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\title{Thought and Struggle}
\date{2006}
\author{Anarchist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland}
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\begin{document}
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{\usekomafont{author}{Anarchist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland\par}}%
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\section{History}
The AF has its roots in a number of
small anarchist groupings active in the
1970s. In addition, the founding
members were inspired by the rich
anarchist tradition on the Continent,
especially in France. Taking what we
thought was best from the past and from
abroad, the goal was to create an
anarchist communist organisation,
firmly based on the class struggle or
social anarchist tradition.
The project received crucial impetus
with the bringing on board of the
innovative magazine \emph{Virus}. The
Anarchist Communist Discussion was
then launched at the Anarchist Bookfair
in October 1985. We received
remarkable interest in our project and
by April 1986, there was enough
stability to formalise the organisation
into
the
Anarchist
Communist
Federation. Though there is some
historic continuity with earlier anarchist
groups in Britain, the new federation is
mainly a new phenomenon, drawing on
people new to anarchism in the 1980s.
We started out with a set of aims and
principles, which remain largely in tact,
but there have still been considerable
development in our politics, as new
people join and offer new perspectives,
and as we develop our ideas in the
course of what is going on in the class
struggle itself. In the late 90s we
changed our name to the Anarchist
Federation, not because we had changed
our politics, but for pragmatic reasons.
\section{Aims and Principles}
The central plank of our principles, like
all anarchist organisations, is the
recognition of the need to bring an end
to capitalism (in all its varieties) as well
as the State, which can never be used as
a vehicle to transform society. In
addition, we believe that these objectives
can only come about through a social
revolution, where the working class
organises itself to both ideologically
and physically overthrow the system.
Our definition of the working class is
broad, reflecting the fact that capitalism
has undergone significant changes. A
social revolution can only come about
as a result of the will of the vast
majority of the population, including
office and shop workers, public sector
employees, the unwaged, women
working in the home, children and
retired people, as well as the traditional
industrial workers. Anarchism is about
individuals changing as part of a general
social struggle. It is not about
individuals changing their lifestyle and
hoping capitalism will go away. Neither
do we fetishise violence, recognising
that the use of violence can produce
new hierarchies. The revolution will
primarily come about through non-military means, as we develop our
power through a variety of social,
economic, political and cultural forms
of resistance. It is to this end that we
work. Nevertheless, we realise that it is
unavoidable and therefore do not hold
pacifism to be a point of principle.
Another important principle of the AF is
that it is not just class exploitation and
oppression that needs to be abolished.
Though we do
not necessarily
use the concept
of
patriarchy,
we believe that
the oppression
of women pre-dates capitalism
and will not
automatically
disappear with
its end. Sexism
permeates the
working class as
well as the
anarchist scene
and will require
particular
struggles to rid ourselves of this legacy.
At the same time, we do not see
struggles against sexism as totally
separate from those against the overall
system of hierarchy and oppression.
Recently, the women’s movement has
been in decline and this is reflected in
the lack of focus on specifically anti-sexist struggles in our propaganda and
our activities. This is something we are
trying to deal with—how not to be
gender-blind in our analysis of the
working class and the class struggle.
We also recognise that there may be
instances where women will need to
organise as independently in order to
develop ideas and confidence and
applaud those initiatives aimed at
developing anarchofeminism. However,
we do not support ‘cross-class’
alliances, which end up benefiting
mainly middle class women. For
example, ‘equal opportunities’ policies
have largely meant that women have
equal opportunities to become bosses
and managers, politicians or media
personalities.
We
have
a
similar analysis
of
anti-racist
struggles.
The
social revolution
must bring an
end to all forms
of prejudice and
therefore racism
needs
to
be
combated within
the working class
itself. However,
as with anti-sexist struggles,
we recognise that
there can be a
potential for reactionary politics. We
have seen a growth in racism for a
variety of reasons, not just to do with
September 11 th, and much of our
propaganda and activity has been
directed at building anarchist resistance
to racism and fascism without forming
‘unholy’ alliances with reactionary
religious groups. Nevertheless, we have
had limited success in attracting people
from a broad spectrum of ethic
backgrounds and understand the
suspicion many people might have
towards ‘white’ organisations. We hope
that through our practice, in the
workplace and community, these
divisions will be overcome, without
pandering to reactionary ideologies.
We also recognise many other forms of
oppression, such as sexuality, disability
and age. Anarchists must never turn a
blind eye to any kind of domination and
should be prepared to combat any signs
of discrimination at all
levels
of
society.
However, we do not
believe that we should
be calling on the State
for help. Prejudice and
reactionary practices will
only disappear through
activity and struggle,
enabling
people
to
change in their core, not
just on the surface.
The natu re of Trade
Unionism in Britain has
posed many problems for us when
trying to decide on a workplace
strategy. The unions are not only
reformist but are often totally
implicated in the exploitation of the
working class. Our experience led us to
adopt what some may call an ‘anti-union’ position. We argue that people
should not take up positions in the
union and that in many cases there is no
point in even being a member of the
union if its role is particularly counter
revolutionary. There is no point in
trying to ‘democratise’ the unions or try
and make them more combative. It is in
their nature to negotiate with capitalism,
not to seriously undermine it. They
cannot be reformed. This position has
caused some difficulties because as
most workplace activity takes place
within the context of the official union,
what do we actually do? We have
argued that we should be trying to
organise informal groups of militant
workers, whether they be union
members or not. The aim is
not
to
establish
an
alternative union structure,
which would only end up
becoming another reformist
union, but to be a source of
revolutionary propaganda and a
catalyst for action.
In practice, our members take a very
pragmatic approach to organising in the
workplace. Members adopt whatever
strategy seems most effective for
furthering struggle and resisting
exploitation. Though we do not
advocate anarcho-syndicalism as an
overall strategy, we do not dismiss
efforts to form structures, which group
anarchists as workers or across
industries, in order to further anarchist
influence in economic struggles.
Several of our comrades are members of
the Industrial Workers of the World.
The main principle of all our workplace
activity is to build up revolutionary,
non-hierarchical forms of organisation,
whatever name is given to them.
Economic struggle in the workplace is
only one aspect of building a new
society. Exploitation and oppression
take many forms and extends into all
parts of our lives. Though we are a
‘class struggle’ organisation, this
struggle is social and personal, as well
as economic. Therefore, we argue that
anarchists must fight on a number of
‘fronts’. One such ‘front’ is the
community. We are aware that
community in the traditional sense does
not really exist, but there are issues that
affect localities where people live.
These
issues
include
transport,
provision of public services and the
effect of the environment on health.
Though these issues can be raised in a
workplace context, effective action
requires a broader organisational base,
incorporating people as both producers
and consumers.
The locality is also the context in
which we engage in anti-fascist,
environmental, anti-war and anti-religion campaigns. Though members
will raise these issues at work, we
stress the importance of organising
local
actions
and
distributing
propaganda at the community level—on
the streets, in public meetings and
through direct action. Members work
with other anarchists to set up local
groups with the aim of raising
awareness of anarchist ideas amongst
the wider working class and initiating
action.
We have a strong internationalist
perspective and are particularly critical
of national liberation movements and
ideologies. There can be no ‘better’
government. The only way we can
achieve true liberation is through
internationalism, which refuses to
choose between oppressors. History has
shown that the ‘lesser of the two evils’
soon turns out to be just as ‘evil’.
Meanwhile, you have abandoned your
own principles and weakened your own
movement. Our members in Ireland
have pioneered, in very difficult
conditions, an anarchism that refuses to
take sides with either nationalism. It is
only by building up the international
anarchist movement that we can
effectively challenge all oppressors and
therefore we are active members of the
International of Anarchist Federations.
All our activities are directed to the
development of a ‘culture of resistance’.
Whatever the arena of struggle, it is
essential that we build up the
confidence and willingness of the
working class to fight back against all
aspects of capitalism and the State. This
culture of resistance will build on
localised actions and single issue
campaigns, but go beyond this isolated
resistance in order to construct a
generalised revolutionary movement
that seeks to create a completely new
society.
\section{Organisation}
The AF has evolved firmly within the
tradition of organised anarchism. In
other words, we believe, that an
effective revolutionary strategy needs
anarchists to group together in such a
way that they can spread anarchist ideas
and
practices,
co-ordinate
and
generalise struggles and debate and
clarify ideas. This must be done on a
local, national and international level.
However, this organisation does not
substitute itself for working class
activity, but rather acts as a ‘leadership
of ideas’, which themselves are worked
out through the participation of
anarchists in struggle. The organisation,
existing as it does over time, is in a
position to gather together a wealth of
experiences, acting as a memory of the
movement as well as a forum for
formulating new ideas and strategies.
We are organised on federalist lines,
which means we are a federation of
individuals and groups with no central
political or administrative apparatus.
This does not mean that we have no
decision-making structure, something
that only leads to informal leadership
cliques rather than formal ones. We
have one national conference and three
national delegate meetings a year,
which take decisions on our general
orientation, strategy and action.
However, these decisions are reached
through extended discussion in the
Internal Bulletin and on an internet
discussion list. It is very rare that we
have anything that is not generally
agreed after discussion. If we do vote on
anything, the vote is first open to any
member to register a negative vote. If
the decision is still made, then groups
and\Slash{}or individuals are still free to not
implement the decision as long as they
do not seek to undermine the
organisation. One of our central
concerns is, therefore, how to ensure
maximum participation of all members
and how to avoid formal and informal
hierarchies. After all, it is our
experiences that will provide the basis
for alternative ways of organising
society. We do not always succeed in
achieving the standards of participation
that we aspire to; however, we are
continually reviewing our practice.
Though the structures and mechanisms
for participation may be in place, we
recognise that there are many individual
reasons why some are more dominant
than others, related to issues of
confidence, age, experience, gender and
educational background. Therefore it is
not enough just to say that the
organisation is non-hierarchical. It is
necessary to actively encourage
participation, through rotation of tasks,
involving individuals in small group
and commission work and helping to
build confidence through workshops
and educationals.
We are an organisation of activists. We
publish and distribute a bi-annual
magazine, \emph{Organise!} (800 copies) and
a monthly free bulletin, Resistance
(3000–5000 copies). We also produce a
range of pamphlets, posters and
stickers. The aim of our propaganda is
primarily to spread anarchist ideas
throughout all sections of the working
class. However, \emph{Organise!} is aimed
more at those who are already
politicised to a greater extent and
therefore focuses on debates and theory
that will provoke discussion in the
anarchist and wider political movement.
In addition to distributing propaganda,
individual members are engaged in a
wide variety of activities, in the
workplace, in local anarchist or anti-authoritarian groups, in universities and
colleges and in campaigns and actions
against the war, around environmental
issues, supporting asylum seekers, and
challenging reactionary ideas of
religious fanatics and fascists.
\section{How do we differ from other anarchists}
The anarchist movement has grown in
numbers and in influence over the past
decade. People have been attracted to
anarchism for a variety of reasons and
therefore it is a diverse movement, both
in terms of ideas and practices. This
diversity can be a positive feature of the
movement, and the AF recognises that
we do not have a monopoly of ‘truth’ on
what anarchism should be. However,
there are several principles that we take
to be vital, and feel that it is only our
organisation that groups all of these
principles together. We have outlined
these principles in this text, but we will
now discuss briefly why exist as a
distinctive organisation.
\subsection{1. Organisation}
Not all anarchists put the
same stress as we do on
formal organisation, at both
the
national
and
international organisation.
Though strong local groups
and initiatives are the basis
of an effective national
organisation, co-ordination
and sharing of ideas must
happen on the widest level
if we are ever to organise a
revolution. In addition, this
organisation
must
be
permanent, in the sense that
it continues to exist and be
active regardless of what
big events may be taking
place or how active
particular individuals are. We need an
organisation that can continue to exist,
regardless of whether some individuals
drop out or become less active. For
similar reasons we need to be sceptical
of ‘networks’, which come and go, as
well as having a tendency to operate
with informal hierarchies.
\subsection{2. Anarchist Communism}
We are part
of the anarchist tradition, sometimes
referred to as anarchist communism,
which believes in the importance of
building a political organisation that is
based on the working class (in the
broadest sense), and which is active on
a number of fronts. This is what
distinguishes
us
from
anarcho-syndicalism. Though we are part of the
same
social
anarchist
tradition
(anarchist communists and anarcho-syndicalists are likely to be in the same
organisation in countries like Spain,
France and Italy), we emphasise
different tactics and strategies. For us,
building an anarcho-syndicalist union
can only ever form one prong of an
overall strategy and even then has to be
adapted to the context in line with
revolutionary
anarchist
principles.
Anarchist communism also rejects other
forms of anarchism such as green,
‘lifestylism’, and insurrectionalism.
Though concern for the environment is
a key part of our politics, it does not
take priority over any other issue. We
welcome the fact that people refuse to
conform to bourgeois codes but a
revolution will not come about by
dressing differently or living in squats.
In any case, experience has shown that
these alternative lifestyles are short-lived, with many soon becoming key
members
of
the
establishment.
Anarchism is something to be
maintained in all stages of life, even if
the anarchist holds done a job, has
children, or takes out a mortgage.
Anarchists, after all, should be part of
the working class, not in their own
ghetto of alternative ‘activists’. That
doesn’t mean, however, that anarchists
should seek to adopt some stereotyped
working class image. The anarchist
movement should contain a diverse
range of people, not conforming to any
stereotype. What matters are one’s
ideas, practice and commitment.
Similarly, we reject insurrectionism as a
strategy
to
achieve
anarchism.
Individuals may become frustrated at
our inability to strike effectively against
our oppressors, but
unfortunately there are
no shortcuts. Films like
‘Lord of the Rings’ and
‘The Matrix’ make it
seem
that
heroic
individual action is the
key to fighting our
enemy, but this is an
illusion. It is the
everyday organising and
struggle that forms the
basis for all the more
obvious revolutionary
moments.
Individual
‘heroics’ can never be a
substitute for mass
action. In addition,
individual
acts
of
violence are usually
counterproductive,
bringing
down
repression
on
a
movement
not
yet
strong enough to defend itself. As the
Italian Anarchist Federation declared
after being mistakenly associated with
a recent letter bomb—‘Anarchism
cannot be delivered through a letter
box’. However, there may be
circumstances where such actions are
justified, but only when the actions are
directly linked and supported by a wider
movement.
\subsection{3. Practice}
AF members are involved in a diverse
range of struggles. We support
initiatives such as the anti-G8
preparations because they are part of the
general struggle to build a culture of
resistance. However, we do not
prioritise organising for such big events
as we also have our day-to day work to
spread anarchist ideas and action in the
working class movement. As we are not
a large organisation, we cannot do
everything. Some of our members will
be involved in these initiatives, but we
do not believe that it is worth
abandoning our normal activity in order
to make the enormous financial and
time commitment that such events
require. We strongly believe that our
main focus must be to develop an
anarchist presence within the working
class both in the workplace and the
locality. The future for anarchism and
for the planet lies in anarchism being
taken up by a wide variety of working
class people in their everyday struggles.
\section{Building the Movement}
The AF will support and work with any
individual or group who shares the
general aim of creating an anarchist
society. We have our distinctive
perspective on how to bring this aim
about, a perspective that is part of a
long tradition, and will continue to
argue for this perspective to be the basis
for the building of a strong and effective
anarchist movement. However, we also
recognise that if this tradition is not to
become a historical relic, it must be
continually enriched by new ideas and
practices. We hope that British
anarchism will grow into an effective
and influential movement within the
working class, bringing together a wide
variety of occupations, social groups
and generations. This will require long-term commitment and perseverance,
through both the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ of
political activity. We will do whatever
is necessary to contribute to the
building of such a movement, as the
future of us all depends on it.
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Anarchist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland
Thought and Struggle
2006
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