its greatest impediment. This article analyses Rojava's model of rule and socioeconomic development, and its theory and practice in the context of the civil war, and regional Middle Eastern and wider global geopolitics. It reflects on Rojava's place and meaning for contemporary geopolitics in the Middle East, and considers the territory's prospects, discussing its transformative potential for an otherwise troubled region. read full story / add a comment

Historicamente temos formas de análise conjuntural anarquista a problemas complexos que envolvem as movimentações dos de cima. Mas se todos os governos são iguais, para que faz análise de conjuntura? Substitui-se assim, a análise de conjuntura por meia dúzia de jargões e se tem o problema, como falsamente resolvido. O resultado é pobre, do ponto de vista analítico e pior, convence muito mal read full story / add a comment

Che cosa imparano i bambini guardando Peppa Pig? Ma, soprattutto, che cosa vogliono insegnare gli adulti ai bambini che guardano Peppa Pig? Quale modello di animalità, di umanità, di famiglia, di società vogliono rappresentare? read full story / add a comment

On February 2016, the Weekly Worker, website of the Communist Party of Great-Britain, published a (hostile) review of René Berthier’s book: « Social-Democracy & Anarchism » (Merlin Press). (http://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1094/bakuninist-hatche...-job/)
This review, titled « Bakuninist hatchet job », was written by Mike Macnair and was an answer to Berthier’s book as well as to Dave Douglass’ (friendly) review (http://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1086/when-marx-was-a-r...mist/).
This is Berthier’s reply to Mike Macnair. read full story / add a comment

Vive y no esconde el bárbaro sus tenazas de hierro
y el verdugo y la silla, y el g-man y el encierro.
Monstruo de dos cabezas bien norteamericano,
una mitad demócrata, otra republicano;
monstruo de dos cabezas, mas ninguna con seso
no importa que nos hable de alianza y de progreso[1] read full story / add a comment

Murray Bookchin was an influential and prolific writer and thinker on anarchism. Recently his work has been in the news. While he made significant contributions, he made a major error in rejecting the working class as important for an anarchist revolution. This article reviews why he believed this and why, on the contrary, the working class must be a major force for a successful anarchist revolution. read full story / add a comment

Anarquismo e sindicalismo :
Os debates sobre a herança de Bakunin antes da Grande Guerra

René Berthier

Após a morte de Bakunin, produziu-se uma ruptura com os princípios que o revolucionário russo tinha elaborado. Segundo ele, a Internacional devia conservar o seu caráter de organização de massa : os trabalhadores não deviam aderir a partir de uma ideia, um programa, mas com base a solidariedade recíproca e a defesa dos seus interesses materiais. Bakunin considerava que o movimento operário internacional não tinha atingido um nivel de desenvolvimento homogéneo e que seria necessário longos anos de debates internos para atingir à esta homogeneidade. Entretanto, era necessário encorajar estes debates, mas impedir a todo custo a imposição de um programa único para a Internacional – projeto que Bakunin atribuia à Marx.

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