A-Infos (en) France, Alternative Libertair October (#221) St Imier meetings: Fortitude internationalism libertarian + Clasiques the subversion of the "Popular Front failed revolution" by Daniel Guerin (fr) [machine translation]

St Imier meetings: Fortitude internationalism libertarian ---- International Meeting of 
anarchism Saint-Imier was attended by about 3000 people. Such a meeting was not held since 
the cons-G8 Annemasse in 2003, and even since the Libertarian Social Forum 2002 in 
Saint-Ouen if we compare with events specifically libertarian. ---- The organization of 
meetings of Saint-Imier, which took place from August 8 to 12, reported to the tour de 
force in the first place because the project was originally based on the Libertarian 
Socialist Organization Switzerland (OSL) before it is joined by the International of 
Anarchist Federations (IFA) and other member organizations Anarkismo [ 1 ], as well as 
unaffiliated with these two currents. It was not obvious to coexist all sensitivities, 
autonomous libertarian libertarian communists to anarchists through synthésistes [ 2 ] and 
anarcho-syndicalists.

Finally, unlike previous international meetings libertarians like Venice in 1984, Trieste 
in 1990, Saint-Ouen in 2002 and Annemasse in 2003, this is the first time we organized an 
international meeting in a human-sized city (5000 inhabitants) and we were in contact with 
almost all of the population who booked the rest of a very good home, some pushing the 
curiosity to attend this event.

Advanced battle libertarian

The success of this meeting was made possible thanks to the work of installation of the 
OSL in St. Imier with the complex space animated black Jura and its branch with the huge 
task of organizing led for nearly two years not only with the IFA and Anarkismo, but more 
broadly with many groups and a lot of volunteers who have supported the organization of 
meals, translations and various tasks. Some and some dreaded first the tone is mostly 
commemorating the 140th anniversary of the founding of the International antiauthoritarian 
after the expulsion of Bakuninists by supporters of Marx. But these days were strongly 
influenced by the political debates, struggles, international solidarity and concrete 
experiences of self-management and power-cons. The meeting also had the merit to have two 
spheres of the libertarian movement between on the one hand and political organizations 
anarcho-syndicalists and other groups ranging from autonomous movement and libertarian 
movements like squats, social centers, networks Vegans, cooperatives and communities in 
large part outside the market sphere. These meetings helped to multiply debates, exchanges 
and political contacts. They testified to the insertion in the social network and the 
ability of political intervention currents present. If there is one negative point is the 
low place of women in meetings outside anarcha-feminist debates. Some discussion forums 
were even exclusively male. No current is free from reproach, including Anarkismo. Once 
again there is much to do and then do not be surprised if the anarcha-feminists embossed 
organizations on what is more a lack of attention as a proven machismo and claimed as 
such. The meeting also helped to build networks in many areas - academic and 
anarcha-feminist among others - favoring mode ever horizontal and development of 
international initiatives.

Rage and Hope

If we regret that a final joint statement Anarkismo-Ifa has been out of the game, we can 
only applaud the efforts of the French FA and Anarkismo to achieve a common text, 
unfortunately rejected by the Italian FA and Iberian. Anarkismo was present with the most 
current Ifa. He has emerged as the libertarian with the largest number of locations around 
the world and which organizations are heavily involved in political and social struggles 
of their countries. The meetings revealed many autonomous currents are characterized more 
by diversity than by unity, while evidence of dynamic experiences and struggles against 
powers, in many areas, some marginal, others taken with the political and social reality. 
Finally we would like to end on a note of anger and hope. Rabies is one that inspired us 
when we learned of the Swiss authorities' refusal to consider visas for libertarian 
communist comrades Morocco and Egypt (Libertarian Socialist Movement). The hope is that we 
were able to see and hear the progress of the libertarian struggle in South Africa, 
Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Tunisia. Thus, young fellow Disobedience (Tunisia) have shown a 
promising political activity. Their interventions on the Arab revolutions and the place 
they have been counted among the most significant meeting. In short, it is unlikely that 
this event a milestone and it gives us hope and strength to face the trials ahead.

International Commission of AL

[ 1 ] Anarkismo is an international network of organizations most libertarian communists

[ 2 ] The synthésisme aims to gather libertarian communists, anarcho-syndicalists and 
individualists.

---------------------------------------------------------

Clasiques the subversion of the "Popular Front failed revolution" by Daniel Guerin

The first edition of this testimony on the Popular Front in 1963. In the 1930s, Daniel 
Guérin belongs to the left of the Socialist Party, which later became a separate 
organization, the Workers' and Peasants Socialist Party (PSOP), the libertarian tendency, 
including advocating mutiplication of local popular committees.

The Popular Front episode takes place in a context of rising fascism. Dictatorship is 
already in place for twelve years in Italy. February 1934 riots fomented by the French 
extreme right have to D. Guérin-sounding special: he had indeed planned this evolution 
after staying in Germany at the time Hitler came to power.

Social advances of the time - forty-hour week, paid holidays - spend today to be the 
result of voluntarism left parties came to government. This mythology is in question: it 
is the pressure of strikes that the government is going beyond its initial "stunted", 
limited to the nationalization of certain sectors of the economy, without questioning 
capitalism . This is true to the point that "sit-ins continued to snowball. After a lull 
of August, [...] occupation began again. They were everywhere, a specific cause: employers 
violated or turned to outdo the new social legislation, to impose within the workshop, the 
respect of their conquests, workers saw no other way risposter that the tactic had done 
wonders in June. '

This is the Popular Front social movement was alive and original, not the government who 
bore the same name.

The failure is particularly the division of labor and the extreme left of the electoral 
importance of social democracy, careful not to upset the financial community - the 
"occupations constantly recurring donation had upset the bankers whose cash Blum 
government had such a pressing need. "This reflects the inability or unwillingness of 
parties beyond the limits posed by the dominant class choice of reformism, pacifism 
classic. The role of the Communist Party is from this point of view emblematic: a line 
dictated by the USSR, it hinders any attempt to drive around a pole radical social, and 
adheres to a "social patriotism" uncompromising against Germany, instead of a class 
struggle pacifism, which would, for example, questioned the Treaty of Versailles.

Patrick (AL Montpellier)

• Daniel Guérin, Popular Front failed revolution, Arles, Acte Sud / Babel, 1997, 10 euros
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