Connecting anarchist struggles

Connecting anarchist struggles

From re-fuse 2024 dot org

The world is on fire. War and capitalism have been heading towards total collapse for decades while climate change is destroying the livelihood of millions of people. Although solutions are known, our current system stands in the way of a future of solidarity and a society that is oriented towards the needs of all, lets us live as equals among equals and puts an end to the overexploitation of the planet.

We still believe: Our way to a world of solidarity is anarchism, an idea goes against all authorities. Precisely because of this, it is subject to slander and fierce opposition. Yet people around the world have internalized the dream of an egalitarian world without exploitation - and keep fighting for it. We are many, but isolated, acting locally and often uncoordinated. It's time to change that!

From October 31. to November 2, 2024, the re:FUSE Congress will take place in Hamburg: We want to network, plan and get active with you - in Europe and beyond! How and with whom can we fight against climate change and capitalism? What needs to be done immediately, for what can we do preliminary work? What are our short-term, what are the long-term goals?

The world as we know it is on the edge of destruction. Inspired by the Climate Justice movement, we would like to have these discussions explicitly from an anarchist and activist perspective. Get in touch if you want to get involved in any way!

Contact:



We are looking forward to hearing from you. You can contact us via PGP encrypted EMail. You can use our public key below.

re-fuse@riseup.net

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There are 29 Comments

everyone talks about connecting anarchist struggles but no one talks about connecting anarchist snuggles

Assertion: the world is not on fire. At this point do alarmist article openers and headlines do anything other than increase reader depression and fatigue? Perhaps hyper-urgency, the-world-is-ending-tomorrow writing and thinking isn’t the point of departure for building an anarchist orientation with longevity and depth. Or you know we can just keep playing crisis whack a mole and burn out at 25 years old.

Read Desert

Shout-out to anews for deleting the comment correctly pointing out that hosting this in Germany creates needless barriers for attendees from outside European & other white countries.

what makes it being in germany any different from anywhere in europe? aren't all places hard to get to for someone who's far away?

Hosting it anywhere creates barriers for people. I am open to arguments about why Germany is less good than, say, any other European country, or any country on Earth. I am 90% sure that it's easier to get into the Schengen country than it is to get into my country, Canada, because Canada refuses a lot of people, it's expensive to get here, and the number of people who are already here is pretty low.

I assume that the organizers benefit from a bunch of resources that are tied up in Hamburg or Germany more generally. Just as it would be difficult for me to organize a meeting like this in any country other Canada, because that it is where I am located and where I have connections, I assume it would be hard for these organizers to make something happen in Nigeria or the Philippines.

In other words: I don't necessarily think A-news should have deleted your comments, OP, but they do sound like you are on some weird identity kool-aid that believes Germans can do no good, rather than viewing Germany as just a boring place of lederhosen-wearing beer drinkers, but which also happens to be a centrally located and populous country in Europe, which is a centrally located and populous continent, which a lot of people can access (more so than Canada or Australia, for example) and where a lot of people are already located, and where certain resources are already in place that makes organizing an anti-capitalist conference there potentially doable.

Am I wrong?

seems like the point they're making is race related. perhaps they mean that events should only happen in places easy to access for people of color.

There are lots of people of colour in Europe. There are lots of people in colour in the U.S. They make up a smaller percentage of the population in these places than they do in other places - but those other places are not necessarily more accessible. Flights to South Africa are not necessarily cheaper than flights to Germany, and that is a factor in accessibility too, is it not? And this is before we consider whether the resources exist in South Africa to pull something like this off. And whether we can expect people living in Germany (not necessarily "Germans", for the record) to be in a position to do it if there are such resources.

Anyway. I'm preaching to the choir, and I'm not gonna convince OP of anything, lol

The comment clearly says "needless barriers for attendees from outside European & other white countries." implying that Schengen countries & Canada would have the same problems as Germany. The reasons should be obvious to any anarchists who take part in anti-border struggles as the thousands upon thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean, infamous brutality at the southern u.s. border, & heightening of the Canadian deportation regime make clear. On the other hand, most countries that don't fall into that category will actually extend privileges to visitors or migrants from euro/white countries relative to those from anywhere else.

As an illustration, look at the maps in these articles for the zones you highlighted, Schengen area & Canada.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_Schengen_Area
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Canada

Compare with the same maps for the countries you named as supposedly inferior alternatives:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Nigeria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_Philippines

Nigeria actually appears similarly restrictive to Europe on paper, but this is before taking into account how restrictive & expensive the actual visa application process is, as well as how strict border policing is for those who don't want to go that route. The Philippines, on the other hand, is plainly far more open.

There's nothing particularly special about those 2 countries to me on this issue—i only chose them because you did. You could simply replace them with any other host Nation you might consider for a gathering.

Ultimately, the issue here isn't "why are these things happening in Europe/North America/whatever" but "why aren't they happening as frequently outside of there"

I wonder if Germans (who are, broadly speaking, rich) could give money to anarchists in the Philippines (where the money can probably go a very long way) to help make things happen, AND if this would offset the many disadvantages that would still come up from having a convergence in that country.

I still lean towards... not thinking it's such a big deal to have this happening in Germany, which from my perspective seems like about as good a place as any to host something (and again, significantly better than Canada, from any kind of accessibility perspective). But I think that if the stars could align to do this in, say, the Philippines (or another country with a good visa policy), that would hardly be a bad thing?

I know there is the anti-authoritarian convergence happening in Tijuana soon... which is inaccessible to me, cuz I can't afford to fly even that far. But I would like to go to that and I'm stoked it's happening

is the suggestion that I think Nigeria or the Philippines are inferior to Germany as locations for a gathering.

Not true. If anything, I think they are probably superior, namely because many anarchists have been to Germany, these things DO always happen there (because Germans are rich and they have "infrastructure"), and it's a grey and boring country so I dunno, Nigeria, the Philippines, South Africa, or Mexico are probably all "superior". The question is just... can organizers, who presumably live in Germany, do an event in a country where they cannot live

I remember reading a book about an anarchist who went to a Rainbow gathering in Croatia (lol), and how pissed off he was when he was there, that there were people there talking about doing the next one in Brazil, in the complete absence of any Brazilians at the gathering. Like. That doesn't make sense either! So I think the pertinent question for me is, are there anarchists on the ground in these Global South (or whatever) countries that want to do something? and if so, how do we, the people who are statistically richer because we live in richer countries, get them the resources they need to pull something off? and to be clear: is that even our role, does this actually make sense, etc.

I agree it'd be great to start picking more exotic spots for anarchist convergences as anarchy these days is still waaaayyy too Western-focused.

But Phillipines... Eeek. How about Malaysia that's got a 3 months visa for free, that's not an overpolluted shithole and has enough cultural diversity to be interesting while having doors open to people from China, the Muslim world and other Asian countries for the spreading of radical ideas?

But I got a higher bet on the Canary Islands, that are very cheap for a Euro colony, accessible from many regions, are next West Africa and isn't apparently run by brutal criminal gangs who'll just murder anyone they see as opposition.

Germany is one of the stiffest Euro countries on the visa issue, and in my experience the anarchist milieu there is plagued by a toxic influence from the liberal Left that hardly can be cut off.

Ask youselves (or don't!) the question of where is today's "early-20th century Switzerland", for anarchos from all over the world.

(A hint: no it's not Switzerland)

[This comment was posted from Berkeley, California]

signed, collective member number #402948204929

In the past couple years there have been/will be international/intercontinental anarchist gatherings in Mexico, Colombia, Switzerland , Germany, Czechia, Slovenia, Italy, Kosovo, Indonesia, Brazil, & Greece, & Spain. Just look in the events calendar on this website, and you will see how widespread these gatherings are.

8 of 12 countries listed are in europe (7 of 12 in schengen area), further proving the point

Not to nitpick too much, but you can also look at this as almost half are outside Schengen (Europe does have the highest concentration of anarchists of anywhere in the world, fwiw). Some of the comments above suggest that the only international anarchist gatherings are in places like Germany- this list of places dispels that. I think if anything, those comments show the ignorance of commenters who refuse to acknowledge the international anarchist gatherings outside the Schengen zone. Furthermore, Mexico has hosted/is hosting 2 such gatherings this year.

Amazing! Hey, you wouldn't happen to have the number of anarchists on hunger strikes at any one time, the global average number per day would be good? It's for my book ;)

Most if not all REAL anarchists are on a hunger strike, albeit an involuntary one, from their reluctance to be wage slaves or members of religious or capitalist institutions.

'til the day these "anarchists" with such limited life choices find out about dumpster poutines... so they can have the best of both worlds!

(coz I'm WAY cooler, but anyways) There's only ONE (1) non-White Westerner country in that list. And it's likely that this Indonesian gathering wasn't as international as those in Europe, but I'd really like to be wrong about that. So for the disproportionate population ratio you got in East Asia, that's pretty depressing to see how Indonesia is the only Asian place (China, HELLOOO!?) where an anarchist gathering was hosted.

Oh yes, btw, Latino people are "White Westerners", as far as just like Muhrikans they are from a White Westerner civilization. It's not because some northern racists are seeing them as "non-White" that they aren't. JUST SO U KNOOOOW... Latin America was conquered by Western Euro empires and this influence is still predominant, even with aspects of native culture but anyways where the fuck the tomatoes used in (stereotypical Italian accent begins) the a-spagheeeetti came-aaa from!? Yes, Native American culture.

you say "that's pretty depressing" re: Indonesia, East Asia, etc.

Ok? go on, be depressed about it I guess. I think it's pretty obvious why it might be hard to have a gathering like this in China, which is a country that liquidated its anarchists and which remains, today, a one-party dictatorship, not an ostensibly pluralistic society where being an anarchist, in and of itself, is not criminalized. An open, widely publicized anarchist gathering in such a country is not a viable idea. Perhaps it could be viable in Japan, Taiwan, or South Korea, but that is before considering whether the resources exist to make it happen

and yeah. Everyone knows the history. Europe conquered the world, it left an indelible influence in many places. I don't know why this should matter, at all, to anyone considering the abstract question of "what country should we organize an anarchist gathering in". We are far beyond the original bounds of the discussion, which was about Germany, the Schengen area, and visa policy. Now it's about Europeanness or something similar, with Mexico derided as too "Western". Sounds like you want to write the sequel to Huntingdon's Clash of Civilizations book

The typical mainstream Western neolib critic.

But here's a non-exhaustive list of one-party dictatorships from where anarchism has arisen in the past:

- Tsarist Russia
- '70s-'80s Chile
- '70s Greece
- France under the Bonaparte empire
- German Empire
- Imperial Japan
- Mexico under the Diaz military dictatorship
- ...

As for China, sure, it's a very powerful dictatorship and no one will disagree. What Western neolibs got issues computing with party-state formations is that there can be different factions within a party, just as there's been in China with intense conflicts often taking place between those. I'd also like to see how a two-party dictatorship is any more suitable for anarchism to develop... Those 3-letter agencies are in on "us" regardless who's in charge.

Among the examples you listed, I am not perfectly familiar with every example, but I know that the "German Empire" actually had multiple political parties and it wasn't an absolute dictatorship, whereas "Tsarist Russia" didn't have political parties at all, it was an absolute monarchy; when I say "one-party dicatorship", I really do mean there is one and only one party, as opposed to zero parties. Moving on, "Imperial Japan" included a period called the "Taisho democracy" which also coincided with the largest influence of anarchism before World War II. I think it is important to mention that, regardless of the existence of anarchists and anarchist activity in these countries, widely publicized and open gatherings of anarchists were not attempted; there were gatherings, sometimes, but they were underground. With regards to the Diaz dictatorship in Mexico, I know that many Mexican anarchists had their gatherings across the border in the United States.

My point is: the ReFuse gathering in Hamburg, Germany, is being announced on a clearnet website and we are all being invited to come; you cannot do something similar in China today, because the organizers would be arrested and the international attendees would be stopped at the border and deported; I suppose things aren't so simple as that, but that's what I predict would happen.

Would love it if we could have a serious conversation about something concrete, rather than insults ("Western neolibs") and lists of vastly different historical/political situations

I suppose that, indeed, having multilingual gatherings in "safer" countries might be the best, even if passive way so that anarcho-leaning people from the more authoritarian regimes can attend... whether they can afford. Offering free food, shelter & other goodies might be important too, especially for people from poorer countries... but I can predict German anarchos figured that out already.

Inversely it might be a great idea I guess for travelling anarchos to let people know about international.gatherings when they happen, in those less anarcho-friendly countries. Postering in/around airports, tourist hotspots, etc, why not?

My emphasis on China also had more to do with the fact the Chinese are a huge int'l traveller base nowadays, whether for tourism or studies. Social credit system, tho?

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