A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA #352 - The form and substance of struggles (ca, de, en, it, pt, tr)[Automatic translation](ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Times are tough. Caught between the hammer of nationalist, reactionary, 
and warlike tensions and the anvil of all-out social attacks, the social 
movement is struggling to raise its head. While the Yellow Vest 
movement, the riots in Kanaky and those in the suburbs in France, the 
mobilizations against capitalist regional planning and pension reforms 
are all revolts against the existing order, divisions are undermining 
us, and our adversaries are taking advantage of them. To emerge from 
this situation, we would like to step back and open the debate around 
principles forged through the experience of struggle.

First or second class?
The strength and consistency of the attacks on work, public services, 
retirement, unemployment, and the RSA (Responsible Income) carried out 
by parties from the far right to the left, and their dramatic 
consequences in terms of the precariousness of a large part of the 
population, constantly remind us that the driving force of our society 
is the pursuit of profit by those who hold the sources of enrichment 
(companies, banks, etc.). The confrontation between capital and labor 
has been the major social contradiction for almost 200 years. It 
encompasses all contradictions, in that it is responsible, every day and 
everywhere on the planet, for famines, wars, catastrophes, exploitation, 
but also for the suffering and alienation that every employee 
experiences in their workplace. Envisaging social change, and a fortiori 
a revolution, therefore implies organizing against capital among those 
who resist: the exploited. This does not mean that the only legitimate 
struggle is the one that starts in the workplace, because what pushes an 
individual to revolt depends on a social trajectory that is specific to 
them (sexism, racism, destruction of the environment, etc.). This means 
that the common objective of all these struggles must be to put an end 
to capitalism.

For the autonomy of struggles
Historically, from this organization of the exploited were born 
different movements, some of which ultimately only served to further 
domination. The trade unions, in the great social explosions (1936, 1968 
and recently with the yellow vests...), have ultimately always sided 
with the powerful, preferring to remain in their role as negotiators of 
the status quo rather than throwing all their forces into the battle. 
Leninism, by considering that an enlightened vanguard was necessary to 
guide masses incapable of making a revolution without being politically 
led, resulted in the seizure of power by a parasitic layer that quickly 
disowned the principles it displayed. On the contrary, we consider that 
the social movement has shown its capacity to organize itself 
autonomously, whether in councils, assemblies, or roundabouts, and that 
this form is sufficient in itself. We are therefore opposed to imposed 
agendas (whether "days of action" or "seasons") decided by general 
staffs (clandestine or supposedly elected), and to the underhand 
maneuvers aimed at appropriating struggles or recruiting for one's own 
side, to the detriment of those who lead the fight.

"Compose"?
Consequently, the autonomy of struggles amounts to refusing as much as 
possible to "compose" with institutions, even when this approach is 
driven by left-wing parties. The latter propose modes of action that are 
always wise and most often of a legal nature. Their media and electoral 
outlets, their language which is that of power, and their perspectives 
which never scratch private property lead us towards dead ends and 
tighten the noose that suffocates us. Let us look at how social, 
feminist, anti-racist, or ecological issues are handled by all those who 
are approaching power or who are already there... Refusing compromises 
therefore means seeking other solutions than resorting to the State; it 
means refusing the order imposed on us by prison, law, borders, the 
police...

The red corner in the bourgeoisie bloc
Nikolaï KOLLI - 1918
So-so-solidarity!
So, rather than getting bogged down indefinitely by taking the 
institutional route, the social movement must move towards the desired 
societal change. It is not about being allies, but comrades and 
companions capable of defending our interests and winning new areas of 
autonomy. We embrace a central value of the workers' movement: 
solidarity. It is not about charity or humanitarianism, as can be done 
by "philanthropic" bosses, bourgeois with a guilty conscience, plump 
religious figures or prominent politicians who, each in their own way, 
maintain the power relationship; but rather about examining together, as 
equals, all that the struggle brings, positive (common action, 
celebration, joy, victory) as well as negative (repression, power 
grabs). Refusing to invest in or abandoning a struggle because it is 
unwinnable, dissociating oneself from certain people because they have 
not acted in accordance with the pacifist or legalistic agenda of 
others, is to divide the movement for the benefit of its adversaries...

Against "expertise", collective organization
Solidarity is not the business of a handful of "experts" who know how to 
do it, even if they have received adequate training and are 
well-intentioned. It requires the involvement of as many people as 
possible in the development, understanding and permanent control of the 
movement so that it remains autonomous. Whether it is legal aid in cases 
of repression, solidarity funds, medical assistance or the fight against 
domination within the movement, we have everything to gain from 
strengthening the collective management of these issues, without 
delegating them to people who could become "experts" who give lessons, 
or promoters of stifling "good behavior".

Strength and unity
Taking an active part in a struggle, whatever the trajectory that led 
each of us there, allows us to break down the divisions that society 
knows so well how to maintain (gender, origin, place in the labor 
market, etc.). Fighting together, in a united and horizontal manner, is 
the best antidote to all forms of domination, because unity and strength 
go hand in hand. On the other hand, constantly pointing out what divides 
us, transforming our differences or our respective situations into 
opposing identities or dominations, constructing homogeneous groups 
considered as the only ones with a legitimate right to speak and to 
decide while the others, allies and spectators, would have no say in the 
matter, produces the opposite effect of the objectives put forward.

Let's get back to the debate
To avoid anathemas, censorship, and accusations of being in bad company, 
let's reject shortcuts. Let's take the time to verify the information 
circulating before excluding or banning; let's take the time to read 
what people or groups have written, to take an interest in the struggles 
in which these people or groups have participated. The movement carries 
references and more or less divergent opinions that should fuel a 
fruitful debate on various subjects. This would allow us to keep a cool 
head to identify who our adversaries really are, what ideas are truly in 
conflict with the established order, and what is ruining our lives. 
Because behind the facade of discursive radicalism on societal issues 
often lie material or ideological alliances with individualist 
liberalism in the most classic and institutional sense of the term.
The struggle we are waging is part of a long history made up of 
victories, defeats, impasses, rapprochements, reassessments, and 
tensions. The lessons of his successes will allow us to gain in the 
struggle the means of our autonomy worthy of our revolutionary objectives.

Libertarian Communist Organization

https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4505
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