A-Infos (en) Spaine, EMBAT: INTERVIEW WITH EMBAT, LIBERTARIAN ORGANIZATION OF CATALONIA (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The traces left by the anarchist movement make up a map of the paths 
traveled and also of those that are yet to be traced. In this present 
and future work where there is still everything to do, we do not want to 
forget a group that celebrated its tenth anniversary this year: the 
libertarian organization Embat en Catalunya. A decade ago, a broad 
process of building an organization based on social anarchism and the 
strategic concept of popular power began. We wanted to do an interview 
to find out the details of this decade of activity and, above all, learn 
more about the panorama of the anarchist movement and its coordination 
today.
Todo por Hacer (TxH): Start by telling us about the origins of Embat, 
what were the drives that led you to meet and the first steps that were 
taken in that direction to unite the Catalan anarchist movement

Embat was born in 2013, in the heat of the general strikes. If there was 
a strike on March 29, our first meeting was on April 15. In fact, we had 
been debating for a few years with other compañeras from all over the 
Spanish State, around the anarchist organization. From time to time, 
meetings or debates were held, but we were the first group of those who 
managed to achieve them. Later, the manifesto "Building a Strong People" 
would be promoted, which gave rise to Apoyo Mutuo.

Our birth coincided with a rise of the anarchist movement. For example, 
there is the anarchist meeting at the end of June of that year, which we 
attended. On that occasion we got together no less than 32 groups from 
Catalonia. This indicated that our ideas were quite alive.

TxH: Tell us about how the libertarians recognized themselves in that 
amalgamation of assemblies that existed in the social movements prior to 
the existence of Embat and, if today there was a new broad movement in 
the streets like 15M, how we should organize the movement libertarian

Embat was born after the debates that followed the 15M. We saw that the 
anarchist ways of organizing were very much in vogue. That everywhere 
there was talk of self-management and cooperativism. That direct action 
was not frowned upon. The slogans of the movement were clearly 
anti-authoritarian. And yet we had no way of channeling all that spirit 
into a mass revolutionary trend.

We were also aware of how the political organizations of other currents 
were in the squares. We realized that a group of 10 well-organized 
people was stronger than 100 or 1,000 unorganized, confident in 
spontaneity. And it is that ideological neutrality does not exist. 
People already come with some predetermined ideas of home. There are 
political options that will inevitably add to any kind of street 
movement that people have.

Therefore, anarchism needed to have a political organization. We had to 
be able to go to these types of common mass spaces with a strategy and 
tactics shared by a number of comrades.

TxH: Give us a synthesis of the specific path in anarchism. What 
experiences led you to bet on an anarchist proposal that was so unknown 
in Europe? And how do you understand popular power?

Specifism is nothing more than having a specific anarchist organization 
to intervene in society. We understand that this is quite out of the 
box, but given the refusal to intervene in the problems of our society 
that a good part of the anarchist movement had in its day, we decided to 
make it more explicit. Our referent, in this aspect, was Latin American 
anarchism (with organizations such as the FARJ of Rio de Janeiro, the 
FAG of Portoalegre, the Uruguayan FAU, among others), which around 
2000-2010 established a way of doing things that seemed very appropriate 
to us. .

We refer to the acceptance of the paradigm of popular power and its 
adaptation in the tactical ideology of anarchism. It is understood that 
the people themselves carry out struggles on their own or through 
popular movements that generate a collective experience and empowerment. 
Popular power is the very constructive and fighting spirit of the 
people, which builds new paths towards emancipation, which sometimes 
surpass on the left the organizations that are considered revolutionary. 
Our interest was to contribute to these struggles, to be part of them, 
to learn by building. We were not interested in continuing with the 
small self-referential circles that we had around here, more like 
subcultural scenes than a popular movement.

TxH: What do you consider intervention in the masses? What intention and 
what objectives do you have? How to practice it ethically having an 
agreement between ends and libertarian means?

In the first analyzes that we did as an organization, we detected in the 
social movements (beyond anarcho-syndicalism) a huge number of comrades 
who were either from the libertarian movement or had broken with it. We 
wondered why. The answer that we were offered used to be because the 
libertarian movement did not want to get involved in social struggles. 
When he did, it was from perceived maximalist positions that were 
quickly out of the question because no one else followed.

All these people who were (and are) already active in social movements 
lacked any tool or structure to coordinate them, to give them 
orientation or a specific meaning. Each one went for free, wouldn't it 
be more effective if they could have meeting spaces and strategic 
debate? That's what political organizations are for. Not to tell people 
what to do, but to give them logistical support and the idea that they 
are not alone, and that behind them they have an organization that 
watches over them.
A specific organization is prepared to intervene in society, in its 
struggles and movements. Naturally, it also decides what such a movement 
should do to advance the construction of a revolutionary project. But it 
is understood that the effort comes from below. It is a demand of the 
base, not of some dome hidden in the shadows.

TxH: It is interesting for us to learn about internationalism in the 
Catalan scene. We imagine that being anarchists in the Catalan political 
world is complicated. How does international anarchism see left-wing 
Catalanism?

Anarchism is seen as a part of the traditional political ideas of 
Catalonia. Obviously there will always be someone who wants to exclude 
us. Anarchism is always looked down on and if they pat us on the back it 
is because we are still a minority current. But the fact that almost 
everyone here has a CNT grandfather or great-grandfather makes it easier 
to have a minimum of legitimacy at the popular level.

TxH: Where are you currently intervening? What objectives have been met 
and what are the paths to follow in the future stage?

At the moment we intervene in the trade union field, in the educational 
field (in the organization of the Escoles Feministes Days) and in that 
of the ecosocial transition. We also participate in the debates that the 
anarchist environment of Barcelona is setting up. We have a lot of work 
ahead of us. We have barely socialized our discourse, which is no longer 
seen as alien by the movement.

But we are not managing to reach other movements due to lack of 
strength. You have to understand that being in an organization of 
militants implies multi-military. Therefore, an effort is required in 
the social and political organization, which not everyone is capable of 
carrying out. The challenge is to have enough people to open new fronts 
of struggle.

TxH: With what other collectives or movements in the same anarchist line 
are you coordinated internationally and what other organizations would 
there be in the spectrum of current Spanish anarchism?

Currently the international coordinator of social and organized 
anarchism has about twenty organizations. Now it can be said that we all 
situate ourselves in anarcho-communism, specificism or platformism. 
Right now we are on a campaign for some fellow anarchists from Sudan who 
have to leave the country.

In addition, we are collaborating with others in the Spanish State, 
although they do not always claim this space, such as Apoyo Mutuo 
Aragón, Liza, Batzac, FEL or CGT-Catalunya. With these last three we 
form the Taula Llibertària de Catalunya, which is a space to call 
mobilizations and to establish debates. In recent times these debates 
have been opened to other groups. And with Liza, an anarchist platform 
in Madrid, we are collaborating to edit printed material to generate 
discourse and contribute to the change of the militant culture.

all to do

Interview with Embat, the libertarian organization of Catalonia
https://www.todoporhacer.org/entrevista-embat/

http://acracia.org/entrevista-a-embat-organizacion-libertaria-de-catalunya/
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