**Many people regard anarchism and socialism as contradictory programs. This is based on the conception of "socialism" as state ownership of the economy. Yet historically, anarchists have regarded this program as "state socialism" or "authoritarian socialism." They have rejected such views in favor of "anarchist-socialism" or "libertarian socialism." This concept of anarchism as a variety of socialism remains important today in opposition to pro-capitalist "libertarianism" and to "democratic socialism"--that is, reformist state socialism.** read full story / add a comment

Οι άλλες γυναίκες την πολιορκούσαν σαν ένα αίνιγμα "Γιατί είσαι εδώ;" την ρώτησε μια φυλακισμένη. "Για κλοπή;", "Όχι”. “Διακίνηση ναρκωτικών;” "Όχι, τίποτα από αυτά" είπε η Ella, γελώντας. "Λοιπόν, τι έκανες και καταδικάστηκες σε δεκαοκτώ μήνες;" “Είμαι αναρχική” απάντησε η Ella. read full story / add a comment

What happens next after Trump's impeachment and trial? What is the Democratic vs. Republican conflict really about? Does the Constitution provide any guidance? How should anarchists and other radicals position themselves politically? read full story / add a comment

The "Battle of Seattle," which began November 30th, 1999, was a major event in the history of US radical struggle, and one of the high-points of the "non-violent direct action movement." Exactly 20 years later, Robin J. Cartwright analyzes the the rise, fall, and inner contradictions of the non-violent direct action movement, as well as the lessons we can learn from it today. read full story / add a comment

On September 15, 2019, in South Burlington Vermont, former Green Mountain Anarchist Collective-NEFAC member David Van Deusen was elected President of the Vermont AFL-CIO. Former ISO member, and union nurse, Tristin Adie was elected as Executive Vice President. Van Deusen and Adie were part of the larger progressive United! slate which swept into leadership positions capturing 14 of the 15 seats on the Vermont State Labor Council’s Executive Board. This marks a sharp turn towards the left for Organized Labor in Vermont. Let’s see what comes next! read full story / add a comment

Many liberals and other Democrats see Trump as the main problem facing the U.S. Therefore their focus is on defeating him in the next election (or impeachment). They focus on the electoral system and hope for salvation through government action. I disagree. Trump is a major problem, but he is the culmination of years of political and economic development, and is related to similar politics in other countries. The fight against Trumpism requires a non-electoral and militant program. read full story / add a comment

Canada’s embassy in Venezuela has just been closed. The spur for this closure is an open attempt by Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to overthrow Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. Canada is one of the leaders of the Lima Group, a network of countries that came together in 2017 with the express purpose of regime change in Venezuela. Canada’s diplomatic corps has played the role of facilitator for the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó. Trudeau and Guaidó speak regularly. Their plot against Venezuela thickens. read full story / add a comment

After withdrawing from the nuclear deal with Iran last year and resuming sanctions last November, the White House in April announced that its goal was to “drive Iranian exports to zero.” To make this drive happen, the White House stopped allowing countries like India, China, Japan, Turkey, and South Korea to import Iranian oil: dictating to sovereign countries whom they can trade with. read full story / add a comment

There has been an increase in anti-Jewish actions in the U.S. Why is this? Why have Jews been focused on by fascists and haters? There are traditional reasons for anti-semitism. The establishment of the state of Israel has created an interaction between anti-semitism and anti-Zionism. Where anti-semitism is irrational and reactionary, anti-Zionism is a just response to the oppression of Palestinian Arabs and Israel's alliance with U.S. imperialism. read full story / add a comment

As a tribute to one of the most remarkable agitators in labour history, we publish on May Day the autobiography of Albert Parsons. He was one of the five Chicago Anarchists who were tried in 1886-1887 and executed in November 1887 for their role as 8-hour working-day agitators and as anarchist militants. This mock-trial in 'the land of liberty' is one of the most shameful events in the history of labour in the whole world, and gave rise to May Day commemorations all over the world -the day was picked, because the repression which ended up in the 'legal lynching' of the Chicago Martyrs started after the general strike for the 8 hours working-day in May 1st 1886. This day is commemorated all over the world in memory of the Chicago Martyrs -unsurprisingly, one of the few countries which does not commemorate May Day is the land where this barbaric crime took place -the United States. They invented their own 'Labour Day' in September, with the purpose of severing the working class in the US from its radical tradition, and to devoid of meaning the conquest of the 8 hour working-day, a product of struggle and enormous sacrifice, not a gift from the capitalists. The life of Albert Parsons is instructive of the trajectory of many working class agitators in the US in the 19th century, a period of remarkable radicalism which was crushed with unspeakable ruthlessness and repression. His life story goes from fighting in the Confederate States Army during the US Civil War as a 13 year old, to republican and civil rights' agitator, advocate of the emancipation of the slaves, then trade unionist, socialist and anarchist. He was married to Lucy Parsons, a mixed race woman herself born a slave, who would become a prominent socialist and anarchist, and who was a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World, IWW, in 1905. A remarkable organiser and orator, he was the soul of the most progressive and active workers' movement in the USA at the time: in Chicago. Parsons was the only US citizen of 'pure stock' among the Chicago Martyrs (his ancestry going back all the way to one of the pilgrims in the Mayflower in 1632) -all his comrades being German. The immigrant nature of these anarchists was the cause for a racist and xenophobic uproar that no doubt was crucial to justify their barbaric execution -these racist, xenophobic tendencies are still alive and healthy in the USA, as we can see from the current state of affairs in the country. This is why, being not only a remarkable speaker, but also a well-self-educated man (at a time when the workers' movement still placed much emphasis on the self-education of the workers), he chose to strike a chord with public opinion and counter arguments that socialism and anarchism were 'foreign' and 'alien' ideas, by appealing to texts such as the US Declaration of Independence and opinions of Thomas Jefferson, while also appealing to the conservative and religious frame of mind prevalent, ended up by quoting the Bible. Of course, nothing would save him from the fury of the capitalists' class hatred, but this autobiography is a masterpiece of engaging with the prevalent environment at the time from a radical perspective, of showing in a sober manner his process of radicalisation and the logic behind it, and also, a staunch defence of the anarchist principles by which he lived and which he did not betrayed when confronted to the gallows. Our best tribute to this titanic figure is to resist the current onslaught of the global capitalists against hard-won workers' rights, while to keep faithful to the cause of a free and just world. José Antonio Gutiérrez D.
1st May, 2019 read full story / add a comment

Οι Αναρχικοί ηγέτες του οκταώρου κινήματος κρεμάστηκαν την Παρασκευή 11 Νοεμβρίου. Εκείνη τη μέρα οι πλούσιοι του Σικάγου είχαν ρίγη και πυρετό. Το σχοινί τεντώνεται προς όλες τις κατευθύνσεις από τη φυλακή. Αστυνομικοί άνδρες σταθμεύουν κατά μήκος των σχοινιών οπλισμένοι με τουφέκια. Ειδικές περιπολίες παρακολουθούσαν όλες τις προσεγγίσεις στη φυλακή. Οι στέγες γύρω από το βαρύ πέτρινο κτίριο ήταν γεμάτε με αστυνομικούς. Οι εφημερίδες έγειραν τη δημόσια φαντασία με ιστορίες εξεγέρσεων στις φυλακές. read full story / add a comment

In the 1980s I participated in a "dialogue" about anarchism and Marxism. Re-reading my writing now, when I am a revolutionary anarchist, I think that much of what I wrote then was wrong--with one exception. I went over certain key issues, such as the strengths and weaknesses of Marxism, the state, the revolutionary party, election participation, and national liberation--topics which are still important for anarchists and other radicals to consider and debate. read full story / add a comment

In the midst of the U.S. Civil War (1861 – 1865), as somewhere between half a million to three quarters of a million bodies lay dead from bullets and disease, Emanuel Leutze completed a painting titled Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way for the U.S. Capitol. The painting celebrated empire as central to American history. Included in the final draft of the painting was a free black man, subordinate to the leadership of the white men forging the path of empire across the continent; supposedly saved from slavery with their leadership.1 Of course, as W.E.B. Du Bois famously discussed, central to the Civil War was the “general strike of the slaves”; their resistance was key to abolition. Regardless, Leutze’s painting was one representative of the broader trend, going back to the initial creation of an independent American government, in which so-called democracy and freedom were felt through the vision of empire. read full story / add a comment

This review looks at the movie about the life of Ex-Vice-President of the USA, Dick Cheney. read full story / add a comment

The idea of a "Green New Deal" has been raised in response to the threat of climate and ecological catastrophe. Two such proposals are analyzed here and counterposed to the program of revolutionary libertarian ecosocialism. read full story / add a comment

There are almost no books on anarchism and African-American liberation, which makes this an exceptional work. It places racial oppression at the center of U.S. society, interacting and overlapping with all other forms of oppression and exploitation. The strengths and weaknesses of the work are reviewed. read full story / add a comment

Όχι, δεν υπάρχει λόγος να φοβόμαστε τη ζωή χωρίς κυβέρνηση, την επιδιώκουμε με όλη μας την καρδιά. Θα υπήρχαν, φυσικά, ορισμένα άτομα που επιδόθηκαν στα εγκληματικά ένστικτα. αλλά η πολιτική θα αναλάβει να ασχοληθεί μαζί τους, όσο άρρωστοι κι αν είναι, επειδή αυτοί οι φτωχοί άνθρωποι είναι θύματα του πρωτογονισμού, κληρονομικές ασθένειες που γεννήθηκαν από παρεκκλίσεις όπως ο θυμός για την αδικία και την βιαιότητα του περιβάλλοντος. read full story / add a comment

Some on-line copies of "The North American Anarchist", publication of the Anarchist-Communist Federation of North America (ACF). read full story / add a comment

Ως Διεθνές Συνδικαλιστικό Δίκτυο Αλληλεγγύης και Αγώνα υπερασπιζόμαστε την ίση πληρωμή για ίση εργασία. Δεν μπορεί να γίνεται ανεκτό κρατούμενοι που έχουν να υπομένουν την ίδια την φυλάκιση, να δέχονται και εργασιακή εκμετάλλευση. Θεωρούμε ευθέως υπεύθυνες τις πολιτείες που φυλακίζουν αυτούς τους ανθρώπους για αυτές τις πρακτικές.
Καταγγέλλουμε, επίσης, την πίεση και τις απειλές που ασκούν οι κρατικές δύναμης καταστολής προς τους απεργούς κρατουμένους, προκειμένου να καταστείλουν την κινητοποίηση τους και να φιμώσουν τις δράσεις τους. read full story / add a comment

Πρώτος ο Sacco, πριν εκτελεστεί φώναξε «Ζήτω η αναρχία!» και πρόσθεσε πιο ήρεμος «αντίο γυναίκα μου, παιδιά μου και φίλοι μου». Ο Vanzetti στην ηλεκτρική καρέκλα είπε «Επιθυμώ να δηλώσω ότι είμαι αθώος. Ποτέ δεν διέπραξα έγκλημα, κάποιες αμαρτίες ναι, αλλά ποτέ έγκλημα. Σας ευχαριστώ για όσα κάνατε για μένα. Είμαι αθώος για όλα τα εγκλήματα, όχι μόνο γι’ αυτό αλλά για όλα. Είμαι ένας αθώος άνθρωπος. Τώρα επιθυμώ να συγχωρέσω ορισμένους ανθρώπους γι’ αυτό που μου κάνουν». read full story / add a comment