[R-G] C.S.A. Position Paper: The Greek Riots

[aaron doncaster]

  C.S.A. Position Paper: The Greek
Riots<http://anarchiststrategy.blogspot.com/2008/12/csa-position-paper-greek-riots.html>
It's been a very busy few weeks. What has happened in Greece is momentous.
But since Christmas, the flow of news has slowed considerably, as evidenced
by the shorter, sparser postings here, so this seems as good a time as any
to reflect on these events and their implications for anarchists in the U.S.
(with apologies to all of our new readers from around the world, although
hopefully you'll get something out of this too.)

As we've learned from this excellent interview
<http://www.crimethinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/how-to-organize-an-insurrection/>over
at the CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective blog, what happened in Greece was
not accidental. In fact, the rioting, firebombing, street-fighting,
occupying, looting, and marching was largely initiated and coordinated by
autonomous affinity groups of anarchists, some more defined than others,
with roots in the occupations and social centers around Greece. This should
come as no surprise to observers; these actions bear all the hallmarks of
non-hierarchical self-organization, from the break-away marches to the
nighttime arsons to the spray paint. And it worked, beautifully.

If there's a lesson to be learned from such a structure--beyond a
confirmation of our long-held belief that affinity groups form the
basis<http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/blackchip/antimass.htm>of anarchy in
action--it's that projects that sustain our communities are
critical components of our fights elsewhere. That is not to say that mimicry
of the Greek model will lead to success. Many anarchists have found that the
maintenance of squats or occupations or social centers or infoshops in the
U.S. is more draining than it is sustaining, and the events in Greece don't
invalidate those criticisms; there may be reasons why such spaces are easier
to maintain in Greece (and the rest of Europe for that matter.) What it does
prove, though, is that we must build a sustainable, multi-generational
anarchist community through projects that nurture and embolden our ranks
over the long-term if we are to launch meaningful attacks on capital and the
state. Inevitably that will look different here than it does in Greece; our
task is to figure it out for ourselves.

Perhaps the most crucial point in the interview, however, is that anarchists
in Greece have consciously worked to end their subcultural identification.
It is worth quoting at length:

After '93 we had a strong tendency in the Greek anarchist
movement—accompanied by many serious internal fights—that eliminated the
influence of "subcultural" styles inside the movement. This means that there
is no punk, rock, metal or whatever anarchist identity in the Greek
anarchist movement—you can be whatever you like, you can listen to whatever
music you like, you can have whatever style or fashion you like, but that is
not a political identity...The separation from subcultural identity politics
made people understand that to call yourself an anarchist it takes much more
serious participation, planning, creativity, and action than just wearing a
t-shirt with the antichrist on it and walking around punk concerts drinking
beer and taking hypnotic pills. Now there is an understanding that to call
yourself an anarchist you have to come to demonstrations, to come out into
the streets... Also, that you should participate every week in one, two, or
three different assemblies with people for one, or two, or three different
preparations of different actions, plans, or struggles to call yourself an
anarchist. You have to be friends with people you trust 100% to plan
anything dangerous, you have to be aware and informed about anything that is
happening in this world to decide what the proper course of action is, you
have to be crazy and enthusiastic, to feel that you can do incredible
things—you have to be ready to give your life, your time, your years in a
struggle that will never end.

Unfortunately, this could not be a less accurate description of anarchists
in the U.S. Most anarchists here are content to languish in a subcultural
ghetto comprised of amateur fashion critics and energetic music consumers.
The strong subcultural affiliation of anarchist organizing in the U.S. is
perhaps its greatest weakness, ensuring its inaccessibility and irrelevance
to most people, even those with strongly-held anti-authoritarian politics.
What is also obvious to most observers is that subcultures are rooted in
fads, and only a tiny fringe of eccentrics remain attached to a dated fad.
We cannot build a workable anarchist community if no one believes it has
long-term viability, and our subcultural affiliation is in large-part
responsible for that mostly accurate perception. Glorifying consumption
habits, whether in clothes, music, or reading material, is not a strategy,
it is a fetish, and in this case, a fetish that nullifies a great deal of
otherwise valuable work. Pro-actively working to end this affiliation is
necessary if anarchists are to become a force in American society, as they
have become in Greece by doing the same.

On a different front, it is worth noting that the Greeks employed a
combination of formal and informal consensus process. In the streets, the
casual consensus of affinity groups gave them the mobility and flexibility
necessary to carry out daring attacks and to make strategic retreats. In
holding daily assemblies of occupied buildings, they employed the more
formal process necessary for large groups of people. In both cases, the lack
of centralized leadership, whether from individuals or federations, was
pivotal to keeping apace of a dynamic and complex situation. Such a mix of
non-hierarchical processes is nothing new, but in the U.S. it has largely
been used in the context of summit actions. A greater awareness of process
and its suitable deployment in everyday activities might prove fruitful for
anarchists here.

Another important point raised in the interview is that many non-anarchists,
especially youths, adopted direct action tactics due to the anarchist
influence in youth struggles over the last four years. Anarchists in the
U.S. have experienced a similar phenomenon with the adoption of consensus
process by countless leftist and reformist groups as the de facto form of
decision-making due to the influential role of anarchists in the
anti-globalization movement. The point is that we can define the tactical
framework for all radicals by engaging with others on our own terms. Anarchists
did not spread consensus process by compromising with liberals and giving
them extra votes at spokescouncils; we did it by proving the efficacy of our
tactic while meaningfully engaging with people beyond our tiny subculture.
The result was the widespread diffusion of our tactic and a larger audience
for our ideas (in fact, some people arrived at anarchism simply by delving
deeply into consensus.)

This is especially critical given the unprecedented attention paid to
anarchists in the last three weeks. Even the most error-ridden,
sensationalist news pieces have been forced to refer to "self-styled"
anarchists as important actors in the revolt, bringing the term into the
public consciousness for the first time in a good while. The challenge, and
thus the opportunity, comes from the fact that anarchists are presented as
being "over there"--in Greece--someplace far-off and exotic, unlike the
mundane cities and towns most of us inhabit. By taking action locally and
creating a public presence for anarchists, we can piggyback on the publicity
afforded the Greeks and link anarchists here and there in the minds of the
public.

By making our actions militant and avoiding symbolic protests which only
serve to reinforce most peoples' sense that resistance is futile, we can
create expectations for what anarchists do. This will, perhaps most
crucially, shape our perception of ourselves as well. The Greeks have set a
high bar for anarchist behavior; by rising to meet it, we can create a set
of expectations for ourselves which will become our own standard for
effective revolt.

Speaking of which, the call and response of international solidarity during
the past three weeks illustrates the importance of building and maintaining
contacts abroad. Greek anarchists and non-anarchists alike were impressed by
the intensity and timeliness of solidarity actions in places like Spain and
Germany, and indeed the media has formed a budding obsession with the use of
mobile technology in spreading the word about the riots. But the truth is we
could have done better in the U.S. The Greeks opened a window of opportunity
for anarchists around the world to take action under a powerful spotlight.
By reducing the layers of mediation and forming more direct contacts with
anarchists elsewhere, such coordination will become faster and simpler.

In terms of what we can do in the very near term--aside from solidarity
events, some of which have been powerful, other of which have been
mundane--we can focus on January 20th. Even if nothing happens in Greece
between now and then--and the smart money seems to believe something
will--there is still plenty of momentum and opportunity to carry us forward.
If ever there was a time to re-announce our presence and usher in an era of
anti-political action, January 20th would seem to be the day. While some
might object to synchronizing our efforts to the cycle of electoral
politics, the date gives us a beautiful opportunity to convincingly and
forcefully proclaim that, indeed, whoever they elect, we are ungovernable.

Furthermore, we can make the "Hope From People <http://hopefrompeople.com/>"
call a swan song for anarchist leftism, rather than the beginning of a
cowardly and counter-productive retreat into the failed bourgeois politics
of mass and ideology. We can do that by outshining them, which shouldn't be
hard since most people will ignore them. As has been proven decisively by
our peers in Greece, anarchists can be as relevant and dangerous as we want
to be--if we are organized, daring, and accountable. By holding ourselves to
that standard, we too can make this moment our own.