Today's Topics:
1. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Dossier 1917: April-May:
The irrepressible rise to the social explosion (fr, it, pt)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - CLASH of September,
Against the project of the bosses, fight back, self-management!
(fr, it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. ANA: [Mexico] Video: Protests during President Enrique Peña
Nieto's visit to Oaxaca By Avispa Midia (ca, fr, it, pt) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. WSM.ie: Looking back at 2016 March for Choice and forward to
30 Sept by Edel P (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Dossier 1917:
August-September: The counter-revolution digs its own tomb (fr,
it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Greece, Libertarian Initiative of Thessaloniki: Information
and photographs from the course-block of the Anarchist Federation
(gr) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Britain, Brighton Solfed: Brighton Solidarity Federation
opens a dispute with MTM lettings agency (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. Britain, AFED, Struggling for Our Families and Our Lives
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
After the fall of the Tsar, the euphoria quickly dissipates under the pressure of the
burning questions to be solved - to end the war, to share the land, to satisfy the
workers' demands. An alliance was formed between the anarchists and the Bolshevik base to
push for social revolution. ---- Anarchist calico in the crowd. From g. to dr.: " Bread
and Freedom " (Russian title of Kropotkin's The Conquest of Bread ), " Unity is Strength
", " Everything for Freedom ", " Death to the Enemies of Freedom ". ---- When the
imperial autocracy blindly repressed all contestation, a sort of fraternity of arms linked
the various socialist tendencies. But now that the Tsar has fallen, and the construction
of a new society arises concretely, the divergences become blatant. The gap between the
moderates and the revolutionaries began to widen.
At the Petrograd Soviet, the Menshevik and Socialist-Revolutionary majority (SR) advocated
conciliation, patience, respect for bourgeois property, and trusted the provisional
government to negotiate peace and convene a Constituent Assembly.
The Communist Anarchist Federation (FAC), however, refuses the status quo, rejects the
provisional government, mocks the Constituent Assembly and distrusts the Soviet. It
advocates the prolongation of the political revolution by a social revolution, immediate
peace by the direct action of the soldiers, workers and peasants.
During the first three or four weeks of the revolution, anarchists are the only ones on
this radical line.
However, they are soon surprised to see it also adopted by a leading figure: Lenin, the
main leader of the Bolshevik Party, which in Petrograd counts ten times more members than
the FAC. As soon as he returned from exile, Lenin published his " theses of April "
[1]putting the party's social-democratic program on its head, replacing it with a new
doctrine, in many respects analogous to that of the anarchists: passage without waiting
from the bourgeois stage to the socialist stage of the revolution ; republic of the
soviets and not a parliamentary republic ; suppression of the police and the corps of
civil servants ; formation of a " Common State "on the model of the Paris Commune ;
replacement of the professional army by an army of popular militias. He goes so far as to
advocate the abandonment of the word " social democratic " to rename the " Communist "
party - a term traditionally linked to anarchism !
The Bolshevik base seduced by the most radical line
This politico-cultural upheaval scandalizes the cadres of the Bolshevik Party. One of
them, Goldenberg, denounces even a drift of Lenin towards " primitive anarchism passed "
[2]. On the other hand, this radical line seduces the party's base, the thousands of young
workers and soldiers, newly adherents who have read nothing of Marx but are eager to fight
with the bourgeoisie. In the red bastions of Vyborg and Kronstadt, they joined the
Bolsheviks because their organization was several steps ahead of that of the anarchists,
but in practice their proximity is obvious.
The strategy of the anarchists, too few and structured to weigh them alone, will consist
in dragging the Bolshevik base in the insurrectionary action, going beyond the
instructions of the leadership of the party. As early as April, this solidarity of action
is noticeable on the occasion of the first crisis that shakes the provisional government.
In April 1917, in Petrograd, the demonstrations took an anti-government turn
On the banners: " Cease fire immediately on all fronts " ; " All power to the Soviets
of Workers' Deputies, Soldiers and Peasants " ; " Social-Democratic Party of Russia "
(most likely, in fact, its Bolshevik faction). cc The Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Library
The death knell of the spirit of February
On March 14, a proclamation of the Petrograd Soviet " to the peoples of the world "
called for peace. On the front, the army remained the weapon at the foot, awaiting the
opening of negotiations. But the revelation of a government note to Paris and London,
stating that Russia's war aims remained unchanged, caused an outburst of anger: tens of
thousands of people parading spontaneously in Petrograd shouting slogans hostile to the
war and the provisional government.
A sign of a divorce, there are no more bourgeois democrats in the crowd of workmen and
soldiers marching in arms. And the organization of a patriotic counter-demonstration
brings forth already the specter of the civil war.
This April 21, 1917 is a first turning point: the charm of February is broken.
The calm returns, however, the very next day, at the call of the Soviet. Proof that its
authority remains undisputed, unlike that of the provisional government. To save the
latter, a compromise was negotiated: the ministers compromised in the diplomatic note were
thanked, and replaced by Menshevik and SR leaders from the Soviet.
During this April crisis, anarchists and Bolsheviks parade together, the Bolsheviks
demanding for the first time " All power to the Soviets " on their banners. A watchword
against which the anarchists do not know too much about which dance: on the one hand, it
implies a decentralization of power analogous to their " revolutionary commons " ; on
the other hand, what does it mean to exalt soviets dominated by the Reform Party ? [3]The
FAC will in fact take time to understand that the popular representativeness of the Soviet
makes this institution unavoidable to hope to win a mass audience.
For the rest, the April crisis strengthened the anarchists' conviction of an imminent
divorce between the people and the provisional government, and left the Bolshevik Party,
whose conference at the end of April gave reason to Lenin's theses.
Iron fights between employers and factory committees
Still obsessed with the idea of stabilizing Russia and normalizing the situation, the
bourgeois-socialist coalition of the government, backed by the Petrograd Soviet, is
becoming more and more bogged down by referring serious questions - peace, land, control
worker ... - to the future Constituent Assembly whose election is, herself, constantly
deferred.
Meanwhile, the class struggle rises irresistibly.
In the aftermath of February, employers saw with horror, in its enterprises, elected "
committees of factories ", which meet during working hours and multiply the demands.
Grigori Maximov (1893-1950)
This young graduate of agronomy took part in the revolution of February. Benjamin of the
Union of Anarcho-Syndicalist Propaganda, soon pivot of Golos Trouda, he was elected to the
Central Committee of Factory Committees of Petrograd in May 1917.
They are often supported by groups of armed workers who claim to " defend the factory "
against possible employers' militias. These armed groups, soon to be called Red Guards,
will gradually be structured. Bolsheviks and anarchists are playing leading roles - a "
Black Guard " is well established in Russky Renault before merging into the Red Guard [4].
After dropping a bit of ballast, the employers counterattack. To break the will to demand,
he takes the pretext of the economic slump to lay off with full turn or even shut down the
factories squarely. Famine will bring the workers back to reason, he thinks [5]. Factory
committees respond. In addition to the strikes and sequestration of cadres, they often
instituted a " workers ' control " ". This includes opening up order books and account
books, verifying the boss's assertions, monitoring inventories and machines so that they
do not move freely in the provinces ... In a number of medium-sized companies - , under
the impetus of Justin Jouk, the Schlüsselbourg Blowing -, workers' control will go until
the wild recovery in self-management.
The counter-revolution begins to bark
In June, the country continues to slide towards the social revolution. In addition to the
conflicts in the factories which neither the Soviet nor the government were able to
contain, the countryside entered the dance. The peasants do not have the patience to wait
for a Constituent Assembly to deal with agrarian reform. They take possession of the land
of the squire and share it. And, as in 1905, the manors began to flame ; some landowners
are killed, others are fleeing.
Excessive, the possessing classes seek to react. A true counter-revolutionary campaign was
launched, orchestrated by the Church, the General Staff, the Cossack atamans and the
conservative newspapers. The government is called for " recovery ". The plot of the
extremist Bolsheviks, anarchists and maximalists manipulated by " the Jews " [6]. The
red regiments " hidden " in Petrograd must be sent to the front . In dining out, we
openly aspires that the German army comes restore order [7].
In the Provisional Government, we are convinced that the country must be strengthened
around a unifying project, and this will be ... a great summer offensive on the Austrian
front ! Kerensky, a socialist advocate and ambitious minister, who increasingly appears as
the government's leading head, is going to spend countless hours in this perilous undertaking.
Guillaume Davranche (AL Montreuil)
In the folder:
February-March 1917: After the Tsarists, drive the capitalists
Minority but galvanized, anarchists advocate expropriation all the way
A tract of the Communist Anarchist Federation of Petrograd (March 1917)
The first libertarian wave (1905-1908)
April-May: The irrepressible rise to the social explosion
Anarcho-syndicalists in factory committees
June-July: Creating insurrection is not enough
The fiasco of the Journées de juillet
August-September: The counter-revolution digs its own tomb
The Other Components of Russian Socialism in 1917
October red (and black): The assault in the unknown
A Ukrainian revolutionary: Maroussia emerges from oblivion
November 1917-April 1918: From pluralism to the confiscated revolution . Four cleavage points:
People's Power vs. State Power
Socialization against nationalization
Popular militia against hierarchical army
On requisitions and expropriations
Epilogue 1918-1921: Resistance and eradication
[1] In the Pravda of 7 April 1917.
[2] Nicholas Sukhanov, The Russian Revolution 1917, CNLH, 1966
[3] Voline, The Unknown Revolution, Volume 2, Entremonde, 2010, p. 47.
[4] Rex A. Wade, Red Guards and Workers' Militias in the Russian Revolution, Stanford
University, 1984, p.
[5] Marc Ferro, The Revolution of 1917, Albin Michel, 1997, p. 399.
[6] Marc Ferro, The Revolution of 1917, Albin Michel, 1997, p. 445.
[7] Orlando Figes, The Russian Revolution, Volume 1, Gallimard, 2009, p. 749.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Dossier-1917-avril-mai-L-irrepressible-montee-vers-l-explosion-sociale
------------------------------
Message: 2
During the summer months, the Macron government prepared ordinances allowing it to pass
its measures without going through the debate in the Assembly. Their project ? An XXL
labor law at the service of employers. Their objective ? go quickly to prevent us from
challenging it. Our response: the struggle and the general strike. ----- As expected, we
change the cast but not the scenario. The government of Edouard Philippe continues the
work of Valls: destroy the labor code. That is to say the set of rules and law that frames
the employment relationship between employers and employees. In other words, our social
conquests, torn away by our struggles, which prevent the bosses from making us corveable
to mercy. Concretely: weakening the representative bodies of the staff by merging them,
dismissals for economic reasons made easier, capping of redundancy payments ...
Students in the Front Line
Most of us (one student out of two) combine studies and jobs (precarious). The labor law 2
that the government is preparing will make us more fragile. And once the studies are
finished ? Still how many fixed-term contracts, unemployment ? And we are not talking
about the 300 million euros of cuts in the budget of Higher Education and Research, the
6,000 students still without facs in August, the decline in APL ... We are touched by the
government's policy, for our working conditions and studies today but also for those of
tomorrow.
Credits: Daniel Maunoury
Their project is precariousness ...
Fixed-term contracts, interim assignments, the jobs of couriers in self-entrepreneurs,
it's not freedom, it's precariousness. It is the anguish of not being resumed the
following month, it is to lower your head when your boss speaks to you like a dog, it is
to accept the supplementary hours even when you have the burden ... 'Former President of
the Medef, L. Parisot declared: "Life, health, love are precarious, why should labor
escape this law ? Because our class too, it struggles, to defend its interests against
those of the bosses.
Pdf flyer to download
... our is self-management
We refuse this society in which we are exploited and dispossessed of our political power.
In the face of capitalism, we want a self-managed society. Self-management is a society
where those who make it work have the power to decide together, on an equal footing with
no leader over who impose what to do. A society where one does not kill oneself to work
for some interests and profit. Self-management is also a society at the service of all,
which does not leave a part of the population in the galley. On the contrary, it is a
society of solidarity, according to the principle to each according to his needs, of each
according to his means. This society we want, without exploitation or domination, we will
have it by struggling.
What do we do now ?
To reverse the balance of power, we must organize. Let's get together and decide what to
do. General assemblies are true democracy. It is by speaking about us, blocking,
occupying, striking that we will retaliate and advance our project of society.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Contre-le-projet-des-patrons-ripostons-autogestion
------------------------------
Message: 3
Young people, mostly anarchists, and residents of some colonies were facing repressive
police forces that gave security to the first visit of the president of Mexico, Enrique
Peña Nieto, to the city of Oaxaca, on September 7, 2017. ---- The president is not welcome
in this state and is classified as persona non grata. He stepped in Oaxaca to participate
in the XXIV Mexican Foreign Trade Congress and to inaugurate the Oaxaca Cultural and
Convention Center. ---- This complex has been protected since September 6 by hundreds of
state and federal police officers, but also by shock troops who are part of the
Confederación de Trabajadores de México (CTM). ---- The actions of repudiation before the
presence of Mr. Peña Nieto caused clashes in different parts of the city, without any
control of the authorities.
For young people, this was only a sign of dignity for Oaxaca, since it is a new generation
of rebels in this southern state of Mexico.
> Watch the video (06:56) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBWBAh6Npqs
Related Items:
https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2016/10/12/mexico-documentario-oaxaca-ingovernavel-2016/
https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2016/07/06/mexico-comunicado-0-2-oaxaca-ingovernavel-junho-negro-oaxaca-de-magon/
https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2016/06/28/mexico-comunicado-0-1-destruamos-os-idolos-do-capitalismo-junho-negro-oaxaca-de-magon/
------------------------------
Message: 4
As it's been almost a year since March for Choice 2016, I decided to reflect on what was
to be the first of many protests against the State over my right to choose. ---- Without
much luck considering the weather and bus strike circumstances, it was a wonderful day to
be among the 25,000 that marched the streets of Dublin on a rainy Saturday afternoon in
September. There was a certain atmosphere that was indescribable, among the thousands of
flags, posters, chants, smiles, flares, megaphones and umbrellas it was day that I will
never forget. On a National level the March for Choice was something much needed in the
media to refocus attention on repealing the Eighth Amendment. With Pro-Life campaigns in
full swing, between leaflets at churches and canvassers at my door, a show of strength -
of young people like me mobilising, was needed to make it very clear that they are the
receding tide.
Being a 20 year old woman in 2017 Ireland, it's difficult to ignore how personal and
important this amendment is to me. I felt the only way I could be heard by country, many
of my peers, my "representatives", was to walk the streets and demand my basic
reproductive rights.
Among my peers, the topic seems only ever to come up in quite short-lived (generally
drunken) conversations. There is so much confusion, and a general hesitance to reflect on
the realities and injustice of modern Ireland. Still once the arguments have been hashed
out, there is never any avoiding the hard cold facts and statistics that cannot be ignored
(even though they are in mainstream media).
That, on average, 77 of our Irish sisters, neighbours, comrades, colleagues, shop
assistants, daughters, nieces, aunts leave the shores weekly, often alone without support,
as a form of solitary punishment, travelling to have a procedure that would make them a
criminal in their own home.
That in the event of a crisis pregnancy, of an unwanted pregnancy, or a fatal foetal
abnormality, Ireland expects a person to make the arrangements to travel at their own
costs, while the Government turns a blind eye. Apart from these "choices" that Irish women
have in 2016 Ireland, they are left with having to continuing her pregnancy to full term.
When I sat down and really thought about the Eighth Amendment and who it's really
affecting, it saddened me greatly. To point out that if someone "really wanted an abortion
that badly they'd hop on the boat to England" is an obscene excuse, an apology for a
national oppression, and a basic negation of responsibility. To have a law that singles
out and puts working class women and trans folk, and illegal migrants at even more of a
disadvantage is even more inhumane. The idea of being ashamed about the 77 people that
leave the country each week, so that they can exact a basic control over their own body is
a religious fundamentalist opinion that unfortunately holds sway among some people in Ireland.
To put it as plainly as they do on their website, Pro Life Campaigners believe that "All
human beings possess an equal and inherent worth simply by virtue of their humanity." This
is exactly what we as Pro choice believe, and I don't understand why they are subjecting
the working class and the migrants of this country to have unwanted, potentially unhealthy
children.
At the march I saw a lot of different perspectives, speaking to different people about why
they believe in Bodily Autonomy, and Ireland without the Eighth Amendment.
Being 20 I guess I've never really understood the idea of parenting, and definitely take
for granted my upbringing and the heros of parents I have. Talking to new mothers and
fathers I realised that parenting becomes part of who you are as a human being, it changes
your life completely. It is such a tough, brave, sacrifice to make in your life, and I
feel nobody should ever have that decision made for them.
The idea of celebrating the 8th Amendment makes me sick to my stomach. Why do they have
more respect for the unborn than the women that are living and suffering?
The indoctrination of Catholicism in Irish society over the past (800) years has had a
massive influence on the legal system in Ireland, and I don't think this is any different.
To think that less than 50 years ago women had to quit their job when they married shows
that Ireland is progressing (however slow that may be) .
In the FAQ section of the pro life campaign website (which is a great read) the writers
implore Christopher Hitchens as a sort of mascot of a modern day, atheist pro-lifer, with
the caption "Are you imposing your beliefs on others?"
In my opinion, you may not be imposing your beliefs regarding religion, but it is you
making the choice to keep the eighth amendment in place that leaves women with no other
option than to leave the country, or have an abortion illegally, or worst of all, have an
unwanted child.
They also have a piece about the late Savita Halappanavar, accusing the mainstream media
of getting the facts all wrong. "It is no exaggeration to say that RTE followed the line
taken by the Irish Times, in effect channelling the public distress and concern at the
death of Savita so that it reinforced the Government's insistence that legislation for
abortion."
I actually found that rebuttal quite humourous, seeing as up until about eighteen months
ago the large amount of society were oblivious that people were leaving the country in
droves to find help abroad.
Marching with the WSM really opened my eyes as to how anarchists respect bodily autonomy.
It is integral to treat the people capable of childbearing in the Ireland of 2016 with
utmost respect, and equality, in fact it is the basic tenant of any decent, humane society.
The 25,000 people that marched on the streets of Dublin are the ones who make me proud to
live here.
____________________
This year's "March for Choice" takes place on September 30th
Author: Edel P
https://www.wsm.ie/c/looking-back-2016-march-choice
------------------------------
Message: 5
The disgrace of the extreme left after the failure of July will not have been long. From
the end of August, the aborted coup d'état of General Kornilov puts it in the saddle, and
triggers a wave of workers' terror against the bourgeoisie. The social war has only just
begun. For the Bolsheviks and their anarchist allies, the question of power is the order
of the day. ---- On 25 August 1917, General Lavr Kornilov (1870-1918) sent troops from the
front to take over Petrograd and " restore order ". ---- The demoralizing failure of
insurrectionalism during the days of 3 and 4 July will have consequences both on the
Bolshevik Party and on the anarchist movement. Bolstered by a fiasco that has caused
thousands of members to flee, the Bolshevik leaders will now avoid letting themselves be
carried away by the anarchists and will be more respectful of the directives of their
central committee.
As for the FAC, persecuted and deprived of its headquarters of the datcha Dournovo, its
influence seems to retreat to the benefit of the anarcho-syndicalists of UPAS. From July
18 to 22, a first anarchist conference held in Kharkov, with delegates from 12 cities, and
a turning point in clearly pronouncing for the participation of anarchists to the Soviets [1].
At the same time, the UPAS clarifies differences with the Bolsheviks in the IV th
Conference committees Petrograd factories, from August 7 to 12.
Voline (1882-1945)
This veteran of the Revolution of 1905, passed by exile, is one of the main animators of
the newspaper Golos Trouda, which advocates the socialization and the self-management of
the industry. After the assault of power against the anarchists, in the spring of 1918 he
joined the Makhnovshchina.
All delegates want to limit competition between companies for supply ... but not in the
same way. Anarcho-syndicalists believe that it is the role of federations of factory
committees, to be structured by branch of industry ; the Bolsheviks believe that this will
be the task of a " proletarian state " and table a motion to that effect. Voline, a
delegate of the Stein factory, opposed it. But the Bolshevik majority of delegates
rejected his objection, and voted the motion. In spite of everything, the
anarcho-syndicalists cling, and Chatov joins Maximov at the central committees of
factories of Petrograd.
During the conference, the anarcho-syndicalists distributed the first issue of their
weekly, Golos Trouda, as in the time of their exile in the United States. They defend a
socialist self-management based on the factory committees, not wards of the state and,
unlike the FCC, see in the soviets " the only forms of organization of revolutionary
democracy ", the only institutions capable of successfully " decentralization and
distribution of power " [2]. Golos Trouda will reach a circulation of 25,000 copies [3];
compared to 90,000 daily copies of Pravda in June 1917, which must be added the 60,000 of
Soldatskaya Pravda [4].
On the basis of their journal, anarcho-syndicalists make progress. In Moscow, led by a
veteran very influenced by the French model, Nicolai Lebedev, they are implanted in
bakers, typographers, postal workers, railway workers, leather workers and perfume
workers. Further to the south, they gained the cement and dockers of Ekaterinodar and
Novorossiisk. At the Donbass miners, in June, a conference adopted the revolutionary
syndicalist program of the IWW. Finally, at the end of August 1917, UPAS is preparing to
inaugurate its first workers' club in the Vyborg district of Petrograd.
It is at this moment that Russia is shaken by an event which will, again, accelerate the
revolution: the attempt of putsch of General Kornilov.
In spite of himself, Kornilov revived the revolution
Since the repression of the July Days, everyone expected a coup to " finish the job ",
replace Kerenski helplessly, liquidate the Petrograd Soviet, shoot the " tovaritchtchi "
leading the country to its loss and restore order. The bourgeoisie hoped for it intensely,
and the conservative press called it openly.
Their wishes were fulfilled when news spread on August 29 that General Kornilov was
marching on Petrogard with troops brought back from the front, including the Cossacks of
the " Wild Division ." In the government, Kerensky, suspected of complicity with
Kornilov, can do nothing but denounce this sedition, and call for resistance.
It is then that the popular power will demonstrate all its power, far beyond what Kerensky
would have liked. The peril Kornilov causes a tremendous start not only in Petrograd, but
throughout the country. In Ukraine, for example, in a city of 30,000 inhabitants such as
Gouliai-Polié, a Committee for the Defense of the Revolution was formed and, led by the
anarchist Nestor Makhno, disarmed the bourgeoisie of the city to dissuade any attempt to
Kornilov [5].
The Petrograd Soviet, which called for general mobilization, spends the day on the July
Days: freeing the imprisoned militants ; the armories are opened ; arms are distributed to
the workers ; trenches. The Red Guard took over the defense of the city. The anarchist
Justin Jouk, who is a member of its steering committee, had a barge of grenades sent by
the Central Committee of Factory Committees to be delivered to Vyborg by the Blowing of
Schlüsselbourg. We wait Kornilov firm foot.
In fact, he never reached Petrograd: deprived of supplies and locomotion by railway
workers on strike, his troops were immobilized and, little by little, fraternized with the
Red Guards who came to meet them. In forty-eight hours, Kornilov is forced to abandon the
game. The bourgeoisie is dismayed ; the working-class quarters exult. Anarchists and
Bolsheviks were at the forefront of revolutionary defense ; plagued the day before, their
prestige is now at the highest. For everyone, it is clear that the hour of revenge has come.
Social war begins
To paraphrase Saint-Just in 1794, it could be said that those who counter-revolutions are
" only digging a tomb ." That is exactly what will happen in Russia. Distraught by the
attempted putsch, the proletariat will defend itself with ferocity. " More feeling, said
Jouk early August, more time to lose. The hour has come to strike the bourgeoisie at the
head. " [6]
Pierre Kropotkin (1842-1921)
Russian anarchists retain affection for the old theorist, but they no longer follow him.
He discredited himself by supporting the war against Germany and participating in the
Democratic Conference organized by Kerenski in September 1917.
Whereas in the countryside, land ownership has increased since June, it is now in the
cities that the expropriations of businesses and housing multiply. The buildings of the
beautiful districts are visited by squads of the Red Guard, the bourgeois are obliged to
share their vast apartments with needy families, when they are not, simply stripped of
their possessions in a savage way. The Bolshevik Party launched the slogan " Pillage the
plunderers " as a real incentive for individual recovery [7].
By missing his putsch, Kornilov triggered a wave of terror against the owning classes in
Russia. " It was well before October that the revolutionary workers destroyed the basis
of capitalism. There remained only the political superstructure , " wrote Piotr Archinov
ten years later [8].
In fact, the existence of the provisional government is only one thread. Kerenski is no
longer taken seriously by anyone. Especially since the soviets have let go. On August 31,
Petrograd condemned his ambiguity with Kornilov and for the first time approved the motto
" All Power to the Soviets ". Dismissed, the SR and Mensheviks elected resigned from the
executive committee and were replaced by a Bolshevik majority, led by a triumphant Leon
Trotsky.
In the following days, in the provinces, more than 50 Soviets voted for similar slogans.
The Bolshevik Party, identified as the party of the social revolution, recorded a
spectacular progression, winning the majority in the biggest soviets, but also in the
unions where until then the Mensheviks dominated.
The insurgency is preparing
All that remains is to eliminate the moderates of the VTsIK elected in June. A II th
All-Russian Congress of Soviets was convened for October. There is every feeling that the
Bolsheviks will be in the majority and that the congress will proclaim, finally, the
dismissal of the provisional government. There is no doubt that if coercion is to be used,
the Kronstadt sailors, the soldiers and the Red Guards will be counted on. And that the
Bolshevik Party will be the conductor of the operation.
Bolshevik and anarchist militants trained in the factories with the weapons recovered
during the Kornilovchtichna [9]. This is again osmosis, but now under the undisputed
command of the party [10].
After the "Kornilovshchina", the government is so weakened that the workers of the Red
Guard train openly for the insurrection. Here a group poses for the photographer Iakov
Steinberg.
In the Bolshevik press, the insurrection is openly discussed. The great question which
divides the Central Committee is that of the moment. Should it be launched after the
All-Russian Congress of Soviets has voted for the dismissal of the government ? Or should
it be launched before, to put the congress before the fait accompli ? What is at stake,
however, but of primary importance, is to determine who will go to power: directly to the
Soviet Congress, or to the Bolshevik Party, who will then transfer it to the Soviets. The
issue is symbolic because, in both cases, the Bolsheviks will be the armed arm of the
congress, supported by their left SR allies and anarchists.
But will the armed arm resist the temptation to retain power for itself ? Anarchists are
aware of the risk, but think that the Bolshevik leadership would not have the means to
remain alone in power anyway.
At the approach of the congress and the insurrection announced, Golos Trouda said he was
in favor of a " victory of the soviets " but warned that the " political party aspiring
to power and domination would have to be eliminated after the victory and effectively
gives way to a free self-organization of workers ". Otherwise, the new government would
inevitably be overthrown. Then the " third and final stage of the revolution " would
begin : that of a " free and natural self-organization of the masses " [11].
For its part, the FAC newspaper, Kommuna, who longs for insurrection, publishes a program
signed by Bleikhman in nine essentially economic points, but which remains vague on the
exercise of popular power - the word " soviet " is strangely absent [12].
Guillaume Davranche (AL Montreuil)
In the folder:
February-March 1917: After the Tsarists, drive the capitalists
Minority but galvanized, anarchists advocate expropriation all the way
A tract of the Communist Anarchist Federation of Petrograd (March 1917)
The first libertarian wave (1905-1908)
April-May: The irrepressible rise to the social explosion
Anarcho-syndicalists in factory committees
June-July: Creating insurrection is not enough
The fiasco of the Journées de juillet
August-September: The counter-revolution digs its own tomb
The Other Components of Russian Socialism in 1917
October red (and black): The assault in the unknown
A Ukrainian revolutionary: Maroussia emerges from oblivion
November 1917-April 1918: From pluralism to the confiscated revolution . Four cleavage points:
People's Power vs. State Power
Socialization against nationalization
Popular militia against hierarchical army
On requisitions and expropriations
Epilogue 1918-1921: Resistance and eradication
[1] Paul Avrich, The Russian Anarchists, Maspero, 1979, page 198.
[2] Golos Trouda No. 1, August 11, 1917.
[3] Maximov, Syndicalists in the Russian Revolution, 1940.
[4] Marc Ferro, The Revolution of 1917, Albin Michel, 1997, p. 343.
[5] Nestor Makhno, Memoirs and Writings, Ivrea, 2010, pp. 114-119.
[6] P. Gooderham, " The anarchist movement in Russia, 1905-1917 ", Bristol University,
1981, page 272.
[7] Orlando Figes, The Russian Revolution Volume 2, page 957.
[8] Piotr Archinov, " The Two October ", Diélo Trouda, Oct. 1927.
[9] Louis de Robien, Diary of a diplomat in Russia 1917-1918, Librairie Vuibert, 2017,
page 149.
[10] Anatole Gorélik, quoted in Alexandre Skirda, The Russian Anarchists, the Soviets and
the Revolution of 1917, Editions de Paris, 2000, p. 146.
[11] Editorial " Is it the end ? " Golos Truda, 20 October 1917. Quoted in Volin, The
Unknown Revolution t. 2, page 48.
[12] Kommuna No. 6, September 1917.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Dossier-1917-Aout-septembre-La-contre-revolution-creuse-son-propre-tombeau
------------------------------
Message: 6
Every year at the Thessaloniki International Fair, capital, through its civilian staff,
sets the living conditions of the workers, the unemployed, the retired, the lower. Every
year the Prime Minister comes - always with regret (!) - to announce the new steps of an
all-out attack on state and capital on labor and social achievements. Every year, he
promises that the measures are the latest. ---- And every year the world of the movement
is there to "welcome" the prime minister. ---- This year's independent journey starting at
Kamara at 18:00 numbered around 1,500 people. The journey started from Kamara, initially
moved to the streets of Egnatia and Agia Sophia. On Tsimiski Street he met, as every year,
the intense presence of the suppressive forces, which stretched along both sides. The same
scene was continued in Aggelaki as well as the contribution of the National Defense and
Egnatia Streets, from where it reached Kamara.
The Anarchist Federation was also invited by the Anarchist Collegiality of
Kallithea-Moschato, with banners at the back of the block. The blockade was attended by
comrades and comrades from Thessaloniki, Athens and Lamia. Throughout the course there was
a dynamic pulse. In the banner of A.O. "WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR THE LIGHT, THEN WE WILL
KNOW THE HUNT. ORGANIZATION AND GAME FOR SOCIAL RESPONSE, FREEDOM OF COMMUNICATION,
ANARCHIA ", while in ASYKAMOS:" WITH CIRCLE AND ASSIGNMENT IT WILL NOT CHANGE, THE FUTURE
OF HIS LAW ONLY WILL GIVE IT " .
This year's TIF was markedly less massive than last year's. Another indication of the
recession experienced by the movement as a whole in the years of the crisis. The streets
continue to not fill. The "popular rage" that some people have expected is still not being
expressed. In recent years I have been referring to the ruling classes, with social unrest
and resistances being defeated.
The state, however, proclaims in all tones that it has continued. Class and social
struggles also have to follow in all tones.
Trying to make it impossible, man has always achieved what is possible. If, however, we do
not do the impossible, we will face the unthinkable.
Nothing's over. Let's go to the counterattack!
anarchist-federation.gr
info@anarchist-federation.gr
twitter: twitter.com/anarchistfedGr
fb: facebook.com/anarxikiomospondia2015
------------------------------
Message: 7
Brighton Solidarity Federation has started a dispute with MTM lettings on the Lewes road.
A group of tenants have been organising with SolFed after they were rented a house with
serious damp and mould problems, infestations, and poor furniture that the landlady had
promised to replace. ---- The tenants were introduced to the landlady by a different
letting agency in the city, which was intermittently involved in the tenancy for the first
six months. Administration was then transferred to MTM. The first letting agency refunded
the tenants their agency fees, totalling £1200, on Thursday 24th August, after a brief
picket protesting against the agency for introducing the tenants to this poor-quality
accommodation. ---- The campaign has now transferred to the landlady's current agency,
MTM, beginning with a picket outside the branch at 5pm on Tuesday 5th September. Brighton
SolFed has supported the tenants to try and find an amicable resolution to the dispute,
with a demand letter being delivered to both MTM and the landlady one week ago. However,
so far, an adequate offer of compensation has not been made by the landlady.
With the support of Brighton SolFed, the tenants are demanding that the landlady pay them
compensation out of the £34,320 rent that they paid to her over the course of twelve
months. The damp problems took six months to inadequately address, the infestation
problems persisted until the end of the tenancy, and women living in the house were
subject to harassment by the tradesmen that carried out the damp work. All in all, it has
been a distressing experience for the tenants. One tenant commented: 'the stress that
dealing with this for a year has caused me has affected my university work. We just want
to be respected and compensated for living in such a terrible property'.
The landlady has consistently tried to obfuscate this process into administrative and
bureaucratic procedures that take significant amounts of time, technical knowledge, and
which are stacked in favour of landlords by virtue of them being carried out by various
different groups - councils, the ombudsman, the letting agency themselves - which do not
want to upset or lose the business of landlords. The problem for the agency is that SolFed
does not hide disputes in administrative or judicial procedures. Our intention is to bring
every dispute onto the streets. Not just because it is faster, cheaper and more effective,
but also because it is the only way we can understand that each of us has the same
problems. Through solidarity and direct action, ordinary people have the power to improve
their lives.
Having trouble with MTM and want to join these tenants in fighting back against their
exploitative practices? Get in touch with SolFed by sending an email to
housing@brightonsolfed.org.uk, or a text to 07427239960.
An injury to one is an injury to all!
http://www.brightonsolfed.org.uk/brighton/brighton-solidarity-federation-opens-a-dispute-with-mtm-lettings-agency
------------------------------
Message: 8
When we're deciding whether or not to have children, where and how to bring them up, when,
and with whom, we're influenced by social forces which are outside our control. These
forces dictate who has more freedom to make these choices, according to how they want to
live. For everybody to enjoy this freedom, for reproductive justice, we require access to
legal abortion, free childcare, free healthcare and education, the ability to leave an
abusive relationship, and access to stable housing and secure, well-paid jobs. ----
Recently, we've seen increased repression of reproductive justice around the world. The
most obvious example of this is attacks on access to abortion. In 2016, the Polish
government attempted to pass legislation that would ban abortion in all circumstances.
They only backed down after a strike by thousands of women across the country. In the USA,
it seems attempts to end funding for Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions as well
as other reproductive healthcare services to people on low incomes, will soon be successful.
Here in the UK, abortion clinics are being targeted for harassment by anti-choice
religious groups and right-wing newspapers. Since 2008, governments across Europe and in
the USA have been using the financial crisis to impose harsh austerity measures on the
working class people least responsible for, but most harmed by, the crash.
Times of austerity often mean increased social conservatism, with the right winning
elections by promising to defend ‘traditional family values'. But they are talking about
defending a very specific type of family - a white, heterosexual, wealthy couple, who can
afford to pay for childcare and own a home in an area with well-funded schools and hospitals.
Whilst our bosses, landlords, and MPs are protected from the effects of austerity
measures, working class people in the UK are struggling to raise their families in the
face of cuts to the services they are forced to rely on. Since 2010, 763 Sure Start
children's centres have closed, 34 domestic violence refuges have closed, and Rape Crisis
has a budget shortfall of £10 million. Combined with cuts to benefits, this leaves victims
of gendered violence trapped in dangerous relationships and homes. Companies like Sports
Direct, who use zero-hour contracts and pay poverty wages, leave many families without a
reliable income.
Schools in Derbyshire, near a Sports Direct depot, reported sick children coming into
school because their parents were afraid that taking time off to care for them would
result in their hours being cut. Whilst the company bowed to pressure and gave its
in-house staff proper contracts, agency workers were kept on zero-hours contracts.
More people than ever are now living in privately rented accommodation, suffering rip-off
rents that mean families are living in poor quality, precarious housing, often many miles
from supportive communities, or else they are being discouraged from having children
altogether. Oppressive laws disproportionately affect the poor as well.
A pro-choice rally in memory of Savita Halappanavar in 2012. Savita died due to
complications from a sceptic miscarriage having been denied an abortion. At least 4,000
women are forced to leave Ireland for abortions each year.
In the north and south of Ireland, it is working class women, non-binary, and trans people
who struggle to afford travel to England for a safe, legal abortion. All these problems
are worse for migrants, who are now at risk from increased gate-keeping in the NHS. After
a trial at St George's Hospital, 20 NHS hospitals will require a passport and utility bill
before treating patients, leaving many without access to sexual health and maternity
services. Migrants also face the constant threat of deportations, which leave families
divided across continents.
We cannot, and should not, expect the state to support our struggle for reproductive
justice. In the face of these attacks on our everyday lives, on our choices, and our
families, we must build working class solidarity. We need to work together to defend our
local abortion clinics from harassment by bigots, resist immigration raids which violently
split up families, band together against landlords and their bailiffs, and stand up to
fascists when they attack our communities.
We should support doctors who refuse to check the immigration status of their patients,
and make sure other parents know that they aren't required to give schools census
information about the ethnicity of their children. We should be active in our unions and
workplaces, organising against precarious work and low wages with our fellow migrant workers.
If we fight for control over our bodies and our lives, we can only win if we stand
together as a class.
See Feminist Fightback for examples of the struggle for reproductive justice.
This article first appeared in Resistance[pdf]Autumn 2017, the bulletin of the Anarchist
Federation
Pic: A protester against he anti-abortion law in Poland in 2016 by Iga Lubczanska and
Savita rally by William Murphy
https://freedomnews.org.uk/struggling-for-our-families-and-our-lives/
------------------------------
Home »
» Anarchic update news all over the world -17.09.2017