“Autonomy, self-organisation, self-defence“
An anthology from the magazine.
“Furio Jesi distinguishes between revolt and revolution, which cut across two different times. Revolt is not an aborted revolution. Revolt is the time of myth, a time that bursts in, that breaks historical causality. … The revolutionary parties or any structured organisation are thus incapable of taking part in the revolt and even less of directing it because their actions are part of the long time, of causal time, where each act is taken in the game of means and ends. Each action has a purpose and a certain effectiveness. Revolt suspends this machine of means and ends, this mechanical calculation of the movements of revolutionaries and the reactions of the adversary. We throw ourselves headlong into the revolt. We go there with method and patience in the revolution.”
“Chile has a long history of radical neighborhood organizing — a tradition that is now put at the service of drafting a new constitution for a country in turmoil.”
“The global justice movement exploded onto the scene in protests against the Seattle WTO meetings twenty years ago today. The movement was far from perfect, but its anarchist, direct action-oriented politics were crucial learning experiences for a left that has today finally found its footing.”
“if we want peace, we will first go through war. It is total war, planetary, nature defending itself against the civilisational monster; riotous war, protean, of a world bursting with rage to live against the costumed puppets that bleed it white. This war is already taking place everywhere, and is intensifying devilishly in the immense revolutionary leap that is drumming at the golden gates of the great spawning. All countries are rising up.”
Posted in anarchism, emergency, Nota Bene, revolution, tragic politics, violence
‘If we want create a radically democratic and ecological society, we will have to abandon all bureaucratic and exploitative means. It is not enough to consume ethically or vote for the lesser evil. We have to build democratic and resilient communities capable of confederating with each other so as to tackle large-scale issues. As Castoriadis has said, “an autonomous society cannot be instaurated except through the autonomous activity of the collectivity.” This might sound too general or abstract, but the direct democracy of which we are speaking represents such a paradigm shift, that must surpass both globalization and localism and can lead towards genuine social emancipation.’
Posted in anarchism, autonomy, Castoriadis, democracy, founding, freedom, governance, Nota Bene, the Left
“If we take these ideas of Luxemburg, Lukács, and Gramsci seriously, we must realize that all of them were making reference to a context that no longer exists in 2019. A hundred years ago there existed a substantial global labor movement, profoundly influenced by the theory of historical materialism, and with a dynamic and influential left wing infused with the sense of the actuality of revolution. That was obliterated between the First World War and the twilight of the twentieth century. Something like it remains to be rebuilt.”
Posted in anarchism, freedom, Nota Bene, revolution, rights
Tagged Rosa Luxemburg, strike
“We need to start using words once more. Perhaps this reflection on Exarchia could be the triggering effect for us to talk about the problem of cities, with our focus on our collective problems: the epidemic of loneliness, political disenchantment, environmental degradation, commercialisation of neighbourhoods and cities.”
Posted in anarchism, Nota Bene, power, resistance, the common
Tagged Greece
“There has never been a planned revolution; revolutions occur in the heat and passion of events. Thus what we can strive for is permanent revolution.”
Posted in anarchism, fraternity, freedom, justice, Nota Bene, revolt, revolution, the Left
