The Significance of 15 March 2005: On the Bagong Diwa Prison Massacre By Dylan Rodríguez, in affiliation with the Critical Filipino and Filipina Studies Collective (CFFSC)
In “The Significance of 15 March 2005,” Dylan Rodríguez examines the global reach of the American prison system through an analysis of the Bagong Diwa prison uprising in the Philippines last March. The U.S. government likes to claim that American democracy sets an example for the world to follow, but as Rodríguez shows, the real example it is setting is in showing the world how to incarcerate—and how to deal with the incarcerated.
“The emergence, expansion, and everyday functioning of the US prison apparatus offers a framework through which other national governments—in particular those in (neocolonial) political alliance with American global hegemony—may conceive, modify, and deploy new modes of political repression, social control, and domestic warfare. In the midst of the US prison juggernaut, which now holds about 2.5 million people captive (including children), we must anticipate and prepare for the reform, transformation, and expansion of the Philippine police and prison apparatuses.”
Workers and Capital: Lessons from a Social Service Worker’s Strike By Todd, Portland
In “Workers and Capital: Lessons from a Social Service Worker’s Strike,” Todd draws lessons from a recent strike he participated in. He concludes that the model of “business unionism,” which most unions follow today, effectively takes power away from workers and moves class struggle out of the workplace. Inspired by the Industrial Workers of the World, he develops a new framework for unions—“direct unionism”—whose aim is to develop workers’ power in the struggle against capitalism.
“We are trying to forge a new way of organizing, one that continually engages workers directly in the revolutionary struggle for controlling the workplace, and integrating and spreading community organizing throughout the struggle. In the process, workers involved gain the experience of struggle and workplace control that is transformative of social relations and people’s consciousness. If we can open up space of perceived safety and opportunity for struggle, mass organization and transformation may become possible.”
White Power 2005 By Joel Olson, Bring the Ruckus
Finally, Ruckus member Joel Olson examines two recently published reports that demonstrate the continuing privileges of whiteness, even in a “colorblind” society.
“The wages of whiteness continue to be one of the main obstacles to working class unity in the United States. White working and middle class people are more concerned with protecting their racial privileges in a competitive society than in challenging the unjust nature of the entire system. This is the reason behind white support for school vouchers, privatized health care, tax cuts for the rich, increased policing, and ‘family values.’ All of these measures are, in their own way, a means to perpetuate white advantage and Black disadvantage without appearing explicitly racist. To abolish these privileges is not only to create a more just society. It is also the key to building a revolutionary working class in the United States.”
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