Photo by Linda Hoang and Donna Yan
Will the Global Economic Crisis (GEC) facilitate social change? And do the recent ‘Group of 20’ (G20) protests reflect a rise in anarchism? Donna Yan and Bonita Silva investigate.
As 20 of the most powerful leaders of the industrial world converged in the white-topped ExCel Conference Centre in London, thousands of people with banners in hand took to the streets of the capital in a two-day mass protest, driven by mounting discontent.
The friction between protesters and police reached its pinnacle when the Royal Bank of Scotland was reportedly stormed and the death of local London man, Ian Tomlinson, was revealed in the media. All the while, the shadow of the financial crisis loomed overhead.
The cause of Tomlinson’s death was originally believed to be a heart attack. It was later revealed in a second coroner’s report that he had died of an abdominal haemorrhage. This news came as footage of Tomlinson being thrown to the ground by riot police emerged on the Internet.
Paola Totaro of the Sydney Morning Herald, wrote: “London’s financial heart transformed into a massive, naughty teenager’s street part,” yet other reporters begged to differ. The conflicting reports of what transpired at the G20 protests did very little to provide a clear picture of the events. In contrast to Totaro’s piece, Times Online journalist Tom Whipple, noted the extent of abuse protesters suffered at the hands of London police.
He argued that the police action (including detaining thousands without charge) was guaranteed to produce violence and rather than merely being prepared to ‘fight’, there was a sense of eagerness on their part.
Totaro’s claim that anarchy had returned to Britain and Europe cannot be merely considered a throw-away phrase, rather the inspiration for a myriad of questions regarding the effects of the GEC, and what it means for the anarchist movement.
Dr Stewart Davidson, Lecturer in Politics at the Glasgow Caledonian University says those present at G20 protests came from various positions on the ideological spectrum, and that it would be inaccurate to categorise them all as anarchists.
“The media attaches the term ‘anarchist’ to any social movement which challenges the status-quo, as a means of undermining its legitimacy,” says Davidson. “This works because, in the popular consciousness at least, the archetypal anarchist takes the form, not of a Tolstoy, a Thoreau or a Gandhi, but of a nihilistic, black-masked, bomb-wielding rebel-without-a-cause, hell-bent on bringing about lawlessness and disorder. The inaccuracy of this portrayal is beside the point from a propagandist’s point of view.”
Dr Benjamin Franks, Lecturer in Social and Political Philosophy at the University of Glasgow says protesters at the G20 were there for a myriad of reasons, such as highlighting human rights abuses, domestic concerns or global environmental issues.
Although economic discontent was the obvious concern for many of those present, he says: “I think it would be a mistake to see the G20 protesters having a single, shared reason for their protests and other actions…[they] most probably had no stable political identity.”
Anarchism is an umbrella term that branches out to sub categories such as anarcho-capitalists, anarcho-syndicalists, anarcho-communists, agorists and Christian anarchists, making it difficult to label the protests as a simple rise in anarchy when beliefs differ extensively.
‘Anarchist Alex’ and writer behind “Anarchy Downunder” – a popular blog site detailing anarchist issues in Australia – explains the only two available definitions of society for the public: “civilisation, maintained by keeping the status quo, and chaos, which is incorrectly labelled anarchy, presumably to create in the readers mindset, an association between ‘anarchy’ and barbarism”.
“Saying that anarchists don’t provide an alternative system, is like saying that pacifists don’t provide an alternative to war,” he says.
Some aspects of the protests were consistent with anarchism, says Dr Franks. These include attempts to contest hierarchical power, open, participatory planning, and finding co-operative links between different political groups. However, Dr Franks is not convinced the economy determines social change.
He adds: “It should be remembered that many of those taking part in the protests, indeed those actors who provided the most memorable images of the protests, were not protestors but state officials – mainly the police. And of course other important participants were the largely conservative/economic liberal journalists, columnists and broadcasters, who were pivotal in framing the events in particular ways.”
Some anarchists believe that although the turnout at the G20 protests was due to the economic instability, protests are not reason enough to prove a rise in anarchism has occurred.
Scott, a representative of the Victorian National-Anarchist network says: “A lot of those involved in the G20 protests around the world are more often than not interested more in expressing their anger toward an exploitative establishment than being involved in positive grassroots activism.
“What happens at a G20 protest may be an example of how angry people are with world leaders but it’s hardly an example of anarchism in action.”
Some disagree with the notion that the crisis will result in a resurgence of anarchist thought.
“The idea that the current crisis – or anything else – will lead to ‘a rise in anarchism’ strikes me as absurd,” says Dr George Crowder, Professor of Political Theory at Flinders University.
The conflicting views and differing subcategories of anarchism give rise to a misinterpretation by the public.
Non-violent anarchist activist, Karen Kennedy, says the majority of the public fails to understand anarchy, and it often receives negative media coverage due to the governments’ and the military’s fear of ‘anarchy’. Their existence is directly linked to the maintenance of peace and stability in society.
As Kennedy says; “Obviously the government want to paint all anarchists as violent rebels to be feared.”
The Jura Collective run the Jura bookshop and library in Petersham, where the public has access to materials that may not be as readily available elsewhere, such as anti-capitalist and radical political materials.
Katrina Byrne of the Jura Collective believe that the terms ‘anarchy’ and ‘anarchism’ are only associated with riots and disorder by those who misinterpret anarchy.
“Anarchism actually requires a high level of discipline and self-regulation because you actually have to put a lot of effort in yourself to regulate your own behaviour. It’s about giving autonomy but that autonomy comes with a responsibility. Instead of there being a government to tell you what to do, the community decides where it wants to go and uses a consensus based model,” she says.
Although the GEC is the outcome of the socio-political and economic systems that the state has in place, ‘Anarchist Alex’ believes that the crisis does present an opportunity for people to contemplate the deeper workings of the society in which we live.
The Jura Collective also notes increasing book sales as an indication that people are more interested in the materials and ideas.
Kennedy notes a similar openness towards anarchist discourse: “I have noticed it just as my own work as a tutor that there’s a lot more interest, there’s kind of a feeling of openness now for this kind of idea. It’s not seen so much as a utopian unrealistic suggestion.”
However, experts are doubtful the crisis will facilitate the social change that anarchists desire.
“Whether the disaffection this generates is enough to stimulate wide-spread calls for radical social change will depend on the extent of the crisis itself. Things will have to get considerably worse before this happens,” Davidson says.
Dr Lawrence Davis, Lecturer in Politics at the National University of Ireland Maynooth, believes the opportunity for meaningful social change will depend on our future actions, or the opportunity will arise for global elites to convey the appearance of structural change.
He says: “If people the world over are content to give their power away to elites in exchange for promises of reform, if in other words they try to achieve democracy by waiting for it, then they will wait forever.”
{ 49 comments }
Well done to Vertigo for a fair and unbiased report, I feel you’ve addressed the issues nicely and hopefully inspired readers to investigate further in to what anarchism really means.
I wasn’t previously aware of this publication and will be keeping up with it from now on.
Bonita Silva and Donna Yan get the award for laziest ‘journalists’ of 2009.
It is a well known fact that the ‘National Anarchists’ are not anarchists at all. They are right wing fascists.
The neo-nazi, Scott, that you quoted in the article is gloating all over racist websites about how you were fooled.
A little bit of research next time wouldnt go astray!
If you googled ‘national anarchism’ you’d find out pretty quickly that a) national anarchism is a contradiction in terms, b) deliberately constructructed by the far right as a strategy to sow confusion about anarchism and to recruit amongst white university students and c) so far removed from the events of G20, anarchism in the UK, Australia and reality it beggars belief.
Did you even check the bona fides of the ‘Victorian National-Anarchist’ network at all? You’ve been sucked in very badly by a bunch of incompetent cranks and racists. That’s a giant fail in basic journalism.
I would that someone that calls themselves an anarchist is actually an anarchist and not say a Tory or a Labourite.
Dear Sam,
Please provide some real evidence that we are “right wing fascists” and “neo nazis” before you make claims like that. Also, evidence that Scott is gloating about this article on “racist websites” would also be appreciated.
I think you’ll find that you’re more of a fascist than any of us.
Sincerely,
Heathen Anarchist
National-Anarchism is a legitimate current of anarchism – you don’t necessary have to agree with it to realise that it is genuine. If it promotes self-determination and the abolition of the State then it is, by defintion, anarchism. It’s ‘Left Anarchism’ which is the oxymoron. Left-wing ideologies favour a strong centralised State, and therefore left-wing anarchism is a contradiction in terms.
Hello,
I’ve written a somewhat lengthy reply:
http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=2011
Cheers,
@ndy.
Lol @ndy you nerdy, whinging twat!!!
Meanie.
Punk: you clearly have no clear understanding of anarchist let alone left libertarian history. Anarchism’s very foundation is socialism, read any book by Bakunin, Kropotkin, or Proudhon and you’ll see that socialism is the very essence of anarchism. To associate the statism propounded by the trot groups with anarchism shows the very epitome of ignorance.
“Freedom without socialism is privilege and injustice, socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality.” – Bakunin
National anarchism is nothing more than a neo nazi front for co-opting and discrediting the anarchist movement. Its very ideology if it were even legitimate is sectarian, authoritarian and idiotic to boot.
Heathen Anarchist:
I can show you just how much of a nazi scott is for your viewing pleasure:
http://tinypic.com/r/1e5seg/5
vertigo: get your facts straight next time and talk to legitimate anarchists, not nazis dressed in anarchist drag
I saw these guys at the censorship rally in Melbourne. I went to talk to them but I was told I wasn’t allowed to talk to them. They seem legitimate enough to me, and I like the idea of ethnic nationalism.
Ferox,
If you would learn to read, I asked for Sam to back up his claims with real evidence that national anarchists are (as in currently are, not in the distant past) “right-wing fascists”, along with evidence of Scott gloating about this article on racist websites.
Providing photos of confused 14 year olds doesn’t count.
Heathen Anarchist asked for evidence that National-Anarchists are “right-wing fascists” and all you can bring up is a picture of me when I was 15 and admittedly, immature and irresponsible. One difference between National-Anarchists and other Anarchists is that our activists come from all backgrounds, we aren’t limited to the dogmas of cultural Marxism.
“… Socialism without freedom is slavery and brutality,” it is the freedom to choose how you wish to live and whom you wish to live with that makes National-Anarchism what it is. We do not want to tell others what is right or wrong, just the right to live according to our own values and lifestyle.
Interesting views.
I used not to take anarchists very seriously, as they either were simply negative or worked in fact for the state and establish under the cover of “anarchy” – as some indeed still do.
‘Socialism is the very essence of anarchism’
LOL!!!
I think, my friend, it is you who has no understanding of the definition of anarchism – it is an ancient Greek word meaning “without rulers”. Socialism is just the opposite – it entails submission to a government.
NO ONE sympathetic to socialism/communism can call themselves an anarchist – unless they have a very twisted definition of anarchism.
Anarchism means self-determination, it doesn’t mean being ruled over by the ideologically correct thought police who preside over socialist societies.
National-Anarchism fits the definition of self-determination quite well – it gives people the chance to live in a community of people who share their culture and values.
It’s interesting that you call them ‘neo-nazis’. If they were Aborigines promoting similar ideals of having their own communities and preserving their culture, you would be all for it, but because they are white, you call them ‘neo-nazis’. You’re quite the racist, aren’t you?
It’s only a matter of time before an Aboriginal N-A group does start up, however, and then your ‘neo-nazi’ charge will be revealed for the puerile slander that it is.
So what if one of the current N-Aers was a skinhead when he was 14? Do you think people don’t change?
As for your charge that N-A is authoritarian, how so? It’s voluntary, unlike Left ideologies, which are always imposed by force, or through centralised bureaucratic governments.
‘Left libertarian’ is a contradiction in terms. If it’s libertarian, then it’s not Left, ipso facto!
Hello,
A few points.
======
On ‘national anarchism’ as a form of right-wing radicalism, see:
1.
‘Rebranding Fascism: National-Anarchists’
Spencer Sunshine
Public Eye
Winter 2008
http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v23n4/rebranding_fascism.html
2.
‘National Anarchism – Trojan Horse for White Nationalism’
Nick Griffin
Green Anarchy
No.19, Spring 2005
http://www.greenanarchy.org/index.php?action=viewwritingdetail&writingId=150
3.
‘Co-opting the counter culture: Troy Southgate and the National Revolutionary Faction’
Graham D. Macklin
Patterns of Prejudice, Vol.39, No.3, 2005
[Link to come]
Of related interest:
4.
‘From slime mould to rhizome: an introduction to the groupuscular right’
Roger Griffin
Patterns of Prejudice, Vol.37, No.1 (March 2003)
http://ah.brookes.ac.uk/resources/griffin/slimemould.pdf
======
Re Scott’s own political associations: in December 2008, the Blood & Honour web forum was hacked, and its contents uploaded to Wikileaks:
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Blood_and_Honour_international_Neo-Nazi_network_messages_and_passwords,_Mar_2009
There, Scott — using the handle ‘Tribalist’ — was on v friendly terms w the B&H Vic rep.
That’s five months ago, not four years.
A better glimpse into the kind of individuals drawn to B&H is given by way of the case of Nicole Hanley, one of the Australian administrators of the forum. See:
http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=1806
Re B&H itself (April 22, 2009):
“BUENOS AIRES (AFP) — Argentine police arrested 36 boneheads at an event celebrating the 120th anniversary of the birth of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, officials told AFP on Wednesday.
The Sunday arrests came after a “prolonged and meticulous investigation,” said Daniel Perez, the second in command of the Federal Police unit in charge of investigating hate crimes.
Police broke into the Central Argentine Club, in the town of San Martin, in Buenos Aires province, while a recital [?!?] was being held by the local chapter of the neo-Nazi group “Blood and Honour,” Perez said.
Police found Nazi-related material, including flags with swastikas, films and CDs of music with racist and anti-semitic lyrics, Perez said.
“Blood and Honour,” which is based in Britain, has chapters across Europe and the Americas and is aimed at promoting Nazi ideology.
The arrests are “an important success in the struggle to eradicate these groups of Nazi ideology that are a threat to Argentine society,” the Delegation of Israeli Associations in Argentina said in a statement.
Argentina has the largest Jewish community in Latin America.
Two deadly anti-Jewish attacks were carried out in Buenos Aires in the past years: the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy of Israeli that killed 22 and wounded 200, and the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 and wounded 300.”
Pretty funny eh?
======
Punk’s blah blah blah is just blah blah blah; it expresses gross ignorance of anarchism — something which is only to be expected given his/her political allegiances. Beyond this, however much the fascists in anarchist drag squawk, anarchists understand them to be deeply antagonistic to anarchism, and our opposition will continue to express itself whenever and wherever the teenyboppers manifest themselves. (In which context, it should be noted that their presence in Australia is largely virtual, limited to a handful of blogs and websites, and that their most recent manifestation in Australia — that is, Melbourne — was composed of a tiny handful, mostly kids.)
If Bonita and Donna wish to provide a platform for fascist nutters to pose as anarchists, and refuse to qualify their own writing — for which I assume they accept responsibility — so be it. However, for what it’s worth, by maintaining their silence, they certainly do themselves no credit among the local anti-racist and anti-fascist community.
As for similar developments on the far right elsewhere, see:
‘German Authorities Warn of Rise of ‘Anarchist’ Neo-Nazis’
Der Spiegel
May 19, 2009
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,625756,00.html
“New figures from Germany’s domestic intelligence agency show that the number of far-right crimes in Germany increased by 16 percent in 2008. Officials warn of the rise of Black Bloc-style “anarchist” neo-Nazis who actively seek violence at demonstrations.
Authorities in Germany have warned of a worrying new tendency within the far-right scene — the rise of violent “anarchist” neo-Nazis…”
In which context, it should be noted that the chief ideologue of ‘national anarchism’ in Australia is former NPD member Welf Herfurth, a Holocaust denialist (as is Scott) and comrade of Friedrich Toben (currently sentenced to several months gaol for racial vilification), and whose most recent contribution to the promotion of ‘anarchism’ in Australia was by way of establishing a local branch of the neo-Nazi skinhead group ‘Volksfront’.
Cheers,
@ndy.
Jesus ‘Punk’ you’re ignorant!
Have you read any anarchist theory? Do you know what the red and black flag means??
Also learn the difference between ‘left’ (communitarian – acknowledges interdependence) and ‘right’ (individualist)
socialism merely means cooperative ownership of the means of production, and the equitable distribution of resources based on human welfare/need/social good. It doesn’t automatically mean state Socialism. As an anarchist, you can’t possibly be against this. Anarchism has a long history as a political philosophy. Your confused assumption-laden ‘white’ ideas sprouted up in the past few years from the minds of fascists. Why do you want to serve such a reactionary aim!?
exactly what culture are you trying to preserve? western patterns of thought and consumption have already taken over the world
Anarchism is inherently communitarian and internationalist; it acknowledges the dignity and worth of all. How do you plan to enforce separatism without oppression and coercion?
This has been a huge failure in Journalism and serves to confuse anarchism more than anything else.
@ndy,
From what I’ve read of those articles, they are more reactionary opinion and ad hominem attacks rather than credible evidence.
The Autonome Nationalisten in Germany have nothing to do with National Anarchism, it’s an error in translation, which you appear to be exploiting.
As for that article on a Blood and Honour group, I don’t find arrests of people convicted of “thought crime” particularly funny. As an anarchist I believe people have the right to celebrate the birthday of whoever they want, without the government shutting them down.
Why are you applauding the oppressive actions of the police, when you call yourself an anarchist?
fascism is fascism; standing against it is always a given. ‘anarchism’ is not synonymous with ‘post modern and everything is subjective’.
It’s about creating legitimate forms of authority and allowing ALL individuals to grow to their fullest possible capacity while still creating a psychological sense of community and social cohesion. The notion that bottom-up processes can exclude and separate people according to their cultural background/skin colour/sexuality is ridiculous!
This post-modern shit is a huge problem and allows people like you to label immature xenophobic bullshit as anarchism. Too bad it can’t stand up to scrutiny.
Dandy-@ndy you truely are an idiot.
Kumo,
It DOES automatically mean State socialism, because you can’t ‘equitably’ spread wealth without a government to do it. Duh. You people are just trojan horses, misusing anarchist symbolism to let communism in by the back door.
‘Ignorant of anarchist theory’ – WHAT anarchist theory? Do you suddenly have to read books by dead white males like Bakunin and Proudhon (yawn) to be an anarchist, do you?
You crusty old fart!
An anarchist is anyone who believes in self-determination, in living ‘without rulers’ (that is the definition of the word). You can take your dogmatic leftist theories and shove them!
You talk to me as if I’m a National-Anarchist. Do you think that just because I acknowledge it as a valid current of anarchism, that makes me N-A?
Internationalist ideologies like communism and capitalism are responsbile for way more suffering than nationalist ones like fascism.
That doens’t mean fascism is good – as an anarchist I am completely opposed to it.
But nor does it mean I have to embrace internationalist views either.
Communism, the archetypal internationalist ideology, is responsible for the murders of over 100 Million people!!!
Capitalism, another internationalist ideology, likewise has untold suffering on its hands. Then there is Christianity and Islam, both internationalist ideologies, and both responsible for a lot of misery and oppression.
Internationalism IS fascism, just on a bigger scale.
You internationalist bastards have been murdering people for hundreds of years to fulfill your insane visions of a universalised world, but it will never happen again, not if I can do anything to oppose it.
As for you @ndy, you know nothing about my political allegiances because I haven’t discussed them.
I’m discussing N-A as a philosophy, not the people behind it.
As a philosophy it IS a valid form of anarchism, whether one agrees with it or not.
Your own views, by contrast, are NOT a valid form of anarchism, because they go against what the average person thinks, therefore you will need a government to enforce them.
Take the issue of gay marriage. The vast majority of people are against it. So how are you going to enforce it in small independent (anarchist) communities without an outside authority stepping in?
Of course, it wouldn’t need to be enforced in a commuinity composed of gays, or people sympathetic to gay marriage – but not every community is like that, only a few would be (say Paddington, or Daylesford.
I’m using gay marriage as an example, but there are tonnes of other similar issues.
You belief in an imaginary concept of ‘human rights’ comes before your commitment to self-determination, and those ‘rights’ can never be enforced without State intervention, therefore you are not an anarchist.
and your nothing but a nazi @ndy, the leader of my group said to ignore nazi’s like yourself! Fascist!
Kumo makes the following remark:
“exactly what culture are you trying to preserve? western patterns of thought and consumption have already taken over the world”
National-Anarchists aren’t trying to preserve WESTERN ‘culture’, they are trying to preserve their FOLK culture. There is a BIG difference. Capitalism might have originally developed in Europe, but it’s international, not European in outlook.
When we talk about preserving European culture, that has nothing to do with capitalism, consumerism, television, Hollywood, and all that other crap.
It means preserving our indigenous European (pagan) spirituality.
It means preserving our music, art and literature.
It means preserving (or restoring) the sense of community and bloodlines which have been destroyed by internationalist capitalism.
It’s exactly what many of the tribal Aboriginals want, it’s what many of the Amerindians want, it’s what many Africans and Polynesians want.
We want the same things they do. Yet because we are white, you call us ‘nazis’.
Are you a racist, or just a self-hating white?
Fuck all internationalists. They just want world control.
“Anarcho-communist” (sic),
It’s spelled ‘truly’.
Your truly,
@ndy.
PS.
‘Co-opting the Counter Culture: Troy Southgate and the National Revolutionary Faction’
Graham D. Macklin
Patterns of Prejudice
Vol.39, No.3, September 2005
http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=2439
Heathen Anarchist,
Fortunately, not everyone has as many problems with basic comprehension as yourself.
Further:
Autonome Nationalisten / National Anarchism: a question of semantics. The relationship is a close one: both embody a contemporary re-interpretation of far right politricks, based on mirroring segments of the German extra-parliamentary left, ‘anarchist’ and/or ‘autonomist’. See: ‘When Nazis go Pop… New strategies of the extreme right in Germany’, RAGGACORE, LFO DEMON, 12.11.2004.
http://web.archive.org/web/20071122160702/http://www.lfodemon.com/whennazisgopop/index.htm
The point of citing the recent article on the bust of B&H in Argentina is not to provide evidence of my support for the punishment of ‘thought crime’, as you assert, but to provide a recent example of B&H activity — by so doing to provide an illustration of its political flavour. There are shitloads more examples of nuttiness on the part of Benson & Hedges: the point being, Scott — the boy quoted in Donna and Bonita’s article — claims to be an ‘anarchist’ while at the same time supporting Benson & Hedges.
He is very silly.
Punk,
Obviously, anyone is free to call themselves an ‘anarchist’, and to attach to it any meaning they desire. The point being: I and other anarchists do not recognise the claims made by the fascists in anarchist drag, otherwise known as ‘national anarchists’, who’ve assumed the title ‘anarchist’. This has clear implications for the ‘national anarchists’, both ‘theoretical’ and practical.
Secondly, ‘national anarchism’, in both theory and practice, is not ‘anarchist’ by any standard definition of the term, nor is it recognised as such by anarchists, either in Australia or elsewhere. You — whoever you are, and however you understand your politics (or mine) — are free to recognise the claims of ‘national anarchists’; I and many other anarchists, do not. The reasons for this have been elaborated upon at length.
The rest of your diatribe merely demonstrates your historical ignorance and political illiteracy.
(How old are you, btw?)
Every example of anarchism as a political ideology in history has been this way; through the equitable organisation of resources. What type of society are you referring to other than vague ideas of ‘self determination’? Sounds like one based on survival of the fittest.
Can’t have any self determination without the organisation of resources.
Internationalism doesn’t mean a one size fits all approach, however it does acknowledge that humans everywhere have the same basic needs which need to be fulfilled. The way this is done adjusts according to a lands history etc.
See what emancipation said.
To explore this further:
What kind of self determination are you for? Individual or communal – if individual then fine, but you’re ignoring that there is such a thing as society, and that humans as social beings are interdependent with each other and the environment. Self determination based on the individual promotes nothing but selfishness and self interest. This is the basis for capitalism!
If communal – then how are you going to promote this? Through organisation based on mutual dependence – supporting all members of the community. This is what is meant by equitable distribution of resources.
I am a communal anarchist. I believe in community. Small-scale community, not large scale ‘societies’. That’s what the National-Anarchists believe in also, so we can work together on certain issues.
Communties work their own issues out, they don’t need outsiders coming in and telling them how to distribute their wealth. There s a place for each person in the community. If someone doesn’t fit in (murderer, rapist etc.) then they are expelled.
@ndy claims he doesn’t recognise N-Aers as anarchists, but Andy only speaks for a very small fraction of the anarchists in Australia (basically the snobs who run Barricade Books in Melbourne).
He doesn’t have a monopoly on what ‘anarchism’ is. I in turn don’t recognise HIS views as anarchist, because they are basically socialist. ‘Libertarian socialism’ is not anarchism. But some people believe it is. Whatever…that’s their problem.
@ndy’s constant reference to people’s age is quite bizarre.
Do you have to be over a certain age to be an anarchist now, do you, @ndy? I’ll be sure to tell all my friends under the age of 25 (and most of the people reading this article) that they can’t join the club!
Old man @ndy has spoken! Hear him roar!
@ndy,
Associating with members of a certain group does not make one a supporter of that group’s activities or ideology. National anarchism is not so dogmatic as to not allow any of us to associate with whoever we want.
Why do you care who Scott associates with anyway? I guess so you can go report it to your zionist establishment mates (the thought police) over at Fight Dem Back.
You’re not at all working against the system @ndy, only for it.
Boy did this open a can of worms!
Personally while I couldnt give a cats diddle either way on who is the “Real anarchists” and who are not I will give my take.
It seems there are two groups of anarchists in Australia, the larger group is those anarchists who have politics that would not be out of place at a marxist meeting except they have pretensions to democracy.
On the other side you have “National anarchists” who seem to have a relationship of some kind with the far right, and may very well discriminate on thae basis of race, but clearly are not fascists.
While watching these two side fight is amusing, its also pretty clear that by the nature of anarchism you cannot say who is and who is not an anarchist.
An anarchist cannot by definition be told that they are not an anarchist by an outside authority. If other anarchists say they are anarchists and they themselves believe they are anarchists then they are. Pretty simple.
Its also pretty clear what the plan of the larger anarchist group is, to delegitimise the smaller and kill off a possible competitor.
I would suggest to those people involved in the “National anarchists” that a name change might be in order, it would also move you further away from any far right past or associations and make you less of a target for the quite frankly very aggressive larger anarchist group.
Having a look around the web some of these more mainstream anarchist groups quite openly want to kill you. I would be against this as I favour free speech and the fig leaf of “No platform” is clearly just that, a figleaf to cover up the quite fascist activities of people like this @ndy and his friends.
I would advise you to get out of this politics business all together, or at least change your name, these people who hate you, aside from thier high minded words, are quite clearly intolerant murderous fascists in the best traditions of Hitler and Stalin.
@ndy,
Although you say you fight against fascism, your very own school of thought is far more fascist than that of the National-Anarchists.
Please feel free to point out which part of National-Anarchism you see as fascist.
Punk, I’ve heard enough to understand how immature and ridiculous your theories are. This is why looking to past theory and examples is USEFUL instead of trying to re-invent the anarchist wheel in your own head. Your views have no foundation where as Anarchism historically does.
Your solution for antisocial behaviour is to expel people and let others deal with it? Anarchism is about targeting the root causes of problems not creating little countries. This sounds like communal militias using a capitalist framework for dealing with problems – not Anarchism.
How do you think your little community will survive without being mutually dependent with broader ‘society’? How will you plan railways? Or are you going to go primitive? Your little country will eventually have to conquer other communities for resources. Sounds like feudal English shit!
Vague confused post modern anti-society dribble!
just a heads up – this comments page will be closing by about 12am, 1st June. So if you’ve somehow still got comments to get off your chest, do it soon! There’ll only be one more round of comment approvals.
and in reply to simon – national ‘anarchism’ is fascist in that it is separatist and xenophobic – this has to lead to a mob mentality where intimidation and force are used to separate people according to skin colour/beliefs etc – see every other attempt at ‘seperatism’ in the past. This is reflected in their use of the ‘white power’ symbol (on top of a red and black flag no doubt!).
I agree with Jeremy that the N-Aers chose an unfortunate name. ‘Tribal anarchism’ would have been a better term than ‘national’, because many people seem to associate the word ‘national’ with the nation state.
I also agree that @ndy and co. are in the tradition of Hitler and Stalin, though of course @ndy wouldn’t get his own hands dirty, he’d just be the one denouncing people behind the scenes to the thought police, or the ‘antifa’ thugs. In Europe @ndy’s ‘antifa’ friends go round beating up skinny goth kids with iron bars for wearing the wrong kind of band t-shirt. They even bashed the singer of old-school punk band ‘The Exploited’!
Kumo, your misuse of the word ‘fascism’ is embarrassing. Look it up on Wikipedia for a basic definition. It means someone who believes in a one-party STATE, therefore someone who doesn’t believe in the State at all can’t be fascist, can they?
Who said anything about enforcing separatism? From what the N-Aers have said, it’s a philosophy of VOLUNTARY separatism. As most people prefer to live among their own kind, there would be no need to use force. Furthermore, the N-Aers have said they also support the existence of multi-cultural communities, for those who want to live in a multi-cultural society. So everybody should be happy. What’s the problem?
My ideal of communal anarchism is not vague confused dribble, as you put it. Communities have a way of organising themselves, it’s organic. As for trade and commerce, obviously it wouldn’t be the same as now but is that a bad thing? Capitalism and consumerism is destroying the earth’s resources, yet it seems you want that to keep happening.
Your own views are incoherent. How are you going to organise your kind of ‘anarchism’ on a large scale without a government to enforce it? Just face it, you’re a socialist, not an anarchist. You should join Socialist Alliance or one of those groups, you’d be more at home there than pretending to be an anarchist.
Punk,
I speak for myself. When I refer to the rejection of ‘national anarchism’ by anarchists, I refer to two things specifically: first, the fact that a number of local groups — Anarchist Direct Action, Barricade Books, Melbourne Anarchist Club (Melbourne); Jura Books (Sydney); Wildcat (Wellington) — are signatories to a statement
http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=908
rejecting these sillies; secondly, to the best of my knowledge, no recognised anarchist group or individual has expressed anything other than contempt for Welf and his little friends.
I ask how old you are in order to ascertain whether or not your ignorance is a product of youthful naivete or something else. Also, inre Scott, in recognition of the fact that racist teens are still in the process of developing their views, and therefore should not be judged too harshly — or at least, not as harshly as someone who has had many more years to adopt a mature political position. (And, perhaps implicitly, that being a teenybopper is probably an advantage in terms of one’s ability to swallow the nonsense that is ‘national anarchism’.)
Heathen Anarchist,
I think you’re being disingenuous. B&H are a neo-Nazi network. Scott obviously has sympathies for that mob — that’s why he has attended their (private) gigs, is a member of their Internet forum, and maintains friendly relations with its members. As a former member of SF, and having previously been a close associate of other, local boneheads, racist and fascist groups — including the mob associated with Welf — and as someone who continues to subscribe to ‘white (micro-)nationalism’, his ‘anarchism’ is fraudulent. Obviously, Scott is free to associate with whomever he chooses — these are his choices, and I suggest that they are meaningful in terms of assessing his politics and, by extension, those of the tiny handful of other members of the far right attracted to his nutty worldview. See also ‘White nationalism v national anarchism’:
http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=1197
This is in addition to an examination of his/their formal positions.
Simon,
I’ve expanded on the subject of ‘national anarchism’ and its r/ship to fascism at length on my blog. Otherwise, I suggest you read Macklin’s essay and that of Spencer Sunshine, links to which I’ve provided above.
Patrick,
I would like to read the author’s opinions.
Kumo,
There is nothing xenophobic about national anarchism. As for the separatism, as Punk said, it’s voluntary separatism. We believe others can live in multicultural societies if that’s what they want. We don’t force our views on others the way that the “anarchists” and “socialists” wish to force multiculturalism on us.
Do you wish to force multiculturalism on us?
The celtic cross is an ancient symbol, it has nothing to do with “white power”.
It would be organised much like it has been in past examples of Anarchism in action – through delegation and federation. I love how you only answer sections you want to – You still haven’t answered basic questions on dealing with ‘society’s’ problems other than with primitive small scale tribal law and excommunication. The philosophy in your head can’t possibly be put towards any revolutionary direction in reality. What do you base your theories on and why do you think they are a legitimate or plausible form for a future free ‘society’ ?
If NA’ers were so open to free association they wouldn’t have to exist as a seperate ideology – the fact is that they use white power symbology and associate themselves with hate groups like storm front.
“Fascists see the struggle of nation and race as fundamental in society, in opposition to communism’s perception of class struggle and in opposition to capitalism’s focus on the value of productivity and individualism. The nation is seen in fascism as a single organic entity which binds people together by their ancestry and is seen as a natural unifying force of people”
Why would I want to deal with ‘society’s problems? I’ve already made it clear that I’m in favour of communities, not large-scale societies.
Crime would barely exist in a small, self-ruling community where everyone knows each other.
When you say ‘delegation’ and ‘federation’, you mean of course, the creation of a small governing elite, comprised of those like yourself who want to control how others live. In short, a government.
No thanks, comrade.
Why do you want to force multiculturalism on people who don’t desire it?
By the way, of the N-Aers that I’ve had contact with, one came from a far right background, the others came from left backgrounds. The left ones joined N-A because they were sick of the dogmatic self-righteous twats they encountered on the left. You and @ndy are a good example of that, and you’ve managed to alienate even more people by your dogmatic remarks on this forum.
Great work!
Kumo,
There is nothing xenophobic about national anarchism.
We don’t force our beliefs on others, so why do you want to force multiculturalism on us?
I’d like to thank UTS Vertigo for being a patient and fair host of the above discussion.
I’d also like to once again congratulate the writers of “A is for Anarchy” for an article that didn’t bow to the pressures of political sectarianism, giving a thorough outlook of anarchism to the Vertigo readers.
Regards,
Scott.
I’m not sure why, but my last comment was not published. In any case, given that Patrick has declared that the thread will be closed tomorrow, and given that my own blog continues to provide a disco forum, this will be my last comment. As per Scott, ‘congratulations’ to Donna and Bonita for allowing a racist high school boy who thinks that the Shoah was a joke to express the opinions of ‘anarchists’ on the matter of the London protests against G20. One can only hope that they too see the humour in the mass slaughter of Jews.
delegation is a legitimate form of authority and organisation; it’s representing a collective’s views. Try organising anything – a fishing trip, a picnic, without someone being given authority. What you’re advocating is some airy fairy notion of community without any structures to support life. Reality check! You might as well say organisation is government
In Australia for example – are you once again going to dispossess Indigenous people from the land they are connected to because you want to divide up the land for your ‘communities’? It’s not as simple as everyone suddenly slotting in according to ethnicity and sexuality. NA has frequently sported white power/racist/homophobic views. If NA is not xenophobic do tell me why you disagree with multiculturalism.
@ndy: The popular cartoon ‘South Park’ has also laughed at dead Jews. An entire episode took the piss out of ‘Schindlers List’. It was quite funny. Deal with it.
Kumo: There is a big difference in the natural, organic kind of organisation that takes place in small communities, and the kind of authoritarian, abstract, large-scale organisation you are talking about. We’ve already seen how you left wing internationalists go about creating a utopia – the Killing Fields of Cambodia is just one example, there are many more.
Who the hell said anything about dispossessing ‘indigenous’ people from their land? Although I think you will find most Aborigines live in cities and towns, but the few who still live on the land would stay there, obviously. Why wouldn’t they?
As for being against multiculturalism, I’m not a National-Anarchist, as I already pointed out. I could care less about multiculturalism.
The point is, why are you in favour of forcing it on people who DON’T want it?
Kumo,
Please find me some credible examples of “NA has frequently sported white power/racist/homophobic views”. I have seen nothing of the sort.
We’ve already stated that it is voluntary separatism, so why do you insist on saying that we’re “slotting in” everyone “according to ethnicity and sexuality”? Maybe you should read before you react.
There is nothing xenophobic about disagreeing with multiculturalism, quite the opposite. By disagreeing, we are standing for true diversity and real culture, not watered-down globalist tripe that seems to pass for multiculturalism.
Multiculturalism destroys all cultures by melting them down into an easily-consumed mockery of the real thing.
Just to avoid confusion I thought I’d post a final comment here letting you all know the comments for this post are now closed.
Thank you to all who expressed their opinions on the topic, it’s definitely been the most commented on article so far on the new site!
Comments on this entry are closed.