Culture>> Poking Holes In History

After visiting the Hamilton Workers’ Art and Heritage Centre, Alex D finds that writing History is as much a site of class struggle as the shop floor.

Remembering the resistance and victories of working class people that have come before us reminds us that a better world is possible and helps us imagine how together we might bring about this better world.

Even in defeat, our struggles are never truly defeated as long as the memory of resistance is preserved. From it we can draw lessons that will shape our strategies and tactics in future struggles against exploitation, poverty and oppression. This is why those who get richer everyday off our work wish to erase the memory of our struggles. And so our history textbooks and museums tell us that history is made by our rulers, the supposedly great Prime Ministers, big industrialists and other rich white men.

But our struggles have poked holes in this lie. An important example is the trade-union run Workers Arts and Heritage Centre (WAHC) in Hamilton. Located in the historic North End working class neighbourhood, the WAHC is the only national organization dedicated to preserving workers' history and culture. The building itself has a rich working class history, from 1858 to 1995 it served as a federal customs house, a home, a school and textile factory. Inside, the main attraction is the gallery space where historical and contemporary exhibits developed by the WAHC are displayed. Current exhibits include: Punching the Clock: Working in Canadian Factories from the 1840s to the 1980s and Made in Hamilton Industrial Trail which takes you through the history of working class life in Hamilton in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The WAHC also organizes traveling exhibits across the country. A number of exhibits are currently on the road including "...and still I rise!" A History of African-Canadian Workers in Ontario, 1900 to Present. Virtual displays are also available and can be accessed at www.virtualmuseum.ca (enter WAHC in the search engine). The exhibit Highway Workplace: The Canadian Trucker's Story is currently available online. Other activities and services offered include educational group tours at $3.00 per person; inter-active educational programs for students in elementary and high school; a research service that helps union locals write down their history; and space rental for events and meetings.

A visit to the WAHC reminds us that it has always been us, the working class, who have built and nourished our communities and made them decent places to live. And we are also reminded of the awesome power that we have when we organize together to resist those who exploit and oppress us.

DIRECTIONS>> WAHC is located at 51 Stuart Street, Hamilton, Ontario. Public visiting hours are from 10am to 4pm Tuesday to Saturday. Staff can be reached at 905.522.3003 or by email at wahc@wahc-museum.ca

Afghanistan: Climates of Fear

Afghanistan has been a primary focus of the so called War on Terror since the events of September 11th and as a result, the already fractured society has been pushed even deeper into chaos, destruction and violence
writes Kim C

Canada has played a minor role in the occupation since the beginning but under Harper’s Conservatives Canada’s participation has intensified. The war shows no sign of slowing down and neither does Harper. Paranoid fear being used to justify a clamp down on our rights, civilian casualties numbering in the 1000’s, and more and more Canadians coming home dead, it seems that any likelihood of a positive outcome has long gone.

Creating stability in the region has been a rallying call for those behind the war, but the notion of a violent occupation being a vehicle for peace and prosperity has yielded the results one might expect from such a backwards concept. The toll of the war on both the infrastructure and population of Afghanistan is staggering.

All though there is no way to know the exact numbers, it is estimated that civilian casualties in Afghanistan are in the neighborhood of 5000 deaths. Aside from those who have lost their lives there are countless more wounded and suffering both from coalition attacks and the ensuing violence of having access to food, medicine and other services cut off due to the destruction.

The so called stability that is being granted to the Afghans by their foreign liberators is a complete misuse of the word. Not only has Opium production (which had been virtually eradicated in 2000) made a comeback, currently making up 52% of the countries GDP, but many fundamentalist warlords and profiteers of the drug trade have taken high ranking positions among the NATO backed government and police forces.

The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan summed it up well last July in a statement: “the US doesn't know that a reactionary force can be defeated by a different force which first of all should believe in democracy. […] because of these fundamentalist-fostering policies of the US government, things have not been changed to positive in our land. We are living under the shadow of drug-mafia and worse enemies of democracy and women's rights […]

“Some Afghan people say, today Taliban are in power in Afghanistan but those Taliban who have pant and tie but the same mentality!”

The threat that this war poses is not limited to those forced to deal with it first hand, either. A study by 16 intelligence agencies reported that the world is now more susceptible to terrorism as a result of the occupations. However the definition of such terrorism should not be limited to suicide bombers and the like, terror and repression at the hands of the Canadian state, both at home and abroad, is also increasing alongside the war.

Along with the newly revamped military, Canada has also turned up the climate of fear and hate which is currently consuming the US. Harper and Bush continue to collaborate with one another to strip down the rights of anyone they feel is a threat. There are currently 6 examples of such people being either held in prisons or house arrest in Canada without charge. This is legitimized through the use of security certificates, which target non-citizens and allow the government to imprison them indefinitely with no trial and without showing the accused any of the evidence, effectively eliminating any chance to defend themselves.

Those who are posed with the same allegations in Afghanistan have an even worse situation to face. Earlier this year Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor stated that the Red Cross oversaw the transfer of prisoners from Canadian to Afghan authorities, which was later directly contradicted when the Red Cross denied any involvement in the process.

Allegations that prisons in Afghanistan are rife with torture and abuse is unfortunately nothing new, and little is being done about it. This treatment in itself should raise some eyebrows concerning our role as the “civilized peace makers”.

Culture>>Counter Culture And The Left

The Rebel Sell authors set themselves the task of attacking an idea of counter culture they see at the heart of social movements, so is that why the cover has a summit protester in gun sight wonders Timmy Bauld

Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter The Rebel Sell: Why the Culture Can’t Be Jammed (Harper Collins, 2004)

Potter and Heath are right that counter cultural rebellion can sometimes suck energy away from making "concrete improvements in people's lives," by providing excuses for not engaging mass society but their counter cultural imagination is limited to MTV, Adbusters, a host of mainstream Hollywood movies, the authors' own dashed ex-punk background, Kurt Cobain 's suicide notes and anything mall rat in between.

And despite their stated central preoccupation they ignore well articulated differences between “sub cultures” and “counter cultures.” You see sub cultures hang under the mainstream's belly, dependent on it and lacking a real critique. Counter cultures at least try to foster alternative values and ways of being to replace a dominant culture - so one contains at least some revolutionary purpose, the other doesn't. This failure to distinguish gives the authors an easy job of ripping into a series of piss poor straw men.

There is no discussion of the very real and needed role of counter cultural forms in political movements. How could they have overlooked the IWW's folk song tradition, the working man's clubs of the UK and Ireland or the foot ball leagues and community groups of pre-Nazi German social democracy - were these too just "pseudo rebellions" to be ignored?

Alongside this historic blind sight, they completely skip the well trod over subjective reasons for engagement in counter cultures. Still funnily enough they note how an awful lot of school yard bullying stopped once they and their nerdy friends went punk. Counter cultures can be a very ordinary thing, a form of self defence or de-marcation of space, you only have to think of struggles around silly work uniform rules or piss ant fussy supervisors having their authority eroded by a shop floor black humor.

Really the book does contain some great pop culture writing, but the attempt to weave it into a general theory of counter culture falls a little flat, even if their reason for writing it comes from a decent impulse, that is; movements that define themselves by being on the margins of society, will stay there.

Much of the weight of their book is just a re-hash of Thomas Frank's quip that "ever since the 1960's hip has been the native tongue of advertising." The authors claim to "shatter central myths" turns out to be just restating the obvious with much weaker conclusions. They themselves do not want to "eliminate the game, but level the playing field" and so call for traditional social democratic measures to over come market failures. They even suggest bans on cosmetic surgery, ignoring how thwarted society really is by contemporary forms of alienation in their call for a rewind to the '50's.

Face it anything that opens with the claim that Adbusters selling Blackspot sneakers was a “turning point for western civilization” is bound to piss you off along the way. With sky scrapers of argumentation erected on foundations of sand, the Rebel Sell smacks of a pair of grad student academic enfant terribles - the perfect stuff for drunken conversations, mindlessly frustrating yet deeply challenging to your own steadfast opinion.

CHECK EM OUT>> Adam Curtis’ documentary The Century of the Self (on google video..) which looks at the harnessing of new lifestyles created in the 1960’s to brands that sell dreams over products and Thomas Frank’s book The Conquest of Cool, the original political economy of hip.

First Nations>> When Property Does Not Apply

Normally the settlement of claims to property are something the court system takes very seriously. The very foundation of capitalism after all is that some person can claim ownership of a piece of land, and through that ownership charge others rent to use it explains Andrew Fleming

Or that ownership of machinery can be used to take most of the value of what the workers using the machines produce to sell for profit. Obviously such a system depends on the courts and the threat of violence to prevent those actually doing the work or living on the land telling the 'owner' to get lost.

The major exception is when those with the legal claims are from the First Nations, in particular when the claim is one of collective ownership by a community to the land. Then rather than usual pattern of careful investigation and prompt decisions we see the most absurd 'sales' treated as valid, legal documents all but torn up and legal processes drawn out for decades without conclusion. Meanwhile the courts are used to suppress the protests of those who appear to have the best legal claim to ownership.

In 1995 Tyendinaga Mohawks submitted an official land claim which included the gravel quarry worked by Thurlow Aggregates. It took till 2003 for the claim to be acknowledged as legitimate by the Canadian government. Yet this did not halt the quarrying, the Ontario government continued to renew the license to Thurlow and thousands of truckloads of gravel continued to leave.

Another occupation began February 2006 when members of Six Nations reclaimed the Douglas Creek Estates bordering Caledonia. Their claim is based on the fact that the so called agreement where they were said to have surrendered this land was obviously invalid. Yet far from waiting on the sidelines until the courts resolved this the police in April moved in to evict them.

So why don't the Canadian courts jump to the defense of indigenous property rights in the manner they would if workers occupied a factory or tenants refused to pay rent to a landlord?

Fundamentally they face the problem that courts all over the Americas face. Capitalism in the Americas was built out of a massive theft where the existence of the indigenous populations who were living on the land was not even recognized. Indigenous nations that tried to defend their usage were murdered. Many were enslaved in the mines and the estates of the new owners. Across the America's any legal system that recognized the de facto claim to the land by those who had been living on it would undermine the base of North American capitalism.

Historic conditions in Canada meant that here more than elsewhere the colonial power was forced to concede some recognition that there were people already living on the land. Legal treaties recognizing this are thus more common and of quite recent origin. Yet at the same time a significant wing of capitalism in Canada makes it profits from the massive extraction of resources from the land covered by such treaties.

A speedy and fair resolution of the land disputes would be a major problem for these corporations and the courts and government know this. This is why last August Canada was one of only four countries to vote against a UN declaration on indigenous rights.

Ideas>> True Democracy: Anarchism as Order

When reports of social breakdown are reported on the news, we always hear that it is 'anarchy'. What can it mean when we say we are anarchists? Chaos and terror? Anarchy means no rulers, just like mon-archy means one ruler explains Wes

In places like Somalia and Afghanistan the problem is not an absence of rulers, but too many rulers. The violence and chaos is the product of warlords, each a petty authoritarian trying to grab more power. Anarchists, those who believe in society without rulers, cannot possibly support chaos, because chaos and disorder breed authoritarianism.

The influential Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta pointed out a long time ago that: 'apart from brute force' the origin and justification for authority lies in social disorganization. When a community has needs and its members do not know how to organize spontaneously to provide them an authority satisfies those needs by utilizing the services of all and directing them as well as imposing itself and throwing its weight around, the less organized we have been, the more prone are we to be imposed on by a few individuals, organization, far from creating authority, is the only cure for it and the only means whereby each one of us will get used to taking an active and conscious part in the collective work, and cease being passive instruments in the hands of leaders.

The question is not order versus disorder, but the type of order we want, and how we can organize to secure it. For this it makes sense to go back to another term that rulers have cynically manipulated to their advantage democracy, rule by the people. If the people rule then there is no room for a ruling class. While it is certainly preferable to have some degree of choice over who rules, having some input into who rules is not the same as having control over our own lives. Real democracy means directly democratic assemblies in our communities and in our workplaces, which then federate, as coordination is an absolute necessity. It is not enough to have pieces of paper that say that the people rule. True democracy is something that we have to live on a day to day basis.

To have such a real, lived freedom, one where we control our lives together with our fellow citizens, if we are to have a society without rulers, then we cannot possibly stop at opposing the political ruling class. What we live is more important than what it says on a piece of paper, and the reality is that economic warlords control our lives at work and in our communities. We oppose governments, but at least they have to pretend to be responsible to us. People like Stephan Harper talk about getting big government off of our backs, not to give us more control over our lives, our work, or our communities, but to put gigantic business on our backs, which does not even pretend to be democratic.

Their opposition to the power of the state is the opposition of the warlord, who wants to the power to dominate and exploit. This is also why they always want more police and prisons, and fewer rights for us, when they talk about a smaller state. They are usually pretty good at hiding what they really want, but it peeks out at times, like when Conrad Black said, "I'm not prepared to re-enact the French Revolution's renunciation of the rights of the nobility". That is the truth of who they are, and how they see the rest of us.

This is why we are anarchist communists. Capitalism only means the liberty of the powerful to oppress the rest of us. Socialism has always been about opposing the tyranny of the boss class, but it defeats the purpose if we put the power in the hands of the state. The choice between an economic ruling class (ie the bosses) or the political ruling class (ie politicians) is a false one. We say neither, we want freedom. And we can only secure this by organizing, by building our capacity to self govern, through federated, directly democractic assemblies, in our own autonomous organizations.

Interview: Sweetheart Deals & Solidarity Unionism

Following the announcement of a no-strike contract between the Canadian Auto Workers and Magna International a number of CAW local leaders criticized Buzz Hargrove for pushing the deal. Bruce Allen, vice-president of Local 199 at GM in St. Catharines, described the deal as "a betrayal of the reason why we established ourselves as an independent union." Bruce founded the CAW Left Caucus and was involved in publishing the anarchist paper Strike in the 1980's. Linchpin contacted Bruce and in the following interview he outlines in detail the problems with the deal and the direction of the CAW and the Labour movement in general.

LINCHPIN>> I guess the first question is how you view the recent sweet heart deal between Magna and the CAW?

BRUCE ALLEN>> I view it as the culmination of trends that have been developing in the CAW over the past ten years. I outlined those trends in some detail in an article that was published last year called “Inside the CAW Jacket”. That article was prompted by the spectacle, a year or so ago, of Buzz Hargrove giving a CAW jacket to Paul Martin at the CAW council. This was at a time when Buzz Hargrove was embracing the Liberals and making an absolute rupture with the traditional alliance between the CAW, organized labour and the New Democratic Party.

Really the point simply put is that this is just taking a trend that was already there to another level, consolidating it in the form of an agreement with a traditionally very anti-union transnational corporation, MAGNA, and completely embracing the very things that the CAW was founded to oppose back in the mid-1980's.

You may recall the premise and essential reason for the CAW breaking from the United Auto Workers in the mid 1980's was a rejection of the UAW's pro-corporation orientation. In so far as they accepted team concepts, embraced profit sharing as opposed to wage increases, and all forms of management labour co-operation, basically they embraced an agenda of making the corporation more competitive and successful regardless of whether that was in the interests of their members.

The CAW broke from that, it was the right thing to do at the time – it was a break to the left of the UAW. What this agreement with MAGNA does is it takes things full circle and it casts us in a role where essentially there is no difference between what we stand for and what the UAW stands for. Arguably this deal is even worse than what the UAW contracts typically involve right now.

So in more ideological terms its a complete subordination to the agenda of capital, it’s a complete acceptance of capitalism. There isn't the slightest hint of anti-capitalist politics in the CAW anymore, where ten to fifteen years ago the CAW was decisively to the left of the NDP and was willing to engage in far more extra-parliamentary political action. It was essentially socialist in its political orientation – there is absolutely nothing socialist in its politics now. This deal is the culmination of all that and taking it to another level.

What's really significant about this deal and important in terms of understanding where we were and where we are now, is that really this is the product of an organization which at the national level is completely un-democratic, completely top down in its orientation. Hargove does what he wants and expects everyone to fall in line after the fact. He is completely un-accountable for what he does and he uses a combination of coercion through the bureaucratic apparatus and co option to maintain order to preserve the control of the existing hierarchy of the CAW.

Consequently as he moves more and more to the right and becomes more accommodating to the corporations he brings the organization with him in its orientation. The lack of democracy obstructs any attempt to put a break on that.

LINCHPIN>> Can you envision any knock on effects for the general labour movement as a result of this deal?
BRUCE ALLEN>> This deal has far reaching effects for all other unions because it will have an impact on collective bargaining throughout the entire manufacturing sector in this country. It will encourage employers in all industries, particularly in the private sector and manufacturing, to put pressure on all unions, not just the CAW, to negotiate similar agreements and be conducive to ending up in a situation where this becomes the norm between capital and organised labour in this country.

LINCHPIN>> What sort of forces if any are there as a left opposition in the CAW? Where's that at? Do you see possibility for worker's action on the shop floor in resistance to this trend in the CAW?

BRUCE ALLEN>> There is no organised left opposition. Several years ago there was a small CAW left caucus which I was the driving force behind, basically it would never have formed if it hadn't have been for me. It took some good positions, did some good work but it never managed to grow to the point where it became a formidable force. You had a lot of fear, a lot of people within it were not willing to seriously take on the leadership and consequently that had a corrosive effect and ultimately it shriveled and died.

Today there is no organized left opposition. But there is a growing number of people who are expressing dissatisfaction given the concessions that have been made in places like Oshawa with the Shelf Agreement and more so now with this MAGNA agreement. But they are not organised into a force. There are diverse, basically informal networks around certain individuals. The most notable being Sam Gindin, who used to be the research director in the union and the best known critic of Hargrove’s politics, or at least the most high profile critic.

Another problem is that of the most notable in opposition a lot of them are retired members, there is very little at least in terms of opposition involving the secondary leadership, at the level of the local union. They are generally biting their tongues, they are reluctant to defy the national union.

The national union in the way it operates is openly hostile to any local union leadership that goes against the direction set by the national union. There are pressures that are applied and there is also a relationship of dependencies. In all level of negotiations there are national reps involved and they play a pivotal role. There is always the risk that it will be disadvantageous if you alienate yourself from the national rep who take orders from the top leadership.

They can put the gears to you and really hurt you at a local level. Again its a matter of a lack of democracy within the organization, the real concentration of power is at the top and it emanates from the top down. That's very obstructive and very conducive to suppressing the emergence of any local opposition.

LINCHPIN>> I am often under the impression that these sort of deals are struck in the union movement as a result of a general weakness, that they are attempts to stabilise declining memberships. Are there any other strategies that can be used to reverse that trend?

BRUCE ALLEN>> A deal like this is certainly a product of weakness, and a product of a declining membership base in manufacturing and especially auto and auto parts sector. There the CAW has experienced massive membership losses due to corporate down-sizing and plant closures and that has definitely created some sense of desperation. Desperation is conducive to obviously making an accommodation with employers in any way they can in order to maintain the dues base and you can see this agreement in this context. It definitely plays in to it and a major driving force is the CAW's national office desire to maintain the dues base in order to sustain the organization.

You only need to look to the United States in that respect, the UAW at the end of the 1970's had 1.5 million members, today its about a third of that. You can't maintain the organisation, the bureaucratic structure and all the rest if you have a shriveling dues base.

Speaking from a local level, I'm in a local union that has as its biggest unit General Motors. At the beginning of the 1980's we had nearly 10,000 General Motors workers in St Catherines, that number today is 2,500 and by the end of next year probably down to 2,000. We have a union hall, long term I don't know how we are going to maintain it, the income from union dues is not there to sustain it. There is another union local in St Catherines that organised the Dana plant, their union hall was sold off and pretty much the only Dana workers that will be left will be retirees.

The same dynamic is evident where I am. There are far more retired members of our local union now than active members because the corporation is encouraging people to take buy outs, like retirement packages, and people are running for the door. They have a take the money and run attitude, without any consideration for what the future holds. What they don't understand and what I tell people all the time, is that you can grab the money and run and retire – but if the union keeps getting weaker and weaker, who is going to protect your pensions and benefits after you retire? I tell them that and the look on their faces is as if I told them their mother has died. But it is brutally true.

These dynamics and trends are a major reason why a deal like this is struck. There is a quiet desperation about it. But touching on your other question – is this the way to build the union? In the short term, sure it could get you additional members. But the other way to look at it, from more a class perspective, is if the union is going to be weak and defective, unable to win things for you, make substantial gains for you and improve the quality of life; your standard of living; day to day reality on the shop floor, people are not going to want to join a union. What's the point of joining a union if it doesn't do anything for you? If all a union is, is something that takes money off your pay check?

LINCHPIN>> Following up and this is the question, what actions can we take as a class to reverse that?

BRUCE ALLEN>> Frankly my opinion is this, the existing union structures have reached a point of no return. I've long believed that the existing union structures like the Canadian Labour Congress and the CAW have passed the point of no return. The labour movement is going to have to be built from the ground up.

I'm not advocating building outside of the existing structures yet as you have to be inside them to be relevant, to interact with workers. But we have to build on the things that made the union strong in the first place. Stand by the principles that got us what we got. You do not join a union to go backwards, you join a union to make gains and improve your life and be prepared to do whatever is necessary to realise those gains.

From my vantage point that means do what ever you can to build strong local unions and labour councils. I really believe in the concept and always have that Lynd outline of solidarity unionism. He wrote a book about it, about networking and building in the existing unions, at a local level and at local labour councils. In a horizontal rather than a vertical way, networking.

LINCHPIN>> For people that may want to touch base on that form of solidarity unionism, is there any examples in Ontario to suggest that form developing?

BRUCE ALLEN>> There are no real examples I can think of. The challenge before us is to build them, to get involved in our local unions and labour councils. To start the process of networking and building that is conducive to fostering solidarity unionism, its the base of the movement and the labour movement grows and survives at the base. Don't waste your time trying to change the CLC, the Ontario Federation of Labour or the CAW from the top because for the same reason they are so top down and controlled from above – you can't break that.

You've got to build around it, its like going down a road and encountering an obstacle – you don't run head first into it, you go around it. You build local networks around strikes and issues. I'm heavily involved in activities around injured workers, my specialty in terms of the union is fighting worker compensations and there are all kinds of possibilities to realise through that work.

I take a class struggle approach to workers' compensation. You can maintain and continue a really adversarial orientation to employers. I maintain a totally adversarial orientation with GM through fighting for injured workers. You have to find niches and possibilities where ever you are in order to move in that direction. That is what I am doing to the extent that I can do it.

PODCAST>> This interview on the MAGNA deal is available at Linchpin.ca as a MP3.
OFF THE CUFF>> Our blog carries links to culled mainstream media articles on the CAW/MAGNA deal, as well as some commentary on Hargrove’s leadership.

One Law For The Rich

At the end of October, Denis Vranich, a millionaire night club owner and property speculator was convicted of a sexual assault on a 22 year old his employee working at his club. The Hamilton Spectator reported that "Vranich grabbed the woman, pulled down her bodice, groped her breasts and penetrated her with his finger", in her Victim Impact Statement the employee reported "The thought of him makes me absolutely nauseous and brings on panic attacks" writes Andrew Flemming.

The Spectator also reported that Vranich was convicted in 2001 of "procuring persons under the age of 18 and exercising control over them to engage in prostitution." The Crown sought house arrest, Vranich's punishment will be one-year house arrest in his luxury mansion.

Meanwhile Mohawk father and activist, Shawn Brant has already spent two months in pre-trial jail. The Crown is prosecuting him for his role in the struggle of the Tyendinaga Mohawks for the return of the Culbertson Tract. In his case the Crown has announced that they are seeking a minimum 12-year jail term.

Brant's so-called crimes amounted to blockades and reclamations of sites in which no one was injured. Brants mistake it would appear was to be neither a night club owner or a property developer. Being a Mohawk rather than a millionaire cannot have helped.

And rather than engaging in an activity the Crown obviously finds only a minor problem like a sexual assault his crime is being "an articulate and militant spokesperson for his community and indigenous struggles in Canada more generally." That’s justice in Ontario, a slap on the wrist for a millionaire sex offender as against 12 years in jail for an activist who struggles for justice for his community.

Our Politics and As We See It.

Anarchism will be created by the class struggle between the vast majority of society and the tiny minority that currently rule as described in our basic policy.

A successful social revolution will require that anarchist ideas become the leading ideas within the working class. This will not happen spontaneously, it is up to anarchist militants to participate in the existing social struggles as an organized force.

A major focus of our activity is work at those crucial points where working class people are organizing together for control over their lives, the decisions affecting them and against oppression. These areas stretch from workplace activity in the unions, to neighborhood activism, an ecology movement that remembers class and in community resistance to forms of oppressions targeting particular identities.

We also see it as vital to work in struggles that happen outside the unions and the workplace. These include struggles against particular oppressions, colonialism, imperialism and indeed the struggles of the working class for a decent place and environment in which to live. Our general approach to these, like our approach to the unions, is to involve ourselves with mass movements and work within these movements, in order to promote anarchist methods of organization involving direct democracy and direct action.

We actively oppose all manifestations of oppression such as racism, sexism, [religious] sectarianism and homophobia and we struggle against them. We see the success of a revolution and the successful elimination of these oppressions being determined by the building of such struggles in the pre-revolutionary period. The methods of struggle that we promote are a preparation for the running of society along anarchist and communist lines after the revolution.

We oppose imperialism and colonialism but put forward anarchism as an alternative goal to nationalism. We defend grassroots anti-imperialist movements while arguing for an anarchist rather than nationalist strategy.

We recognize a need for anarchist organizations who agree with these principles to federate on an regional, national and international basis. However, we believe the degree of federation possible and the amount of effort put into it must be determined by success at building organizations capable of making such work a reality, rather than a matter of slogans.

To achieve balance between humanity and the natural world, we must create a society which is based on the satisfaction of true needs such as food, shelter, water, and community. Modern environmental destruction is a result of capitalism's strive to commodify the natural world, for the wealth of a small minority.

We recognize that social transformation is the first step towards ecological balance, not lifestyle changes or technological innovations. We recognize that the destruction of capitalism is the only avenue towards rescuing the planet's biosphere, and by extension, ourselves.

Site Highlights At The End Of November

What's On Our Site

The paper is one arm of Common Cause publishing, the other is our website. There you will find dozens of additional articles and photographs from Common Cause members as well as announcements of events and events our members are involved in.

Read more at the Common Cause web site.
www.linchpin.ca

Afghan Occupation Demos
Andrew reports on the demonstration in Hamilton and Edward contributes over a dozen photos from Toronto...

Book Review of Mike Davis’ Planet of The Slums
Davis’ latest highlights the mega-cities of the global south, massive slums and squatter settlements that have shattered modernity’s optimism with an unprecedented Dickensian squalor….

Another Shift Bites the Dust
Hot on the heals of a new contract with the UAW (which saw it's members strike for the first time in almost 30 years) Chrysler has announced plans to cut 12,000 jobs including a shift at the Brampton assembly plant…

Unschooling Oppression

The role of schooling and education is placed under a critical lens in a series of reports from a recent conference…

Chomsky Does Toronto

A household name of radical politics gives a lecture in Toronto on alternative fuels, criticizing corn based ethanol bio-fuel..

The above is just a selection of sample articles that were on the site as we went to print.

Graphic Novel: Through the Blog of War

One of the most buzzed online web comics of the year finally got a hard copy release this side of the pond last month. It's called Shooting War and James R has the review.

Like many graphic novels, Shooting War reaches into a future dystopia to stick some allegories about the present up our ass for some awkward digestion. The setting this time round is a 2011 Iraq. There's a My Lai massacre a minute, a McDonalds on every block and mortars are raining down on what's left of the Green Zone like it was Saigon '75.

Enter Jimmy Burns to the fray. He's your penny dreadful Brooklyn blogger churning out anti-corporate rants all over the east coast but has no mass movement market to hitch his ride to. One day he's doing a story on corporate seizures of property and next thing a terrorist bomb goes off in a Starbucks behind him and he's got the exclusive.
Suddenly stuck for footage, mega media bad guys Globalnews steal his video blog feed, turning him into an insta-celebrity. Forced to dance a line between his DIY journalism and corporate cash, he's shipped to Iraq as one of only four American war correspondent's left there.

This is in part the peeled back re-imagining of Lappe’s own jaunt through bombed out Baghdad; there's visual gimmicks and vocab from activist sub-cultures for a sprinkling of further credibility from his years with the Guerrilla News Network.

It's in imagining the incidentals of future war and the political props of our own evolving dystopia that Shooting War rocks most. There's the jihad group that's cornering the call centre market with its throat cutting labour standards and the use of a dirty bomb to neutralise competition in the hi-tech squalor of Bangalore. US military has harnessed civilian technologies and next gen consoles to exploit skilled self-trained gamers that control robotic gun-bots engaged in asymmetric warfare straight out of one of Mike Davis' urban terror-scapes.

Burns becomes completely divorced from his inception as the netizen every-man, used by mainstream news networks with faces battered from the blogging storm. He takes on this paper cut out April O'Neil as Naomi Klein routine that starts to grate.

In parts the comic seems like a flue of outraged liberal steam before the story arc can end with a final affirmation that our governance by a capitalism with the personality of "Godzilla on crank" really is just an issue of a few bad men.

In comic book land it'll never end up a classic like Persepolis or more obviously Joe Sacco's brilliant account of his photo journalism in Palestine. That said, with history unfolding on our screens, context free and maybe, just maybe, sometimes analyzed with tones reserved for a Britney Spears outburst - Shooting War nicely drops us in boiling pots of speculation for the crime of complacency.

READ IT AT >> You can read the full comic online at www.shootingwar.com. They’ve produced a glossy animation too that’s worth viewing at the same site.

Ideas: Sound of the Police

Since the time we are young we are saturated with images of the friendly cop, there to help you and your community. We are told the police are here to protect us from the "bad guys" and keep us safe from the salivating hordes of criminals just waiting for an opportunity to harm us. But what really is the function of the police? Who are they really here to protect? Here Devin K tries to answer such questions.

For a lot of people, the sight of a cop’s cruiser down rolling down the street brings tension rather than comfort. For those of us who don't spend our time in privileged neighborhoods it is easy to realize that the police aren't here to protect us, they are here to accuse us, intimidate us, arrest us, brutalize us - whatever it takes to maintain the existing social order.

The police are the physical manifestation of the power held by those above us, the blue line between the ruler and the subject. The police operate under a veil of legitimacy provided and supported by other authority figures and maintained by corporate media. The fact that their fundamental purpose is violence against us is obscured due to this, and killing people is made easier for them all the time. Using the 50,000 volt Taser is becoming a new favourite pastime for police everywhere. The body count of the “non-lethal” alternative to a firearm, is stacking up over 150 deaths in the US and 17 in the last four years in Canada, as cops continue to kill people for, in many cases, minor incidents.

Some common arguments of those in favour of the police are that they mean well or that they are also part of the working class, just trying to do their jobs. It may be true that many cops come from working class backgrounds, but it should be fair to say that any working class identity is quickly negated when one decides to serve the interests of those in direct opposition to it. The officer friendly image of pigs helping the elderly cross the street, tipping their hat saying “good day” is a fairy tale for anyone who is seen as undesirable in the self righteous eyes of the police.

The police aren't here to prevent crime and cure society's ills - on the contrary - they are here to enforce the crimes inflicted on everyone on behalf of those who make up the ruling class - politicians, corporations, CEOs, law makers, judges, bosses etc etc.

Laws are made to criminalize the poor, to legitimize locking up those who are victims of systematic violence. This is glaringly obvious in the fact that Aboriginal peoples, who have born the brunt of the most brutal capitalist violence and oppression in Canada, make up 3.8% of the population and 20% of the prison population. How often do you see yuppie scum bags being tossed in prison? Or celebrities? Or cops themselves? When the rich and their soldiers in blue do get caught breaking laws that would get any one of us locked up, they generally get slapped on the wrist. A favourite "punishment" for the police when they are forced to discipline one of their own is a suspension - with pay! Sounds like a god damn vacation.

Its poor people who are filling the prisons, most of whom are property offenders. The police are here to protect the governments and the ruling class. Anarchist Errico Malatesta put this bluntly: ”Government means the right to make the law and to impose it on everyone by force; without a police force there is no government”. Who is going to come and kick you to the streets once you can't afford to pay the rent to your lazy asshole landlord? The pigs.

Who is going to arrest the boss who is getting fat off your labour while your family is going hungry? No one. who is going to evict the corporations destroying First Nations’ land? Again, no one.

The police are not here to protect us, and by definition are unable to do so. Once you've been condemned to a life of shit it's the job of the police to make sure you don't get too fussy about it.

Interview>> Pan Handling Street Unions

When panhandlers in Ottawa came under attack from a the city’s new police chief they were left with little option but to begin organizing for mutual defense. Here David Brons interviews Andrew Nellis about his work with the Ottawa Panhandlers’ Union.

LINCHPIN>> What is the Ottawa Panhandlers Union and how was it started?

Andrew Nellis>> The Ottawa Panhandlers Union is a shop of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). It's a real union. What we do is run by the panhandlers themselves. The idea is to empower people on the street to fight for themselves…

In practice we find that our most valuable members are those who have just come off the street or are in the process of getting off the streets. Their lives are somewhat less chaotic than people who are actually on the street although we do have some [key] people who are hardcore street.

LINCHPIN>> Could you give some examples of some of the problems that are faced by panhandlers and homeless people in Ottawa that the Panhandlers Union was formed to help resist.

Andrew Nellis>> I can tell you that although things were bad before the new police chief [Vern White], they've become infinitely worse since. The new police chief has the "broken windows" philosophy. He believes that you can stop big crimes by stopping little crimes. He's ordered his police officers to stop issuing tickets and begin arresting panhandlers. It costs $185 a day to keep someone in jail and they're more than willing to pay that to keep panhandlers off the street. Providing supported housing is infinitely cheaper but they [instead] prefer using enforcement for something it was never designed to do.

We were forced to start a Copwatch program because the police are openly and blatantly breaking the law…Its been reported to us that the police have stolen the panhandlers' money, roughed them up, and told them not to come back or they'd be beaten. One night I had to start guard under the bridge by the Rideau Centre because the street kids there had been informed by a police officer that if they were there when he came back he was going to - and I quote - "boot-fuck" them. So I went there with a recorder and I warned the police that I'd be there all night with my recorder…

We do a lot of advocacy work. We have one member who is schizophrenic and he was picked up in an ambulance and he was [held] involuntarily at the Montfort Hospital in their psychiatric wing. And he requested our assistance in getting his doctors to agree to let him go to school since he has a law degree from Russia and he's in the process of updating his credentials here in Canada. His doctors were concerned about letting him go by himself to his classes so we went there to tell them that we'd have a person willing to go with him to the classes if necessary to assure them that he wouldn't be a danger to himself or others…

LINCHPIN>> How is the Panhandlers Union structured internally?

Andrew Nellis>> The IWW is not an anarchist organization. Our constitution actually forbids us as members from promoting and political or anti-political party. The organization itself runs in an anarchist manner. We have no hierarchy. At meetings everybody takes turns, everybody is expected to be either the chair or recording secretary and at every meeting it changes so that everybody gets to see and develop the skills necessary for running a meeting…It’s very gratifying to see someone who started out at the beginning of a meeting very nervous and unsure of themselves actually telling someone like me to shut up and let other people talk.

LINCHPIN>> Do you think that the Panhandlers Union in Ottawa is a model that could be applied to other cities? Has there been interest in trying to develop Panhandlers Unions in other cities?

Andrew Nellis>> Yes. In fact I’ve been in a number of presentations on street organizing. It’s a very different milieu from what most organizers are used to. The street has its own rules. It’s stylized and ritualized not all that different than lets say a medieval Chinese court. It’s a very different place.

When you’re dealing with people as oppressed as people on the street are, it’s extremely important not to come across as an authority figure. Often the temptation is there to present yourself as leader and this must be resisted at all costs because the street will try to turn a person into a personality and it will become a cult of personality in which the personality is more important than the movement. While there can be short-term results, eventually the organization falls apart when the person leaves…

The reason to have an organizer when one is organizing on the street is to make sure that there is a structure. The entire reason [many] people are on the street is that they cannot live in a highly structured scenario. There is nothing wrong with this but it is very difficult to keep an organization going when there is no structure to it. In order to ensure that it survives it’s necessary to create a tradition. And this takes many, many years. There is no short way to do this. And the way you do this is by giving people successes, by showing them that what you’re doing works.

---

A longer version of this interview can be found at http://linchpin.ca/content/left/Interview-IWW-Ottawa-Panhandlers-Union

Let 'Em Stay

Prior to Christmas, two AWOL American troops lost a final appeal for refugee status - the Supreme Court refused to even hear the case. Then on December 6th a committee on immigration voted for a recommendation orchestrated by the NDP's Olivia Chow. It called for the Canadian government come up with a program to allow Iraq War resisters and families to stay.

Hear any of the Toronto based war resisters speak at a public meeting and patterns become clear in their experiences. Kim Rivera, a red head in her early twenties, served in an Artillery unit in Baghdad, that shipped out first in August 2006. Tales of gore, IED's and guts quickly changed her mind about the mission. The dehumanisation of Iraqi workers forced to etch out employment inside forward operation bases added to it.

Another of the Toronto based war resisters is Phil McDowell. He joined straight after the September 11th attacks during his senior year majoring in IT. He was discharged in June 2006, some months later while traveling, he got notice he was being stop lossed back to Fort Hood, Texas for yet another deployment to Iraq.

The Stop Loss policy is designed to offset the ebb and flow of recruiting patterns. It allows the military to forcibly re-enlist soldiers or involuntarily extend their tour of duty in a war zone – it’s a virulent source of antagonism for soldiers.

More of the war resisters are pissed off with what they feel is a de facto economic draft. The military hierarchy pushes its press gangers to target areas where socio-economic background thwarts the goals or ambitions of youth. The military is then presented as a path out.

Then there are benefits, like health, for families too. The partner of another war resister, Jill Hart, knows all about that – she put pressure on her husband to re-enlist so her sick kid could have medical coverage.

Compare the likely persecution these men and women face if deported stateside with the record of the civilian architects of war that avoided donning uniforms but daily play dice with the lives of troops for political capital.

John Ashcroft received six student deferments during Vietnam. Wolfowitz too received the same deferment, allowing him to do graduate work until the draft was over. Bush is the most famous “chicken hawk” of them all - he scored a position in the Texas Air National Guard, once a popular way to avoid being drafted for combat.

Stateside the campaign is based around Courage to Resist, and braces itself for a Winter Soldier 2008. It’s an attempt echo a 1971 event where anti-war veterans testified to war crimes they’d witnessed or even participated in.

Here, War Resisters are gearing up for a political battle to allow them to stay. Exhausted and unable to cope with many more AWOL soldiers, they hope things soon take on the colour of the sixties and grow into a mass movement of support.

At least now there's one way to cheer on the troops, when they start disobeying their superiors and refuse to fight.

SUPPORT ‘EM>> see warresisters.ca for more.

Media>> Challenging Corporate Media

Independent media has a rich, long history. Linchpin is following in and updating a tradition known for dissent, diversity, and the creation, cultivation and communication of new and challenging ideas, writes Greg Macdougall

While there may be longstanding problems with the way mainstream media works, what doesn't have such a long and storied history is the rise of 'mega-media', the mass corporate media institutions that put control of ever more of our society's means of communication into the hands of fewer and fewer for-profit companies. It is only in the past decade or two that this problem has reached critical levels, yet it's been ushered in as if this is 'business as usual.'

But it isn't business as usual. Laws regulating media have been changed, media companies have been bought up and/or merged at an alarming rate, and the media landscape is vastly different now than it was a generation ago.

Not only does this result in a distracting 'if it bleeds it leads' monoculture that delivers a worldview encouraging non-action and the acceptance of an insane status quo, but there is the continuing problem of an inherent conflict of interest between what is good for society and what makes money. We need to seriously consider the fundamental purpose of our society's communication tools and structure.

As Robert McChesney states, "regardless of what a progressive group's first issue of importance is, its second issue should be media and communication, because so long as the media are in corporate hands, the task of social change will be vastly more difficult, if not impossible, across the board."

This is advice that could be heeded by anyone
looking to change the world for the better. Media activists have long been involved in creating alternative media, but there are other forms of activity that are also important in dealing with the problems we now face in our communication structures.

Robert Hackett of Simon Fraser University has classified four major strands of media activism:

- "influencing content and practices of mainstream media" (ex: fair.org, mediachannel.org, projectcensored.org)

- "advocating for reform of government policy/regulation of media in order to change the very structure of media institutions" (ex: democraticmedia.ca, mediareform.ca, freepress.net)

- "building independent, democratic and participatory media" (ex: indymedia.org, indepedentmedia.ca, mediademocracyday.org)

- "changing the relationship between audiences and media, chiefly by empowering audiences to be more critical of hegemonic media" (ex: media-awareness.ca, aml.ca, adbusters.org)

[two sites that focus on more than one strand are mediademocracy.ca and prwatch.org]

This past decade, there has been a heartening level of action around these issues. In 2000, an independent media conference in Waterloo was held; in 2001 there was one in Toronto. In 2004, there was the Uncensoring Media Morphosis conference in Ottawa, and the Community Media Convergence in Guelph. This past year, there was the Propaganada Model conference in Windsor, featuring Noam Chomsky, and the first annual Media Democracy conference in Montreal. Lower-key meetings keep on being held. And since 2001, Media Democracy Day has been celebrated in late October in cities across the country.

Choose to work on one or more of the four forms of media activism, and connect with others - either locally or further afield - to make a difference.

CHECK IT OUT>> Media Matters, an OPIRG-Ottawa action group, will be hosting a workshop entitled "Organizing around Media and Communication" on Sat, Feb 9 at Trent University in Peterborough, as part of the Community Movements: Building Solidarity for Social Change conference. Contact mediamatters@canada.com for more, or visit the conference website at buildingsolidarityconference2008.20fr.com.

More Material Online

The paper is one arm of Common Cause publishing, the other is our website. There you will find dozens of additional articles and photographs from Common Cause members, as well as announcements and events our members are involved in.
Read more at the Common Cause web site.
www.linchpin.ca

Against The Apartheid Wall

Using festive protests and direct action against the fence and wall, Anarchists Against The Wall have become well known for their creative modes of resistance.

Book review: Free women of Spain by Martha A. Acklesberg
http://www.linchpin.ca/node/521

Karine looks at a book that summarizes the experiences of women anarchist organizers during the Spanish revolution

Review: Perseopolis
http://linchpin.ca/node/522

R. Rosen went to see Persepolis, a film based on the comic strip about the experiences of a young women during the Iranian revolution and the years that followed.

Review: Alan Sears on the infrastructure of dissent
http://linchpin.ca/node/524

Alex went to a talk at McMasters University by Alan Sears and sees a point to his argument that we need collective investigation into today's movements and oppressed communities.

Spoken Word: Slamming Capital

The spirit of community abounds in Ottawa’s poetry scene, and nowhere is it more apparent than in the latest CD The House of Words by Free Will, a member of the Capital Poetry Collective, writes Kathryn Hunt.

His album, The House of Words, takes its name from the Dogon of Mali, who have a house in each village where members can come to share their ideas and resolutions – as Free Will says, “No chiefs, no masters, no governance. Just community.” That celebration of collectivity and rejection of hierarchy resounds in the album, which is full of gracefully written, powerful and rhythmic poems set to music.

The poems speak about materialism, racism, police brutality, the gaps between rich and poor, the genocide waged against native peoples, and the fight against domination and authority, but also celebrate and praise the strength of truth and self-respect, contact with the earth, vegan lifestyles, and the ways in which all communities are bound by respect, affection, trust, and hope. The words drive the music, which is provided by a wide range of musicians, ranging across cultures, from jazz-like piano riffs to instruments and melodies drawn from reggae, Middle Eastern, African and Indian music, reinforcing the sense of a world-family and the similar, simple things we all have in common.

This album is one of several that have been recorded over the last few years by poets who have been performing their work at Capital Slam, the monthly spoken word show held by the Capital Poetry Collective. Free Will has been onstage at Capital Slam since it began in 2004, and now also takes his work
into schools to perform and educate. As he says, “I use my words to empower and inspire in a world of apathy and cynicism.”

A Capital Slam show usually has an open mic, a featured performer and a competition in which the poets perform their work and then are scored by judges chosen from the audience. The poetry is impassioned, often inspiring, funny, or politically charged (or all three at once.) Because of the judging and scoring, it might be assumed that a slam would be competitive, even cutthroat. But Ottawa’s slam performers, on the contrary, are an extremely supportive and collectivist group – the competition is completely secondary to the culture of mutual encouragement.

Many first-time performers have been warmly welcomed and encouraged to develop their skills by this group, and as a result spoken word has been booming. Five Ottawa spoken word artists performed this year at the Governor General’s Literary Award ceremony, and new poetry series are being started across the province.

CHECK IT OUT>> ARC Poetry Magazine website at www.arcpoetry.ca/portage/spoken-word provides listings for these sort of events. For information on getting a copy of The House of Words, contact info@capitalslam.com. See www.myspace.com/thedoctorfreewill for tunes.

Why We Publish

This newspaper is a publishing project of the Ontario anarchist organization Common Cause. With it we hope to help build communication between people engaged in struggle and inform a growing proportion of the population of Ontario of the real facts of such struggles, explains Andrew Fleming.

We are anarchists so the other related aspect of the paper will be articles that sketch out what anarchism aims to achieve and what the history and current reality of that struggle is, both in Ontario and globally.

To achieve this we are distributing copies where we live and work and at radical events. Each member of Common Cause distributes on average 100 copies of each issue of the paper. It will be a long time before we have a large enough membership to generate a distribution that starts to have the reach of the mainstream media but that is our goal. We want this paper going into every household and workplace in Ontario.

Most of the stories are written by Common Cause members and the paper is put together by delegates from each of the Common Cause Locals. This helps Linchpin to reflect the priorities of the organization as a whole. Which is not to say there is no room for other voices, in particular we carry interviews with people who are not members but who have something interesting to say.

Our aim is to make sure every member of Common Cause is involved not just in the distribution of Linchpin but also in the production of it. We don't aim to have a staff of professional writers that will produce content for everyone to distribute. Rather we see Linchpin as part of a process to develop basic analytical and reporting skills in every member of Common Cause.

The paper is one arm of the Linchpin publishing project, the other is the Common Cause website Linchpin.ca. This carries additional articles that you won't find in the paper and also carries blogs from Common Cause members where they point out and perhaps discuss anything that catches their eye. Currently this paper appears every two months but the website can be updated on a daily and even hourly basis.

Lastly this paper is not simply a way of reporting on struggles or of putting forward anarchist ideas. It's production and distribution is also an organising tool in itself. This may be at the level of editorial delegates reporting what their Locals think are the important for the next issue. Or it may be at the level of each Local deciding where to best distribute that issue, or discussing the contents with people who read it.

As well as discussions on the paper in our Locals all members have a chance to input comments on draft articles in the members only section of our website. At each Common Cause conference each member also has the opportunity to argue for a different focus or even set of goals for Linchpin.

Our aim is to get this paper into the hands of every ordinary person in Ontario. That is one hell of an ambition for a small group of anarchists. We need your help.

At the simplest level you could make some copies of this issue (you'll find a PDF file of it at linchpin.ca) and hand them around where you live, work or study. Or send us a regular donation so we can print more copies. But really what we need are people to join Common Cause and play a part at all levels of the production of Linchpin.

Workplace>> The Precarious Revolt

The history of the working class is a history of remarkable innovation and constant renewal. Whenever the bosses think they have buried forever the threat of workers' revolt, workers find, time and again, the means to fight back. Today, the recent blooming of resistance among workers in the low-wage service-sector is one important sign of a renewed struggle against the bosses and their system, writes Lucian.

For decades companies in the service-sector, whether they be giants such as Wal-Mart or smaller locally-owned businesses, have been able to hyper-exploit workers imposing low-wages, irregular schedules, temporary work, unsafe working conditions, harassment and discrimination while racking in super-profits.

While workers have always resisted in many small individual ways (e.g. calling in sick, small acts of re-appropriation/theft) the lack of collective, open resistance has allowed the bosses to gain the upper-hand.

The lack of open resistance has many reasons. Many of the workers who make up the service-sector belong to groups of people, such as women and newly-arrived immigrants, who historically were largely excluded from the traditional labour movement.

Further, the service-sector itself emerged in part as an attack on the traditional factory-based workers' movement, as manufacturing jobs were moved overseas and replaced with low-wage, unorganized service jobs. Service-sector jobs are organized in such a way as to fragment and isolate workers from each other, which works against the repeat of the unity that emerged among factory workers working together in large numbers under one roof. Production is now organized in networks of small units linked but physically separate from each, other and irregular hours fragment workers across space and time. In other words the very structure of the service-sector is designed to weaken the ability of workers to fight back.

To all of this must be added the failure of the official workers' movement, the mainstream unions. With some exceptions, lost in a self-constructed maze of bureaucracy, legal proceedings, outdated ways of struggle, cooperation with the bosses and top-down forms of organization, the mainstream unions have been unable to offer service-sector workers forms of struggle adequate to their situation. More often the official labour movement has deemed most service-sector jobs as not worth the dues and/or unorganizable. In other words, they blame their own failures to innovate on the workers!

Thankfully, as is often the case, workers have not sat idly by waiting for the professionals of the official labour movement to come up with solutions. Workers are constantly finding new ways to fight back. From the multitude of lunch-break conversations and minor resistances, covert or open individual resistance, repeated instances of solidarity and isolated moments of collective revolt, there eventually emerge new forms of struggle and alternatives. A popular, collective research project with a historic record of success! We have seen this process take shape over the past decade as resistance to neoliberalism has emerged from a multitude of places and peoples, increasingly connected to each other. And it is becoming clearer that workers in the low-wage service-sector are increasingly joining the fight. The following two examples highlight some these innovative struggles.

AGAINST THE BOSSES' DIVISIONS, ORGANIZING GEOGRAPHICALLY: THE SOUTH STREET WORKERS UNION

Beginning in August 2003, the Philadelphia-based and Industrial Workers of the World-affiliated South Street Workers Union has been organizing retail and restaurant workers on South Street, the city's largest shopping and restaurant district.

The South Street Workers Union, like all IWW locals, uses a model of organizing called “solidarity unionism” that is radically different from traditional union organizing. Instead of fighting for contracts and legal certification on a per-workplace basis, the goal is to build “one big union” for all South Street workers based on radical democracy. Workers join regardless of where they work and even if they are currently in-between jobs, as is so often the case in the restaurant and retail sectors. Workers join on an individual basis so that a majority of workers per workplace is not needed. Once a sufficient number of workers have joined, the union then takes direct action on specific grievances and provides much-needed services.

Since its founding the South Street Workers Union has won workers unpaid wages, defended workers who were threatened with dismissal and even deportation, improved working conditions and organized a campaign for cheap public transport with the slogan, “Raise our wages, not the fares!.” The South Street Workers Union has also provided a variety of badly-needed services including setting up health, tax and workers' rights clinics. And it has managed to do all this without bureaucracy, long legal entanglements and with low dues ranging from $1.50 to $4.50 per week.

The South Street Workers Union is part of a larger revival of the IWW perhaps highlighted most recently by their successful organization of Starbucks workers union in New York and other major US cities. It seems that the IWW's radical democracy, direct action and its “one big union” approach has struck a cord with workers in the low-wage service sector. The result appears to be a promising coming together of the IWW's long-standing radical politics and a renewed workers resistance from below. The IWW has several Canadian locals including in Ottawa and Toronto.

AWAKE BUSHWICK!
A NEIGHBOURHOOD FIGHTS BACK!

The 2006 protests led by Latino immigrants in the US caught everyone by surprise with their scope and militancy. The biggest protests in US history took on the form of a general strike as millions of immigrants and allies walked off the job and out of classrooms across the US. More than a demand for citizenship rights, the protests are a major revolt against the low-wage, no-rights economy.

The two are intimately intertwined. The bosses have two options: they move jobs to low-wage areas of the world or, when moving jobs is not an option as in much of the low-wage service-sector (hard to provide “service with a smile” from 1,000 miles away) they bring low-wage workers to where the jobs are.. For this second option to work, the bosses need draconian immigration laws that ensure a large portion of workers have little to no legal rights and that the threat of deportation always hangs over their heads. Act up, demand a living wage, organize and we'll call in the immigration officers to send you packing! As a result, as in Canada, in the US a huge portion of precarious workers are immigrants. Thus when millions of immigrants took to US streets they were expressing not only their anger at proposed immigration laws but also expressing their refusal of being forced into a lifetime of hyper-exploitation.

At the heart of this radical movement are a multitude of grassroots community organizations who have for years been laying the ground work for what might be called the American Spring. One such organization is the Despierta Bushwick or the Awake Bushwick coalition.

Bushwick is an impoverished Brooklyn, NY neighbourhood. The vast majority of residents are hispanic or black and the vast majority of them work in low-wage service jobs when there are jobs at all. For years they have suffered from illegal labour practices such as sub-minimum wages, arbitrary firings, unpaid overtime and racism and sexism on the job.

In response, in late 2004 the community organization Make the Road by Walking launched the Awake Bushwick campaign. It was soon joined by other local organizations such as tenant committees, churches and by two unions, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and the IWW.

Using a mix of tactics such as community boycotts, direct action, legal action, solidarity unionism as well as single-workplace organizing, the Awake Bushwick campaign has indeed awakened the neighbourhood, mobilizing it against local bosses with tremendous success. The campaign has won hundreds of thousands of unpaid wages for hundreds of workers at several local stores rectifying years of sub-minimum wages and unpaid overtime. At one store, the campaign won back wages for 95 workers. They have also organized unions and won contracts at more than a dozen stores including all ten Footco USA stores winning pay raises, vacations and sick days, health insurance and workers' discounts.

Out of fear of becoming the next targets of the campaign, many local bosses have raised wages and ended a number illegal labour practices on their own. As always, it is our initiative that makes the supposedly impossible possible. And these examples are only a small sample of similar small and large uprisings taking place in the global service sector.

Anarchism In Ottawa Insert For Linchin Issue 2

Common Cause is a newly-formed provincial Anarchist organization. It formed in late September, after a founding conference in Toronto where members decided on a basis of unity and policy. The intention is to begin the process of building an organization of thousands that will have a presence in every town, workplace and neighbourhood across the province.
The first main project of this organization is a website and bi-monthly newspaper. These are entitled Linchpin and can be found online at http://linchpin.ca
The first issue of the newspaper was published in late November as an eight-page pdf file and has also been put into print by Common Cause locals across Ontario. This insert is part of the second, Jan/Feb 08 edition. Copies are regularly available at both OPIRG offices as well as at Exile Infoshop.

The Ottawa local had its first meeting on November 28, and decided to focus on printing the newspaper and in that way recruiting new members. If you are interested in joining or getting more information, please contact a_ottawa@mutualaid.org.

The Ottawa group came together after a couple of visits from Common Cause members. The first was a talk by Andrew discussing his experiences as part of the Workers’ Solidarity Movement in Ireland, as part of the Anarchist Discussion Group series.

The next visit was on November 17, at the quarterly Ottawa Anarchist Assembly. Provincial secretary Mick Sweetman gave a brief summary of Common Cause and its progress thus far. Common Cause Ottawa will be making a presentation at the next Anarchist Assembly, February 24.

A Living Wage

A full time job should keep you OUT of poverty, not IN it! Is that not the cure prescribed by politicians and much of the public for poverty: to merely have people who are homeless and on assistance get a job? Meg R. looks at the issue of a living wage.

Although never a sufficient solution to end poverty, the attainment of a full time job used to provide some recourse for the reduction of the intensity of poverty experienced.
However, this is no longer so as the ‘working poor’ are the fastest growing population experiencing poverty. In the last fifteen years, real wages have fallen significantly for middle and low income earners, especially for women, immigrants and youth. In 2005, 41% of Canadian low income children lived with families where at least one wage earner was employed full time (2007 Report Card on Child and Family Poverty).
The downward pressure on wages contributing to increasing poverty has become a defining characteristic of the last three decades. It is representative of the global polarization of income and concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few elite.
This concentration is facilitated through the adoption of neo-liberal policies accompanying economic globalization which favor profit over people. A key component of such policies is the reduction of the costs of labour, primarily wages. Governments and businesses adopt these policies at the expense of workers, especially those already marginalized in society. As a result, workers in Hamilton and around the world are struggling to provide food, shelter, health care, education and child care for themselves and their families. The increasing levels of poverty and number of working poor provide living proof that it is time for a living wage.
We must challenge the ideologies of the elite, businesses, and government officials. We must also hold them accountable for their cost cutting actions that rob people of decent standards of living. The people of Hamilton, especially those living in poverty, along with other student groups, members of the labour movement and social justice activists must join together to secure an environment within the city that upholds human dignity for all.
Although not an easy task, it is by no means an impossible task. A living wage campaign has already taken shape in the city and action plans are being carried out. This initiative is a city wide, inclusive movement that seeks to secure wage rates that enable workers to support their families above the poverty line and maintain a dignified standard of living. The coalition is providing a multi-pronged campaign of public information and mobilization to compel prominent decision makers in Hamilton to change their wage policies. The living wage coalition is closely linked to the Coalition for Fair Income and Employment at McMaster University, and living wage movements across the country and North America.
The times of greatest success for social change have been the times when people throughout an entire community have come together to pursue a common goal, despite their differences. It is has been their shared consciousness that has enabled them to overcome elitist employer and governmental barriers that relegate them to impoverishment and the margins of society. It will be our shared consciousness that overcomes Hamilton’s pursuit of profit over people. It will be our shared consciousness that compels businesses and the government to become responsible for the standard of living of those they employ.
The movement begins when we meet to share ideas and forge common ground; it continues when we act against the decreasing wage rates and increasing poverty rates. Our work in this area ends when every worker in Hamilton is guaranteed fair and living wages.

GET ACTIVE>> To join the Living Wage Coalition of Hamilton, contact Deirdre Pike, Social Planner at the SPRC at 905-522- 1148
(Original version of article published in Poverty Watch, Spring 2006, Volume One, Issue 4, a publication of the Income Security Working Group).

Book Review: The Free Women of Spain

The Free women of Spain strikes its readers into thinking about equality, empowerment community and revolution, Karine from the Hamilton local delves in further to what sounds like a brilliant book.

Martha Acklesberg, in Free Women of Spain, reviews the history of the struggle for women's emancipation in Spain, before and during the Spanish Revolution (1936-1939), focusing on the major anarchist women's organization, the Mujeres Libres (Free Women) a group of libertarian women in many parts of Spain.
She introduces us to their struggle by interviewing some of the women of Mujeres Libres who explain their role and contribution during the revolution, but also the difficulties they encountered within the male-dominated organization, (such as CNT, FIJL and many others) of getting their voices heard. Nevertheless, they always believed in the importance of working together within these organizations while having their own organization in order to develop their sense of self and the skills they would need to believe in their own capacities.
This book is about empowerment, equality and the need to build community organizations. Mujeres Libres was a group that was able to reach up to 20,000 women, by, but not only, distributing their newspapers and offering courses and programs for women's interests. Many of us can learn a lot from their experience by reading this book because it reminds us to have to fight inequality, not only outside in the society, but also within our own organizations. It is book that I, myself, felt very empowered by and I hope it can reach you in the same way.

BUY IT>> AK Press carry this book at their site http://www.akpress.org/
READ ON>> There's an archive of a talk based on the book given to the Irish Workers' Solidarity Movemnet at http://www.wsm.ie/story/3131

Compelled To Remain Alien

By Edward Wong

In the wake of racist remarks made by Toronto city councilor Rob Ford, where he generalizes about Asians and rhetorically suggests a 'take over' by Asians, it is imperative that we look at the history of discrimination and racism directed towards the Chinese, perpetrated by governments and business interests, here in Canada.

The Chinese community in Canada was dehumanized, criminalized, and made the other, without any recognition of the Euro-Canadian imperialist past that had, for centuries, driven the Chinese and other subjugated peoples to leave their countries. Unfortunately, with greater influxes of Chinese immigrants into Canada, such prejudices have remained. In fact, these processes can be traced back to the formation of Canada. There has been a long history of prejudice, institutionalized and systemic discrimination, directed towards Chinese immigrants, affecting both the community and the migratory flow to Canada from China. These issues must be understood in the context of racialization and capitalist imperialism, especially since the major reason for migration out of China was and is the plundering of the country by imperialist nations – ie. European countries and Japan.

The British Columbian Gold Rush from 1958-1866

The first occurrence of Chinese migration into Canada began around 1858, in response to the gold rush on the British Columbian mainland. During these early years of Chinese immigration, there was limited discrimination directed at these new settlers. The British government was fairly disinterested, “allowing the same rights, liberties, and privileges as other immigrants”. The predominantly English community in Victoria reacted to the immigration with mixed feelings – curiosity, prejudice, condescension, and spite – but were generally unconcerned, preoccupied with the gold rush, though, the Chinese were never accepted as part of the community.

When a head tax was proposed during a public meeting on 5 March 1860, Governor James Douglas assured the Chinese community that there were no plans to implement such measures. He claimed that a head tax would not be the interest of Victoria, seeing as Chinese merchants would aid in the promotion of Victoria' economic prosperity and Chinese labourers would help meet the demand for workers. Ironically, the same capitalist, imperialist processes that led to such hardship in the home country, which brought these immigrants here in the first place, had also resulted in a lack of discriminatory policies in the 'new world' – though this would not be a permanent condition.

The Economic Recession from 1866-1881

The mood of the European British Columbian community towards the Chinese would change for the worst when an economic downturn was experienced during 1866, caused by the end of the gold rush.

Many Europeans began to perceive the Chinese as competitors during these times of high unemployment, and to see them as the reason for the undercutting of wages for white people. Others charged the Chinese with coming to Canada simply as sojourners, taking away wealth back to China and not providing any long-term benefits for Canada herself. In response to these allegations, Huang Tsun Hsien, the Chinese Consul General in San Francisco, would express before the 1885 Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration:

This depends wholly upon their treatment in any country they emigrate to ... Chinese immigrants coming to this country are denied all the rights and privileges extended to others ... the laws compel them to remain alien.

While, a great number of Chinese did wish to return to China, it had much to do with the discriminatory conditions and legal perimeters put in place in Canada and not down to any personal inclination. Ultimately, many stayed in Canada but mainly because of even worse conditions at home.

These negative views towards the Chinese were reflected with the countless examples of discriminatory government policies against the Chinese. A striking example was the amendment to the Qualification and Registration of Voters Act, in 1874, which disenfranchised Chinese and First Nations people, though Chinese were still obligated to pay taxes and were not immune to conscription. In 1876, further legislation barred Chinese from employment in government projects.

It is clear that the division of the working class was successful, as seen by some of the characterizations made of Chinese, namely, the reconstruction of these individuals from fellow men to “labour machines”. An American Congressional committee investigating Chinese immigration in 1877 concluded that “the 'cute' Yankee was quick to discover that John Chinaman was a mere labor machine, and utilized him accordingly”. This type of characterization disallowed solidarity between European and Chinese workers.
The Construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway from 1881-1885

The main bulk of Chinese immigrants would arrive between 1881 and 1885, in response to a shortage of workers to construct the Canadian Pacific Railway in British Columbia. In 1881, 2939 Chinese immigrants had arrived; in 1882, 8083; and in 1884, 2223. The employment of Chinese workers by Onderdonk, would save him 4 million dollars in labour costs.

During this period, no prominent government legislations affecting the Chinese community and migration were passed. However, discrimination and racial divides were perpetuated by Onderdonk's policy of promoting anti-Chinese propaganda written by various journalists and politicians to white workers, and the organization of Chinese and White workers into different work groups, in order to prevent workers from cooperating.

The First World War and Further Economic Recessions from 1885-1924

A second period of economic depression would occur with the completion of the railway in 1885, as the railway workers were no longer needed. In response to growing unemployment, in 1884 and 1885, the British Columbian government attempted to pass legislation that would virtually bar all Chinese immigration into the province and allow the prosecution of individuals that assisted in bringing Chinese into the province. Although deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court for the same reasons as earlier attempts, the British Columbian government would be able to pass legislation restricting the Chinese from certain occupations, like the Coal Mines Act of 1890, which disallowed Chinese employment in the coal mining sector.

Unlike the provincial government, the federal government would have no problems passing similar legislation. Legislated at the start of a recession, the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 was said to be an attempt to discourage further Chinese immigration into Canada through the imposition of a head tax. When first imposed in 1885, the head tax was set at $50; each individual of Chinese descent entering into Canada would be made to pay the amount. The Head Tax was then increased to $100 in 1900, and to $500 in 1903. Interestingly, merchants and their families, diplomats, clergymen, men of science, students and tourists were exempt from paying the head tax.

The Chinese Immigration Act did not completely stop the immigration of Chinese into Canada, as some business owners, especially in the railroad industry, were willing to pay the head tax in order to obtain cheap labour. As soon as the economy picked up, immigration would once again increase, from 1891 to 1900, 26,345 immigrants would arrive, from 1901 to 1910 – 23,495, and from 1911 to 1920 – 32,244. This brings into question the stated aim to prevent the movement of Chinese into Canada. Instead, the Chinese Immigration Act was only effective in limiting the number of Chinese women and children entering into Canada to rejoin their spouses or fathers. There is a possibility that, instead, the intended aim of the Chinese Immigration Act was to give an impression of government action against the perceived 'threat' of Chinese immigration to satisfy the demands of white workers, while, at the same time, keeping open, a source of cheap labour for capitalists, which was necessary at the time because of labour shortages during the first World War. In addition, the act may have been passed to ensure that the Chinese population in Canada would, by preventing natural increase and hence limited long-term prospects of staying in Canada, remain alienated from the community, as they could not settle down without family, at the same time, internalizing the idea that they were 'others'.

This again, maintained divisions between workers.
With a third period of economic depression at the end of the first World War, in 1923, the Chinese Immigration Act was replaced with the Chinese Exclusion Act. This act conclusively banned all Chinese immigration except for merchants, diplomats, and students. It was not until May 14, 1947, that this legislation was repealed and Canadian citizenship was made eligible to the Chinese who had paid the head taxes. However, lasting damages have already been done to the Chinese community.
Conclusion

Economic and social processes of capitalism have had and continue to have a large impact on the migration of people and the circumstances faced by the Chinese-Canadian community; indeed, migration from China itself would not have likely occurred had it not been for imperialism.

The externalization of racialization, for example, discriminatory legislation and racist editorials, would ensure the survival of capitalism, with the Chinese scapegoated as the cause for economic hardship, and also, with the working class divided as a result of the internalization of these racialist ideas by both Europeans and Chinese. These processes would occur in relation to economic circumstances, during times of economic prosperity and labour shortages, Chinese immigration was allowed; but during times of recession and unemployment, Chinese immigration was restricted. Though much has changed, many racist immigration policies exist to this day and must be challenged.

Free indigenous uranium mining activist Robert Lovelace!

FEBRUARY , 2008- Robert Lovelace, former chief of the Ardoch Lake Algonquin First Nation, has begun a six month jail sentence for his role in peacefully resisting uranium exploration near Sharbot Lake this passed fall. He and his community will also have to pay $35,000 in fines. Frontenac Ventures, A uranium exploration company has claimed 30,000 acres of land in eastern Ontario around the headwaters of the Mississippi system, which feeds the Ottawa River.

Uranium mining poses a serious threat to the integrity of the region's ecology, as well as the health of inhabitants. It also compromises the sovereignty of the Algonquin first nations, threatening to poison their traditional territory, all of which legally belongs to them, and is officially un- ceded to the Canadian government. Uranium is an extremely dangerous radioactive element and its extraction from the earth requires violent destruction: surface stripping, clear cutting, and blasting are all common practices of the process. The residents of the Ottawa valley, from both native and settler populations, have been resisting this unwanted exploitation and are standing in the way of Frontenac Ventures, the Ontario Government, and all those who wish to destroy and exploit the earth for profits.

Grandfather William Commanda and Honorary Chief Harold Perry, respected Algonquin elders, have called for a halt to uranium mining, and many thus interpret resistance to mining as a necessity under Algonquin law.

"I am in a dilemma. I want to obey Canadian law but Algonquin law instructs me that I must preserve Creation. I must follow Algonquin law", declared Lovelace before being taken away in handcuffs. Resistance has been a constant since Frontenac Ventures first began exploration. A drilling site was blockaded by a coalition of Ardoch Algonquins, Shabot Obaadjiwan Algonquins, and settler groups for 101 days, and other protests have been numerous. "It is now time to take direct action again to secure the area so that no further encroachment occurs on our ancestral homeland", said Lovelace a few weeks before his trial.

Activists, from both native and settler groups are demanding a complete moratorium on uranium mining in Ontario. The Community Coalition Against Uranium Mining (CCAMU) is the main settler group working against Frontenace Ventures and there destructive enterprise.

Words Free Will

Online Forums and Building Movement

Anarchistblackcat.org is a moderated discussion board, set up by platformist anarchists. It was set up for a number of different reasons, here one of the moderators gives us her take on why the site was set up and what role it can play in our movement.

Firstly I live on an island which has no anarchist culture. There aren't a whole lot of anarchists here. Usually to meet other anarchist I have to travel abroad to bookfairs or conferences. I do a bit of that because its very useful talking to other anarchists. You soon learn that although our local conditions are different, in lots of ways we are fighting similar battles. We face similar problems. By talking to other anarchists we can learn about other ways of doing things, share experiences and maybe avoid continually re-inventing the wheel. I first started to post on forums a couple of year ago, and at first I was very excited by the possibility of having this type of discussion without having to get on a boat or a train. But then I quickly discovered that the level of discussion on most forums was very low. There was a lot of bullying and play ground behavior. Online discussions were much much worse than anything I had experienced in real life. I then became worried that for new people, just coming across these sites by accident, would think that this is what anarchism was all about. I think to build a new society we have to be able we to listen to other people, to learn from them. We have to be willing to experiment, even if that means we might make mistakes. We have to be able to convince people that anarchist ideas are useful and make sense. Instead, a lot of online forums seem to be based on cliches trading insults and point scoring. It's a million miles away from the type of free questioning dialogue that I think has to form the basis of any anarchist society.
So I thought to myself, you're an anarchist, experiment, try and build a different type of virtual anarchism. So I did, I got some friends together and we set up anarchist black cat. It's early days yet, but I think so far it seems to be working the way I imagined it would. Fingers crossed it will continue to succeed.
Launch Statement of Anarchist Black Cat
Ever wished for an anarchist discussion board dominated by an exchange of argued out political views rather than insults? So did we, so we decided to do something about it.
Ever wished for an anarchist discussion board dominated by an exchange of argued out political views rather than insults? So did we, so we decided to do something about it.
Inspired by the Organise discussion list of the mid 1990s (the first serious anarchist discussion list) and Anarkismo.net, we have launched AnarchistBlackCat. We are building a home for serious anarchist discussion and strong moderation of anything that falls below this according to a set of detailed, transparent and publicly available rules.ceremony.

Putting In The Dues

At our founding conference in September, 2007 we decided to put in place a dues structure. This means that as members of Common Cause we agree to, as our constitution puts it “pay 1% to 3% ”of income according to the number of people financially dependent on the member concerned. , explains Alex D

We realize that this form of funding runs counter to most activist groups and the general activist culture in Ontario. The following 10 points are thus meant to explain why we choose to pay dues and why we think it's so important.

1. Let's start with the basics. It takes resources to do what we want to do such as having a mass distribution of Linchpin and a great website. Before putting in our time and effort it's nice to know we actually have the resources to carry out these projects. With dues, we have a good idea ahead of time of what we can reasonably achieve.

2. It's less work. Instead of spending our time fundraising we can focus on organizing. A little bit from everyone each month adds up quick so we get a decent budget without having to go from one fundraising event to another with zero resources in between.

3. All activist groups pay dues anyways, it just doesn't get called that. Instead of paying out of pocket on an ad hoc basis, we have a formal structure which means stability, makes long-term planning possible, and isn't dependent on how generous we happen to feel at a particular moment.

4. It's really not that much. For example, 3% of $12,000 (roughly the income of someone working full-time at minimum wage minus taxes and deductions) is about $7.50 a week. 1% of that is a little over $2 a week, if you have dependents. Of course, some of us truly can't spare this, which is why we make exceptions until people are in a better position. No one is turned away because they really can't afford dues. If you're doing the math and find yourself paying $15+ per week, it might seem like a lot but then you can most likely afford it. We don't want to be insensitive but let's be honest. With very real exceptions, for the vast majority of us in this relatively privileged part of the world, dues means having one or two beers less a week at the pub. Not a big sacrifice for building an effective organization that can have a real impact in our movements and communities. Again, without denying
that some of us really can't spare the dues, for most of us its about priority not ability.

5. Dues allow us to accumulate a war chest over time so that when money needs to be spent immediately its already on hand. The informal “putting your hand in your pocket” method can't cover that sort of need anything as easily as it can deal with day to day spending. Before going into a campaign or struggle, its nice to know we already have a war chest that we can rely upon as the need rises.

6. Dues prevent inequality sneaking in through the back door. Without dues those with deeper pockets will ultimately have a bigger say over the organization since they will be doing more things like attending far way events, workshops, or are better able financially to deal with police oppression. With dues, how much you make doesn't affect how much or how little you can participate and those of us with little means can participate to a greater extent than would be possible otherwise.

7. Dues tell people and organizations we'd like to work with that we are a stable organization, with some resources, able to make a meaningful contribution within our means to whatever struggles we are involved with. A stable dues structure says we are reliable and can be counted on to stick around beyond the short-term.

8. Dues build the organization beyond providing stable funding. First, dues force us to work to maintain an effective and accountable financial structure (local treasurers, budgets, dues collection). Second, dues build and maintain commitment to the organization. When you contribute your hard earned money, and all the sacrifice that this entails, you want to make sure that its being put to good use. In short, you now have a bigger stake in the organization. No one wants to pour their blood and sweat into something and see it go to waste. Collectively, this means a high-level of commitment to the
organization.

9. Dues allow us to contribute to the organization even when we may not be able to put a lot of time into it. The amount of time we have to give goes up and down depending on whatever else is going on in our lives. With dues, we're able to maintain a minimum level of contribution and ties to the organization when life doesn't allows us to do more than this.

10. They're our dues! We're an anarchist organization which means we practice direct democracy and so we all decide how our dues will be used. According to our constitution, half the dues stay at the local level to be used by the local as they democratically see fit. The other half goes to the Ontario treasurer to be used as the entire organization sees fit via our general assembly and delegate council.

The Colour of Poverty

Racism is not just an individual problem of attitude toward a particular group: it is also systemic and structural, inherent in institutions such as the education, health, and justice systems. The Colour of Poverty Campaign (www.colourofpoverty.ca) raises awareness of these inequalities and suggests ways to work toward equality and inclusion in Ontario, explains Kathryn Hunt

The campaign argues that racism and poverty are inextricably linked, feeding into each other and into racialized disparity and inequality more generally, and need to be considered in relation to each other.

An increasing proportion of the population of Ontario come from what the Colour of Poverty Campaign calls ‘racialized groups’ – those of non-European background or heritage. Currently, 13% of Canadians are non-European, and projections suggest that ten years from now, people of colour will make up a fifth of Canadians and well over half of Toronto’s population.

However, among Canadians of colour, poverty levels are disproportionately high, affecting their quality of life on all levels, including education, health, employment, housing, immigration and integration, and interactions with the justice system. In Toronto, people of colour are three times more likely to be living in poverty, and one study indicates that between 1980 and 2000, while poverty rates among non-racialized Canadians dropped by 28%, the poverty rates among racialized families rose by a startling 361%. Related studies show that people of colour are routinely discriminated against in schools, in the workplace and the courts, making the cycle of poverty even more vicious.

The Colour of Poverty Campaign was launched in September of 2007, from several ethno-specific and community-based service providing organizations as well as human rights advocacy groups who recognized these trends and felt the need to address them collectively. With initial funding support from the Department of Canadian Heritage, they are building knowledge and awareness through a series of educational fact sheets, a short documentary film available on DVD, their website (an expanded version of which will be re-launching around March 21, 2008 – the UN International Day For The Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ), an e-list and other advocacy tools available online.

In their series of fact sheets, the Campaign gives statistics, gathered from dozens of sources (which are listed on their website for reference) showing the imbalances and growing disparities between racialized and non-racialized Canadians, and the relationship between the colour line and the poverty line. While many people may have heard that, for example, a large number of newcomers to Canada arrive with education and qualifications that are not recognized by governments, institutions, self regulating trades and professions as well as other potential employers, thereby restricting them from working in their particular fields of expertise – while most people know the story of the janitor with a Ph.D. – these fact sheets give numbers to the stories, fleshing out the reality.

Members are travelling to communities around the province, beginning with Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Toronto, and Windsor, to build partnerships with other equity advocacy and anti-poverty organizations. The goal is to create an engaged community that can share knowledge, experience, strategies and assistance among each other and with the general public. From that initial dialogue, a multi-sectoral work group will be created that will involve members of the affected communities, governments and social development policy institutes and anti-poverty representatives, the media and other affected people.

The work group will develop an implementation plan to ensure that the ongoing and accelerating racialization of poverty in Ontario becomes a major focus in the relevant institutions and government ministries and departments – to make change happen across in the system, on a causal rather than a symptomatic level. The long term goal of the campaign is to eliminate racially rooted poverty as well as the underlying racialized inequality and disparity across Ontario.

CHECK IT OUT>> http://www.colourofpoverty.ca is the campaign’s site where you’ll find lots more on their work.

The Dominion At 50

After its recent very special edition on the tar sands, Greg Macdougall picks up a copy of the Dominion and considers its radical media making.

At 50 issues, the Dominion paper is on their Own Your Media tour across Canada this March. The name of the tour implies the concept they're trying to get across - building awareness and support for the coop model the Dominion now functions under.

The Dominion is a monthly Canadian paper and online source of news and analysis that has been operating since May 2003. "It aims to provide accurate, critical coverage that is accountable to its readers and the subjects it tackles." Its website cites its coverage of Afghanistan, climate change, and Canada's involvement in Haiti as examples of where Dominion offers a significant change from what appears in the mass media.

The Dominion Media Solidarity Cooperative, "Canada’s first multi-stakeholder media outlet jointly owned and democratically controlled by its readers, writers and editors", was launched last year and is now the focus of this cross-Canada tour. There are three levels of coop membership: Supporter, Subscriber, and Sustainer. All members are entitled to vote in the Dominion's annual general meeting as well as elect (and even run for) the board of directors. They also play a vital role in enabling the Dominion to carry out it's ambitious five year plan.

The vision and specifics of the plan are up in the Forums section of the Dominion's website. A primary focus is on finances, seeking to transition from a miniscule budget to a member-supported ability to pay for staff and some articles. There is also the goal of encouraging 'locals' across Canada to create a grassroots media network that encourages and strengthens both media and movements. Other aspects of the plan range from maintaining and improving editorial quality, to solidifying and increasing readership, printing and distribution of the paper.

The plan also calls for two special issues per year, focussed exclusively on one topic or issue. This past autumn, the special issue was dedicated to the Tar Sands in Alberta, addressing an important set of issues that "the world's largest industrial project" brings forward. The Dominion explores the tremendous costs in water, land, air, energy and labour that the rapidly-expanding Tar Sands projects will rack up. It details the mega pipelines, both planned and existing, that stretch to the North coast, the West coast, and the United States. The health problems for people, fish, livestock and other animals are documented, as is the context of the Tar Sands in terms of continental energy security and the collusion of governments and energy corporations, and in terms of climate change, global warming and greenhouse gas emissions. Violations of unceded land and treaties with Indigenous peoples, as well as the need to include these peoples in the opposition movements to the Tar Sands, are addressed. Finally, the Dominion gives a platform for affected people to label what's going on: "crime against humanity" and "getting away with murder".

Definitely media worth supporting.

READ IT AT >> Visit www.dominionpaper.ca for articles, to subscribe, to find out more about becoming a coop member, or to check for tour dates/locations. March tour dates in Ontario: Ottawa (6th), Toronto (9th, 10th), Guelph (11th), Waterloo (12th), Hamilton (13th, 14th), Windsor (15th).

(Road)Block Capitalism!

(Road)Block Capitalism!

By the Disgruntled Crossing-Guards Collective

How do we resist? How do we resist capitalism, this system based on a logic that reduces human bodies, nature and life itself to mere economic inputs to be bought, put to work and then sold for profit? How do we resist its exploitation in our homes, in our workplaces, in our schools, in our communities?

This question is about how we organize ourselves and what tactics we use. It has always been the key question and all of our struggles, past and present, are dedicated to answering it. And it is through struggle, not some sort of so-called intellectual activity separate from struggle, that we come up with our answers.

The struggles of French workers that was the Paris Commune (1871) gave the radicals of Mikhail Bakunin's and Karl Marx's days a vision of participatory democracy and of an economy run by those who actually do the work. The sit-down strikes of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and of American auto-workers in the 1930s showed how the newly-emerging assembly line, itself meant to weaken the power of skilled or craft workers, could be brought to a standstill by workers siting down at their machines and refusing to work. Beginning in the 1960s campus strikes and occupations showed how students too could resist by refusing an education meant only to turn them into obedient workers.

Today it seems that our various struggles are coming up with another “answer” or rather part of an answer as no single form of organization or tactic is ever enough on its own. The struggles I have in mind include most loudly the piqueteros or the unemployed workers movement of Argentina that began in the mid-1990s.

How do workers who no longer have jobs and therefor can no longer strike or shut down production at its immediate site, resist? Their answer has been to occupy and block, even in the face of brutal and sometimes deadly police attacks, Argentina's major highways and bridges. Using this tactic they are able to prevent the circulation of goods and people (or inputs and outputs of production from a capitalist point of view) and in general prevent business as usual. And they have won victories that seemed impossible only a few years ago including an employment insurance-like program whose funding they have used to build an autonomous network of worker-run shops and stores.

Closer to home, the leading practitioners of this tactic have been indigenous peoples who, like the piqueteros, have repeatedly occupied land, roads and railways in their struggles against Canadian colonialism. This recent wave of struggle includes the Six Nations occupation of land and of Highway 6 near Caledonia, Ontario, several occupations of railways across the country in solidarity with the Six Nations and most recently, the occupation (using an old school bus) of the major Toronto - Montreal railway line as well as the blockade of the major 401 highway by the Mohawk of Tyendinaga near Belleville.

Of course throwing a wrench in capitalism's movement of products and people is not “new” especially when talking about strikes by transportation workers including the summer 2006 strike wave that included strikes by Montreal public transit workers, Greyhound drivers in Western Canada and Canadian Pacific Railways and Canadian National Railways conductors and maintenance workers. However two things stand out about these recent struggles.

First, capitalism has changed in a crucial way. While capitalism has always depended on the smooth flow of products and people, this dependence has today reached new heights. In response to the factory-based struggles of the industrial worker, capitalism has exploded the large factory or workplace into an infinite number of fragments kept together through networks of high technologies and transportation infrastructure. This is not the capitalism of the factory town but rather of the network where a car is made up of parts produced in 100 small factories, in 10 different countries and then delivered to thousands of dealers to be sold to millions of consumers all over the globe. In the service sector, think of the thousands of McDonald's and Starbucks stores spread out over the world yet linked by information technologies and rail, highway, ship and plane.

From the point of view of those who struggle, the ability to disrupt the smooth flows of capitalism thus becomes an important source of power, perhaps as important as was disrupting production in the factory in the era of the factory town. The fact that the two-week CN workers' strike alone caused hundreds of millions of dollars in profit losses leading to such headlines as the Toronto Star's “Companies alarmed by CN strike” is a testament to the potential power that we can gain from this tactic.

Second, and even more important, is the potential that this tactic may spread to the struggles of people not only outside of the transportation sector but excluded from or on the margins of the economy as a whole. It is hard to think of people more excluded from the economy and society (and thus disempowered) than unemployed workers in the South or indigenous nations in Canada/Turtle Island. But, by disrupting capitalism's flows of products and workers, these two groups have been able to gain tremendous victories (as in the case of the piqueteros) and attract more attention and force more movement on the issues than decades of so-called peaceful negotiations ever have (as in the case of the Six Nations).

These two struggles are showing something very important to us, to the unemployed factory worker whose job has been moved to where workers are more intensely exploited, to the young worker making minimum wage at a multinational chainstore, to all the people and communities that have been the target of the neoliberal onslaught (think run-away factories, cuts to social programs, police oppression, land grabs, etc.). They are showing that, despite our marginalization and apparent powerlessness, we too can organize our communities and disrupt this insane economic system by clogging its channels, by disrupting the smooth flows of goods and people it so depends upon. They are showing that we too can resist and resist effectively.

Of course the state and corporations will defend capitalism from our attempts to disrupt its circulation. The Six Nations blockade at Caledonia was raided by OPP forces and the Canadian government sent Canadian soldiers to the Tyendinaga Mohawk nation's blockade. Both groups face numerous legal charges and the Tyendinaga Mohawk nation is being sued by CN Railway for millions of dollars in lost profits. Blocking a railway line or a highway is illegal. In this sense, this tactic is similar to the strike before it was legalized in the early 20th century. During that time striking workers were thrown in jail and far too often killed in cold blood on the picket lines by police.

But by organizing themselves and their communities, they were able to continue resisting until governments all over the world recognized the right to form a union and to strike. Today, the Piqueteros and the Six Nations (and other indigenous groups) are also showing that an organized community, one that has the solidarity of other communities, can effectively use tactics considered illegal by the state and stand up to the oppression of the state and billion-dollar corporations.

So now that we have these examples what do we do, we who are not directly involved in these struggles? It seems that a good place to start is by learning even more. One article will not due. Learning more may also lead to finding out how we may show some real solidarity with these struggles. Most importantly however, is to go back to and organize our own communities whether this be the workplace, the school, the local punk scene or whatever. Resisting and eventually doing away with capitalism is going to require all our efforts. Just like a local music scene thrives off the interactions and connections it makes with other scenes our struggles need to multiply and connect if they are to resist and eventually do away with the exploitation and oppression that we face everyday.

Resources:

Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), http://ocap.ca/taxonomy_menu/1/11
Autonomy and Solidarity, http://auto_sol.tao.ca/node/view/2012
Turtle Island Native Network, http://www.turtleisland.org/news/news-sixnations.htm
ZNet's Argentina Watch, http://www.zmag.org/lam/argentina_watch.cfm

Against the War Machine: Direct Action against CANSEC in Ottawa

Against the War Machine
Direct Action against CANSEC in Ottawa
by Sarah Claudette (PGA Bloc)

Photo by Ryan Davies, http://www.ottawa.indymedia.org/images/2008/04/7296.jpg

Background

CANSEC is Canada's largest weapons fair, held annually in Ottawa during the month of April. The two day event brings together weapons and security systems manufacturers, brokers, lobbyists, military personnel, and government officials to showcase new technological developments and to schmooze. This year's gathering of war profiteers, including Boeing, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, General Electric, and Blackwater, was held on April 9th-10th at the Ottawa Congress Centre. The event is closed to the public.

The Network to Oppose War and Racism - Pacte Contre l'Agression, l'Intolerence et la Xenophobie (NOWAR-PAIX) and the People's Global Action Bloc (PGA Bloc) organized a number of lead-up events and two days of protest and resistance to oppose CANSEC, the war machine and the brutal occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Palestine and Turtle Island.

The Call-out to Shut Down the War Machine

The Solidarity & Action Committee of PGA Bloc began organizing resistance to CANSEC in late February. Educational events and active resistance were both on the menu. Call-out for autonomous actions, media interviews, and a youtube animation video set the tone for the confrontational style endorsed by the PGA Bloc.

In collaboration with NOWAR-PAIX, efforts were made to ensure that resistance to CANSEC was both well-informed and inclusive. Educational materials and events were planned out for the weeks leading up to the death market. The panel discussion, in particular, brought out over 45 folks from many activists circles. Common Cause's Anarchist Discussion Group also hosted a CANSEC-focused session.

Stand up – Fight Back!

Active and Direct action against the corporate profiteering began early – on the evening of the April 8th during CANSEC's set-up and first wine-and-dine. A fire alarm was pulled by "a group of nefarious anarchists" acting in response to the PGA Bloc's call-out for autonomous actions. This effective action saw the Ottawa Congress Centre evacuated and overtly disrupted evening activities. The action was claimed by "sexy anti-authoritarians " on Ottawa's Indymedia website.

Wednesday April 9th, the official opening of CANSEC, was designated as family friendly. Two marches, organized by NOWAR-PAIX and PGA Bloc, were accompanied by an overwhelming police presence. The lunch hour tour of War Profiteers in Ottawa had police outnumber demonstrators at least 3 to 1. The brief march followed a specific route past such war mongering enterprises and exploitation specialists as Mincom & Fleetway. The march made special stops at the Canadian Association of Defense and Security Industries (the lobby group that organizes CANSEC and represents over 500 weapons and surveillance manufactures) as well as the Canadian Forces Recruitment Centre.

The evening picket of 60 or so aimed to disrupt the Black Tie social, an event described to attendees as being "designed to optimize your interactions with current and potential contacts, clients and stakeholders." The rally stood out clearly as a co-organized event between PGA Bloc and NOWAR-PAIX, with homemade red & black flags flying above the crowd next to psychedelic peace sign flags. Speakers took the stage between "sounds of war" blasting on a portable sound system and lively condemnations and chanting. The picket came complete with a banner drop from the National Arts Centre, and another outnumbering by security forces. Despite the police presence, rather than disperse after the rally at the Congress Centre, a spontaneous snake march took to the rush-hour downtown streets – angry and boisterous – to demonstrate in the busy Market area, making it's final stop at the US Embassy.

Shut down CANSEC! Shut down the War Machine!

A crowd of about 70 gathered quickly at Dundonald Park, near Chinatown, at 11am the following morning. Following two very brief statements from organizers - on legal support and on the politics of opposing CANSEC - the march took to the streets with banners and chants. Cops were everywhere, as usual. Reaching the Ottawa Congress Centre, part of the crowd attacked and rattled barricades surrounding the OCC and a solid line of cops. Switching the focus to the Westin hotel, the protest continued for a short time before snake marching back downtown. Taking advantage of the police's confusion and inability to keep up with the front of the march – a small crew of militants successfully smashed the window of the Recruitment Centre. A scuffle ensued – no successful arrests were made.

Despite the dispersal of many who were targeted by police at the Recruitment Centre the march raged on to SNC-Lavelin. One arrest was made – solidarity and confrontation sparked in the crowd, as the car holding the captured comrade was blocked and unable to escape until riot cops cleared the entire block by pushing the rowdy crowd onto the adjoining intersection. The march eventually rerouted itself to the cop shop and devoted itself to jail solidarity.

At 3pm, about 15 people, nearly all of whom were clad in black, regrouped at the war monument at the northend of Elgin for a strategic meeting which led to a second jail solidarity march down Elgin. This march coincided with the concluding events at CANSEC.

Retaliation Under the Cover of Darkness & the Call to Continue the Fight

As CANSEC came and went, Ottawa anti-imperialists found themselves with only one solid attack and one direct action against CANSEC under their belts, and the arrest of an innocent comrade. According to two separate communiqués posted on Indymedia Ottawa and Infoshop News, windows at the downtown Recruitment Centre, a Scotiabank and the Somerset West police station were smashed in retaliation to the police presence and the earlier arrest. These autonomous actions of love, rage and solidarity brought resistance against CANSEC to a close, while opening a call to all who fight capitalist exploitation, imperialism, and authoritarianism to strike blows against the system that is killing us all and the planet that sustains us. Over the next year, confrontations with the capitalist system will only grow stronger -- when CANSEC returns in April 2009 we will be ready to stand up once again and take action.

CONTACT:
pgabloc@gmail.com
www.nowar-paix.ca

An Anarchist FAQ

An Anarchist FAQ

FAQ stands for “Frequently Asked Questions” and An Anarchist FAQ is a collection of answers to questions related to anarchism, hosted in different places on the Internet. Its aim is to present what anarchism really stands for and indicate why you should become an anarchist. It is produced by a small collective of people who work on the FAQ when they can (mostly in their free time, after work). They are not a corporate funded think-tank or full-time members of a party apparatus.

An Anarchist FAQ is due to be published by AK Press (www.akpress.org) later in 2008. Volume one (sections A to F, plus the introductions and appendix on the symbols of anarchy) is now ready for publication.

There are 10 sections (A through J). These are: A) What is anarchism?; B) Why do anarchists oppose the current system?; C) What are the myths of capitalist economics?; D) How does statism and capitalism affect society?; E) What do anarchists think causes ecological problems?; F) Is “anarcho”-capitalism a type of anarchism?; G) Is individualist anarchism capitalistic?; H) Why do anarchists oppose state socialism?; I) What would an anarchist society look like?; J) What do anarchists do?. There are also four appendices, and a bibliography.

Here are some samples of what you can find in this comprehensive FAQ:

A) What does anarchism stand for?
“... anarchists consider it essential to create a society based on three principles: liberty, equality and solidarity. These principles are shared by all anarchists.”

A) What is the essence of anarchism?
“Anarchists are anti-authoritarians because they believe that no human being should dominate another. ”

J) What is direct action?
“... in a nutshell, direct action is any form of activity which people themselves decide upon and organise themselves which is based on their own collective strength and does not involve getting intermediates to act for them ... It is clear that by acting for yourself you are expressing the ability to govern yourself. Thus it’s a means by which people can take control of their own lives. It is a means of self-empowerment and self-liberation ...”

J) Why is social struggle a good sign?
“... it shows that people are unhappy with the existing society and, more importantly, are trying to change at least some part of it. It suggests that certain parts of the population have reflected on their situation and, potentially at least, seen that by their own actions they can influence and change it for the better.”

ONLINE:
www.anarchistfaq.org
www.infoshop.org/faq
www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1931/

June 14, 2008: Hamilton Anarchist Book Fair

June 14: Hamilton Anarchist Book Fair

The Common Cause Hamilton local will soon be hosting our first Anarchist Book Fair. In a city with a vibrant history of working-class struggle, the Book Fair presents a unique opportunity for people coming together to network, learn and build community.

The Book Fair is a one day event being held at Westdale Secondary School at 700 Main St. West, just outside downtown. The day will kick off at 10am and go until 4pm. Radical bookstores, publishers and organizations will fill the cafeteria space of the school while the Hamilton Food Not Bombs chapter will be providing free vegetarian meals.

There are workshops and speaker panels planned featuring a number of experienced organizers/activists from a wide range of struggles. Anyone interested in anarchism and radical politics, or just curious, should not miss this opportunity to learn more and meet others who want to fight for a new world.

CONTACT:
HamiltonAnarchistBookfair@gmail.com
HamiltonAnarchistBookfair.wordpress.com

More “justice” for Indigenous in Ontario

In recent months, Native leaders in both eastern and northern Ontario have been jailed for standing up for their rights to due consultation and consent, with respect to prospecting and mining on their traditional territory. The ongoing “Six Nations” Haudenosaunee land dispute continues (where Caledonia `squats`, near Brantford). Most recently, the location was Tyendinaga (near Belleville), site of on ongoing land occupation and also of last year’s rail and highway blockades. Here are some reports:

Taken from MNN Mohawk Nation News, www.mohawknationnews.com

April 25:
... On Sunday, April 20, the Mohawk had set up an encampment to resist the development [$35 million condominiums on the Bay of Quinte in Deseronto on Mohawk Territory] that was to start on Monday morning. They did not come in. On Monday night rowdy non-natives roamed the streets of Deseronto carrying signs and shouting racist threats at the Mohawks. They looked pretty organized.

On Tuesday morning over 900 troops swarmed onto Mohawk Territory in a military style “shock and awe” tactic. Fully armed SWAT Teams, cops, choppers, police boats in the Bay and a lot of undercover swooped in at 9:45 am. They spared no expenses. They closed the perimeter on the encampment to start kicking heads, beating up people and arresting us. They arrived and were disappointed to find there wasn’t a Mohawk in sight. It was a traditional disappearing act. There was no evidence that any Mohawks had ever been there. Not one was touched or arrested...

Tyendinaga Mohawk Aserakowa [War Chief] speaks from the front line, April 26:
... [On Friday April 25] Shawn Brant was doing a media interview with APTN News ... Ontario Provincial Police came along with an outstanding [fake] assault charge. They arrested Shawn. They hauled him off to jail. Then the OPP closed both ends of Deseronto Road. The Aserakowa came down to see what was going on. Steve Flynn of Aboriginal Response Team of the OPP showed up ... By then we had men at both ends of the road. He talked about opening the road. Flynn said, “You walk away and we’ll walk away. Okay?” Both Flynn and the Aserakowa agreed.

“We will get in our cars and you’ll get in yours”, said Flynn. It turned out to be a set up. The Rotiskenreketeh started moving off the road. Suddenly about 10 OPP jumped about 5 of our guys, threw them in the ditch, beat them up and arrested them. They hauled them off to jail. No reasons were given for the arrests or assaults. The OPP is certainly not operating on an honorable nation to nation model. It is not even offering the kind of fiduciary protection for indigenous rights as it is supposed to, according to the Supreme Court of Canada.

... After behaving like thugs and beating up our guys, the OPP pulled out their weapons and pointed them at us. For our safety, we retreated back to the quarry. We didn’t want to get shot. Once we got there cops swarmed us from every direction. They were everywhere as far as we could see, armed to the teeth with their guns pointed directly at us all the time. Then they came over with loud speakers, told us to come away from the quarry, down the hill, with our hands up in the air “where we can see them”.

We told them, “Fuck you. This is Mohawk land. We’re not leaving”.

They raised their weapons and aimed at us again. “You’re going to have to shoot us”, we told them. Then there was more build up. They told us they are coming in at dark to take us out. They are moving Mohawk people off Mohawk lands at the end of a gun barrel.

The Mohawks are unarmed. The OPP have SWAT Teams, ambulances, dogs and we can’t see if they have ships in the water.

Arrested are Clint Brant, Steve Hill, Dan Doreen, Shawn Brant and Mac Kunkel ...

Taken from www.dominionpaper.ca – Lia Tarachansky`s blog
April 29:
After a week of tension the police services have declared withdrawal from the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory ...

The Mohawk defenders of the Quarry have declared victory … They are requesting monetary assistance with legal fees ... Non-native allies have been assembling and delivering supplies from various Ontario cities...

CONTACT:
Jason Maracle, Aserakowa: 613-243-4993

The history of May Day

The history of May Day
by David Brons (Ottawa)

May 1 has a special significance for the labour and anarchist movements. In almost every country of the world, except for Canada and the U.S., it is observed as International Workers’ Day. Ironically, the observance of May 1 has its origins in the struggle for the eight-hour day in Canada and the US.

On May 1, 1886 there was a general strike in support of workers’ demand for an eight-hour day. Most factory workers of the day were immigrants who faced discrimination both on and off the job. It was normal for them to work fourteen-hour days seven days a week. The strike was organized by the major radical labor organization of the time, an anarchist group called the International Working Peoples Association. Prominent organizers with this group were Albert Parsons, Lucy Parsons, and August Spies.

Between 300,000 and 500,000 workers went on strike, including 90,000 in Chicago alone. The police and militia were mobilized but the first day passed peacefully enough. On the third day of the strike, there was a confrontation between strikers and strikebreakers at the McCormick Reaper Works in Chicago. Police opened fire on the crowd, killing four and wounding many others including several children. The people of Chicago were outraged and some were calling for revenge against the police.

A protest rally was called for the evening of May 4 in Haymarket Square. As people listened to speeches by August Spies and other organizers of the strike, the heavily armed police marched into the square, pushing back the crowd and demanding that the rally disperse. As police confronted the strikers, an explosion occurred in police lines, killing one officer. In the darkness and confusion, police opened fire, killing six more of their own and an unknown number of strikers. The Chicago Herald described the scene as “wild carnage” and reported that there were at least 50 dead or wounded civilians lying on the street.

Organizers of the general strike were rounded up and eight of them were charged with “conspiracy” in connection with the events in the Haymarket. There was no pretense of a fair trial. The jury was stacked with businessmen and even included a relative of an injured police officer. No evidence was presented at trial that any of the defendants were involved in the bombing. Instead the prosecutor argued that they should be found guilty simply because they were organizers. In his address to the jury he said, “These men have been selected, picked out by the Grand Jury because they were leaders. They are no more guilty than the thousands who follow them. Gentlemen of the jury: convict these men, make examples of them, hang them and you save our institutions, our society.”

Despite their obvious innocence, all eight were found guilty. Seven were sentenced to death and one was sentenced to fifteen years. The case became an international scandal and there was a worldwide campaign for a new trial. All appeals were rejected although two had their sentences commuted to life in prison. Louis Lingg committed suicide the day before he was scheduled to hang. On November 11 1887, Albert Parsons, George Engel, August Spies and Adolph Fischer were hung. Over 500,000 people attended their funerals.

On June 26, 1893 Illinois Governor Altgeld pardoned the three survivors. He also exonerated the executed men because “the trial was not fair.”

In 1889 the American delegation to an international labour convention proposed that May 1 be adopted as a workers’ holiday to commemorate class struggle and the “martyrdom of the Chicago Eight.” The observance quickly spread around the world. It was also initially observed in Canada and the U.S., until the governments designated a less politically-charged Labour Day in September.

May Day is a time to remember past struggles and demonstrate our hope for a better future. It has its origins as a day of solidarity among workers around the world and solidarity with class-war prisoners. In North America we need to reclaim May Day as a day of solidarity and direct action in struggle for the rights of workers and migrants

The state can’t stop rape

The state can’t stop rape
by Rev (Sudbury)

We need to stop imagining the government and police as being able to prevent women from being sexually assaulted. The police operate as an organized force to punish crimes and investigate other possible crimes. Very rarely do they prevent crimes or assaults from happening. Common statistics that come across the Canadian media proclaim that between 1 in 5 and 1 in 3 women experience sexual assault in their lifetime. Obviously the government, through the police service, is choosing or not able to investigate or prosecute all of these offences. Often people who are forced into sex or are drugged without witnesses are left without legal recourse to pursue. Often the police will actually tell women what happened to them was morally wrong but not legally wrong, leaving them to deal with their pain themselves.

Similarly, sexual assault crisis centres are left with marginal funding and limited counsellors, forcing women who show progress to be denied further support so that more recent victims can get priority. Often this can cause a blockage in the healing process as a trustful relationship is broken. The centres are also restricted by government-controlled funding. Rape Crisis Centres are unable to conduct public wide campaigns because of funding limits or go beyond the law to make assaulters accountable for their actions.

Often our society is hesitant to believe women when they insist they have been assaulted, abused, or raped, forcing victims to live with doubt and self-loathing because others are unwilling to support them, and possibly even blaming the victims for what happened to them. We all hold responsibility for what happens. Women who allow or seek out the sexual attention of men and encourage objectification are lending to the dehumanization/victimization of other women. Men who do not directly confront and socially ostracize male perpetrators of sexual violence lend to the conscious and unconscious acceptability of sexual violence. Further, men and others need to challenge lesser expressions of sexism to make sure people know that no level of sexism is acceptable. So on and so forth.

Incite! Women of Color against Violence, a grassroots women of colour anti-violence movement, have been articulating anti-state analysis and community-based solutions to sexual violence in their recent works. They have taken strong stances against state funding; they see it as a form of co-optation and regulation. Further, they see the state and the people who enforce its existence as using sexual violence as a strategy, a way of expressing power. Incite! along with their ally organizations have been developing an anti-state feminist analysis that intersects dynamically with anarchist-communism. Incite! is based in the U.S. with chapters all over the country. Incite! was intiated in part by former Black Panther Angela Davis and Indigenous feminist Andrea Smith.

According to many feminists and activists, stopping sexual violence does and will continue to require a community-based response that goes beyond the legal barriers of the criminal system. It requires self-organization by a whole community to prevent and enact justice on perpetrators of sexual violence. It is up to you to get involved.

WEBSITE:
www.incite-national.org

Upsurge in Student Activism met with Repression

Upsurge in Student Activism met with Repression
by anonymous

Over the past month, the University of Toronto has experienced an upsurge of student activism. This recent upturn began with a rally and sit-in, organized against the New College residence rent increases. With supporters outside, over 40 students entered Simcoe Hall, where the administrative offices are located, demanding to speak to President Naylor and to have rent increases stopped. Student concerns were met with police aggression on order from the administration, indicative of the administration's illegitimacy, unaccountability, and undemocratic nature.

Students remained undeterred, forming the Ad-hoc Committee for Just Education and organizing a second rally on March 25 in response to the actions of the administration and, once again, to oppose rent and other fee increases. The second rally drew over a hundred students, workers, and community members, but again, our voices were ignored and the rent increase passed. An assembly on the inaccessibility of education was organized on April 7th, where three demands were formulated:

1. An end to all fees.
2. Student, worker, and faculty parity on University decision-making bodies, including the Governing Council.
3. An immediate end to repression against student dissent.

With these demands, a third rally was organized on April 10th, when Governing Council was to vote on tuition fee increases. In an unprecedented move, the speaking times of student union representatives were both reduced and removed, in a decision-making body where students and workers are already vastly underrepresented. During attempts by students to have a petition opposing the fee increases read out, the meeting was quickly recessed and moved behind closed doors. As expected, tuition fee increases up to 23 per cent carried.

Student mobilization has unfortunately, though expectedly, been met with criminalization and repression, consistent with recent trends towards the policing of dissent, especially on university campuses - other examples including the censoring of the term "Israeli Apartheid" at McMaster University, and police aggression at an anti-corporatization demonstration in UBC. In response to the peaceful March 20th sit-in, President Naylor released a defamatory five-page letter with usage of heavily charged language, describing the mostly racialized participants of the action as a "thuggish mob" who "hijacked" the cause of another group and took "violent actions". In addition, over the proceeding weeks, campus police have used a number of intimidation tactics, including vehicles following students at late hours and plainclothes police infiltrating meetings, photographing students. Students now face criminal charges as well as investigations under the Code of Student Conduct, which could result in expulsions.

Students have refused to succumb to scare tactics, however, and will continue to stand opposed to inaccessible education and the suppression of dissent. The movement, encompassing workers, students, and community members, continues to grow and refuses to have its convictions stymied by the heels of the police and administration.

To lend your support, contact the Committe for Just Education at fightfees@gmail.com www.fightfees.ca

Autoworkers - Nothing to Lose

Autoworkers in the fight of their lives

by Mick S

Ontario – An estimated 5000-7000 jobs were lost in the Ontario auto industry in the last couple of months as General Motors (GM) announced that it will close its flagship Oshawa truck plant in 2009 and auto-parts companies like Progressive Moulded Products and Magna followed suit shortly afterwards. According to the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW), the Canadian auto industry including both assembly and parts has lost a total of nearly 30,000 jobs since 2001.

This comes hot on the heals of a controversial no-strike agreement between the CAW and auto-parts giant Magna Inc. as well as early concessionary contract agreements between the CAW and the big three auto-manufacturers: GM, Ford and Chrysler.

Upon news of the Oshawa truck plant closing, hundreds of CAW members responded by setting up a blockade of GM’s corporate offices for two weeks before getting slapped with an injunction and a lawsuit by GM. Union leaders complied, urging their members to “stay tuned,” but ruled out any workplace or strike action. Over one month later there has been no signs of any resumption of any protests.

“At this point, we’re not going to pull our workforce out of the plants,” CAW Local 222 president Chris Buckley stated on June 16th, “We understand the auto industry is not very healthy at this time and we’re not going to put our members’ jobs at risk.”

One has to question if the announcement that GM was slashing tens of thousands of jobs in a panicked effort to stem GM’s hemorrhaging of money at a rate of $3 billion a quarter doesn’t already put jobs at risk.

On July 7, only a few days after learning that their employer Progressive Moulded Products had filed for bankruptcy and closed down their 11 Toronto area plants, a large group of angry non-union workers followed the Oshawa lead and set up a picket line to try and pressure for severance pay. While this action started off strong with hundreds of workers out on the picket line, it faded after a couple of weeks as a protocol was agreed to, likely at the advice of CAW leadership that intervened, that saw trucks allowed through the picket line at timed intervals until all tools and equipment were systematically removed. With this crucial leverage gone, the pickets became largely symbolic and it is unlikely that workers will receive any reasonable compensation.

While the pickets in Oshawa and then Toronto show the potential strength of workers to stand up and resist these attacks, they have not been enough. Wildcat strikes, plant occupations and above all organizing with co-workers is required should autoworkers stand up against the bosses and defend jobs. It won’t be easy, but nobody else is in the position to do it. If autoworkers do not respond strongly, even radically, to this blatant attack on their livelihoods, it is likely that these trends will continue in both Canada and the USA.

Residential School Apology

An anarchist view

by Rev

On June 11th 2008, the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, claimed to apologize for residential schools and the government’s plan to destroy the cultures of Indigenous peoples in Canada. This apology came after a similar apology was given to indigenous people in Australia. Residential or boarding schools were part of colonial policy in New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Canada. Harper’s apology talked about the abuses and cultural assimilation of Indigenous peoples in Canada by the Canadian government, especially the forced removal of children from their families. However, there is so much that Harper did not say. What he left out was that the residential schools were just one aspect of colonization.

Residential schools were run by churches, led by the Department of Indian Affairs for most of their existence. They focused on a total approach to assimilation: physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual. The Indigenous children stolen from their families were to be made into Canadians by force. The curriculum was created to allow the destruction of Indigenous ways of living on the land. The idea of “killing the Indian and saving the man,” was really about making way for capitalist ways of living on the land. In essence, residential schools aimed at handing over Indigenous land to corporations and turning Indigenous people into workers. Since Canadian society was based on private property while most Indigenous communities held the land in common, residential schools taught skills for private property ownership and taught the values of a capitalist society to the children. In the mind of the churches and the government, the Indigenous person was to become a settler and worker for the ruling class.

The residential schools were first called Manual Labour or Industrial schools and this says a lot about their actual purpose. The schools spent a half day teaching lessons in the classroom, the other half was spent learning trades or housework. The schools aimed to produce workers that were able to be exploited for wages or for their crops. The students were taught to be hard working and obedient like all good white Christian workers. Or in other words, to respect the authority of the church, state and the capitalist bosses. This is the same idea as the workhouse or poorhouse in Europe, to discipline and create the working class.

Authority and fear were central to the goals and methods of the residential schools. Indigenous societies were very free and equal. European society on the other hand used discipline and power to control people. Residential schools used power and violence to train Indigenous peoples to submit to settler society and the figures of authority in it. Indigenous peoples were taught to behave like white people or face punishment, just like all settler children are taught to behave or face punishment. Those who ran residential schools argued that Indigenous parents did not exercise proper authority over their children.

The residential school curriculum tried to destroy Indigenous languages in order to remove the people from the land. Indigenous languages often name an object by what you can use it for. For instance, plants are often named after what healing properties they offer. The elimination of this knowledge through the teaching of English imposed settler ways of living, because the necessary knowledge to live Indigenous was lost.

Residential Schools also taught sexism and the rule of men over women (patriarchy). Girls were taught to be domestic and remain in the home, while very often Indigenous women had more freedom and could do many jobs outside the home. Women were taught that Christian marriage was right rather than be brought up in a clan system where women’s solidarity and collective power protected women from male oppression. Women were taught to be inferior and this destroyed the backbone of the gender equality in Indigenous societies. This inequality was essential to the development of the working class in all European societies. The production of the Christian nuclear family is the linchpin of capitalist society.

To wrap up, residential schools were a project to spread capitalism. Residential schools were meant to turn Indigenous peoples into settlers and make them workers and peasants for the capitalist system. Harper will never apologize for the real goals of the residential schools. Many Indigenous peoples, such as the Assembly of First Nations, are even scared to admit how colonized they remain. Really discussing decolonization will require the unsettling of capitalism. Recognizing that colonization and capitalism are the same process, shows us that the struggle for Indigenous freedom from the authority of bosses and the government is a natural ally with the anarchist struggle for freedom.

Updates on Indigenous activism

“Bob Lovelace and the KI Six were released from prison after serving three and two months respectively of six month sentences for contempt of court.”
— Judy Rebick, May 30, www.rabble.ca

“AbitibiBowater, the largest newsprint company in the world and the only one still logging on Grassy Narrows land, announced it would leave Grassy Narrows effective immediately. ... [T]he Grassy Narrows campaign ... included the longest-running blockade in North American history.”
— Jessica Bell, June 23, www.alternet.org

“On June 14 ... Canadian border control officers brutally attacked Katenies and Kahentinetha, two Mohawk grandmothers. Both are part of the MNN network and known for their outspoken criticism of U.S., Canadian and international power cartels.”
— June 23, www.mohawknationnews.com

ALSO SEE:

Tyendinaga Support Committee
www.ocap.ca/supporttmt

Barriere Lake Solidarity
www.barrierelakesolidarity.blogspot.com

It's the stupid economy

by Big B

There’s value in not declaring a recession if you’re the U.S. or Canadian financial regulators responsible for the economy – let alone a depression. And it may not be for what regular readers of Linchpin would think the reasons are either. There are few signs that the right-wing strategists who analyse world security and the markets – and whose analysis goes on to influence the conservative governments here and in the U.S. – are worried about scenes from the Grapes of Wrath enveloping the heartland, or that ten thousand fresh memberships in communist organizations will be filled out tomorrow if a depression proves real.

They’re worried about consumer panic that will halt the unprecedented economic growth of the last ten or fifteen years ... they’re worried about having offered every innovation that can grow an economy (like the car did, and flat screen tv’s can now) faster than they can develop new ones ... they’re worried about having to replace sheer profit with widespread social programs – the fallout of Hurricane Katrina – only all the time, and everywhere – and the one apparent lesson learned from the last great depression. They’re worried about their bottom line.

What’s clear is that the Western economies can’t be saved this time out with the innovation and new economies created through war, since the U.S. adopted the model of permanent war post-9-11. And in the case of the U.S. they’re worried because any recession now would be a clear indication that the world no longer values its currency, and can no longer afford the way the U.S. has chosen to secure its energy routes. It’s feeling a little like the end of empire. Especially when the East can afford, and manage permanently, scenes from the Grapes of Wrath, and in fact spin, like finely woven silks, that misery into an asset of their economy – much like England did at the start of the industrial revolution.

Asia has no shortage of food staples such as rice (nor does the U.S., who grows 90% of its grain staple needs). It was reported recently that Thai rice growers were fetching as much as a thousand dollars per tonne of rice – an unprecedented amount. What the world food markets are experiencing now is a crisis in the distribution of food staples, brought on by the unsustainable way the U.S. has chosen to secure its energy routes mentioned before.

Technically, there isn’t a recession in the U.S. at present – if a recession is defined as two consecutive fiscal quarters (roughly three months a piece) with negative growth. The U.S. fed tells us this isn’t so, and other bell weathers such as the newest job loss figures suggest that things aren’t recession bad. But the language of the markets is largely a made up one, understood by its practitioners, but experienced by us all. And as much as there are regulators able to drive inflation down as an act of absolute state power at these first signs of crisis, there are enough analysts and money managers whispering depression to make it none-the-less self-fulfilling. Hard as it is to ignore when people walk away from their homes en masse, cannot manage their debts en masse, cannot afford to heat their homes, or drive their cars en masse – and when whole economies contract around the cost of supplying the fuel necessary to bring the goods to market, it would seem inevitable that tough times are ahead.

Against the state and capital on the high seas

By Marley B

Thanks to the work of a rare breed of historians (see below) we now know that the pirates of the 17th and 18th centuries, rather than violent thieves, were in fact rebels against the oppression of the young modern state and of a still-emerging capitalism. The (mostly) men who became pirates were poor sea-labourers, slaves and navy sailors who, in the face of extreme exploitation and tyranny at the hands of merchant and navy captains, decided to throw off their chains and build alternative ways of life that represent some of the first experiments of the modern era with direct democracy and radical equality.

When they mutineed, pirates replaced the dictatorship of the merchant or navy captains and elected their captains, subject to instant recall. A captain had sole authority over “fighting, chasing, or being chased” but top authority rested with the ship’s “council” where everyone had a vote and where the most important decisions where made by majority rule.

Pirates also rebelled against the emerging system of wage slavery (what we now call the hourly wage or salary). Instead they distributed loot according to a pre-capitalist share system where wealth was distributed along radically egalitarian lines, with the captain receiving barely twice as much as those receiving the lowest share. Part of the captured booty was also set aside in a common fund, a welfare safety net for pirates injured “on the job.”

Libertarian legal codes were used on pirate ships (yes, they had constitutions). Most of the laws dealt with maintaining harmony on the often-crowded ships. Capital punishment was used at times but it is telling that this was reserved largely for abusive captains, either their own or those from captured ships. Pirates were also free to leave a ship and join another or start their own. The 18th century Atlantic ocean saw the emergence of a loose informal federation of pirates, a mobile community of linked but autonomous pirate ships who collectively wreaked havoc on European transatlantic commerce (itself based on the genocide and racist exploitation of peoples in Africa and the Americas)

As always, we should not romanticize our radical history. Patriarchy, slavery, racism and the occasional act of brutality were also at times part of pirate communities (though far less present than in the broader society). But we should acknowledge the piracy of this time and place for what it truly was: a movement that, while containing its own contradictions, also expressed the desire among the oppressed to resist the brutalities of the modern state and the capitalist system from their very beginning.

For further reading check out:

Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker. The Many-Headed Hydra (Beacon Press, 2000)

Marcus Rediker. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Cambridge University Press, 1987)

Peter Lamborn Wilson. Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs and European Renegadoes (Autonomedia, 2003

Practicing Anarchism

Norwegian anarchists talk in Hamilton

by Marley B

There is a widespread belief that anarchism means chaos and disorganization instead of its true meaning: direct democratic control over all aspects of society including the economy, social and economic equality and liberty. Unfortunately, this myth shows no sign of letting up. However, at least for one night in Hamilton, those 20 or so people who attended Kim Keyser’s talk, “The Prefigurative Organization,” got a glimpse of what anarchism really means.

Aided by fellow Norwegian anarchist Rudolph, Kim’s talk began by arguing that to achieve radical social change, we need to practice what we preach within our own organizations. As Kim showed, anarchists have always held this belief (which makes us different from other socialists) and we have over time come up with two important tools to make this happen: direct action and direct democracy.

As explained by the speakers, direct action is the anarchist equivalent of the belief that “if you want something done, you have to do it yourself” with the important difference that the “you” is replaced by “we”. Put another way, by direct action anarchists mean that if you and your community need something done (better housing, cleaner environment, stopping racists), it is best for the community to take direct charge of their struggles. Leaving it up to “elected” politicians, bureaucrats of every kind and bosses big and small only means that nothing substantial ever gets done or worse, they find ways to benefit at the community’s expense.

Direct democracy means that you and your community make decisions directly on the issues that affect you. This can and has been done through a number of ways such as neighbourhood and workplace assemblies, referendums, or by sending delegates to decision-making councils with strict mandates from the community. This kind of democracy is very different from what we have now where we choose representatives who are then free to do as they please till the next election circus.

Besides introducing the audience to these basics, the speakers also presented some innovative ideas of their own meant to get anarchists and others thinking how to better practice direct democracy in our own organizations. For example they argued that to avoid re-creating a bureaucracy, members elected to positions in the organization should: never be paid more than the average wage of the members, have no special prestige or privileges, have short, regularly-rotated, well-defined and narrow (minimal power) mandates and they should be easily removed by the membership if they abuse their responsibilities.

The speakers also presented the idea of “Opinion Points” which caused a lot of discussion. The aim of opinion points is to improve majority vote decision making by measuring the commitment and energy that the group is willing to put behind a decision. Under this method, members attach opinion points to their vote (say on a scale from 1-5 where 5 represents strongly in favour). The opinion points are then added up on both sides. The side with the highest number of opinion points carries the vote. Under this method, it is possible that a minority of members who are willing to put a lot of energy into putting into action a proposal, can out-vote a majority of weakly committed members. Ideally, this method is supposed to get us around the problem where decisions are taken but not implemented due to a lack of commitment.

Those who attended this well organized and interactive talk had a lot of discussion till late into the evening. Many more interesting ideas than can be discussed here were presented. These are available in the companion pamphlet “The Prefigurative Organization” written by Keyser. Hopefully this wonderful tool will soon become available online so we can start testing some of these ideas out.

For more information contact Kim at futurebliss(at)gmail(dot)com.

Audio of the talk is online here at www.radio4all.net

Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair / Discussion Groups

Hamilton’s first ever anarchist bookfair proved a remarkable success with more than 250 visitors attending from as far away as Buffalo. Vendors came from across southern Ontario, as well as Quebec and Alberta. Workshops were held on labour organizing, anarcha-feminism and Indigenous struggles. Common Cause Hamilton plans to build on this year’s success with another bookfair next year, promising a better publicized event and more material for children.

Note: Common Cause Hamilton is now hosting an Anarchist Discussion Group the third Tuesday of each month, 7:00pm at the Sky Dragon Centre, 27 King William St.

Toronto Bad Books

Held the first Saturday of every month:

September 6th
Detroit: I Do Mind Dying: A Study in Urban Revolution. by Dan Georgakas and Marvin Surkin

October 4th
Welcome to the Terrordome:The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports. by Dave Zirin

For times and locations check the 'events' sidebar at www.linchpin.ca

Ottawa Anarchist Discussion Group / Conference

The Ottawa Anarchist Discussion Group is one of the longest-running anarchist projects in Ottawa (since January 2005) and is now affiliated with Common Cause Ottawa.

The discussion group was founded for two main reasons.

First it was created by and for people already engaged in local struggles. It is intended as a forum to allow for reflection on the links between theory and action. We aim to deepen our analysis and understanding of how the present system works in order to be more effective in our struggles to change it.

Secondly and just as important, the discussion group is aimed at those new to anarchism. We seek to engage people on the level of ideas. Too often we anarchists fail to explain our ideas to ordinary people.

This fall the dicussions may see something of an evolution as we rethink the focus and format to ensure continued relevance to those involved in local activism.

We are also planning on holding the Organizing for Justice conference in late October or early November.

Email a_ottawa@mutualaid.org, check the 'events' sidebar at www.linchpin.ca or check www.linchpin.ca/ottawaevents

Anarchism 101: Anarchafeminism

By Andrew Loucks

As with anarchism, there are many ways to think of anarchafeminism. It can be thought of as a way to promote anarchist ideas within the feminist movement or vice versa - to promote feminist ideas within the anarchist movement. But anarchafeminism is not simply spun together by people involved in both. Anarchism and feminism share deep connections.

Both combine values of individual autonomy with collective good and collective action. An anarchafeminist women's health clinic, for instance, would necessarily include abortion in its services or referrals because women should control their own bodies. It would value equitable service for all, which means it could never be a privatized, never charge fees or institute practices that would exclude lower-income, immigrant or marginalized women from its service. And it would be organized by women, for women in a non-hierarchical fashion.

Both demand a rooting out of power and authority to achieve a liberation far beyond surface level equality, not stopping, for example, at wage equality and "equal access to exploitation" in top down workplaces that exploit for profit.

Anarchism can be thought of in relation to other political traditions as well. Anarchafeminists will find the liberal feminist focus on liberating Afghan women from their burqhas insufficient if that means most will then find themselves free from ultra-oppressive home environments only to be forced into exploitative labour markets oriented at rich Western consumers. Anarchafeminists would also see this limited focus on one kind of oppression as recreating colonial and patriarchal relations - telling women how they should be liberated, and using limited understandings of oppression to ultimately support war, occupation and different kinds of exploitation.

In practice, anarchafeminist struggles are often a response to sexism within anarchist organizations. The traditional left idea that so-called "non-class oppressions" should be regarded as secondary, that they will be automatically addressed by a successful working class struggle, is unacceptable to anarchafeminists. Anarchafeminists demand that change begins now, that radical feminist projects are an integral part of social change and not a subordinated after thought. An excellent example of women's struggles within and alongside larger anarchist movements is Mujeres Libres, or "Free Women of Spain," which organized and empowered women for decades leading up to the 1936 Spanish revolution. Here, women fought on the front lines against fascism and pushed the anarchist movement to recognize women's struggles as revolutionary struggles.

For more on anarchafeminism, do check out:

Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women
AK Press: 2005

RAG (Revolutionary Anarchafeminist Group): http://ragdublin.blogspot.com

The Emma Goldman Papers: http://sunsite3.berkeley.edu/goldman/

Look for more anarchafeminist content in the December/January Linchpin

Caravan against torture hits southern Ontario

By Chris Shannon

Oct 19, 2008 marks the 7th anniversary of the detention of Hassan Almrei. Almrei has been locked up under Canada’s infamous Security Certificate legislation, which allows refugees and landed immigrants to be deported to their home countries or be held indefinitely.

Almrei is currently being held at the Kingston Immigration Holding Centre, or “Gantanamo North” as dubbed by critics. The facility cost $3.2 million to build and is staffed by 23 guards and administrators. Almrei is the centre’s only prisoner.

The federal court is currently in the process of hearing Almrei’s bail application. His attempts at gaining freedom have been unsuccessful three times so far making him cautious in his outlook.

“ I’m optimistic but realistic at the same time” he says. “At first I didn’t want to go through another bail hearing but the Judge told me if I didn’t I wouldn’t be allowed to have another one”

Almrei was picked up in October of 2001. Considered a security threat by CSIS and the Canadian government he was locked up without charge to await deportation to Syria. Human Rights activists and lawyers put the brakes on the process of deportation arguing that Almrei would surly be tortured once returned.

A movement built around Almrei and several co-accused. They were nicknamed “The Secret Trail 5”. All of them faced deportation to torture and a judicial regime where neither they nor their lawyers where allowed to see the evidence against them.

During his incarceration Almrei went on multiple hunger strikes sometimes for such simple rights as heat in his cell, and shoes to wear.

In February of 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada in a unanimous decision recognized that Security Certificates go against the “fundamental principals of justice” and gave parliament a year to redraft the legislation or have it struck down.

The government, instead of abolishing Security Certificates, added the provision of a Special Advocate. The Special Advocate has the power to see secret evidence and advocate for their client in hearings, but cannot consult with their client about that evidence.

“After all this treatment and abuse Hassan still has faith in the system and the Canadian Courts.”, says Matthew Behrens, organizer of The Campaign to Stop Secret Trials and The Caravan to End Torture. “Hassan has always wanted a fair and open process. If they believe he has done something wrong he has always said ‘Charge me.’”

Although Almrei has always had the best legal help available, Behrens believes it is strong grassroots advocacy that has helped ‘The Secret Trial Five’. “In 2000 the Security Certificate process was challenged at the Supreme Court and was upheld. In 2007 it was challenged again and it failed. The major difference was the public campaigns. These men were not just crazy passport photos anymore”

Behrens talks about how going on Ontario wide caravans has broadened the scope of the movement, and brought the issue into small communities. “The response has been overwhelming. The conservative heartland is not conservative at all. The caravans have had a catalyzing effect.”

Elections: all we can hope for?

By Scott Neigh

Election season. It's a sad time.

Elections are neither nothing nor everything. Within narrow bounds, we get to choose -- criminally narrow bounds that mean they cannot touch the things that mean life or death, more suffering or less suffering, for many, but can make small but real changes that mean life or death, more suffering or less suffering, for others. It would be politically foolish and morally dubious to ignore that.

In the U.S., the choice is between a neoliberal and a complete maniac -- not good and evil, but not quite tweedledum and tweedledee. It may not matter in exactly the way the hype machine claims that Obama is the first African American nominee for a major party – perhaps the first African American president, a single generation after the fall of Jim Crow – but it definitely matters. In terms of policy impacts, a modest drop in people who lack health care; management of empire that might result in a small decrease in body count; small efforts to safeguard the ability some women in the U.S. currently have to get an abortion when they need one; small but non-trivial efforts to reduce some kinds of poverty for some people; a few of the intrusions by the national security state (but only a few) rolled back; maybe even small reductions in the barriers workers' face in organizing: I doubt all of these things will happen, but I suspect a few will if Obama is elected. Small in comparison to the scale of the problems? Sure. Real impacts on real lives despite that? Yup. And because of that, it matters. At the same time, empire will roll on undisturbed, the bodies of poor and working-class people of colour in the so-called third world will continue to be sacrificed on the alter of capitalism, rising poverty will increase suffering and early death in the global north as well, workers and communities will still have little control over our work and the economy, sexual violence will remain endemic, and white supremacy and patriarchy will continue to be fundamental organizing principles of our lives even if Obama wins. And that matters too. A lot.

As for Canada, the election will score a bit less on the drama-o-meter. Minority government status has kept Harper from excessive rampage, memories of the dubious charms of straight-up neoliberalism are still quite fresh so the coat of greenish paint slathered on by Dion cannot disguise what is on offer, and Layton -- well, I'm not someone who has ever harboured illusions about the NDP, but even within my modest expectations I am not impressed. Though that's probably how I'll vote. But the same logic applies. Just to take one example, the difference between having and not having national, socialized daycare makes a real difference to people's lives. But even trading Harper's band of buffoons for a Liberal minority supported by the NDP -- generally the most progressive combination you can find in Canadian electoral politics, even if it never lasts long -- will never in a million years root out the fundamental injustices of our society if that's the only source of change.

So I'm not saying don't vote. I'm not saying don't care about who wins. I'm not even saying don't intervene in the election somehow. What I am saying is that we all need to take a good, long, critical look at our words and our actions and figure out what external cues they respond to. We need to ask, "What organizes my political life?"

Does your political imagination, your sense of the necessary, the target of your desire for a better world, and the process by which you make decisions for acting politically on a daily basis begin from the totality of the problems that face us, the experiences of those hit hardest by them, and a desire to figure out how to address them in their entirety? Or do they begin from the framing of the problems in the mainstream media, the narrow window of change that is imaginable in electoral politics, and/or the changes that can be made through paid work at social services funded by state or para-state sources? The question is one of imagination, of what shapes the horizon of your vision, the reference points that guide your actions.

For instance, if you are considering poverty, you could have an important debate about how critical allies within social services and the agency sector can be part of political projects aimed at ending poverty -- by sharing information, gaining access to resources, finding ways to un-erase the voices of people living in poverty, and so on -- and whatever the limits of such alliance might be. But if your entire political imagination on the subject is organized around using and winning more funding for social services and the agency sector, your politics are not being organized by starting from the problems (and you are ignoring how intrusive, controlling, and oppressive many people living in poverty experience even the more sympathetic agencies to be), they are being organized by relations of ruling.

Because that's what they are at least partly about: ruling. The dominant media, electoral politics, and the agency sector -- the three things that are most likely to bound the imaginations of self-styled 'progressives' -- are integrated into relations which rule us in practical, material, demonstrable ways. Elections and social service agencies especially take our energy for change, our desire for a better world, and they channel them in particular ways. I know good people who do good, important work in those areas, but work within those contexts is all the more effective if it is done with a critical consciousness that is not purely defined by them. At best these are terrains for struggle. But so many people seem to think that the channels of activity that were granted by elites in response to past struggles, in part as hard-won concessions and in part as attempts to co-opt, are all we need or even all that are reasonably possible.

It is in lowering our expectations, closing off our sense of possibility, making us believe that "this is it," that so much of our potential to make the world better is stolen from us. Or, as I tend to see it in my more depressive moments, how so much of that potential is simply surrendered by so many of us.

Market Meltdown: The crash, debt and exploitation (expanded online version)

BY PETRE MARIN

Unless you have been stuck in a cave somewhere over the past few weeks, you have no doubt heard about the financial crisis south of the border. You have also likely heard Canadian officials and business people claim that the Canadian economy is doing just fine and is immune from the US turmoil. We can hardly expect them to say other wise, not least during an election. But in fact there is more than a good chance that Canada will follow the US into a major economic crisis.

If this does happen it will not be just because financial deregulation has allowed the banks to risk our savings on the crisis-ridden financial markets. It will also not be just because investors have created new and high-risk ways to play the global financial casino. It will not even be just because the US market, where most of Canada's exports go, will have closed shop. For sure, financial deregulation and so-called “free trade” shoulder a lot of the blame for this mess. But the fundamental source of the problem goes beyond these policies. We are about to reach the limits of the economic model that has been imposed on us for the past 30 years.

This model can be called the “low wage/high debt” economic model. Beginning in the early 1980s it has come to replace the old “high wage/high production” model. Under the old model, companies sought to turn big wage gains made by workers' struggles into profits by: a) demanding a faster pace of work (higher productivity) and b) by encouraging a culture of consumerism so that workers would use their high wages to buy the vast amount of goods being produced. This came to be know as the productivity deal.

At the end of the 1970s workers began to break this cycle by demanding and winning both higher wages and social services (a higher social wage) while refusing to increase the pace of work which had already reached super-human speeds. Thus companies found their profits under attack as the better quality of life for workers came to clash with the needs of bosses to make a profit.

In response governments all over the world and of all political stripes began to attack the wage and social services gains made by workers. In Canada this began with the Mulroney government and has continued to this day regardless of which party has been in power. And this attack has largely been successful. A recent study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives shows that real wages today (that is when inflation is taken into account) are at the same level as the 1970s. At the same time, spending on social services has been drastically cut. Hence the “low-wage” part of the new economic model.

But low wages present a major problem for profits. If wages are too low than workers cannot afford to buy the increasing number of goods being produced. The misery that this means for workers is not the problem from the point of view of business. The problem is that if goods cannot be sold then profits are not made. This is a classic problem of overproduction. The low-wage model is thus inherently unsustainable.

One way that big business and big government have tried to get around this problem is by pushing through free trade policies like NAFTA and the upcoming Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) that let companies sell their goods all over the globe. In this way, companies can reduce their dependence on the wages or consumption power of their Canadian workers. However this has not really solved the problem of overproduction since the wages of all workers everywhere have been under attack. In the case of Canada, the wages of the American worker, our biggest export market, have been reduced even more than Canadian workers. At best, free trade only delays the day of reckoning.

Another strategy is to lower the price of goods consumed by one group of workers by reducing the wages of another group of workers. This is the true meaning of Wal-Mart. By super-exploiting workers in China and other countries, companies can lower their prices to a point where workers in Canada can afford them despite their lower wages. In this way the sweat and blood of workers overseas is used to build a thin and tattered safety net for Canadian workers. But this strategy is also unsustainable.

For one, super-exploited workers always resist, driving up wages. For example, China is brimming with workers struggles (the China Labour Bulletin reports tens of thousands of strikes and other workplace stoppages per year). These have recently forced the Chinese government to pass a new labour law that contains some gains for workers. Further, the prices of key goods cannot be reduced in this way. Goods such as houses, cars, education and others require such high levels of work and technology that no matter how low wages get, they will always costs thousands of dollars. If workers cannot afford to buy these goods in large quantities, profits cannot be realized and crisis follows. But this has not yet happened. Why?

This brings us to the second part of the “low wage/high debt” economic model. The availability of cheap credit has allowed workers to borrow large sums of money and consume way past their means. This reason, more than any other, explains why the low-wage economy has not yet come to a grinding halt. Low mortgage interest rates, zero-percent car financing, credit cards in every wallet and a “pay day” loan shop at every corner have allowed high levels of consumption to continue even as wages are reduced. For companies this is the best of both worlds. Low wages combined with high sales mean astronomical profits. For workers this has meant insecurity at work and anxiety over soaring debts. None of this is a problem for business as long as it continues. But you don't need a PhD in economics to figure out that eventually people will not be able to make payments on their loans with decreasing wages and rising interest rates.

This is precisely what is happening now in the US housing market where millions of Americans have had their homes taken away as they are unable to pay their mortgages. The fact that banks and investors turned these loans into stocks and gambled with them on the financial markets, losing trillions in the process, is a serious issue. But in the long run it is not as serious as the fact that millions of workers in the US are defaulting on their debts. In addition to housing, credit card debt in the US totals nearly 1 trillion dollars and auto financing debt is also in the hundreds of billions. (Globe and Mail, September 27, B1) No taxpayer bailout, no matter how big, will solve this problem (not that the bailouts of Wall Street investors is meant to help anyone but rich investors).

In other words, the “low wage/high debt” US economy is imploding. And Canadians, according to a recent report by investment firm Merill Lynch, are only slightly less in debt as the average American. (The Hamilton Spectator, September 24) What are the chances that Canadians will also start defaulting on their mortgages, credit cards, student debts, auto financing and a myriad of other debts which we have been forced to take on because our wages do not stretch far enough? Even without increasing food and oil prices, it is very likely that what we are seeing in the US today is only a frightening preview of things to come.

The US also provides a sneak peek into what is likely to happen if we leave the solution to the same people who got us into this mess: trillion dollar bailouts for the rich and increased repression for the rest of us. If we self-organize and struggle for a better alternative, the outcome may be different, perhaps radically so.

Anarchism 101: Social Ecology

Campbell Young
LINCHPIN

These days, concern for the state of the planet is all the rage in the mainstream media. But an ecological perspective on things is nothing new in anarchism. In fact, one of the first serious “green” thinkers of modern times was also a social anarchist. Murray Bookchin (1921-2006), the American philosopher/activist who was an early pioneer in the ecology movement, also played a major role in getting anarchism back on the political landscape.

Through numerous books and articles, Bookchin developed a radical, coherent analysis of such diverse topics as cities, revolutions, technology, gender, and labour. As a whole, he called his praxis (praxis = thought + action) social ecology.

The basic idea of social ecology is that a given society’s view of nature reflects the social relations of that society. Early human communities (and many existing aboriginal communities) saw themselves as equal participants in nature because there was a high degree of equality in their societies. But as hierarchy – sexism, age-ism, racism, class, etc – developed through history, so too did a domineering attitude toward the natural world. For Bookchin, “the very idea of dominating nature stems from the domination of human by human.” In other words, a society in which people see each other as instruments of domination is bound to see nature as an object to be exploited.

This has reached a crisis point in the present age. Competition dictates that the state-capitalist system must “grow-or-die” to stay alive, swallowing up every one and every thing in the process. No matter how “environmentally friendly” some corporations claim to be, the capitalist system as a whole will eventually outgrow the biosphere in its quest to control labour, markets, and resources. To do so it must break down every vestige of community, creating new, often irrational, “needs” in people.

Unlike other radical eco-philosophies such as primitivism and deep ecology, social ecology does not take a negative and simplistic view toward technology, civilization, and human progress. While hierarchy has expanded through history, the potential for freedom has also taken on a wider scope with resistance, revolution, and utopian visions.

Thus, for social ecology, efforts to heal the planet are ultimately futile without revolutionary action to bring about a cooperative, libertarian-socialist society. Appropriate technologies are important, but they must find their place in decentralized, confederated, and directly democratic communities.

As Bookchin once wrote: “The notion that what exists must necessarily exist is the acid that corrodes all visionary thinking.”

More info:
www.social-ecology.org
www.communalism.org

Articles on the Web

Anarchism and the Psychology of Motivation

Hamilton organizing against health care cuts

Mohawk Anarcha-Indigenist Taiaiake Alfred Speaks at McMaster University

New Sunrise Anarchist Collective in Portland, Oregon

NEFAC Quebec metamorphosizes into Union Communiste Libertaire

Environmental Justice: working together for transformative change

Greg Macdougall
LINCHPIN

When we talk about the moral and ethical implications of climate change it sounds like something that could put you to sleep. “Morals”. “Ethics”. A response might be, “stop lecturing me” or “don’t you have anything more interesting to talk about?”
But what we’re really saying is that the fight for “climate justice” is on the same level as efforts to end slavery, stop genocide, or win the right for women to vote. It’s on the same scale, but perhaps even more profound than any of those. What we’re saying is that climate justice isn’t just a technical thing or an economic thing or a political thing. It’s way bigger than any of that.
When we’re talking about the potential extinction of 40-70 per cent of the species that live on this planet, and hundreds of millions of people dying prematurely because of climate change, and billions more suffering from those same changes, you might figure out that moral and ethical considerations are actually vitally important things to think about, to talk about and, most importantly, to act on.
You might realize how important it is to get people to have a 40-years-from-now vantage point, one that allows us to fully grasp the magnitude of what is potentially going to happen if we don’t change course. If we truly let sink in what we’re facing we realize how important it is to do our utmost, beyond any political, economic or technical limits.
One thing to recognize is that animals, who are potentially going to be extinct, are not the perpetrators of the damage to the environment. The hundreds of millions who will die prematurely are not the ones causing most of the problem. The billions set to suffer won’t be the ones most responsible for causing the problem. Instead, the ones with the biggest contributions to the problem are the ones who are most insulated from its effects. This is where the term “climate justice” comes in: justice for those who are going to suffer, or die, because of their relationship to a catastrophically changing climate.
Justice would mean that the people, the governments, the industries causing the problem would take responsibility for their actions and the consequences, and dramatically change course to alter the outcomes for the better. It means those of us with the power to create change need to take responsibility.
Climate justice is related to the more general concept of environmental justice. Environmental justice is the right to a healthy natural environment, about justice for those affected by environmental destruction. It is about working with - not simply for - those most affected in the quest to bring about a positive outcome to the situation. It is about the disproportionate impact of environmental problems on certain groups of people, and also about recognizing that the best solution to the problem will come from impacted communities.
Environmental justice arises out of the intersection between – and inadequacies of – the traditional social justice and environmental movements, bringing together human rights with a respect for nature. An encompassing and defining document is the 17 Principles of Environmental Justice, drafted and adopted at the People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held in 1991 in Washington, D.C. (www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.html).
Solidarity work in the context of environmental justice comes in the form of ally groups taking their resources and support and directing them to where the affected communities/groups would like them. It is also about allowing those communities – primarily women, people of colour and/or the economically disadvantaged – to speak for themselves on the issues that matter to them.
Environmental justice is relatively young in a Canadian context and is not often included in the way the traditional environmental movement operates. (There is actually a lot of resistance from these quarters to the concepts of environmental justice.) But there is a tremendous opportunity to bring in an analysis of the power dynamics involved in environmental organizing, to bring in the communities most directly affected, and to bring in accountability to those communities for what is done in their names.
There is both a need and opportunity for coalitions to come together to address many of the interrelated problems we face: those to do with the environment, poverty, racism, and colonialism. But in any situation where different groups join to work together, there is a responsibility to address the power dynamics that exist and that will otherwise unhinge and undermine the potential of the coalition work to bring about transformative results.
Race, gender and class are three of the primary power dynamics that need to be addressed to successfully deal with the complex issues facing us. There is a need to change how we talk about these power dynamics, to recognize how they marginalize some to the benefit/privilege of others, and to deconstruct them so as to harness our true power to create change.
We need to change things and change them structurally, not just on a personal level. We are running up against the limits of our infinite growth model of economic and societal development. There is a burgeoning “decroissance” (degrowth) movement that is working on the transformation to a deindustrial society, working to completely change the way we look at society and at the world.
The earth has a limited carrying capacity, and we are in danger of surpassing that limit. We need to change course. This involves things like “steady state economics” and a new version of the 3 Rs: Renouncing the industrial model; Redesigning our societal and cultural paradigms; Rebuilding our society. One part of this “degrowth” is the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by some 90 per cent. It will be a shift from fossil fuels to decentralized, renewable energy.
We have a choice about the type of world we want to live in, and “we” can refer to any or all of our world, our nation, our province, our city, our group, our neighbourhood. On all these levels, we will be choosing between transformative change or business as usual, with business as usual almost certainly leading to devastating effects.
We now stand at a point where the movements for climate justice, for environmental justice, need people to really get things going in the right direction, bringing all the key aspects together as we move forward. We can be those people. We need to be.
__________________

This article is a combination of the ideas on environmental justice presented by Anjali Helferty, Clayton Thomas-Muller, Graham Saul, Ben Powless, and Bob Thomson at the Organizing For Justice conference (www.org4justice.wordpress.com) held Nov 20-22, 2008 in Ottawa. For further reading see Andil Gosine and Cheryl Teelucksingh, Environmental Justice and Racism in Canada (Emond Montgomery Publications www.emp.ca, 2008).

Strike at York University: on the front lines of precarious work

By Petre Marin
LINCHPIN

CUPE 3903 members at York University have been on strike since November 6, 2008. The 3,400 contract faculty, teaching assistants and graduate assistants decided to bear the bitter cold and head for the picket lines following management’s refusal to consider their demands. Much is at stake in this strike, for CUPE 3903 members and beyond.

The workers’ demands include wage increases of 11% over two years to keep up with the rise in the cost of living in one of Canada’s most expensive cities. They are also demanding increased funding to benefits to reflect a 28% growth in membership. Another important demand is job security for contract faculty whose contracts typically last only one semester. These workers are required to re-apply for their job over and over every few months even as many of them have been teaching for years, sometimes decades.

Thus far the university has not offered anything that would increase job security for contract faculty. The university has offered a 9.25% wage “increase” over three years. However, by the union’s calculations, when inflation and proposed reductions to other benefits are taken into account, the “increase” actually becomes a decrease of over 1% per year. Meanwhile, the salaries of top management officials have risen between 15-43% over the past three years. Similarly, the university’s offer to increase child care funding (many members are parents) by $1,500 is hard to take seriously. The current child care fund only provides benefits to 30 members out of a membership of 3,400, and the proposed increase amounts to just over $2.25 per worker.

Already, a majority of CUPE 3903 members make wages below the poverty line. For example, teaching assistants, who are the largest group within the union, make $17,386 per year minus $3,700 for tuition. They cannot legally work a second job as full-time students. For all members, anything less than victory in this round of bargaining would mean increased poverty, more student debt and continued insecurity.

But even more is at stake here. In 2001 CUPE 3903 members won significant roll backs in tuition for themselves and have since continued to be among the strongest forces against rising tuition costs. A setback for CUPE 3903 will mean a setback for the struggle for free education for all students. This is why the anti-strike opposition of some York undergraduate students is incredibly short-sighted.

As inadequate as it is, CUPE 3903 members have the best contract in the province – a reflection of the incredibly low wages and dire working conditions across the sector. For example, teaching assistants at McMaster University in Hamilton earn a little over half of what York TAs earn and do not receive a tuition rebate. Wages and working conditions are even lower at most other Ontario universities.

Thus CUPE 3903’s contracts are the standard in the sector. Whether this standard is lowered or raised will have a significant impact on all part-time education workers in the university sector. For this reason other part-time education workers’ unions, such as CUPE 3906 at McMaster University, are supporting the strike.

The struggle of CUPE 3903 members is also significant for all precarious workers. The past decades of neoliberal restructuring led by governments of all stripes have produced an explosion of low-wage work with non-existent job security or benefits. More and more of us are working part-time and/or temporary jobs that come without pensions, health benefits, child care and other basic needs. A victory by CUPE 3903 will thus be an example of hope for all precarious workers that through common struggle we can improve our lives and the lives of those around us.

This strike has the potential to be a long fight. The university’s actions raise doubts about whether they are bargaining in good faith or simply hoping that the union will give in under pressure from angry students and economic hardship. Whatever the university’s intentions, CUPE 3903 members have a proud history of solidarity and holding out until victory. As anyone who has been to the picket lines recently can see, the workers are well-organized and most importantly they have a high morale. Other unions, student groups and other organizations have also thrown their support behind the strike. Given all that is at stake, it is encouraging to see that CUPE 3903 members will not be alone in fighting this battle.

Women organizing within: an interview with the IWW Edmonton Women's Committee

Women often feel the need to organize as women within larger organizations – including the more radical and leftist ones – in order to fight against inequality between men and women, develop their own voice and feel empowered by it. A great example is the Women’s Committee of the Edmonton, Alberta branch of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), a union that believes in workers’ power to organize ourselves and take the fight directly to the bosses without other people acting on our behalf. Karine Welm interviewed one member of the Women’s Committee. We hope this interview will empower and encourage other women to organize within their own organizations.

Linchpin: Could you explain what the I.W.W. is in brief and tell us a little bit about the Edmonton branch?

Women’s Committee: The I.W.W. is founded on the idea that the working class and the ruling class have nothing in common.  Often, the employing class are the only ones who can afford the goods and services the working people provide.  Instead of allowing the possibility for workers to be further exploited by giving power to union leaders, the I.W.W. strives to put power of production back into the hands of the workers.  In this way, organizing as one class, one union, instead of industry by industry, an injury to one becomes an injury to all.

The Edmonton I.W.W. branch was founded in 1998 with 10 members.  Since then, the branch has grown to have about 50-60 members, with 25-30 active members.

Linchpin: When and Why was a Women’s Committee started within the I.W.W. Edmonton branch?

Women’s Committee: Gender-related issues came to the forefront in April 2006, with two items on the agenda: women-cut union t-shirts and the formation of a sexual harassment policy.  The Anti-Harassment committee was then started.  In October of 2006 we were looking into the possibility of starting a Women’s Committee, and by December 2006 we elected our first chair and began operating formally.

Linchpin: Could you explain how the women’s committee started and how it was perceived?

Women’s Committee: With the branch rapidly growing in size, the anti-harrassment policy was instated in order to have a structure in place to deal with potential issues that might arise.  The Women’s Committee was formed with the desire to continue bringing a feminist voice to the forefront of the worker’s movement, to work with our allies, and other Wobblies, to address issues of sexism and gender discrimination that bosses use to divide the working class.  In doing this, we may be truly united in the one big union.

Initally, the group was sometimes reacted to with misunderstanding, but the dedication and thoroughness of committee members proved to impress all members of the branch.  There’s not a doubt in my mind we’ll continue to do so.

Linchpin: Why do you think it’s important to have this type of group within organizations such as the I.W.W.?

Women’s Committee: The I.W.W. is a union for all workers, regardless of race, religion, nationality, sex, or sexual orientation.  In my personal belief, here in the union and otherwise, committees like these are essential: while it is important to see ourselves as a specific group with a specific focus, that should not suggest we ignore or downplay our rich differences as individuals.  Our individuality makes us who we are as persons; our united visions make us who we are as a global community.

Linchpin: What activities are the Women’s Committee currently doing or planning on doing in the near future?

Women’s Committee: The Women’s Committee is currently tackling smaller ideas until we’re able to build stronger outreach with other like-minded groups.  At present, we’re ordering more women-related books for the Literature Committee, and are at work producing pamphlets.  We wish to share our literature with other branches in the union, and do tabling at various local activities.

For International Women’s Day and May Day, we’re looking into two separate evenings of documentary screenings and discussion tables.  So far, our focus is directed towards unionism of sex trade workers, and transgender workplace issues.

Linchpin: What would you say to other women that are trying to start this type of group within other organizations?

Women’s Committee: Believe, inside and out, that what you’re doing is important, relevant, and neccessary.  You can’t fail.

Justice for Gaza: why we cry out

Andrew Loucks
LINCHPIN

The Israeli government strangles and plans an attack on Gaza for months, times its provocation for the biggest of US election days, then launches an audaciously brutal bombardment upon a people trapped in the most densely populated land in the world. It bombs infrastructure, schools, mosques, homes and aid depots, leaving hundreds of thousands without power, clean water, adequate food and access to medical care.

It calls its own cease fire on its own terms, content with battering a defenceless people until they submit, cognizant of the need to stop just before Obama’s inauguration. There is outrage all over the world, but in Canada the mainstream media largely laps up and regurgitates the propaganda of the powerful, and the federal government applauds enthusiastically.

It is easy to feel powerless in the antiwar movement, especially in these “war on terror”, “support ‘our’ troops”, “democratic states must have the right to defend themselves” days. We live in a country where we have next to no power between elections; and during these charades of democracy our collective pulse is taken several times a day to determine the best course of manipulation. Our cries in the streets against the bombing and strangling of Palestinians into submission seem irrelevant in this context. In some ways they are. But only if we are unrealistic about what they can accomplish, unwise about what these tactics can do.

Our demonstrations are not ways to pressure or convince Canadian politicians into changing their minds. Why would the administrators of a middle power state (Canada) that is fully integrated with a falling empire (the US) interested in supporting their bully (Israel) on the block (the Middle East) lose sleep over 1400 dead Palestinians and a few thousand muslims, peaceniks and radicals yelling in the streets? Let’s face it: our political system is pathetically unresponsive to demands for justice.

So why should we put parts of our lives on hold to ramp up political activities if they’re not going to save any lives on the ground? What are all the protests and marches and forums and other efforts for?

They are reactive displays of outrage we simply must let out – especially those of us who are connected to the bombings and ongoing seige through family and other experiences. They are refusals to follow the logic of isolation and self-interest inherent in media questions like “why are you steelworkers protesting?” They are tangible, active manifestations of opposition that mean far more than a poll. They are opportunities to connect our resistance with our communities directly. Most importantly, they are ways to build a more powerful movement.

It is becoming more powerful. It is more difficult now for far right ideologues like Benjamin Netanyahu to come to Canadian communities and spread hate. Major unions like the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and the Ontario branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees have signed on to the Palestinian call for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and are holding fast against the usual stinging accusations of anti-semitism. We must support these and other efforts to resist, and we must work hard to counter propaganda for Israeli apartheid, especially when the spotlight is on.

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions:
http://www.bdsmovement.net

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Ashanti Alston: Anarchist Panther

Andrew Loucks
LINCHPIN

Ashanti Alston (b. 1954) came of age as the political action of the ‘60s was hitting its peak. He recalls struggling through Malcolm X’s biography as a teen and feeling awestruck at the 1967 rebellions that saw numerous American neighbourhoods temporarily taken over by the people who lived there, including his home town of Plainfield, New Jersey. “That was my entry,” recalls Alston. “I wanted to be one of them black revolutionaries.” (http://illvox.org/2008/06/22/an-interview-with-ashanti-alston/)

Alston joined the Black Panther Party while still in high school, starting a chapter in Plainfield, and later going underground with the Black Liberation Army. For a while, Alston straddled the above ground Panther work of selling newspapers and running breakfast programs with more aggressive underground tactics, such as attempts to free political prisoners. The BLA would also target police for their brutality, as well as drug dealers and banks, to both disrupt exploitation and help fund political work. In 1974 Alston was involved in a Connecticut “bank expropriation,” captured and imprisoned for 11 years.

Alston wouldn’t call himself a class struggle anarchist. He accepts few if any labels, but has been influenced by the Panthers, post structuralism, anti-oppression, Marxism, the Zapatistas, indigenous American thought and struggles, environmental justice groups (Earth First and others), anarcho-communists, primitivists, individualists and others. For Alston, strict adherence to one or another school of thought and praxis implies you have the answers for people: “I don’t want to be categorized as a particular school because I know if I do, the world I would hope to be created won’t have room for all kinds of tendencies of anarchism, or all kinds of tendencies of people living their lives according to their own terms.”

Nevertheless, Alston is firmly an anarchist, and he knows why: “Even with the white anarchist community, I really feel like of all the groups, the anarchist mindset is still open to understanding all the different oppressions, that they’re not stuck on that it’s just the system out there and you have to change the system. Anarchists, I think, understand the power thing more than others, so for me there’s potential there. Already, anarchists will deal with movements that silence queers, folks of color, even on an age level — ageism, ableism. And when we start talking about how we have centered everything around us as human beings [at the expense of other species and ecosystems], I think that’s great shit. For that, I’m going to stay with the anarchist movement. I just want that movement to figure out more ways to be relevant to the broader communities.”

Today, Alston is active in the prison abolition movement (Critical Resistance and the National Jericho Movement), in Anarchist People of Color organizing, and in efforts to connect organizers of colour in the north with the Zapatistas (Estacion Libre).

For a much more thorough account of Ashanti Alston’s life and politics, check out:

http://illvox.org/2008/06/22/an-interview-with-ashanti-alston/

http://auto_sol.tao.ca/node/3021

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Black Anarchism and Lorenzo Komboa Ervin

Jeremy O’Toole
LINCHPIN

In order to remain relevant, anarchists should strive for our theory to be a culmination of teachings from individuals and communities in struggle and revolt against capitalism and domination. Black anarchism is a term used to describe the contributions made by black revolutionaries to anarchist thought and towards a movement that is tailored to their own experience.

One such revolutionary is Lorenzo Komboa Ervin. Born in Tennessee, his political activity began at age 12 as a member of the NAACP, participating in sit ins and rallies. As the political and social atmosphere became more volatile in the US and around the world, Ervin was radicalized as a part of the movements of the 60’s and 70’s, becoming a member of the Black Panther Party after being drafted to fight in Vietnam. Out of these movements grew a number of Black anarchists, many gravitating toward anarchism while incarcerated for their political activities. In 1969 Ervin was accused of plotting to assassinate a KKK leader and was finally apprehended following an international manhunt, during which he sought refuge in Cuba and East Germany.

On the run, Ervin became disillusioned with state socialism after witnessing how these ideas were implemented in the countries he fled to. This lead him to write Anarchism and the Black Revolution while in prison, writing, “Even though there are governments that claim to be ‘workers states,’ ‘Socialist countries’ or so-called ‘revolutionary governments,’ in essence they all have the same function: dictatorship and oppression of the many over the few.”

Aside from being a basic introduction to class struggle anarchism, his writings also outline some of the foundation for Black anarchist ideas in North America. Some of these ideas were met with controversy, particularly his proposals regarding Black nationalism and intercommunalism. Ervin emphasized organizing as a Black nation and put forth intercommunalism, which he describes as the need for “world relations between African people and their revolutionary social movements, instead of their governments and heads of state.” This view is rejected by some anarchists, who see it as too nationalistic.

Ervin has been involved with organizations like the IWW and Love & Rage since being released from prison in 1983. Today, he remains active in a number of projects around prisoners and anti-racist community organizing, and continues to write and do speaking engagements.

More info on Lorenzo and Black anarchism: http://illvox.org or http://lemming.mahost.org/abr/

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Canada Rescuing Afghanistan? A review of The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar

Andrew Loucks
LINCHPIN

If you are a political junkie of some sort, you will likely be fascinated by Janice Gross Stein and Eugene Lang’s multi-faceted answer to the question of how the Canadian government came to help invade and occupy Afghanistan. The role of Ballistic Missile Defense and the Iraq war; the transitions from the Chretien to the Martin and Harper governments; the bravado, patriotism and military marketing skill of Canadian Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier; the imbalance between civilian departments and the military; and the ever-present consideration of remaining favoured members of the US imperial sphere are all factors impressively explained and documented in The Unexpected War: Canada in Kandahar (Toronto: Penguin Group, 2007).

Stein and Lang wouldn’t use the words “invade” and “occupy”. If the Canadian Oxford dictionary had pictures, the authors would feature near the definition of intelligentsia. Stein directs the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. Lang too has been a fellow at the Munk Centre, and also Chief of Staff to two former Liberal Ministers of National Defence. Interviews with these ministers and other government officials provide evidence for the backbone of Stein and Lang’s analysis.

To explain how the Canadian government became so heavily involved in fighting an insurgency in Afghanistan, Stein and Lang borrow three words from the editor of the Beirut Star: ignorance, arrogance and ordinance. It’s their catchy way of concluding what might have been long obvious to some: Ottawa hadn’t a clue about Afghanistan and its people; it bought into the egos of Bush’s America and Canadian Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier; and it was oblivious to the developing insurgency.

Some of Stein and Lang’s answers, in basic form, are not profound. We may not learn much from their description of Paul Martin’s so-called “non-hierarchical” style. But the details of the “how”, the multi-layered analysis of Canadian state machinations in The Unexpected War should be interesting even to anti-authoritarian lefties. Most importantly, Stein and Lang show, unequivocally, Chretien’s, Martin’s, Harper’s – and especially the Canadian military’s – imperative: “Canada’s missions were largely, if not exclusively, determined on the basis of Ottawa’s relationship with the United States.... Much was ignored: Afganistan’s history, its traditions and accomplishments, its social structure....” (261, 262).

It should have always been clear that the US marines (and their Canadian counterparts) are not, as Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy jokingly put it in 2002, on a feminist mission to liberate Afghan women from their burkhas. But it is valuable to have further, detailed confirmation from the mouths of government officials themselves. Over and over again, Canadian foreign policy decisions were made on the basis of favourable relations with the rulers in Washington and the brass at the Pentagon.

In other words – if it isn’t sufficiently obvious already – Afghanis didn’t really matter too much to Canada’s Prime Ministers and their cabinets when they sent thousands of troops and billions of dollars (90 per cent to the military) to Aghanistan. Talk about helping a wartorn people is mainly about “shap[ing] the public environment” (198). Stein and Lang recognize this, writing in their concluding chapter of the importance of actually “seeing” Afghanis, of the importance of “meeting of eyes and...sharing of stories.” But this isn’t likely to happen in the North or South tower of National Defence Headquarters, or the Cabinet anteroom.

The Unexpected War is a book interested in a nobler, wiser statecraft. Stein and Lang pay little attention to the sophistication of empire. They insist “there is no intention to conquer in Canada’s mission in Kandahar” (302). Canadian soldiers may be very professional and noble (no doubt, many are not), conducting some reconstruction and genuinely wanting to help improve Afghani lives. But their role as instruments of Canadian statecraft is to “close with and destroy the enemy” – enemies never being chosen without anticipating what Washington wants.

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Learning from the Greek Uprising

Patrick Murtagh
LINCHPIN

On December 6, 2008 it was not a dark and stormy night when the shot rang out, but it soon became so as a police bullet killed 15 year old Alexis Grigoropoulos. Not that such incidents are unusual. According to a spokesman for the anarchosyndicalist Greek ESE “dozens of Greeks have been killed by the police” since the end of the military dictatorship in 1973.

What was unique was the response, perhaps indicative of the harder times that we have entered. Within minutes the news spread across the country via cell phone, and informal groups of friends had gathered to protest the murder.

Protest turned to riot, and for some weeks the conservative government of Greece teetered on the brink of defeat. Dozens of universities and high schools were occupied. Working class demonstrations and a one day general strike coincided with the student revolt. The government was saved, not by its own efforts but rather by a loss of nerve on the part of the socialist PASOK and the communist KKE who ended up criticising the insurgent students and the left-socialist Syriza more than they did the government.

The events didn’t occur in a vacuum. Decades of student militancy have garnered widespread public sympathy since 1973. Tactics such as university occupations are almost routine. Then there is the general state of the Greek economy and society. Youth unemployment and underemployment are endemic and growing. The government has come to be widely seen as both corrupt and incompetent. While recklessly accumulating public debt (foreign debt was estimated to total 93.9% of GDP in 2008) the state has been demonstrably generous to its corporate friends. In various social conflicts over the past decade the state has sometimes emerged victorious, but often has been forced to back down in the face of popular movements.

Few of the factors that underlay the revolt in Greece are unique to that country, aside from the existence of a relatively large and militant anarchist movement. It is no wonder that European governments openly worried about the spread of such revolts to other countries. The Greek insurgents attempted to spread the insurrection internationally, using media events and the same cell phone tactics that had proven successful locally. The response was widespread – perhaps hundreds of sympathy actions worldwide – but distinctly poorly attended.

Then, incredibly anticlimactically, the Revolution was called off for Christmas. When the New Year arrived the usual militant Greek demonstrations resumed, but without the mass participation and occupations of December. An opportunity had been lost.

What happened shows that mass rebellion is possible in a modern state and, given economic conditions, it is almost inevitable. It also showed that modern technology can amplify small scale initiatives into mass movements. It also showed that such movements can be, at best, inspired, never directed. The Leninist dream is over.
It was also demonstrated that such rebellions have to go beyond mere street fighting if they are to lead to anything permanent. The Greeks began this process with their occupations of educational institutions and brief takeovers of media outlets. They were unable to go further, however, because of a lack of response from Greek workers who generally remained passive outside of young workers in the streets. Without such participation, “revolts” will remain limited and inevitably fizzle out with little gained.

Finally, while rebellions are inevitably spontaneous, in the absence of organization and vision they cannot go further to actually change society. This may have been the main reason for the passivity of the Greek working class. Without such a vision and clear ideas on how to achieve it, one cannot depend on any vanguard, whether it is a party or whether it is those most willing to fight in the streets.

Patrick edits Molly’s Blog:
http://mollymew.blogspot.com

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