From: Massimo De Angelis <M.DeAngelis-AT-uel.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 6 Jun 1996 15:26:49 GMT
Subject: Re: Berlin meeting


 
> CONGRESS IN BERLIN

It was NOT A CONGRESS, it was a meeting, where people meet, exchange 
ideas, try to coordinate actions, try to move forward.   

> From May 31-June 2 the First European Meeting for a Humane
> Society and Against Neo-liberalism took place in Berlin.
> The Congress, which was initiated by a call by the EZLN to
> create an "intergalactic dialogue", was attended by 2-3
> thousand people from the left spectrum. 

The last I have heard was 946 of us, which is still a respectable 
size.

> Almost 50 workshops  were held in two days at various centers in Berlin; there
> were also large opening and closing meetings which filled
> two auditoriums to capacity, a meeting in a radical circus,
> cultural programs, parties and demonstrations.

The active workshops were actually 24. 

> A number of > anarchists from Europe and the Americas attended and gave
> some workshops.
> Obviously much debate was heard about the real politics of
> the Zapatistas. People questioned their use of the term
> nationalism, the Mexican flag, how they are organized and
> whether or not their political goals were reformist.

Actually, this is the kind of discussion I have avoided, like I have 
avoided  any grand ideological statement like I would have avoided 
the plague. The real problem  we were faced was how to connect
 with the zapatistas on the terrain of our struggle against neoliberalism 
(capitalism) and for humanity. I don't know whether we have answered
 that, but this was the tension. It was only because of this concrete
 tension that we could avoid in the workshoip I went to be highjacked
 by the parade of  Trotskists interventions all  making grand statements
 and all calling for the need for a worker's party. As soos as they finished their 
statements and we went back to the real problem of how to define our 
enemy, how to define our strength, how to circulate our struggles, 
they could not say anything more.   

An
> interesting discussion took place after the Congress at A-
> Laden, an anarcholocale, on exactly these questions.
> Although their were many different opinions, everyone agreed
> that there is no need to romanticize the Zapatistas but
> instead to look crtically at them, (some people said we
> should critically support them, others said its better to
> support more radical projects) and try to find out more
> information and keep others abreast of these findings.

Right, let us not romanticize the Zapatistas and instead learn from 
them if there is anything to learn. So this is the question, is there 
anything we can learn from them to use in our struggles and our 
communication here in Europe (or wherever we are)? This talk about 
critically support them or not support them at all, etc. sounds a bit 
old, sounds a bit already lived, sounds a bit ideological. We are 
free to criticise whoever we want but the key question is  IS THERE 
ANYTHING WE CAN LEARN FROM THEM no matter what
 is our ideological position? 

> Concerning anarcho-news, a national gathering of anarchists
> from the former Yugoslavia will take place this month and
> the next East-West syndicalist meeting will take place in
> the Czech Republic. Activists from FAU and the CFA are also
> working on a project to buy a house in Praguw which will
> serve as a meeting point for East and West.

This sounds good
 
> Akai
> 
Massimo

BTW, I am working on a report on the Berlin's meeting and I will 
distribute it as soon as possible. 
 
>
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DESIRE IS PRODUCTION OF REALITY

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Massimo De Angelis
Department of Economics
University of East London
Longbridge Road
Dagenham Essex RM8 2AS
U.K.

work 0181 5907722 x2254
home 0181 9616067
fax  0181 8493549
e-mail massimo-AT-uel.ac.uk 
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