Seizing the Times: Five Theses on Militant Development
Every cook possesses the potential to govern, but that does not mean, given the complexity of the problems we are facing, that every cook already has the capacity to do so.
The November 28 demonstration, by its numerical strength, its offensive character, its spirit of revolt and collective solidarity, was a demonstration of force reflecting a generalized social hostility not only against the #LoiSécuritéGlobale but also against the authoritarian tilt of the government, against state racism, against Macron and his world.
Money is the only tangible form of value (the objective form of money also marks a difference from physics, in which concepts do not take on objective form); through money, “the individual carries his social power, as well as his bond with society, in his pocket.”
Instead of treating the “party” as a single fixed entity that tries to conquer state power, either by an insurrection or an election, I suggest we think of it as an organization among others, one defined by its articulating function, as that which unites disparate social forces, links struggles over time, and facilitates the collective project of building socialism beyond the state.
With the forms of representative democracy in Belarus having been discredited and disassembled, new forms of organization and politics are emerging out of the struggle.
While the environmental movement is doomed as long as it relies on technocratic expertise without mass mobilization, the Left needs to be more engaged with environmental science if it is to make an impact.
If Black rebellion is often the spark for mass struggle in the United States, white chauvinism is a wet blanket. The materials in this pamphlet aim to move the discussion from a fixation on individual experiences of whiteness toward the broad possibilities of collective struggle for abolition and human freedom.
Those other neighbourhood committees did some very dramatic and dashing things, things that nobody did before. Committees in places like al-Rahad broke down the zakat stores, took out grain, and redistributed it. They challenged power at the immediate level, where it impacts on people’s lives.
Mediterranea, a “non-governmental action” organized around a civilian monitoring and rescue ship in the central Mediterranean, is one of the most innovative initiatives deployed against the deaths of migrants at sea, in support of their freedom to move, and in defiance of the drastic policies deployed by the Italian government.
The CHAZ is a distillate of the self-activity of protesters. What has happened here is that in the midst of struggle, the ruling-class power has just evaporated, at least in this very small corner of Seattle. The people have been left to fill the void themselves. People have taken a political leap and are exploring its consequences.
The Floyd rebellion is changing the world before our very eyes. What type of change and to what degree it will shift the balance of forces between rulers and ruled, haves and the have-nots remains to be seen. What is clear is that there is an active and open political contest to shape the outcome.