[lbo-talk] The Zapatistas triggered it all

[shag carpet bomb]

The specifics of how this was kept alive in the U.S. context, via Direct 
Action Networks, is documented in Graeber's Direct Action. I strongly 
encourage anyone interested in this topic to read this book. He helps you 
understand that much of the handwringing over much of what went on with OWS 
(the problem of GAs, violence v non-violence, etc.) are issues that direct 
action networks have been dealing with for years, continually modifying 
their approach based on what they learn in the field. Although some 
arguments, natch, repeat themselves.

Those interested in what black blocs actually do (as opposed to wild 
imaginings from Proyect) should definitely read this book. While much of 
this was discussed here already, you can get a better sense of the nitty 
gritty details through empirical illustration. Notably, the book also 
reveals that the issue with the peace police organizing and staging attack 
is an ongoing one and there's a history of the peace police using violence 
on direct action anarchists. The anarchists walk away because they really 
are opposed to the use of violence against people and animals.

There's also a fascinating insight into the history of labor alliances with 
Direct Action Networks, which explains why, from the beginning, there was a 
labor outreach campaign. There was one, not because of any innovation 
unique to OWS (It was remarked on in the press like it was something 
special), but because it was a direct result of a decision to maintain this 
as a core alliance, ever since Seattle. Thus, all the DANs Graeber 
discusses have two focal issues to which a major working group is assigned:

1. Labor Outreach
2. Police and Prisons

It turns out that there is a rich history orf association with labor unions 
on the part of DANs, contrary to claims I read  here recently. And since 
the organizers heavily involved in the NYC DAN had much to do with OWS, it 
was natural that they immediately created a labor outreach group as 
described by Sitrin, Graeber and others. In NYC, unions regularly 
approached the NYC DAN for help with strikes - for bodies, for puppets and 
banner drops, etc. Don't have time to detail all of the actions mentioned 
in the book, so I'd really encourage you to take a look at this book for 
more on the intellectual and movement history.

Graeber also discusses the drawbacks of the direct action approach, in much 
finer detail than I've seen so far. The weakness of the approach, as he 
sees them, are nothing like what outsiders have claimed.

49 AM 1/4/2012, Julio Huato wrote:
>Wojtek wrote:
>
> > Can you summarize his argument for those who do not read Spanish?
>
>For those who don't read Spanish... and refuse to use Google Translate, sure:
>
>According to Hermann Bellinghausen (La Jornada), these are theses
>argued by sociologists, Pablo González Casanova (Mexico) and
>Boaventura de Sousa Santos (Portugal) at an international seminar held
>in San Cristobal de (Bartolome de) Las Casas (Chiapas, Mexico).  As
>they resonate in my head, the salient points are two:
>
>(1) The EZLN kept the flame alive in the face of what appeared to be a
>juggernaut, and therein lies the (or one of the) merit(s) of their
>movement.  People should remember that the Zapatistas staged their
>uprising when the "neoliberal" tide was in the up, Mexico had been
>forced by its debt crisis to plug its economy to that of the U.S.