A-Infos (en) North America, A Reportback From the Class Struggle Anarchist Conference

The Class Struggle Anarchist Conference (CSAC) is an event for pro-formal organization 
anarchists who believe in class struggle, involvement in mass movements, and that 
revolution is only possible coming from the diverse working people of the world--not an 
isolated or select minority of radicals. It is an invite-only conference and this year's 
was the second annual gathering of this sort in North America. The sponsoring 
organizations were Buffalo Class Action, Common Action (Pacific Northwest), Common Cause 
(Ontario), Four Star Anarchist Organization (Chicago), Miami Autonomy and Solidarity, 
Michigan-Minnesota Group, Northeast Federation of Anarchist Communists (NEFAC), Solidarity 
and Defense (Detroit/Lansing), and the Workers Solidarity Alliance (WSA). This is my 
personal account of the weekend.

My arrival in Detroit preceded the start of the conference by one day. It was seemingly 
unexpected, but Solidarity & Defense folks responded well. One S & D comrade gave me a 
nearly 3 hour tour of the city, telling me various stories of working class agitation, 
whether it involved socialists, fascists, unions, or black nationalists. After a 15 hour 
bus trip and a combination of these tales, the site of hundreds of burnt out, abandoned 
buildings and devastated infrastructure was somewhat overwhelming for me. While definitely 
depressing, there's a feeling one gets from Detroit of potential and history that's 
inspiring, as well..

On Friday, I was mostly a passive observer while the local organizers of the conference 
found housing and made various plans for airport and bus station pickups. Wish I could 
have helped, but as an out of towner with no vehicle, there wasn't much I could do.

People were slowly and steadily coming into town and we met at a local bar that once 
served as the headquarters for the intense 1995 newspaper strikes. Over too many whiskeys 
on my part, I finally met folks that, until then, had only been faceless email addresses, 
browser crashing myspace profiles or impersonal Facebook accounts.

Although I woke up on Saturday suffering from a cold, a hacking cigarette cough and a 
general hangover, remembering the panels and workshops ahead, as well as unsafe amounts of 
black coffee, re-energized me. Here's some summaries of the what I attended.

Our Anarchisms

This was the opening panel and consisted of short overviews of the history of the 
participating organizations. While a decent thing for people unfamiliar, I would have 
liked to have seen a more theoretical or tactical explanation of these groups. Time 
probably would have constrained this. Hearing “Andrew Flood is the Johnny Appleseed of 
North American anarchism” made me laugh, though...

Worker Centers

Began with excellent explanation of what a workers' center could be and how it can 
prefigure the goals of anarchists and libertarian socialists. It is true that, in this 
country, the concept is one that does not have one, solid definition and because of this, 
there is unlimited potential.

Organizer's experiences with the newly formed Lansing Workers Center, Centro Obrero in 
Detroit and direct action casework in Seattle were recalled and analyzed in a critical way 
by the four members of the panel.

Direct action casework was referred to as the class struggle anarchist's Food Not Bombs, 
and I would have to agree with this. This model, while having problems of its own, doesn't 
take a whole lot of resources besides having a telephone number and people willing to go 
and confront bosses and landlords with those having grievances. The model could definitely 
be tweaked to fit the purpose of whatever group of people decide to do it as well, just 
like FNB differs in its aims and purposes from city to city (and within cities?).

Intersectional Class Struggle Anarchism

Had a creeping feeling that this was going to be a point of contention and bitter 
disputes, but it went well. Knowing marginally what the two panelists meant by the title, 
I felt already in agreement, but they provided more. They provided a theoretical framework 
and background for this conception, where it came from, how some have misused it, its 
potentials and limits in a way I was only slightly familiar with previously.

While most likely directed or geared towards those who are or deal with class 
reductionists, it was personally valuable as a way to deal with gender, sexuality and race 
reductionists. That is something I deal with far more.

Anarchists In The Workplace

This consisted of folks involved with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) or 
traditional trade unions and their experiences with agitating and organizing. One account 
that I enjoyed was a Wobbly describing how some of their co-workers became acquainted with 
anarchism to the point where they either acknowledged its worth or eventually became 
anarchists themselves. It is often underestimated how these types of day-to-day 
interactions lead people to become radicalized.

There were two important issues raised, while not having too much discussion around them, 
need to be explored if we are serious about a revolutionary movement.

What is the role, if any, of anarchists in relation to the AFL-CIO/Change to Win unions? 
While some of the participating organizations have position papers and such about this 
question, some do not. And regardless of a paper, what is a concrete strategy to implement 
these positions?

Is it time to seriously start a dialogue about where anarchists should work? While I 
realize this isn't something that everyone can choose, for some it is. Where are areas 
where we can have the most influence, success and spread our ideas? These questions tie in 
to our relations with the unions as well, as they would often determine the character of 
our struggles.

Regroupment

This has been a topic of debate going on several months now. As the level of duel members, 
increasing cooperation and closer outlooks have manifested, so has the idea for a national 
or continental body of class struggle anarchists. The three people on the panel gave their 
own or their group's views on the question.

Some of the pros for regroupment given were a larger skillbase, no replication of isolated 
work, increased financial resources, improved ability for “social insertion”, more 
political development and better to reach the outside world with.

Among the cons stated were the possibility of an energy drain for the decision making 
process if delegate structure isn't used, political differences arising, and if the 
process is done quickly, it may fall apart just as quick.

In the end, it seemed most of everyone is for regroupment, there are just disagreements on 
the process and timetable of it.

Nature Of the Period & The Task Ahead

I wished this had been given more time and been more focused. Unfortunately, it was cut 
short and people were also generally tired because of the previous night's social gathering.

The first panelist stated that in Latin America and Europe, many groups frequently assess 
the situation and context they find themselves in. This helps them decide what work they 
will do and how they will do it. With the economic crisis, demobilization of what 
pathetically passes as the left following Obama's election, and the rise of a right-wing 
populist movement, we find ourselves in a very particular situation. One in which American 
anarchists have not done a good job in assessing.

The second panelist mentioned that during The Great Depression, stabilization in the 
markets occurred before a movement with revolutionary potential sprung up. Taking 
anarchists to task for our lackluster response to the crisis, he suggests that people are 
going to look for answers and they will or are turning to the Democratic Party, social 
democracy, religion, black nationalism, neofascism and Leninism for them.

Conclusion

Eventually, I had to leave and missed the informal discussion as the conference came to a 
close. Leaving energized, I look forward to any projects, campaigns, discussion or work 
that may come out of CSAC-II and immensely enjoyed the company of the individuals 
attending, even if it required two 15 hour bus trips on my part...
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
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