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strategies for change 157 … is that if the protest revert to ritualistic walking up and down, if they are seen to be something of a waste of time, a lot of … people are likely to stay at home. The challenge therefore is to find a way to keep people involved, to find a way in which the tactics used are seen to be effective and therefore attract the maximum number of people to participate in whatever protests are held. Furthermore, it is necessary to look for ways to establish structures which will allow for maximum participation in discussions as to what these tactics should be. 72 Unlike the ’60s generation, who started from a common platform of non-violent protest and then argued about the appropriateness of this strategy for the development of an anarchist movement, anarchist anti-globalizers now embed and demonstrate their preferred approaches to the problem of translation through the particular actions they adopt. Moreover, through this commitment to active engagement, they argue that the diversity of actions highlights the solidarity of the movement, its plurality and willingness ‘to openly discuss’ differences and mistakes and its eagerness to avoid getting ‘tied down by the baggage of ideology’. In the words of one group: Meaningful action, for revolutionaries, is whatever increases the confidence, the autonomy, the initiative, the participation, the solidarity, the egalitarian tendencies and the self-activity of the working class, and whatever assists in their demystification. Sterile and harmful activity is whatever reinforces the passivity of the working classes, their apathy, their cynicism, their differentiation through hierarchy, their alienation, their reliance on others to do things for them and the degree to which they can therefore be manipulated – even by those allegedly acting on their behalf. 73 Unfortunately, whilst mass protests have attracted media attention and raised issues of global oppression in public arenas, there is little evidence to suggest that they have enjoyed any greater success in building alternative sites of revolutionary activity than the ‘passive’ peace protests spearheaded by campaigners like Lovell. Indeed, anarchists involved in networks like PGA have voiced concerns that militants have failed to build sufficiently strong links between mass actions and local grass roots activities, leaving protestors cut adrift at the end of protests. Similarly, whilst plans for mass actions continue apace, some militants argue that the tactics
158 anarchism: a beginner’s guide adopted at these mass demonstrations might be more usefully employed in smaller arenas against specific targets – military installations, corporate meetings, and so forth. Yet the suggestion that the anti-globalization movement has pioneered a novel form of anarchistic action points to an important difference between it and the older peace campaigns, namely, the politicization of protest. Unlike the earlier generation of anarchists – who had significant moral and political disagreements about strategy – modern activists enter into protest with the idea that their protests offer a route to anarchy or at least serve as a statement of intent. Actions are about cultural subversion, building solidarity, debate and the destruction of corporate power. Whatever kind of actions militants take – fluffy or spiky – they reflect ideological commitment. The Beltane 2000 Communiqué issued by the Comrades of Kaczynski Group is written in post-Situationist prose and leans towards primitivism, but is infused with the spirit of much modern protest: Fellow revolutionaries, come, walk with us in the moonlight, let the darkness blur the division between all forms of life and reclaim our wildness. We are quickly becoming feral, and thus we are more fed up with civilization and any forces that wish to maintain this disintegrating status quo … Insurrection exists on the boundaries of every assumption. In the words of the situationists, we will ask for nothing, we will demand nothing; we will take, we will occupy. Stop asking for freedom from the very people who have made the word necessary by separating us from the wild. In every action taken, we will never be satisfied with anything less than a full collapse. No more half-assed reformist band-aids. Those who fight and settle for petty reform are as much our enemy [as] those who enforce law … A community garden is insurrection. Free coffee on the sidewalk is insurrection. A letter-bomb is insurrection. Settle for nothing less! 74 This conviction provides the context for recent debates about anarchism and violence. anarchism and violence Since the emergence of propaganda by the deed in the late nineteenth century, debates about anarchist revolution have often
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contents Acknowledgements vii intro
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acknowledgements A number of people
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chapter two anarchist rejections of
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chapter three anarchy We have alway
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Page 186 and 187: index 177 Farrow, Lynne 119 fascism
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