A-Infos (en) US, NEFAC continues it's transformation into regional organizations

Friends and comrades may have noticed November 2008's announcement of the formation of the 
Union Communiste Libertaire (UCL) in Quebec. The UCL described its founding as part of a 
"long reforming process" of NEFAC. In addition, another group, Solidarite, formed from 
what previously had been NEFAC-Quebec. Since then many have asked the remaining NEFAC 
membership about the status of the original federation. ---- The practical difficulties of 
having a cross-border, multi-lingual organization with a small membership and budget 
eventually consumed our honest effort to overcome such obstacles. Translation was not only 
tedious, largely falling on the shoulders of the Quebecois, but sometimes stopped position 
papers from being published altogether. T

he differences in social conditions between our countries created
time-consuming debates that rarely led to collective actions or
collective positions. Federation Congress' would have been easier for
both countries to attend if border crossings did not exist, but also
if they were funded by dues monies. Partial attendance at Congress'
meant making quorum (we did not vote on a proposal unless we had 50%+1
of the membership present) for a general assembly of membership
painfully challenging. More money would have also meant propaganda far
exceeding the handful of stickers and posters we put out together. And
let it not go without notice that the lack of discipline in paying
dues was a key variable in our inability to function at a higher
level.

This January, in Boston, NEFAC's US section continued our progress
toward our own reformation. We enacted a constitution and a new
internal structure that were developed over the spring and summer of
2008. We dedicated time to analyze the situation we face, in which the
capitalist class faces difficulty in propping up its rotting order,
and proves itself willing to stretch and to take risks to do so. Most
of the working class in the US remains on the defensive, but many in
the social movements are also discovering openings to move things
forward. NEFAC-US members compared our local experiences and discussed
strategies to advance our socialist and libertarian vision in the
context of this crisis. After a long period of introversion and local
focus, we see these as important steps toward building a fresh,
publicly active, class-struggle anarchist group rooted primarily in
the northeastern United States.

Whereas participation in black bloc summit hops at World
Bank/International Monetary Fund and Free Trade meetings across North
America was a large part of NEFAC's early activity, nine years later
our politics have matured and changed. While we still have a small
core of long-standing members in NEFAC- US, our membership
demographics are slowly becoming more diverse and therefore have the
potential to become sustainable. We have shifted from a majority
student base to a minority student base, have attracted a broader age
range of individuals, now including families, and 24% of the
membership is female. We have currently been involved in the following
class struggle local campaigns and international publishing projects:

* Resistance to foreclosure evictions, particularly of tenants (Boston)
* The successful occupation of The New School (NYC)
* Participation in the movement in defense of political prisoners (Boston & NYC)
* Involvement with resisting city budget cuts, particularly libraries
(Philadelphia)
* Involvement with UNITE HERE Boycott campaigns of Columbia-Sussex
(Baltimore & D.C.)
* Publication of The Northeastern Anarchist Magazine, Issue No. 14
(Membership at-large)

We see our new organization, which will soon be renamed but continues
to exist as NEFAC, taking its place among many similar North American
groups, including Common Cause in Ontario and the UCL and Solidarite
in Quebec. While we agree that these regions reflect a more sensible
scale on which to attempt coherent joint activity in the current
political climate, we are committed to continued discussion and
eventual shared projects among all of these organizations.

We plan to have a cross-border joint Congress that will occur before
the year is over. Our main agenda item will be to further articulate
the regionalism, theoretical unity and direction of our organization.

For a world without borders, bosses, or bureaucracy

NEFAC-US
_________________________________________
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