#Antifa 2017: We Need To Talk!
The political landscape has changed drastically in recent years. Racist and fascist parties and movements are growing, and in a few EU member states they are even in power. Trump is president-elect in the USA. What are we going to do about it?
The election of Trump could help speed-up the rise of fascist parties and movements around the world. The former chief of Breitbart News, Steve Bannon, a anti-semite and racist, is now chief of strategy in the White House. Breitbart News has already announced they will open branches in France and Germany to support the fascist Front National and AFD in these key EU member states. There will be elections in both countries this year.
While Trump wants to build a wall at the Mexican border, EU border policies have already killed tens of thousands of refugees in the Mediterranean sea. More and more fences are being built at the borders of EU member states, thousands of refugees are stuck in Greece and living under inhuman conditions. Cops in Cologne, Germany checked the ID’s of 1700 people on New Years Eve, selecting people on the basis of their color of skin (in a “stop and frisk” fashion similar to what the NYPD do to black people in New York City.
While many people in Germany approved of the massive racist police operation in Cologne – including leading politicians of the German Green Party – nobody asked for more protection of refugees, although refugees in Germany are attacked by white fascists every day. In 2016, there were more than 900 attacks against refugees and refugee shelters in Germany. More than 100 of these attacks were arson attacks.
The fascists have recently been successful in changing views and winning debates. Racist views are regularly broadcasted in prime time TV talkshows in countries like Germany and the USA.
Terrorist violence against minorities is treated as a non-issue by German society. This is the solid basis for a shift in government policies against minorities. Apart from government policies against refugees in EU member states, anti-semitism, which never disappeared, is also growing again. Sinti und Roma are also still victims of massive discrimination and is accepted by large parts of European societies.
This is not new, but the intensity is. More and more people in Germany consider anti-fascist views to be views of naive “Gutmenschen”, a word which was often used by Goebels in the 1930’s. The fascist Pegida movement outnumber anti-fascist counter protesters every Monday in Dresden, Germany, and the elections in France and Germany could change the political landscape for many years with conservative parties taking over parts of the racist programs of the fascist Front National and AFD.
The situation in Europe, the massive influence of the EU and the USA on world affairs, the election of Trump, and the popularity of policies put forth by people like Putin show that things are not looking good for anti-fascists. So where do we stand, and what are we going to do? First of all, we want to make clear that we are aware of the fact that there are many people who continue to fight against fascism and racism. There are many great projects and actions happening. But we are losing ground – and we have to discuss our goals, strategy, tactics and unity.
In countries like Germany, parts of the anti-fascist movement have succumbed to a subculture, and there have been similar developments in other countries. I have nothing against subcultures but, antifascists should know that subcultures are often closed. This subculture has its own music and fashion, even it’s own fashion labels. In some autonomous- and social centers you will see lots of people at parties who you will never ever see at a political action.
A few years ago I heard a conversation in an autonomous center in Germany which made very clear why the movement is getting smaller and smaller. Somebody came into the bar of this autonomous center and was interested in political discussions and actions. One of the people in the bar said:”Hey your not wearing black, what are you doing here?” It was made very clear that this person was not welcome, without even speaking with her. Just because she looked different. Of course this is an exception, but it wasn’t the only time that I heard this kind of talk and had to start a long conversation. Some people seem to have forgotten that Black Bloc is a tactic and not a fashion statement.
Its often difficult to discuss the dangers of a dead end subculture. People who speak about this are often defamed and called disrupters, this doesnt help create an honest self criticism about the dangers of subcultures. In Spain and Greece there are some good examples of autonomous- and social centers which are open for all people and have strong support in the neighbourhoods where they are based. In these social centers you will not hear discussions like the one above. It was this open concept that was the basis as activists resquatted the Can Vies social center in Barcelona. The whole neighbourhood took the street.
So there are some good examples how an open movement can build up a solid basis to resist capitalist projects. In order to be able to fight more effectivly against the growing fascist movements this is exactly what we need. We need to come out of our subcultural safe zones and get into the neighbourhoods.
We need to stop the sectarianism. We need to start looking what we have common, instead of just looking on our differences. That wont be easy, but its necessary to unite against the fascists much more than we do now. Without coalitions between different antifascist groups, we will surely lose this fight.
We need to discuss how we will fight capitalism and fascism and what kind of vision and solutions we have. Not just in our social centers, but also in the streets and squares of our neighbourhoods. We need to solve problems in the neighbourhoods. For example: In Amsterdam there was a collective called “Tegengas” (counter gas) in the 1980’s. This collective illegally connected peoples homes to the gas- and electricity network again when corporations had cut them off because they couldn’t pay the bill. They also spread a lot of flyers in these neighbourhoods explaining the role of the energy corporations in society. Many people listened to and supported them because they combined political action with practical support.
Its good to block fascist gatherings and we should continue to do so, but its not decisive. We need to win the hearts and minds of people. We need good media, and people to spread information in the neighbourhoods, blogs, but also in social networks. Even when we oppose corporations like Facebook, we cant leave Facebook to the fascists, who are using it very effectively.
We need groups that defend neighbourhoods against fascist attacks, but also points where people can report discrimination in the neighbourhoods or state- and other offices.
John F. Nebel wrote a piece for German blog Metronaut in which he pleads for a united struggle against rightwing extremism and racism. Nebel wants us to fight for democracy. This is where his piece in Metronaut gets interesting, Nebel wants us to fight for the kind of democratic system that we as anarchists actually don’t consider as democratic. But as we wrote in Part 1, we do see the need to unite, so what are we going to do with Nebel’s plea to unite?
Liberals in Germany seem to understand more and more that the situation is alarming. Nebel writes in his piece that fear is spreading. Among his friends people are thinking about where they want to emigrate to when rightwing extremists take power in Germany. Nebel writes that this is a thought which would have been absurd only 3 years ago. This is how fast the times are changing. This is how fast certainty disappeared. Its dramatic.
Nebel didnt write an analysis. He thinks that analysis are important but they also batter and daunt us. The clock is ticking and Nebel writes that its about time “we” finally come into the offensive. I think the problem is that without an analysis it can easily happen people take wrong decisions when it comes to forming coaltions. We also need analyses to develope a good strategy and tactics.
Nebel is right when he writes that we all have to interfere when people spread racist views in a tram, or at Twitter or Facebook. We have to speak out and interfere at family celebrations and at work.
According to Nebel “we” are the majority of society and “we” have to act to make sure that “we” keep the majority. Nebel pleads for a big coalition and for big demonstrations against the far right.
Nebel pleads for a coalition with the conservative CDU, the radical left and all groups and parties between those two. In my view this is the point where Nebels plea gets problematic.
Apart from the fact that we, as anarchists don’t consider the current democratic system as democratic, Angela Merkel’s CDU and the German social democrats of the SPD are parties who are responsible for border policies that killed thousands of people in the Mediterranean sea. The parties in the German federal government also deport people to Warzones like Afghanistan and are responsible for the EU – Turkey deal, which shuts the door for refugees who want to come to Europe. SPD and CDU also introduced and implemented new asylum laws in Germany to restrict the rights of refugees. Under this government German police is carrying out more and more racial profiling operations.
We agree with Nebel that we need to unite to fight fascism, and we need to abolish sectarianism. We need to come out of our subcutural small world and liberals need to stop screaming when autonomous groups carry out direct actions against fascists. But we also need to look how a strong united coaltion against the fascists can be built.
It doesn’t make sense to build a broad coalition against the extreme right with political parties who have racist policies that kill thousands of people. Or with parties that support racial profiling by police forces. These parties are part of the problem and not the solution.
We can’t unite with forces in society that boost the export of arms and close the borders for the victims of these economic policies at the same time. Forces that blow away the livelihood of millions of people in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and other continents with their neo-liberal policies and treaties. Again: these political parties are part of the problem and not the solution.
When we want to win the struggle against fascism, we need some fundamental changes in society. That brings us to the following question: Can or should we work together with reformist parts of society? I think the answer is complicated but, in the end yes I think we must. The far right is growing fast and already changing debates in society, and uniting in ways that the left refuses to. Nebel is right when he says the clock is ticking. A first step could be to start debates about a united front against the fascists between different groups of the radical left. There are some significant ideological differences between us, but we should create a basis for a united front against fascism with the points we can agree upon.
A united radical left against fascism would be stronger in a broader coalition against racism and fascism which also could include reformist groups. Apart from political parties like for instance CDU, CSU and SPD there are other reformists in society that have a clear anti-racist position. I think we should negotiate a broad coalition against racism and fascism with reformists who have a clear anti-racist position.
For revolutionaries this won’t go far enough, so how can they combine their revolutionary struggle with their work in a broad coalition consisting of revolutionary and reformist groups? Two days ago we reblogged a piece written by the Federación de Anarquistas Gran Canaria (FAGC). The FAGC wrote: “Get into the neighbourhoods, don’t be afraid of hostility, suspicion, quarrels and base passions, that, I assure you, you will encounter. Take advantage rather of the fact that the virtual recuperation penetrates even into those with an empty stomach. Seek out those with no house, salary, health, assistance, hope. Convene a whole neighbourhood and confront it with the idea that it is in their hands to change the situation. Continue to grow, one step at a time, with effective assemblies, free of pompous discourses. Offer reality, naked and harsh reality. And begin to take, take and take, until nothing remains that you don’t manage yourselves.” In my view this is exactly what we have to do. We have to go into the neighbourhoods and start to work with the people who live there. Working on solutions with people who need solutions. Step by step. In other words our work in a broad coalition against racism and fascism must be combined with an active role on the streets and squares in our neighbourhoods.
These are just some thoughts and will hopefully start a debate about how to improve the struggle against capitalism and fascism. You can submit your contribution to the debate here: https://enoughisenough14.org/submit/