BTW, let me know if my line-wrapping is all fucked up. I read the list on the web, and not per e-mail, and my last post looked all screwy.
Chuck0:
>My point was these other authors are not influences on the
>anti-capitalist movement, at least here in North America. I've never
>seen mention of most of these names in any writing by North American
>anti-capitalists. And I know what the real influences are.
I definitely think you should do an Infoshop survey, but I think that will more or less confirm what I already suspect: that the majority of anarchists and libertarian socialists are indeed probably influenced by Situationism, Council Communism, as well as classical Anarchist and some modern Anarchist theory. But I doubt if this holds for the majority of movement folks, who I think are largely non-ideological.
Just as an aside, I find the anarchist embrace of Council Communism curious, albeit positive. The Councilist disagreements with Lenin and the Third International have more to do with questions over the efficacy of the construction of political parties and work within the mass trade unions in the context of revolutionary Germany between 1918-1923. The differences don't extend to what I usually see as the traditional rifts between Anarchism and Marxism. The Councilists, Pannekoek included, actually supported the crushing of the Kronstadt uprising.
The Councilist folks, like Lenin himself, had no illusions that after the massive damage inflicted by the Civil War the Bolsheviks were in a position to do anything than construct a sort of state-capitalism.
Chuck0 again:
>I don't know what criteria you use to say that anti-capitalist activism
>in Germany is more advanced than here in North America. I just don't see
>that, because North American anti-capitalists are pretty cutting edge.
>Perhaps they don't spend their time reading books and writing theory,
>but their track record on the streets is pretty advanced.
I think in terms of having a sort of institutional presence, like actual anti-capitalist daily newspapers with wide circulation, as well as serious participation in the anti-neoliberal movement by trade unions and other mass organizations, Germany is light years ahead, but I don't want to imply that the U.S. is any slouch. I just think Germany is the beneficiary of a traditionally strong trade union and social-democratic consciousness, which of course has disadvantages in terms of people having illusions in traditional Keynsian regulatory measures (ATTAC, with an active membership of over 10,000, has benefited from the sell-out policies of the SPD and Greens in government), but it has huge advantages in the sense that most ordinary German citizens have a certain sense of basic entitlement to things like health care and education that most Americans simply don't have.
Berlin has seen a massive, popular student strike at all three of its Universities in the past month. The kids have been leading protests, hooking up with the trade unions, holding open seminars, and occupying the offices of local politicians. Most of these kids are not conscious radicals, just believers in the basic right to a cost-free education. It's in that sense that I'd say Germany is years ahead of the U.S. The U.S. movement for global justice and against neo-liberalism (I hesitate to call it "anti-capitalism") just doesn't have that sort of broad impact on popular consciousness yet.
Doug writes:
>Is that the scope of the activist left? Are there other strains, more
>in tune with classical or even kinky Marxism?
I think classical political economy types like Elmar Altvater and Maria Mies certainly play a role in organizations like ATTAC, and as mentors to the younger generation. And the PDS (post-communist successors to the Gorbachev wing of the old East German SED) plays a contradictory role, participating in opposition to neo-liberalism at the federal level, but unfortunately participating in questionable local government coalitions with the social democrats in some places.
You also have other old-left survivors, like people involved in the 80s squatter scenes, and a handful of 68ers, as well as an assortment of the usually sects.
But as a whole, I think the broad character of the movement in Germany causes it to be populated mainly by people who are fighting back at neo-liberalism because it threatens their interests (students threatened with fees, trade unionists facing an assault on the system of national collective bargaining). I think it's a sign of health to have a movement comprised of something other than radicals, though naturally you gotta step into sometime and try to bring in alternative ideas, especially since ATTAC is too much prone to influences like the sort of hokey bio-regionalism associated with types like Vandana Shiva.
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