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Anarchism: The Complete Documentation

• This category contains 9 Papers
• The last paper was added on 2007-03-26 (YYYY-MM-DD)

Civilisation, Primitivism and anarchism

Published on 2004-06-11, by Andrew Flood, ©Andrew Flood.

Over the last decade a generalized critique of civilization has been made by a number of authors, mostly based in the USA. Some of these have chosen to identify as anarchists although the more general self-identification is primitivist. There overall argument is that 'civilisation' itself is the problem that results in our failure to live rewarding lives. The struggle for change is thus a struggle against civilization and for an earth where technology has been eliminated. This is an interesting argument that has some merits as an intellectual exercise. But the problem is that some of its adherents have used primitivism as a base from which to attack all other proposals for changing society. Facing this challenge anarchists need to first look to see if primitivism offers any sort of realistic alternative to the world as it is.

Especifismo: The Anarchist Praxis of Building Popular Movements and Revolutionary Organization in South America

Published on 2006-05-12, by Adam Weaver, ©The Northeastern Anarchist.

Throughout the world anarchist involvement within mass movements as well the development of specifically anarchist organizations is on the upsurge. This trend is helping anarchism regain legitimacy as a dynamic political force within movements and in this light, Especifismo, a concept born out of nearly 50 years of anarchist experiences in South America, is gaining currency world-wide. Though many anarchists may be familiar with many of Especifismo’s ideas, it should be defined as an original contribution to anarchist thought and practice.

European Social Forum in Greece: a Russian anarchist’s impression

Published on 2006-05-14, by Avtonom, ©Avtonom.

Here’s a personal account of ESF-2006 from Vyacheslav Danilov, a participant from Russia’s delegation to the event and a member of the Sibirskaya Konfederachiya Truda* (SKT | Siberian Confederation of Labor), who took part in a "black block" demonstration.

Mexico, Police Terrorize San Salvador Atenco, At least 2 Dead, 50 Injured, More than 200 Jailed

Published on 2006, by Mary Ann Tenuto Sanchez, ©Left Turn.

The conflict began on Wednesday, May 3, when flower vendors from San Salvador Atenco attempted to sell flowers in the nearby community of Texcoco at the site of a planned WalMart megamall. Police brutally displaced the vendors, beating many people in the process. In response, the Atenco-based Peoples Front in Defense of Land (FPDT, for its initials in Spanish) mobilized protests, which were brutally repressed by police. News reports indicate police killed at least two Atenco residents, including a 14-year-old boy, and at least 50 or more are injured, some of them critically. Eleven police were detained by Atenco residents who demanded an end to the repression and the release of prisoners in exchange for the release of the detained police. Instead of negotiating an exchange, the Federal Preventative Police (antiriot police) entered Atenco during the early morning hours of Thursday, May 4, declared a state of siege, and began a house to house search for the detained police, severely beating and arresting Atenco residents.

New Declaration of Independence (A)

Published on 1909-07-05, by Emma Goldman, ©Emma Goldman.

When, in the course of human development, existing institutions prove inadequate to the needs of man, when they serve merely to enslave, rob, and oppress mankind, the people have the eternal right to rebel against, and overthrow, these institutions.

The mere fact that these forces --inimical to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness --are legalized by statute laws, sanctified by divine rights, and enforced by political power, in no way justifies their continued existence.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all human beings, irrespective of race, color, or sex, are born with the equal right to share at the table of life; that to secure this right, there must be established among men economic, social, and political freedom; we hold further that government exists but to maintain special privilege and property rights; that it coerces man into submission and therefore robs him of dignity, self-respect, and life.

Paris Commune and the Idea of the State (The)

Published on 1871, by Mikhail Bakunin, ©Mikhail Bakunin.

This work, like all my published work, of which there has not been a great deal, is an outgrowth of events. It is the natural continuation of my Letters to a Frenchman (September 1870), wherein I had the easy but painful distinction of foreseeing and foretelling the dire calamities which now beset France and the whole civilized world, the only cure for which is the Social Revolution.

My purpose now is to prove the need for such a revolution. I shall review the historical development of society and what is now taking place in Europe, right before our eyes. Thus all those who sincerely thirst for truth can accept it and proclaim openly and unequivocally the philosophical principles and practical aims which are at the very core of what we call the Social Revolution.

I know my self-imposed task is not a simple one. I might be called presumptuous had I any personal motives in undertaking it. Let me assure my reader, I have none. I am not a scholar or a philosopher, not even a professional writer. I have not done much writing in my life and have never written except, so to speak, in self-defense, and only when a passionate conviction forced me to overcome my instinctive dislike for any public exhibition of myself.

Primitivist Primer (A)

Published on , by John Moore, ©John Moore.

Anarcho-primitivism (a.k.a. radical primitivism, anti-authoritarian primitivism, the anti-civilization movement, or just, primitivism) is a shorthand term for a radical current that critiques the totality of civilization from an anarchist perspective, and seeks to initiate a comprehensive transformation of human life. Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as anarcho-primitivism or anarcho-primitivists. Fredy Perlman, a major voice in this current, once said, "The only -ist name I respond to is "cellist".’ Individuals associated with this current do not wish to be adherents of an ideology, merely people who seek to become free individuals in free communities in harmony with one another and with the biosphere, and may therefore refuse to be limited by the term ’anarcho-primitivist’ or any other ideological tagging. At best, then, anarcho-primitivism is a convenient label used to characterise diverse individuals with a common project: the abolition of all power relations - e.g., structures of control, coercion, domination, and exploitation - and the creation of a form of community that excludes all such relations.

Subcomandante Marcos’ Words at Tlatelolco

Published on 2006-05-05, by joram jojo, ©Uganda media.

We are going to be paying attention to your demands. We call for meetings by sector and region for you to think about and agree on these actions. As the Sixth commission we are canceling all our participation in programmed activities and waiting for word from the Peoples’ Front in Defense of the Land. If they need our presence there, then there we will be. If not, we will participate directly on one of the actions that you program for tomorrow beginning at 8:00 in the morning.

Take Back What Belongs to Us!, Subcomandante Marcos’s May 1st message

Published on 2005-05-03, by Al Giordano, ©Uganda media.

land – Mexico – where the public sees that organized criminals, corrupt law enforcers and mega-millionaires take with impunity what they want, when they want it, from anyone and everyone who has less, there is no illusion that a so-called "state of law" or "justice system" can or will right the wrongs. On Saturday, Marcos made a prosecutor’s case against capitalism and its governments, and pleaded to the jury – on Saturday it was the urban workers – to deliver the death sentence: the "expropriation of the means of production" so that, like what occurs on Zapatista farmlands today in Chiapas, those of us who do the work will own our jobs and earn the true value of our labor.