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Recent articles by Lucien van der Walt
The Joy of Alex Comfort Nov 21 23 Dichiarazione congiunta di organizzazioni anarchiche europee May 03 23 Declaración Conjunta de Organizaciones Anarquistas Europeas May 01 23 With the Working Class, Against Imperialism and Terror Attacks. international |
miscellaneous |
opinion / analysis
 Sunday November 15, 2015 06:46 by Lucien van der Walt
 Let us approach from the side of the struggle of working class and poor for freedom, and that means the struggle against all oppression and exploitation. From that side, be against imperialism, unconditionally, including whatever outrages the French state will now justify. But also be against reactionary anti-imperialists with reactionary programmes, and for a progressive anti-imperialism, like that of PKK in Rojava. The working class and left must lead anti-imperialist struggles, and work with progressive movements, including progressive anti-imperialists, to make a better world, pushing those struggles towards anarchist-communism. With The Working Class, Against Imperialism and Terror Attacks.Lucien van der WaltPolitics should be approached with a simple rule: does an action help or harm the working class and poor's struggle for complete freedom? Strategic choices are determined by moral or ethical ones. More precisely: an ethics centred on anti-authoritarianism, anti-domination, anti-capitalism, anti-statism determine what strategy is acceptable. It is not the means that justify the ends, but the ends we want, that shape the means. How does this apply to issues like Western imperialism, and issues like the recent ISIS attacks in Kobane (Rojava), Beirut (Lebanon) and Paris (France)? Obviously, to fight for the freedom of the working class must mean to be against imperialism. That is essential to this struggle. It does not matter if the imperialism is justified as promoting "democracy" or "freedom." So, we should completely, unconditionally oppose reactionary Western imperialist actions in the "Middle" East. Imperialism is a great evil, whether it is Western, or Eastern, by a great power, or by a small one. BUT this does not mean every anti-imperialist movement is worthy of support, or justify a knee-jerk "my enemy's enemy is my friend" reasoning.... ISIS is genuinely anti-imperialist (leaving aside baseless conspiracy theories) , but its actions and programme are completely reactionary, including its attacks in Rojava against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and in Beirut and Paris against civilians. Its main targets are, in fact, other people in the "Middle" East, secular, Muslim, Christian and others. The hypocrisy of Western media, and the crimes of Western imperialism, and discrimination against immigrants and "foreigners" do not justify Left support of any sort for either the reactionary Western imperialism *or* for the reactionary anti-imperialists, or apologies or sympathies for either group of reactionaries, West or East. The hell with both sides. Both sides are our enemies. The world is not two camps, the imperialist and rebellious "third world" elites, because there is a third side, the working class and Left including anarchists, and that is our side. The working class and left must lead anti-imperialist struggles, and work with progressive movements, including progressive anti-imperialists, to make a better world, pushing those struggles towards anarchist-communism. Movements like PKK show an important way to fight for national liberation *and* a radical, participatory-democratic and progressive programme. So, let us approach from the side of the working class and poor, and that means against all oppression and exploitation. From that side, be against imperialism, unconditionally, including whatever outrages the French state will now justify. But also be against reactionary anti-imperialists with reactionary programmes, and for a progressive anti-imperialism, like that of PKK in Rojava. The same PKK that is also getting attacked by ISIS. In every country, there is a fight between reaction and progress, and our side is with progress. We should not be dragged along with the ebbs and flows of the struggles of our enemies, but chart our own course.
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HauptseiteSupport Sudanese anarchists in exile Joint Statement of European Anarchist Organizations International anarchist call for solidarity: Earthquake in Turkey, Syria and Kurdistan Elements of Anarchist Theory and Strategy 19 de Julio: Cuando el pueblo se levanta, escribe la historia International anarchist solidarity against Turkish state repression Declaración Anarquista Internacional por el Primero de Mayo, 2022 Le vieux monde opprime les femmes et les minorités de genre. Leur force le détruira ! Against Militarism and War: For self-organised struggle and social revolution Declaração anarquista internacional sobre a pandemia da Covid-19 Anarchist Theory and History in Global Perspective Capitalism, Anti-Capitalism and Popular Organisation [Booklet] Reflexiones sobre la situación de Afganistán South Africa: Historic rupture or warring brothers again? Death or Renewal: Is the Climate Crisis the Final Crisis? Gleichheit und Freiheit stehen nicht zur Debatte! Contre la guerre au Kurdistan irakien, contre la traîtrise du PDK Meurtre de Clément Méric : l’enjeu politique du procès en appel International | Miscellaneous | en Fri 19 Apr, 19:15
Personal statement on the Michael Schmidt affair: Lucien van der Walt, 11 February 2016 All new publications by Zabalaza Books from March till June 2012 All new publications from Zabalaza Books for the month of January.
The Facebook page of 'Black Flame' has been reorganised and rebooted, now carrying regular updates related to the book by Lucien van der Walt and Michael Schmidt... All publications from Zabalaza Books for the month of September
This blog has been updated again, collecting materials on strikes, union education, a recent "anarchist survey," the Spanish and Russian Revolutions, and race/ class in South Africa. The overall aim of the page is to collect my my writings on political economy, policy, unions and class struggles. These are are written from a red-and-black anarchist/ syndicalist perspective, and go back to the 1990s. New additions to the Zabalaza Books site as of November 2010
Joe Stack recently committed suicide by crashing an airplane into the IRS offices in Austin, Texas. He left a manifesto describing the long path which had finally led him to this decision.
As Black Flag brings out it's May 2009 issue, we proudly present all three of the pre-2009 issues produced by the current collective, for free download from the libcom.org website.
Dear Friends and Comrades,
In this article, I use the framing of the class struggle and the action of revolutionary militancy to reflect on three fundamental concepts: propaganda, solidarity, and education.
The Covid 19 pandemic has impacted every aspect of human life. It has had a dev-astating effect on people’s physical and mental health, social relations and communities, our livelihoods, and freedom to move about. It has also significantly curtailed our ability to organise effective political protests and strengthened the hand of the State.
What is especifismo? Is it anarchism? What is an especifist organization? What does it do? Is it a political party? These questions, which may seem basic to some, are not uncommon. Using the Anarchist Federation of Rio de Janeiro’s (FARJ) Social Anarchism and Organisation, we can arrive at a more concrete understanding of the ideology, theory, strategy, and final objectives of especifismo. This is not a definitive study of especifismo. It is a close analysis of a single text. If this theory is to have an influence on the revolutionary strategies of social anarchists around the world, we must continue to expand our research on the subject. Today, this usually requires working in multiple languages or with translations. For this reason, anglophone anarchists quickly arrive at the end of the available literature on the subject. This text is intended to add to an amassing canon of English-language writings on the subject.
More stable and slowly changing structures condition the camp of social relations proper. They are a totality where each sphere has a specific and differentiated form of relationship. The separation for analysis always suggests two things: that they belong to a common whole and that they have their particularities.
The true meaning of Christmas. more >>
Personal statement on the Michael Schmidt affair: Lucien van der Walt, 11 February 2016
All new publications by Zabalaza Books from March till June 2012
All new publications from Zabalaza Books for the month of January.
The Facebook page of 'Black Flame' has been reorganised and rebooted, now carrying regular updates related to the book by Lucien van der Walt and Michael Schmidt...
All publications from Zabalaza Books for the month of September more >> |
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