Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

From Riot to Revolution: Anarchy and Argentina

anarcho | 16.02.2002 18:14

An anarchist analysis of recent events in Argentina

From Riot to Revolution
-----------------------

"We have seen how the Revolution began
with popular risings ever since the first
months of 1789. To make a revolution it is
not, however, enough that there should be
such risings -- more or less successful.
It is necessary that after the risings
there should be left something new in the
institutions, would permit new forms of
life to be elaborated and established."
Kropotkin, _The Great French Revolution_

Anarchism is often portrayed by historians and
others as somewhat utopian, having no real idea of
how to get from capitalism to a free society.
Lenin, for example, asserted that anarchists "while
advocating the destruction of the state machine,
have absolutely no idea of what the proletariat
will put in its place." The truth is, of course,
different. Anarchists see the initial framework of
an anarchist society as being created under statism
and capitalism when working class people organise
themselves to resist oppression and exploitation.
In summary, the very process of collective class
struggle would create the basis of anarchism.

Therefore, anarchists do not abstractly compare a
free society with the current one. Rather, we see
an organic connection between what is and what
could be. An anarchist society would be based on
the working class's own combat organisations, as
created in their struggles within, but against,
capitalism and the state.

In this sense, anarchy is not some distant goal but
rather an aspect of current struggles against
domination, oppression and exploitation (i.e. the
class struggle). Anarchism draws upon the
autonomous self-activity and spontaneity of working
class people in struggle to inform both its
political theory and its vision of a free society.
The struggle against hierarchy teaches us not only
how to be anarchists but also gives us a glimpse of
what an anarchist society would be like, what its
initial framework could be and the experience of
managing our own activities which is required for
such a society to function successfully.

Anarchy in Action?

The events in Argentina speak for themselves.
Popular risings there have been in abundance. After
two-and-half-decades of IMF-backed free-market
reforms, more than 40% of the 38m population live
below the poverty line and 100 children die daily
from hunger and disease. People have had enough.
Millions of people have challenged the state of
siege. People are fighting on the streets, standing
up to those who express and exploit them. In
Cordoba, a car-making centre north-west of Buenos
Aires, workers protesting at government plans to
reduce wages and apply other austerity measures,
occupied the town hall, and then set fire to it.

Various governments have collapsed but in the lives
of the working class, nothing changed -- except for
feelings of victory. In the streets the
confrontations continued. The power they express,
the power of mass direct action, inspires and will
not be easily forgotten.

The question is, what comes next? Will riot become
revolution? The answer to this question depends on
what forms of popular self-organisation are being
created. Luckily, such forms of working class power
are being created.

The most exciting thing is the largely spontaneous
appearance of "popular assemblies" after the
insurrection last year. These self-managed
assemblies are neighbourhood based on and run by
huge mass meetings of thousands. There are
currently 30 assemblies in Buenos Aires and many
others all over the country. In the French
Revolution, the people of Paris formed the directly
democratic community assemblies called "sections."
Kropotkin pointed to these as examples of both the
popular institutions required to make a revolution
("the districts of Paris laid the foundations of a
new, free, social organisation") and "the
principles of anarchism." It was by means of these
popular assemblies that "the masses, accustoming
themselves to act without receiving orders from the
national representatives, were practising what was
to be described later as Direct Self-Government." A
similar process is at work in Argentina. As one
assembly moderator put it, "here, no one is in
charge, we are going to take turns."

Other forms of popular power are developing. The
unemployed workers movement has played a key role
in many of the revolts. It has been building for
the last five years and in the last year it has
helped force the government to introduce policies
to aid the unemployed. Its tactics are to paralyse
transportation by blocking off major highways in
order to make their demands. They are called
piqueteros ("the picketers"). Any agreements made
are discussed by the participants directly. They do
not delegate leaders to negotiate with the
government. They make it come to the blockades and
the people there discuss what they should demand
and what they should accept. They have the same
healthy "distrust of all execute power" which
Kropotkin praised the Parisian Sections for!

There are attempts by workers to organise
themselves. Throughout Argentina strikes have
occurred. Committees of struggle and to co-ordinate
the protests have been created. Occupations have
started. In Ro Turbio, the mine workers have
occupied the mines. In Neuqun, the workers have
occupied ceramics factory of Zann, where a workers
congress was held in December.

This congress saw almost 400 ceramics workers,
teachers, unemployed workers and students meet to
discuss the current events. The main organisers
were the ceramics workers union (SOENC), the
teachers' union of Ro Negro (UNTER), a militant
unemployed workers' organisation (MTD) and the
teachers of ATEN Centenario. Members and
delegations of several other organisations of the
region also participated. After intense discussion
on a multitude of issues, including the next
measures to be taken in their struggle and the need
for co-ordination of current struggles, a
declaration was agreed. This stated that the
ceramics workers of Zann "struggle for the
nationalisation and the reopening of the plant
under worker control" and are "mobilising together
with the unemployed workers of Neuqun . . . and
with the teachers and government employees." They
aim to intensify "the co-ordination and unity
between struggles with the aim of setting up a
Regional Co-ordination" as a step towards the
unification of "the struggles on a national level".
They called made "an urgent call for an immediate
congregation of the National Assembly of Employed
and Unemployed Workers with a 1 in 20
representation, just as was voted in the last
Picketers' Assembly in La Matanza." This would seek
to unite all those "that are struggling through
democratically elected representatives voted in
Assemblies within the workplace."

Clearly, Bakunin's prediction that the "future
social organisation must be made solely from the
bottom up, by the free association or federation of
workers, firstly in their unions, then in the
communes, regions, nations and finally in a great
federation, international and universal" is taking
shape. The ideas of anarchism are being applied by
those in struggle. This is to be expected, as those
ideas are just generalisations derived from past
working class struggles!

Anarchists in Action

The anarchist group Organizacion Socialista
Libertaria (OSL), the strongest current of
organised anarchism in Argentina, is playing an
important role in the struggles. According to one
of their messages, "anarchist militants have been
battling the police since the morning in the Plaza
de Mayo" while the OSL have joined in marches to
Plaza de Mayo together with other social
organisations.

The OSL are encouraging the process of working
class community self-organisation, with "each
militant discussing in his or her neighbourhood the
best way to establish a minimal territorial
organisation with the goal of defeating the state
of siege." While "governmental secret services are
continuing to spread fear, paranoia and battles
between one neighbourhood and another," the OSL
have "decided to start an ideological debate with
others in those neighbourhoods where self-managed
peoples' organisations are present. It is in these
areas where we will call on the other organisations
to study what has happened and to develop a way of
acting which will allow us to reorganise against the
terror of the State and to organise self-management,
or at least, the seeds towards it."

They are also involved in the unions, attending
meetings called by the CTA trade union federation
to decide on its actions. They are aware that the
Trade Union leadership "did not want to go out and
agitate as they were afraid the situation could get
out of their hands." The key will be to encourage
any attempts by workers to organise independently
of their leaders.

The importance of anarchists getting involved in
the struggle is clear. As they put it:

"We must throw ourselves fully towards building
people's organisation, because if we the people are
not capable of giving ourselves the society which
we want and need, ex-President Menem is there
waiting to be called, as a replacement part so that
nothing changes."

The need for anarchists to argue for their ideas is
important. A process of revolutionary self-
education is occurring in Argentina, as in any
revolution (as Kropotkin stressed, "by degrees,
the revolutionary education of the people was being
accomplished by the revolution itself"). For
example, one Palermo neighbourhood assembly
participant notes that she was "very surprised
because there are people participating who
otherwise never left their homes. My 70-year-old
neighbour had never taken part in anything, but now
she has such an extremist stance that it is truly
astonishing."

However, self-education and self-liberation through
struggle is a process, a process that anarchists
can aid. As can be seen from many demonstrations,
the protests have a nationalist tinge to them. This
is to be expected, as the current crisis is the
result of foreign domination (aided and abetted by
the local ruling class, of course). It would be a
tragedy is this working class revolt gets sidelined
into boosting Argentinean capital within the
national market. Equally, many of the protestors
will be demanding that capitalism works correctly
rather than seeking its end. Anarchists must
clearly argue that crisis is inevitable under this
system and, equally as important, that local ruling
elites as just as bad as foreign ones and so
nationalism is no solution. Anarchists must do all
they can to argue that only working class self-
management can create a decent society and
encourage the struggle towards that end.

This struggle gives those involved a sense of their
own power (both as individuals and as a class). It
also gives them experience of managing their own
lives and of organising their own struggles. This
is a good foundation for building a strong
anarchist movement in Argentina. In case we forget,
one hundred years ago anarchism played the leading
role in the labour movement there. The current
events are producing organisations with a
distinctly libertarian nature. Could these be the
basis of a regenerated working class anarchist
movement like the old FORA anarcho-syndicalist
union federation? If so, it will not happen
automatically, it will require the anarchists to
take an active part in working class struggle and
organisation. As can be seen, the OSL is doing
precisely that.

Towards revolution?

As anarchists have long argued, the class struggle
creates the framework of a free society. This
process is at work in Argentina. How can the
transformation of riot into revolution be helped?
While this task can only by the work of those who
take part in it, a few words of general advice can
be drawn from history -- the first steps have
already been taken!

The practical bases of an alternative are already
falling into place. The embryo of popular power, of
a free society, is being created in the community
and workplace assemblies. Self-management must be
encouraged within them. These organs must be
strengthened and federated. As in every struggle,
co-ordination must be ensured.

Many neighbourhoods are organising popular general
assemblies to decide how to carry the struggle
forward. Their federation is essential. These
assemblies must have the real power to ensure they
become expressions of the will of the working class
and to provide a framework by which collective
decisions, direct action, solidarity and self-
defence can be organised. As Kropotkin argued, the
French popular assemblies "sought for unity of
action, not in subjection to a Central Committee,
but in a federative union." This was "made from
below upward, by the federation of the district
organisations; it spring up in a revolutionary way,
from popular initiative." The Argentinean ones have
started to do the same, with some assemblies
already choosing delegates who participate in
weekly inter-neighbourhood plenary sessions (some
of which draw some 4,000 people). Only by
federating together the popular organs of self-
management can the state be abolished.

Consumer products have been expropriated by the
people. The next stage is the expropriation of the
means of production -- the fields, factories and
workshops -- by workplace assemblies. They must be
placed under workers' self-management and
federations of workers' assemblies created. Any
attempt to nationalise them (as the Marxist left
proposes) must be opposed in favour of
socialisation -- replacing private capitalism with
state capitalism is no solution. Only socialisation
under workers' self-management will see capitalism
ended.

An awareness of this need is developing. At the
Zann congress, a 22 year old worker from the plant
stated that the each centimetre of the plant, each
tile that was piled within the long corridors stood
for "the millions that we produced, and everything
that the province gave to Zann, and now that Zann
doesn't want to be responsable for it, it's going
to be ours." That perspective has to be generalised
and turned from a defensive strategy to an
offensive one.

The building of federations between the community
and workplace assemblies is essential. This is for
three reasons. Firstly, to build working class
power to resist and finally overthrow the current
system by combining economic and social self-
organisation. Secondly, to aid the creation and
distribution of goods. Thirdly, to create a
possible framework in which to socialise the means
of life and place them under true common ownership.
A basic first step by the community assemblies must
be the setting up of consumer co-operatives to
facilitate the distribution of goods and encourage
workers to expropriate their workplaces.

In a nutshell: All power to the community and
workplace assemblies!

The call for a "National Assembly of Employed and
Unemployed Workers" is a positive one, as long as
it is made up of mandated and recallable delegates
and is complemented by local and regional
federations of assemblies. Without constructive
building from the bottom-up, any national assembly
will be artificial, simply a mouthpiece for various
would-be politicians and new bosses. Nor can it be
a grouping of existing unions and party committees
as this would simply be a top-down joining of
various bureaucratic committees and not a real
expression of popular self-rule. Any National
Assembly must be an organ for working class
struggle, simply co-ordinating and executing the
decisions of the base assemblies. Only this can
make the popular slogan "all the politicians out" a
reality.

Any attempt to centralise power must be resisted as
it will disempower the grass-root assemblies and
kill the revolt. The seemingly widespread call for
a "Constituent Assembly" is basically a call for a
left wing bourgeois government and for the popular
assemblies to be put under its control. It must be
opposed as it is the death of grassroots self-
management. There is a need to co-ordinate
struggle, but this must be based on bottom-up,
federal, organisations. A call for a "People's
Assembly," based on mandated delegates from the
community and workplace assemblies is paramount --
as is the awareness that popular organisations must
not surrender their self-rule and become mere
ciphers, stepping stones for a political party to
take power. Any working class assemblies (and their
councils) must be autonomous, free from the control
of any political party or organisation (including
anarchist!). All power to the assemblies must not
become transformed into "all power to the Party
through the assemblies." Decisions must reflect the
debate in the assemblies, not in the small,
restricted, leadership of a political party!

Only self-organisation and direct action from below
will ensure that this mass protest does not simply
result in a new gang of thieves being placed in
power. Only when the working class has organised
itself from below upwards will it be in a position
to dispense once and for all with bosses and
politicians. The struggle against capitalism is
building the framework of the free society that
will replace it. The job of anarchists is to
encourage these processes and show how they can
form an alternative to capitalism.

As in every revolution, the "principles of
anarchism" are being born from the class struggle,
the deeds of working class people fighting for a
better life. Argentina is no exception and as can
be seen, the embryos of popular self-management as
being created. We have a lot to learn from these
experiences. The current protests not only
reinforces the validity of anarchist ideas, it also
allows us to improve these ideas just as anarchists
learned from past working class revolts.

The role of the unemployed workers movement is
important, suggesting that anarchists should
seriously look at creating similar groups here.
Equally, the importance of the community assemblies
is obvious. Anarchists have long argued for this
and we should apply this principle in "community
unionism." These would be similar to the anti-poll
tax unions and such groups as Haringey Solidarity
Group and the Govanhill Pool protests in Glasgow.
Equally, the need for a libertarian presence in the
workplace is essential. This may involve pronged
strategy of rank and file groups within existing
unions plus dual unions to link up activists across
industries. Lastly, the anarchist movement needs to
discuss strategy and tactics in an open forum as in
the conferences at Bradford, Glasgow and London.

The events in Argentina also shows the direction
the anti-globalisation movement must take -- it
must apply its principles of direct action,
solidarity, self-managed self-organisation within
everyday life and struggles. While mass
demonstrations like those of Genoa are essential,
they cannot replace the need to build strong roots
in our communities and workplaces. Without this
grassroots activity, the anti-globalisation
movement will wither, just as a flower cut off from
its roots. Demonstrations by themselves will not
end capitalism or its imposed, top-down,
globalisation. Only when the bulk of the population
take direct action, organise themselves and fight
for their freedom will real change occur. As
Argentina shows.

The power of the working class in revolt is clear -
- it has managed to bring down numerous
politicians. The question is, will it be able to
bring down all governments and all bosses? That
remains to be seen. The possible framework of a
free society can be seen, will the Argentinean
anarchists be able to encourage these first steps
and help them become organs of working class power?
Hopefully. As the OSL say:

"we will be there with our conviction that a
different way of living is possible and that is
what we are fighting for!"

IM
**************************

From the forthcoming issue of Black Flag.

Black Flag
BM Hurricane
London
WC1N 3XX

 http://flag.blackened.net/blackflag

anarcho
- e-mail: anarcho@geocities.com
- Homepage: www.anarchistfaq.org

Comments

Display the following 4 comments

  1. comment — dave
  2. a short reply — anarcho
  3. a useful url — anarcho
  4. More comments — Dave
Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech