Anarchy Works.pdf - Infoshop.org

introduction
Anarchy Works
due to unnavigable chasms of distance or time. In these cases
we had to rely exclusively on written representations, generally
recorded by outside observers. But representation is not at all a
neutral process, and outside observers project their own values and
experiences onto what they are observing. of course, representation
is an inevitable activity in human discourse, and moreover outside
observers can contribute new and useful perspectives.
However, our world is not that simple. As European civilization
spread and dominated the rest of the planet, the observers it
sent out were generally the surveyors, missionaries, writers, and
scientists of the ruling order. On a world scale, this civilization
sees itself as the only one with the right to interpret itself and all
other cultures. Western systems of thought were forcibly spread
around the world. Colonized societies were cut up and exploited
as slave labor, economic resources, and ideolOgical capital. Non­
Western peoples were represented back to the West in ways that
would confirm the Western worldview and sense of superiority, and
justify the ongoing imperial project as necessary for the good of the
peoples being forcibly civilized.
As anarchists trying to abolish the power structure responsible
for colonialism and many other wrongs, we want to approach these
other cultures in good faith, in order to learn from them, but if we're
not careful we could easily fall into the accustomed eurocentric
pattern of manipulating and exploiting these other cultures for
our own ideological capital. In cases where we could find no one
from the community in question to review and criticize our own
interpretations, we have tried to situate the storyteller in the telling,
to subvert his or her status and invisibility, to deliberately challenge
the validity of our own information, and to propose representations
that are flexible and humble. We don't know exactly how to
accomplish this balancing act, but our hope is to learn while trying.
Some indigenous people whom we consider comrades in the
struggle against authOrity feel that white people have no right to
represent indigenous cultures, and this position is especially justified
given that for five hundred years, Euro! American representations
of indigenous peoples have been self-serving, exploitative, and
connected to ongoing processes of genocide and colonization. On
the other hand, part of our goal in publishing this book has been to
challenge the historical eurocentrism of the anarchist movement
and encourage ourselves to be open to other cultures. We could
not do this by only presenting stories of statelessness from our own
culture. The author and most of the people working on this book
in an editorial capacity are white, and it is no surprise that what
we write reflects our backgrounds. In fact, the central question this
book seeks to address, whether anarchy could work, seems itself to
be eurocentric. Only a people who have obliterated the memory of
their own stateless past could ask themselves whether they need
the state. We recognize that not everyone shares this historical
blindspot and that what we publish here may not be useful for
people from other backgrounds. But we hope that by telling stories
of the cultures and struggles of other societies, we can help correct
the eurocentrism endemic to some of our communities and become
better allies, and better listeners, whenever people from other
cultures choose to tell us their own stories.
Someone who read over this text pointed out to us that
reciprocity is a fundamental value of indigenous worldviews. The
question he posed to us was, if anarchists who are mostly Euro!
American are going to take lessons from indigenous or other
communities, cultures, and nations, what will we offer in return?
I hope that wherever pOSSible, we offer solidarity-widening
the struggle and supporting other peoples who struggle against
authority without calling themselves anarchists. After all, if we
are inspired by certain other societies, shouldn't we do more to
recognize and aid their ongoing struggles?
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