Anarchist Reading group #1 .. review and download

Anarchist Reading group #1

London Anarchist Federation held their first reading group looking at two chapters in volume 1 of ‘Anarchism, a documentary history of libertarian ideas’, edited by Robert Graham. We read chapters 8 ‘Anarchist Communism’ and 9 ‘Anarchy and anarchism’.Below we present some of the talking points during the discussion, hastily jotted down as notes by one of our members.

A pdf of the texts (vol.1) can be found over at libcom: click Anarchism – A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas .

Parts of the texts are strikingly modern (particularly Kropotkin) and seem readily applicable to situation the working class finds itself in today. Has anything really changed, then? The texts speak of the coming automation of labour and the need, therefore, to make sure workers are in control so this can be a post-scarcity utopia rather than a high unemployment, high exploitation dystopia (hello Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work 2016).

Within this Cafiero acknowledges that many jobs could already be automated but it’s cheaper for capital to exploit labour, so we are condemned to drudgery (hello Bullshit Jobs, A Theory 2018). Although the texts on anarchist communism mainly focus on work and production, there is also an acknowledgement of the impossibility of valuing work and the need to consider mental health, social work and other functions of society which fall outside capitalism. Continue reading “Anarchist Reading group #1 .. review and download”

New space liberated – The Self-managed Occupied Gym.. La Salud

by GOA May 27, 2018
On Sunday May 27, after a week of occupation, we opened the doors of the new Self-managed Occupied Gymnasium.

The Occupied Health Gym “La Salud” is an old gymnasium in the neighborhood of La Salut de Gràcia, which has been abandoned for the last 5 years. We want it to be an open space in the neighborhood, which will allow us to strengthen the ties of our community. We want the neighbors to feel free to enter, participating in scheduled activities or proposing new ones.

We live in our neighborhoods besieged by speculation, gentrification and capitalism, which every day leaves us without a house, without spaces, without the possibility of carrying out a dignified life. Continue reading “New space liberated – The Self-managed Occupied Gym.. La Salud”

Spain: A Insumisa social centre evicted

World, May 26th

Last Wednesday, the municipal police have evicted the A Insumisa social centre in Galician city A Coruña. The space originally belonged to the Ministry of Defense until, after more than 15 years of abandonment, it was ceded to the city council. In November 2016, it was reclaimed by residents of A Coruña and since then it has been carrying out a range of social and cultural activities organized through open assemblies.

After it was occupied and set up as a social centre, the city council came up with their own proposal to turn the space to a cultural project similar to the one already set up by the citizens: except that it was to be managed by the council. The council’s proposal was rejected by the local residents and participants of A Insumisa, who defended the local self-managed project that already worked well without the intervention of the town hall and without public funding. After this defeat, the city council initiated the eviction process, which was finalised last Wednesday.

On Wednesday morning, fifteen hours after the deadline for the eviction, the local police turned up at the door, and were met with locals gathered outside to defend the space. During the eviction there have been police charges that have resulted in several people being injured, some with blows to the head. The police also used tear gas.

Two women climbed the roof of the Insumisa and resisted police attempts to take them down while the solidarity gathering remained at the doors. Continue reading “Spain: A Insumisa social centre evicted”

[26-May-2018] Day of Action against Turkish Invasion of Kurdistan

EN ESPAÑOL AQUÍ via Rojava Azadî The Global Day of Action against the Turkish occupation of Kurdistan will take place on May 26 worldwide.
We call on all feminist organizations to join this campaign.Next, we publish the manifesto issued by the Organization of Kurdish Women to convene international action:

“The Erdogan government has taken the colonial ambitions of the Turkish state to a whole new level. Now the goal is to destroy all the achievements of the Kurds in the south and west of Kurdistan. If he can not achieve his purpose, then he will seek to encircle the Kurdish territories and drown them. Continue reading “[26-May-2018] Day of Action against Turkish Invasion of Kurdistan”

‘Stop Erdogan`s Reelection’ demand Relatives of his 1000’s of murdered victims

Stop Erdogan`s Reelection ...After jailing 195,000 People who might not like him, launching campaigns against minorities and women, and massacring Kurds to ‘reestablish the Turkish Empire’ the President of Turkey has called a snap election to legitimate his power, on Sunday June 24th. Now, as the opposition unites, may be a good time to remind our Turkish friends of some of the documented crimes committed by their President. see also: The 1001 Crimes of Adolf Erdogan

The President still claims, for example, that ‘No civilians were killed or hurt’ in his illegal bombing, invasion and occupation of Afrin. Check out the post below and see if you agree.

Open Letter To UK & Iceland Governments

Haukur Hilmarsson’s mother, Eva Hauksdóttir, has issued an open letter to the governments of Iceland and the UK, imploring them “to confront Turkish authorities on their obligations to the dead.”

As reported, Haukur distinguished himself in Raqqa, where he rose to the rank of commander in the International Freedom Battalion. After helping rout the Islamic State from the area, he later joined the fighting against encroaching Turkish forces in northern Syria. It was in Afrin, a Syrian city that has seen heavy casualties lately, where he ultimately fell in combat.Since then, Haukur’s mother and friends have been imminently frustrated by a lack of concerted response from related governments, who they feel have not done enough to try and retrieve Haukur’s remains and return them to Iceland.

Erdogan claims ‘No civilians were killed or hurt’ in his illegal invasion and occupation of Afrin.

Eva has now issued an open letter to the governments of Iceland and the UK, not only regarding Haukur, but also about the Turkish government and the struggle of the Kurdish people. Here is her open letter, in full. …

An open letter to the governments of the UK and Iceland

We don’t know the exact number of Kurds killed in Afrin since Turkish forces launched the Operation Olive Branch last January, but evidently the toll is high. Thousands of Kurdish fighters are dead or wounded. Hundreds of civilians have been killed or wounded and thousands displaced.

While a large number of devastated families have fled Afrin, many of them after being forced out of their homes to make space for other displaced and persecuted Syrians, others stay in Afrin, trying to move on in grim circumstances. One of the many things that make their life arduous is that dead bodies are still lying around, decomposing in open fields and farmlands.”. Continue reading “‘Stop Erdogan`s Reelection’ demand Relatives of his 1000’s of murdered victims”