A-Infos (en) Aotearoa/New Zealand, Thr@l, #21 Anarchism as a Scapegoat of the 21st century: violence, anarchism and anti-globalisation protests

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      A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
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 Since hundreds of
 thousands of people
 demonstrated in July in
 Genoa, Italy outside the
 summit meeting of the
 so-called G-8 (the seven
 most powerful capitalist
 states in the world plus
 Russia), an unholy alliance
 of capitalist media,
 politicians, relief agencies,
 debt campaigners and
 even rock "stars" are
 blaming anarchists for
 "violence" at
 anti-globalisation protests.
 Indeed, anarchism has
 been called the
 "hooliganism of the 21st
 century". The September
 11 attacks against the
 World Trade Centre and
 the Pentagon in the USA
 have put a new

 spin on this,with the New York Times claiming that smashing windows on
 anti-globalisation protests is "terrorism" as well. Hang on, smashing a few
 windows? This not the same as murdering over 6,000 innocent people!
 America's "war on terrorism" will probably lead to a major new global
 McCarthyite witch-hunt against internal dissent, with anarchism lined up as a
 likely contender for the scapegoat of the 21st century (after Islamic
 fundamentalism, that is).

 In Aotearoa, our own capitalist media has also stuck the boot in. Since
 Genoa articles, editorials and opinion pieces have appeared in the NZ
 Herald, The Christchurch Press, The Listener, Sunday Star Times and on
 the Scoop news website talking of "violent anarchists" who seemingly roam
 the streets in disorganised mobs, all dressed in black, masked, throwing
 molotov cocktails at police, burning cars and smashing windows
 indiscriminately. A new stereotype of anarchists has been created, away
 from the black-caped bomb thrower of last century to the masked up window
 smasher of this century. This article shall briefly look at anarchism and
 violence, the real role of anarchists and anarchism in the anti-globalisation
 movement, as well as the real perpetrators of violence in our society. It is
 intended to be an introductory piece that will try to dismiss a few myths about
 anarchism and outline the radical potential of the anti-globalisation
 movement.


  statements from the black bloc
  It is true that some anarchists have participated in "violence" against
  capitalist property in anti-globalisation protests in places like London,
  Seattle, and now Genoa, by smashing windows of big capitalist corporations.
  This violence was not some teenage temper tantrum, as the media claims,
  but was a systematic and planned act. "We contend that property
  destruction is not a violent activity unless it destroys lives or causes pain in
  the process. By this definition, private property - especially corporate private
  property - is itself infinitely more violent than any action taken against it."
  Because the ownership of private property by a select few (the boss class)
  is the violent basis of capitalism, forcing us to work for the profit of bosses,
  then "when we smash a window, we aim to destroy the veneer of legitimacy
  that surrounds private property rights. At the same time, we exorcise that set
  of violent and destructive social relationships which has been imbued in
  almost everything around us." - ACME (anarchist) collective, Seattle, 1999.
  This collective targeted corporations such as GAP, Nike, Levis, McDonald's,
  Starbucks, Warner Bros, and Planet Hollywood, as well as banks.

  In Genoa, the media demonised the Black Bloc, who were blamed for all of
  the violence. "Yesterday the police acted brutally against protesters.
  Protesters were beaten up, were attacked by tear gas and rubber bullets,
  they were imprisoned and tortured. The police brutality culminated in the
  murder of one protester [Carlo Guiliani]...Day by day, the capitalist world
  order produces a diversity of violence. Poverty, hunger, expulsion,
  exclusion, the death of millions of people and the destruction of living spaces
  is part of their policy. This is exactly what we reject. Smashed windows of
  banks and multinationals are symbolic actions. Nevertheless, we do not
  agree with the destruction and looting of small shops and cars. This is not
  our policy...If windows rattle then you cry, but you are silent when people
  die." - statement of part of the Black Bloc, Genoa, 2001.

  abolishing capitalism by smashing windows?


  The good thing about this pretty harmless
  "violence" against capitalist property is that
  it is a direct form of resistance to
  capitalism. It is direct because it is
  unmediated by any representative. It is
  people taking action themselves in the
  here and now, rather than relying upon
  someone else to do something for them in
  the future. Smashing windows of capitalist
  businesses, to some extent, smashes the
  veneer of the spectacle of capitalism.
  However, as we all know, capitalism will
  not be abolished by smashing a few
  windows on spectacular global days of
  action against capitalism. Capitalists will
  simply replace the windows and go on as


  before. To abolish capitalism, we need to create a grassroots working class
  movement that will abolish all classes, a movement that is grounded in the
  everyday experience of people's lives. The anti-globalisation movement has
  some potential in creating this, as shall be noted later.

  A distinction needs to be made between violence against the private
  property of capitalist exploiters and against human beings. Violence against
  property is understandable, but violence against humans is nearly always
  unjustifiable, except in legitimate cases of self-defence. Anarchists do not
  support or practise terrorism, which aims to maim or kill innocent working
  class people as in the World Trade Centre attack in the USA. About a
  hundred years ago a few anarchists supported and practised terrorism
  (directed against the rich), but almost no anarchists do today, including us at
  Thrall magazine. You cannot produce a free, non-authoritarian society by
  terrorising, brutalising, killing and maiming.

  It is a mistake to claim that anarchism equals the Black Bloc. The Black Bloc
  does not represent all anarchists. Many people in the Black Bloc are not
  anarchists. It's important to remember that it is a widely known fact that much
  of the violence in Genoa was committed by police provocateurs as well as
  fascist groups who infiltrated the Black Bloc. Even then, the majority of
  anarchists in Genoa did not participate in the Black Bloc, but in other
  marches and groups.

  Much of the behind the scenes, down to earth organising at such events has
  been carried out by anarchist groups. For example, in protests against the
  World Economic Forum in Melbourne in 2000 most anarchists did not
  participate in the Black Bloc but instead helped organise the protest through
  the AWOL (Autonomous Web Of Liberation) collective, as well providing free
  food, medical supplies and participating in the blockade.

  is anarchism violent?


  The scapegoating of anarchism for violence on protests simply plays on all
  the false stereotypes of anarchists. So it's necessary once again to restate
  the "ABCs of anarchism": anarchism is not about violence, disorder or
  destruction; anarchists desire a society free from violence, coercion,
  privilege and disorder. Violence, coercion and disorder are a product of
  capitalism, which needs a violent police force to protect capitalist property
  and privilege.

  The real purpose of this media driven campaign to scapegoat anarchism is
  to repress the anti-globalisation movement. They want to put people off the
  movement by claiming it is all about mindless "violence", rather than
  resisting capitalist power and exploitation. Capitalists fear that the
  anti-globalisation movement will get bigger and more radical unless it is
  diverted or crushed. They also want to prepare public opinion for the state's
  violent repression of the militant wing of the movement, the "bad protesters"
  like anarchists (not the nice fluffy liberals) who seek more radical aims than
  just a nicer version of capitalism.

  how non-violent is the capitalist state?


  The capitalist establishment is trying to derail the growing anti-globalisation
  movement, but not because some demonstrators are allegedly violent.
  Violence is not the issue. The guardians of this political and economic
  system do not abhor violence. On the contrary, they are the greatest
  purveyors of violence on the planet. For example, in the last 50 years, the
  USA, self-proclaimed leader of the capitalist world, has been responsible for
  the deaths of millions of people in wars of aggression. Korea, Vietnam,
  Cuba, Dominican Republic, Laos, Cambodia, Grenada, Lebanon, Libya,
  Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Iraq,

  Angola, Somalia,Colombia,Congo and
  Yugoslavia have all been invaded,
  bombed or ravaged by US-proxy wars,
  with Afghanistan next on the list. Wars and
  invasions are dramatic expressions of the
  violence committed by the capitalist
  establishment. The US has killed well over
  500,000 Iraqi children from economic
  sanctions, and publicly said it was "worth
  the price". When it comes to violence, it is
  hard to match the deliberate killing of
  500,000 children. The US state is the
  biggest terrorist outfit in the world.

  The capitalist state's routine use of
  violence is not restricted to foreign wars
  and interventions, either. Every worker
  who has gone on strike or been locked out
  knows that if you try to stop the bosses
  from using scabs and strikebreakers, you
  will be met with police violence, as with the
  pickets against Carter Holt Harvey by
  wharfies in the South Island.

                                  police trialing new boot scraping device
    beyond violence and non-violence

  With all the media driven talk about "violence versus non-violence", we tend
  to overlook that the anti-globalisation movement has much radical,
  anarchist potential. For a start, the movement is largely organised along
  decentralised anarchist lines, a fact often completely ignored. These big
  protests have largely been organised without leaders by networks of
  autonomous groups. These groups network together, inform each other of
  their plans, create their own actions or join in on someone else's. A whole
  host of organisational forms are used, from websites listing actions,
  Independent Media (IndyMedia) centres, to small affinity groups. Affinity
  groups are temporary groups of like-minded people who come together for
  a specific aim such as forming a carnival-like drum brigade. All these
  groups then co-ordinate their activities with one another from the bottom up
  at large "spokescouncil" meetings of delegates from the various groups.

  It is assumed by many that what is needed is a central body to direct the
  protests from above. They are elitists and authoritarians who believe that
  some allegedly superior small group needs to decide what protesters ought
  to do. The success of the largely non-hierarchical organising of the
  anti-globalisation movement proves that such a method of organising is
  possible and desirable. It allows for much flexibility and diversity. People
  feel like they are actually participating in a protest of their own creation,
  rather than being herded like sheep by marshalls on loudhailers. A lack of
  central control does not mean every group will go off and do their own thing
  in antagonism with each other, as these autonomous groups have shown a
  real ability to come together and co-ordinate their activities in massive,
  large-scale demonstrations.

  Imagine if a whole society, and not just a protest, was organised along such
  decentralised lines. People would voluntarily come together and form and
  re-form groups for whatever need, whether artistic or social or economic or
  whatever, and would co-ordinate their activities with other like-minded
  groups. Of course, this federalist organisation run by direct democracy is
  not enough by itself to create an anarchist/communist society, it is also
  necessary to create a real human community without all forms of
  domination (including classes), money, and the state.
  watch out for recuperators!

  For all its confusions and shortcomings which have been outlined in
  previous issues of Thrall (such as being anti-corporate rather than fully
  anti-capitalist), the importance of the anti-globalisation movement is that it is
  an extra-parliamentary movement that takes direct action against many
  aspects of capital and the state in the streets. Heaps of people across the
  globe are putting their bodies on the line to blockade and directly disrupt the
  meetings of the international ruling class. As well, this grassroots movement
  is largely beyond the control of the traditional left. It's developed
  autonomously from political parties (leftist, rightist or green) and unions.
  This is important as the traditional purpose of these bureaucratic groups is
  to discipline the working class and/or channel dissent into reforming
  capitalism. As well, it's becoming a much broader movement than a few
  fringe activists. In Genoa, the majority of protesters were from Italy, and
  many of them were young workers. Genoa represented a broad social
  mobilisation that went far beyond the circles of "event hoppers" and
  adventure tourist demonstrators. As such the anti-globalisation movement
  has great potential to develop into a more revolutionary movement,
  especially if it can spread to workplaces, and can avoid by co-opted by
  bureaucratic Non-Governmental Organisations who aim to take the place of
  unions and political parties in acting against us whilst claiming to represent
  us.

  Violence is not the issue here. It's whether the anti-capitalist movement can
  avoid being co-opted and repressed, as well as develop into a broader
  social movement that is based upon opposition to the everyday violence of
  the exploitative capitalist system. With globalisation, neo-liberalism,
  privatisation, de-regulation, free trade, the New Right and all that, we are
  being forced to work harder, longer and for less pay, and suffering from
  more lay-offs, poverty and hunger worldwide, not to mention bringing the
  planet to the brink of an ecological crisis. Four hundred billionaires now
  possess wealth equal to that of the 3 billion poorest people on the planet.
  This capitalist system is inherently violent, oppressive and exploitative.
  Capitalism cannot be reformed, and that's why we need to abolish it.




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