Category: Federation
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A Letter to Intellectuals Who Hide Behind the Word “Purity”
A commentary responding to the Monthly Review Online piece “A letter to intellectuals who deride revolutions in the name of purity” on the question of revolution and state power. By Patrick Berkman “I think we could really not just lose people but lose sight of our own goals if we get sucked into these purity…
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Colombia: All Out for the National Social Strike on November 21
Social movements in Colombia are filling the streets today, November 21, for a ‘paro nacional’ in protest of neoliberal attacks on education and pensions. Political tension has increased with calls for the resignation of right-wing president Iván Duque, while the State has enacted new repressive measures and former president Álvaro Uribe is implicating provocateurs and…
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Bolivia: The Extreme Right Takes Advantage of a Popular Uprising
In the following translated article by Raúl Zibechi, the long-time Uruguayan militant and analyst of social movements in Latin America, the author adopts the position that the resignation of Evo Morales was the outcome of his government marginalizing and repressing the very social movements that had formed the base of Morales’ Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS)…
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Bolivia: Commentary on the Coup Underway
With the situation in Bolivia in motion, we offer this brief commentary from a Black Rose/Rosa Negra comrade in Latin America on the current situation. By Romina Akemi I am not going to offer a hot take on the situation in Bolivia. But I can offer an opinion as a historian who has studied Bolivian…
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Social Movements Gave Rise to the “Teachers’ Revolt,” Not Bernie
With the 2020 election already on the horizon we republish this commentary responding to the deeply flawed narrative that Bernie Sanders’ campaign played a key role in the teacher strike wave rather than social movement organizing with much deeper roots. The authors are a West Virginia teacher active in the 2018 strike and an education…
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“This is Overdue”: Interview with a Striking GM Worker
As General Motors reaped $8.1 billion in profit and paid its CEO $22 million, nearly 50,000 GM workers have been on strike since Monday. While workers gave major concessions during the previous recession the company is digging in it’s heels over wages and has even cut off healthcare plans for workers. Marianne Garneau of Organizing…
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Towards An Anarchist Theory of Power
The following piece by Brazilian anarchist Felipe Corrêa reviews contemporary discussions of power from an anarchist perspective and their contributions to a broader theory of power for utilization in building analysis and strategy. To avoid confusion the article title has been changed to refer to an “anarchist theory of power” but we have preserved the…
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Statement: Puerto Rican Feminists Demand Governor’s Resignation Due to Remarks
Introduction by Aurora Santiago-Ortiz La Colectiva Feminista en Construcción, referred to as “La Cole,” began in 2013 when feminist activists from the Puerto Rican student movement and other radical activist spaces decided to create an intentional space to address multiple and simultaneous oppressions affecting womxn and femmes. La Cole is an intersectional political organization, with…
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Has SYRIZA’s “Long March Through the Institutions” Come To An End?
Greece’s Syriza was a beacon of hope to many parts of the left when they came to power in 2015 but the party’s quick capitulation to the austerity measures they campaigned against was a forceful affirmation of those critical of electoral strategies. With the party set to lose power after experiencing a heavy defeat in…
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The Electoral Road to Power?
As the left revisits questions of strategy and the role of elections in the path towards socialist transformation, author and veteran activist Tom Wetzel outlines both a critique of the electoral centered path and a strategy for working class power from below. By Tom Wetzel Could a shift from capitalism to socialism be brought about…