CRACK CAPITALISM

lh 'm/)o liment of labels, definitions, classifications. Although
not [11 n y observed in practice, the rejection of these forms
of lab Iling has become a universal principle in anti-capitalist
IHOV m nts throughout the world. The creation of social relations
bas 'c1 on mutual recognition and respect is at the core of the
'other politics' which the Zapatista movement and so many other
movements throughout the world are struggling to develop. The
'other politics' means treating ourselves and others as doers, as
subjects rather than objects, and finding appropriate forms of
organisation to express this. In a world that constantly negates
our dignity, this inevitably means a process of ever-renewed
exploration and creation of organisational forms.
This ever-renewed creation of organisational forms builds,
however, upon a long tradition. The idea that our forms
of organisation are radically different from their forms of
organisation is profoundly rooted in the whole history of anticapitalism.
Capitalist organisations are marked by hierarchy and
the pursuit of efficiency. The anti-capitalist tradition of which
we speak is characterised by respect for all those involved,
the promotion of active participation, direct democracy and
comradeship. This is the tradition of the commune, council, soviet,
or assembly. This is a form of organisation celebrated in Marx's
discussion of the Paris Commune in The Civil War in France,
and one that recurs, with variations, in all the major uprisings
against capitalism: in the soviets of the Russian revolution, the
workers' councils of Italy and Germany, in the Spanish Civil
War, recently in the communal councils of the Zapatistas, the
cabildos in Bolivia, the asambleas barriales in Argentina and
the forms of horizontal (or anti-vertical) organisation adopted
by groups all over the world. These are non-instrumental forms
of organisation that focus on the articulation of the opinions
of all those involved in the struggles, working outwards from
there rather than backwards from the goal to be achieved. The
council, then, is quite different from the party, which is a form of
organisation conceived as a means to an end, the end of winning
state power. In the council, what is important is the effective
[1rl"i ularion of collective self-determination; in the party, the
ill1port:mt thing is to achieve a pre-determined goal.
40