[lbo-talk] occupy-s-89-where-anarchism-shuns-unionists-it-allies-with-the-ultra-right

[andie_nachgeborenen]

My sister, a union organizer for the carpenter's union who put in years pounding nails, but like me was raised in an upper middle class house and is a petty bourgeois restauranteur (co-owner with her partner--she's a lesbian), a small employer, and an oenophile, has reported to me over the years about intense sexism in the union. It's not just a cultural difference. The conduct she describes is boorish at best and illegal at worst. Although she is left, sister is a Democrat and would view anarchism as even more immature than my political views.

Anarchists have historically opposed unions, or unions that they do not dominate like the IWW, and then tend to view contracts as class collaboration. These days, with formal recognition and contracts so hard to obtain, nonideological working class  like WalMart workers have redis overhead the strengths of nonunion noncontract concerted action.

Sent from my iPad

On Jan 5, 2013, at 9:55 AM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:


> Thanks for posting this, Charles.
> 
> I find it hardly surprising, though.  Both anarchists and right
> wingers share the same core values - extreme individualism, distrust
> of anything social, and visceral hatred of large organizations (in
> that sense, they are both petite bourgeois).  The connection became
> quite clear to me after reading Graeber.  However, there also seems to
> be another layer - aesthetic, as argued by Bourdieu in his book
> "Distinctions." Anarchists, but also many leftists and liberals,  tend
> to come from bourgeois background and thus were socialized into a
> different set of aesthetic values than trade unionists with blue
> collar background.  Oftentimes it comes down to wine and cheese vs
> beer and crackers but it also involves gender roles and views on the
> environment.  My ex who used to work as a union organizer told me many
> stories about sexism of the union folk she was working with, which was
> quite offensive to her radical feminist sensibilities.
> 
> Wojtek
> 
> On Sat, Jan 5, 2013 at 10:19 AM, c b <cb31450 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> http://www.peoplesworld.org/occupy-s-89-where-anarchism-shuns-unionists-it-allies-with-the-ultra-right/?fb_action_ids=577045145646134&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=timeline_og&action_object_map={%22577045145646134%22:10150652393258622}&action_type_map={%22577045145646134%22:%22og.likes%22}&action_ref_map=[]
>> 
>> ___________________________________
>> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Wojtek
> 
> "An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."
> 
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk