From: "cwright" <cwright-AT-21stcentury.net>
Subject: Re: AUT: Re: Re: Re: Back to Crisis theory
Date: Tue, 5 Jun 2001 23:11:37 -0500


Something interesting on this note:

OCAP (Ontario coalition Against Poverty) is working with a series of groups
in unions (mostly oppositions that have formed flying squads of for strike
support and other political support), with an anti-globaliztion group that
helped organize the anti-FTAA stuff, and a few other groups to start an
economic disruption campaign in October designed to bring down the Harris
government.  While the demands seem relatively limited on one level, the
idea of organizing to force a particular regime out of power could be a
powerful move, and one that has some roots in working class communities.'

I am not as unhopeful about the anti-globalization movement because I also
see a lot of people locally in Chicago developing a definite anti-capitalist
bent, while they are also looking for something beyond capitalism.
Certainly there are problems (I sat through a meeting full of them tonight)
and political development is a conflicted and painful process, but I see
positive development.  It all depends on what direction these struggles
take, what kind of sentiment they do or do not manage to tap into, etc.
Also, these struggles may simply be one form of larger struggles brewing
beneath the surface.

There is no way these struggles will burst through with a particular
consciousness right off the bat, nor will they necessarily take forms we can
immediately anticipate or which seem immediately promising, but the
involvement of a lot of working class people in our local Direct Action
Network group is very interesting.  However, it will also have to outgrow
its current personalism and cliqueishness, which is tied to a particular
kind of politics and activism that sees itself as a community distinct from
other communities, rather than being one part of a broader working class
community with, for lack of an immediately better term, organic
relationships to the processes of exploitation and oppression.

Anyway, I am making a lot of schematic and impressionistic formulation about
this poitical activity here in Chicago because I am still marginal and
because the political life is still bound up too much with personal
friendships that are in denial or which try to mute political conflicts (so
that people group more on a personalistic basis than a political basis.)

Sorry if this is a bit vague, I am still sorting this out.

Cheers,
Chris
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Jovanovic" <peterzoran-AT-hotmail.com>
To: <aut-op-sy-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 9:18 PM
Subject: Re: AUT: Re: Re: Re: Back to Crisis theory


> hi all
>
> Harald wrote:
>
> >Thanks for you reply Peter (Havas; there are two Peters on the list now)
>
> Actually there are at least 3 if Peter van Heusden is still here.
>
> >and the increased awareness of that capital operates globally, offer
> >possibilities. That so much of this renewed awareness is articulated
> >in terms of anti-globalisation is not promising though.
>
> It's not good to the extent that anti-globalisation is de-facto  expressed
> as a desire to return to the Keynesian past yet as the anti-globalisation
> movement (i know you don't like this term but in the abscence of a better
> one...) has progressed the anti-capitalist part of it has become more
> dominant. Of course (following the Aufheben 2000 editorial) this dominance
> is mainly expressed in terms of willingness to attack the cops not ideas.
> probably because these people are not participants in the mainstream of
> exploitation.
>
> >The Seattles and Pragues may be very visible in the media, but
> >hardly in the daily lives of people, not even among most of the few
> >who actually did participate. I would be more optimistic if more of
> >them were less enthusiastic about what they had accomplished.
> >Still I believe that these events may if we are lucky still open up >for
> >new and more direct (less symbolic) forms of resistance. With all
> >the talk about direct action, this is precisely what largely is >missing
> >today, in the old "developed world," at least.
>
> Several articles about Quebec City have claimed that lots of local people
> participated in the riot not because they had previously worked out
> anti-capitalist ideas but for other reasons presumably more to do with
their
> everyday lives. Perhaps one of these summit sieges might spark a city wide
> insurgency like LA in 92. And surely the unions don't try so hard to keep
> their members away from the 'action' for no reason, presumably they are
> worried they will take some of that anger back to their workplaces. And I
> think for the young radicals who travel so far to take part in these
things
> they provide inspiration and the first experience of any sort of mass
> struggle in a time when there isn't much else in the way of visible
struggle
> happening.
>
> peter
> _________________________________________________________________________
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>
>
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