Anarchic update news all over the world - 25.02.2018

Today's Topics:

   
1.  anarkismo.net: Out with the old, in with the not so new by
      Shawn Hattingh - ZACF (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  France, Alternative Libertaire - War of the sexes or general
      liberation ?, February 28 in Paris 20 e by AL Paris Nord-Est (fr,
      it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  wsm.ie: Fascism - Position paper on Fascism as collectively
      agreed by the February 2018 National Conference.
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  France, Alternative Libertaire AL #280 - Unions: Grouping
      together to move forward, not just to warm up (fr, it, pt)
      [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  Greece, liberta salonica: Against the New Penitentiary and
      Penal Code: Intervention in the Law School of Aristotle
      University during the course of the Sophronist (gr) [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  Poland, WORKERS' INITIATIVE: Resistance of Crane Operators
      in the Slovenian port of Koper [machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
7.  london acg: STRIKE AT IMPERIAL COLLEGE - Info from those
      about to strike: (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1






The article looks at the structural reasons why Ramaphosa replacing Zuma as the head of 
state in South Africa won't end corruption. ---- In South Africa, for white and 
international capital the last few weeks have been a period of rejoicing due to Ramaphosa 
being elected as ANC President. Zuma's days as the State President are now also over. He 
was recalled by the ANC and in doing so he was forced to resign; leading the business 
elite to feel an even greater sense of smugness. ---- The bitter faction fights within the 
ANC, therefore, have seen Zuma defeated and his erstwhile supporters - a section of BEE 
capital and parasites in the top of the state - placed squarely on the back foot.

The slate that Ramaphosa won on was the promise to eradicate corruption within the state 
and the ANC. The tone that accompanied this was that Zuma would be removed from the 
Presidency and that he may even be prosecuted, along with the Guptas, for his role in 
‘state capture'. The ANC itself is hoping that such moves will reverse its ailing fortunes 
and bolster its election campaign in 2019. Its alliance partners, the SACP and COSATU, are 
also opportunistically hoping Zuma's exit from the state will give them a new lease of 
life politically; and that their leaders will be able to hold onto their cushy and 
ridiculously well paid jobs in the top echelons of the state under Ramaphosa, which were 
initially handed to them by Zuma for their backing in Polokwane in 2007.

The reality is that the battle within the ANC and now Zuma's total demise has very little 
to do with addressing corruption - despite Ramaphosa's claims. It was a fight for top 
positions in the state and the speed with which Zuma's former die-hard supporters and 
allies, including the Ace Magashule and Malusi Gigaba, have quickly jumped ship since 
Ramaphosa's victory has shown this. In the bid to secure their well-paying jobs going 
forward and to use positions in the state to secure business deals, old allies have been 
dumped and a new one, in the form of Ramaphosa, has been embraced.

Ramaphosa's history highlights how his talk of tackling corruption within all structures 
of the state was and is simply a ploy, which has no substance. This is because Ramaphosa 
himself has been involved in corruption. Ramaphosa got rich overnight in the 1990s when he 
used workers' pensions (supplied by union investment companies) to raise capital for his 
business deals. He was also supplied capital by white South African capitalists. To be 
sure, they were not buying Ramaphosa's business acumen when they provided him shares, 
board positions and capital; they were buying the influence he had in the ANC and the 
state in order to further their own capital accumulation. All of this was backed by the 
ANC as it was expected that Ramaphosa would use his new found riches to boost the coffers 
of the Party.

Ramaphosa's main business interest was Shanduka, which he was involved in founding in 
2001. While in charge of the company, it was involved in cases of tax evasion as revealed 
in the Panama Papers. By 2012, as is well known, Ramaphosa was also a shareholder and 
Board member of Lonmin and he was the one that used his political connections to get the 
state to crush the strike, which saw the police gun down 34 workers at Marikana. Ramaphosa 
is not a man who, therefore, particularly shuns corruption or using connections to the 
state and political power to further his own vile money making interests or those of his 
business partners.

Likewise, his backers in the form of white capital are also not averse to corruption. 
Historically, their capital comes from colonial conquest and the state creating a pool of 
cheap black labour that could be exploited on farms, mines and factories through land 
grabs, hut taxes, pass laws, legalized racial discrimination and ultimately violence. In 
the apartheid era, the state also provided the world's cheapest electricity to white 
capital and it paid handsomely for the sub-standard coal it bought from Afrikaner capital 
to fire Eskom's power stations. Corrupt deals in the apartheid years, and there were many 
corrupt deals, built up white capital and were part and parcel of how business was done in 
those years - including transfer pricing, tax evasion and sanctions busting.

Even today, corruption is common practice in the private sector (still mostly in the hands 
of white South African capitalists). This has been shown through numerous leaks in 2017 
and into 2018. For example, it recently surfaced that blue chip South African companies, 
such as Liberty and Illovo, have been using measures to evade tax on an ongoing basis. Not 
to be outdone, several South African financial institutions were of late caught 
manipulating the Rand in order to profiteer from the volatility created. Then of course 
there is Steinhoff that used Special Purpose Vehicles to fraudulently boost profits and 
lower debts on its books to the benefit of its shareholders and top management. When this 
became public knowledge, it was clear that the company was in reality in financial 
difficulties and its share price plunged at the end of 2017. Like Zuma, Steinhoff's days 
may be numbered and it soon may disappear altogether. Nonetheless its shareholders, like 
Christo Weise, have got away with the ill-gotten gains and are unlikely to be prosecuted 
for the shenanigans that were taking place at Steinhoff.

White capital, therefore, has no problem with corruption. The problem they had with Zuma 
is that they were being side-lined in the corrupt deals of the state under his watch, with 
far more going to the Gupta family and a new BEE elite. Hence, they turned on the Zuma 
faction and backed Ramaphosa as their man: they wanted back in on the money, often 
involving corruption, which could be made through relations with the state and top 
politicians.

This means that corruption is not going to end under Ramaphosa's tender. Making matters 
worse is the deal that was made in 1994, which saw the bulk of the private sector 
remaining in the hands of white capital. In return there would be some BEE, but more 
importantly the ANC leadership would be allowed to take over the state. In other words, 
capitalism would stay in place, including the harsh exploitation of the black working 
class on which it was and is based, but the faces in the state would change.

Since then, there has been some BEE, but it has been limited. As a result, white 
capitalists still mainly dominate the private sector. Aspiring capitalists that were 
linked to the ANC, who wanted to own large private companies, were and have been largely 
frustrated by these capitalists. In this context the state became the key, and in many 
cases the only, site through which an ANC elite could build itself into a prosperous black 
section of the ruling class - and corruption has been part of this structural problem.

The working class, in its bid to battle corruption, therefore need to be clear that the 
Ramaphosa regime won't end corruption. It is a structural problem; and has nothing to do 
with good or bad personalities. New patronage networks will emerge, some old ones - 
including corruption at all levels of the state - will remain; although it will probably 
be less blatant and amateurish than under Zuma. Zuma and the Guptas will probably also be 
thrown to the wolves as a token; but corruption within the private sector and state won't 
end. This is because corruption is a problem linked to the path that capitalist 
development has taken in South Africa.

If there is a serious bid to get rid of corruption, therefore, the structure and purpose 
of the South African economy would have to be fundamentally changed, which probably can't 
be fully achieved under capitalism or the state system (which entrenches the rule and 
oppression of an elite minority over a majority and allows for corruption). Trying to end 
corruption, by definition, will have to be a revolutionary struggle to fundamentally 
change the society we have unfortunately inherited.

Related Link: https://www.pambazuka.org/democracy-governance/out-old-not-so-new

https://www.anarkismo.net/article/30845

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Message: 2

In Lieu-Dit (6 rue Sorbier, Paris 20 th ) Wednesday, February 28 at 19:30.
The word of women is released. It is an intense breathing that unites us, gives us 
strength and courage.
And the men ? Where are they ? Can they take their part in the fight ? And these other 
women who scream at the war of the sexes, denounce puritanism where we see emancipation, 
are they blind ?
We continue the discussion launched in December !

http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Guerre-des-sexes-ou-liberation-generale-le-28-fevrier-a-Paris-20e

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Message: 3





This paper sits under 'The Role of the Anarchist Organisation' and above 'No Platform for 
Fascists'. ---- What is the Purpose of this Position Paper? ---- It is important to have a 
firm understanding of what fascism is beyond vague generalities about racism and 
authoritarianism so that we may correctly spot it and be effective in preventing its 
success, especially given that fascist organising requires an emergency response. ---- 
What is Fascism? ---- 1. Incoherent ---- Due to its psychological and reactionary nature 
and its peculiar history of development. It can't be simply summarised like anarchism or 
republicanism can be, rather it is like a device with its pieces hastily glued and taped 
together. ---- 2. Adaptive ---- Fascism first arose in early 20th century Europe, but has 
its antecedents throughout human history. It is always an expression of the current 
situation and won't necessarily re-emerge in the exact same form as in 1920s/30s Europe, 
as we are seeing today.

3. The Opposite of Anarchism
Fascism is as close to the exact opposite of anarchism as is possible.

4. Ingroup Statism
It is highly mistaken to view fascism as just a form of extreme racism. It is more about 
bringing a large number of people together by their membership of a worthy ingroup and 
consolidating that with huge state power.

5. Reactionary
In the basic sense, it arises as a reaction to changes in society and presents itself as a 
force which will overcome those ‘degenerate' changes. It is sick of modern ‘decadence', 
uppity and promiscuous women, queers, Jews, and people of colour getting ahead of their 
station, intellectuals corrupting the youth, and so on. The domestic ‘culture' and 
‘civilisation' must be defended from outside invaders and the enemy within.

6. ‘Revolutionary' and ‘Radical'
In the sense of seeking sweeping and immediate changes to society.

7. Emotional Reaction to Disgrace
‘There is no philosophy of Fascism, but only a psycho-analysis'. Broadly speaking it is an 
emotional reaction to disgrace with seeks to restore past greatness, whether real or 
imagined. Bottled up bigotry is made legitimate with an attitude of ‘screw you I'm not 
going to take it anymore and I don't care what anyone thinks!'. That disgrace can relate 
to nationality (e.g. Versailles and Germany), gender (cis male), sexuality (straight), 
income / class (e.g. unemployed worker, relatively impoverished middle class). These 
people position themselves as oppressed and swindled victims who demand reparations.

8. A Spiritual Movement
Which seeks to overcome alienation, disgrace, and misery, by achieving heroic heights, by 
being part of something great - fascism is egotism, living vicariously through the 
collective. Fascism seeks simplicity in a scary and complicated world. It provides 
community to the ingroup by turning the state into a religion and the Party into a church. 
The individual transcends their own fears and mortality by surrendering to the collective.

9. Worships Normality
Difference is hated, normality is worshipped. A central task of fascism is defining what 
is normal. Unconventional lifestyles are to be eradicated, along with those with physical 
or mental disabilities (or differences deemed to be ‘defects').

10. Anti-Individual
There is no individual, only the collective and the ruling order. Order and duty are the 
chief values, not freedom.

11. Anti-Rational
Rises on an outpouring of unthinking emotion. Values action over reflection, faith over 
reason. It is not for a person to think for themselves, but to fulfil the role which has 
been set for them.

12. Focuses on ‘Nature' rather than ‘Nurture'
Problems are seen as due to essential traits in people. Rather than analysing society 
systematically, it proclaims all social problems are the result of a moral crisis. The 
finger is pointed at shady ‘elites' pulling the strings, but not at hierarchy itself. This 
moral crisis will be solved by submitting to new order which will purify society from 
corrupting influences which are perceived as deviant and foreign.

13. Sexist and Queerphobic
As much as it is racist. Lead by men. It is the political expression of toxic masculinity, 
irate because of a disappointed sense of entitlement, prizing force and militarism, 
pre-occupied with dominance, despises weakness, meekness, and sympathy. Traditional gender 
roles must be rigidly enforced. The fascist mission always involves putting women back in 
the kitchen to be baby-making vessels - this tendency can be seen today in the ‘pick up 
artists' and ‘Men's Rights Activists' who populate the far-right. Notably trans people are 
top of the list of targets.

14. Hierarchical, Anti-Democratic
Venerates hierarchy as the natural ‘law of the jungle', seeing democracy as an impotent 
indulgence. Parliament will be used as a tool at first but eventually dissolved into 
dictatorship. This 'meritocratic' elitist sensibility makes fascism a good fit with 
capitalism. Realpolitik is central, getting the job done rather than dallying about human 
rights and due process.

15. Street Politics and Direct Action
What also distinguishes fascism from parliamentary politcs is it has a mass street 
politics with its own poisonous direct action component, using violence to intimidate and 
attack those at the wrong end of their ideology, including attempting to make left 
political opposition impossible. Probably this more that anything else distinguishes 
fascism and gives it the particular pre-power danger that requires confrontation.

16. Anti-Socialist, Anti-Communist, Anti-Anarchist, and Anti-Trade Union
Because:

1. The left is seen to be emblematic of everything degenerate in society.
2. The left is the chief competitor of fascists and left ideas and organising make it 
harder for fascism to spread.
3. Unions represent an independent power in society, but under fascism there ought only be 
the state.
4. The left stands for egalitarianism and fascists stand for aristocracy.
5. Fascism can find wealthy backers if they crush unions and the left.
6. It helps morale to have a sworn political enemy.
7. Historically this was the case so it persists today.

17. No Class Awareness
There is only national and ethnic consciousness, no class consciousness or human 
consciousness. The richest and the poorest are supposedly on the same team despite 
opposite financial interests. There is no awareness of a united humanity, only brethren of 
the nation or race.

18. Politics and Economy Merge
The state merges political and economic power, both by the state asserting its authority 
over all economic affairs and private power asserting its influence over the state.

19. Simplistic, Improvised, and Populist
Fascism tends to be highly simplistic and makes it up as it goes along. Fascist parties 
will have very crude programmes, centred on vague notions of purging the nation of 
corruption and outsiders, achieving national greatness, and maintaining law and order. 
Policies will be adopted on the fly to appease the populace.

20. Within a Broader Far-Right
Fascism exists within a broader spectrum or ecosystem of far-right politics. It is 
impossible to definitively say at exactly what point a group becomes fascist rather than 
ultra-nationalists, extreme racist and sexist authoritarians, right-wing militia men, etc. 
This problem is intensified by the fact that fascists take pains for obvious reasons to 
hide the fact they are fascists.

21. In this vein, while parties like UKIP are not fascist, they live within that fascist 
ecosystem and serve the same agenda, drawing a broader group of people into the orbit of 
the far-right and shifting the discourse towards xenophobia and authoritarianism. 
Similarly for Donald Trump, who benefits greatly from the rise of neo-confederates, white 
supremacists, neo-Nazis, etc, but has of yet not attempted to seize absolute state power.

22. All of the above makes it clear that the ‘alt-right' is indeed fascism wearing a new hat.

https://www.wsm.ie/c/fascism-anarchism-wsm

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Message: 4





In the left wing of syndicalism, several attempts to call and regroup have tried to move 
the lines. In the absence of a buoyant context, they did not take off, but laid the 
groundwork. ---- Since 2016, many calls for unity and action have been produced, 
demonstrating the frustration of activists frustrated by inaction and the difficulty of 
creating the conditions for action at the necessary level. Alas, none of them has produced 
the desired effect. ---- Let's move on to the efforts of the Copernic Foundation whose 
productions, whatever their quality, have no real impact in the union body. In 2016, the " 
Block All " appeal will be remembered as an ephemeral and impotent network of unions whose 
clear purpose was to help lead the debate on the need for an interprofessional national 
strike. renewable.

The call " Block everything " emphasized the importance of mobilizing militant collectives 
in the widest unity and refusing to build a fractional tool. There are still woven 
relationships of trust that can be used again.

In 2017, the Front social collective has occupied this field. Locally, it allowed the 
construction of some militant groupings but failed to demonstrate the validity of his 
speech that workers would wait for a signal to engage in a resolute action, hitherto 
hampered by the inertia of the trade union leaderships.

The phenomenon of " head processions " has also sometimes attracted union activists who 
despair of demonstrations dominated cars, balloons and mojitos. In a few cities, there 
have been some similarities between the leaders of these processions and certain union 
structures. At the national level, since the " Hunting HRD " operation, there is a network 
of debate and action between trade unionists and actors of autonomy. But all this concerns 
only a very small circle of activists. Finally, we will remember that, especially in 2016, 
the establishment of interprofessional and inter-union AGs made it possible to build 
strong local actions and useful solidarities.[...]

Let's say clearly that these local GAs remain our strategic compass, prefiguring the 
necessary local, self-managed local strike committee for the day of " the general ". We 
are talking about general assemblies gathering strikers and wanting to strengthen the 
strike and expand it. For the sake of social and workers' democracy, they must be based on 
general assemblies held in companies, as close as possible to services.

Extracts from the AL Federal Coordination (January 2018)

http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Syndicats-Se-regrouper-pour-avancer-pas-juste-pour-se-rechauffer

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Message: 5





On Wednesday, February 21, we chose to intervene in the law building, specifically in the 
room where the Sophronist's lesson is being taught, sending a minimal message of 
solidarity to the hundreds of prisoners and prisoners who experience daily the condition 
of imprisonment and the horror that hears the name of punishment through coppers of 
democracy. ---- Correction is a condition you do not teach. You experience it, and that's 
why you are hurt. Really, however, what exactly do they teach in this lesson? Humiliation 
and disrespect for human dignity? The loss and violation of every elementary right, won by 
bloody struggles? Humiliation? Social isolation and stigmatization? Avenging punishment, 
submission and intimidation even to those outside the walls to be exemplified? Since when 
is all this subject of study and teaching, not causes of war?

Recently, prisoners of Greek soldiers are sending their own message of resistance against 
the upcoming adoption of the new criminal and punitive code by opening a circle of 
escalating mobilizations. They will find us beside them, until the destruction and the 
last prison. Until we are all free.

The dictatorship of imprisonment is the mirror of democracy.

Solidarity in the struggle of prisoners.

Liberation Initiative of Thessaloniki,

https://libertasalonica.wordpress.com/2018/02/23/

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Message: 6





Logo of the Trade Union of Crane Operators in the Port of Koper ---- In the city of Koper 
there is the only seaport in Slovenia. It is of strategic importance for international 
logistics operations and has been an arena for the struggle of port crane operators 
associated in an independent trade union with the neo-liberal policy of the Slovenian 
authorities for several years. ---- Port Koper is an extremely important enterprise for 
the local economy, owned and managed by a state-owned company. This model differs from the 
ownership and managerial structure of many other ports in Europe, which have been 
privatized for many years. However, since the 1980s, the company has been implementing a 
neoliberal port development strategy, which consists in subordinating it to the interests 
of large international capital and increasing the rate of exploitation by charging 
additional working hours and destabilizing employment. Overtime, junk contracts 
(self-employment) and reduced safety standards have become the norm, which - as confirmed 
by hundreds of accidents in Poland - results in tragedies in the workplace.

In July last year, the crane operator, who was also chairman of the trade union Sindikat 
Žerjavistov Pomorskih Dejavnosti Luke Koper(Trade Union of Crane Operators in the Dock 
Harbor), caused an accident in which a Macedonian worker died, came to Slovenia in search 
of better wages. The real reason for his death, however, was the policy of port managers, 
who made profits before the rules of security. Being part of the public sector, the 
company was able to survive the crisis of 2008-2009 thanks to the state guardianship and 
even to inspire the Italian port sector to implement the ownership and management model 
from the port of Koper. However, towards employees, it presents an aggressively neoliberal 
approach in which the reduction of costs is crucial. The port's authorities maintain about 
500-person reserve army of workers on pre-conditions. If necessary (eg problems with the 
striking crew or problems in negotiations with subcontractors contracted for specific 
works in the port),

The abovementioned accident became a pretext for an attack on the Trade Union of Crane 
Operators in the Port of Koper - the port authorities tried to throw responsibility for 
the accident on the organization's chairman and dismiss him in disciplinary mode, but 
thanks to the international solidarity campaign supported, among others by the 
International Dockworkers Council, he managed to fight for leaving him at work.

The Association of Operators was created in 2007 in opposition to the three yellow 
compounds already operating in the port. The organization gradually strengthened to 
conduct an eight-day strike in 2011, forcing the Ministry of Infrastructure to meet all 
demands of the protesters. In 2016, the union carried out a blockade of the port, drawing 
the wrath of the Slovenian political elite and the media. The Association of Operators 
stands out against other Slovenian workers' organizations. In addition to the battle 
attitude and successes in the fight against the alliance of international capital, local 
and state authorities, he is also characterized by the willingness to cooperate with 
social movements, especially with refugees and organizations acting on their behalf. Many 
operators are immigrants for whom the relationship has become a platform for integration 
and a common fight for basic rights and wage increases.

The employee resistance at the port of Koper is directed against both the neo-liberal 
methods of management and the threats stemming from the geopolitical context. The port 
remains the object of interest and competition of various international entities, 
including German and Austrian logistics corporations and Chinese investors. The latter 
want to make Koper an important link in the "New Silk Road", which means, in essence, 
expanding the sphere of influence of Chinese capital in the Mediterranean. >From an 
employee's point of view, the integration of Adriatic ports within this project may have 
positive effects, but the key here is the ability to exercise control over it by 
employees, and not by institutions of capital of this or other nationality.

http://ozzip.pl/teksty/informacje/zagranica/item/2337-opor-operatorow-zurawi-w-slowenskim-porcie-koper

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Message: 7





STAND WITH OUR STAFF ---- After a long running pensions dispute, with management refusing 
to compromise, staff at Imperial will be taking strike action at the end of 
February/beginning of March. ---- Imperial College Union officially supports the UCU in 
this dispute, but we can do more. ---- JOIN US ---- We will be joining the first day of 
staff pickets, 10am on Thursday February 22nd, in order to show support for our staff. We 
will assemble at the corner of Imperial College Road and Exhibition Road (near Skempton, 
or the end of the tunnel from South Kensington Station). ---- SHARE THIS ---- Share this 
on your page and invite your friends to the event. The more of us that turn up, the more 
pressure there is on College to do the right thing. ---- We hope to see you there. ---- or 
background information on this, see the paper that was passed by the Union: 
https://www.imperialcollegeunion.org/your-union/how-were-run/committees/17-18/Union_Council/file/4094

https://londonacg.blogspot.co.il/2018/02/strike-at-imperial-college.html

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