NEWS & VIEWS FROM (THE FORMER) SOVIETSKY
SOYUZ
No.3 February 1995
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Jahrbucher fur Psychoanalitik und Psychopatalogik der Russischer Radikalbewegungs
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GENERAL COMPLAINTS
Greetings from the weak link of the worldwide revolutionary resistance! In spite
of the word 'news' in the name of this bulletin it has always been views that
dominated it. Just as any other publication from the former USSR, ours is very
opinionated, not to say sectarian (we haven't got a sect). Since, due to our
irregularity, we fail to deliver news that doesn't stink, we always make reviewing
some tendencies in the anarchist scene here our main preoccupation. This time
too, we offer you the following general complaints. (Well, there will be some
news and events.)
The period since the previous issue of 'News & Views' (August 1993) was
characterized by the more and more evident withering away of the ideological
federations (that is the Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists (KAS) and the
Federation of Revolutionary Anarchists (FRAN).A third federation,the Association
of Anarchist Movements (ADA) never was an ideological federation and due to
its very informal character just can't die, because it was never actually so
much alive). This fact however shouldn't bother you so much, since in places
where there's enough will to continue anarchist activities, they are still carried
on - on a more
humane and non-sectarian basis. Unfortunately not everywhere it is so and anarchist
groups that actually do something can be counted by numbers, plus, information
exchange between different groups is in fact falling apart due to the fact that
almost all the anarchist info-bulletins collapsed -the Petersburg-based "An-
Press" which was published by libertarian capitalists is now defunct while
its publishers finally did what they should have done long ago - joined some
liberal party. "KAS-Contact" that was moved from Moscow to Tomsk 2
or 3 years ago finally collapsed, too, and was moved to Irkutsk where it was
being published very
irregularly due to lack of actual information and activities and technical problems.
The only bulletin that carried some occasional news that was buried under heaps
of gossip was Moscow IREAN's "Novy Nestor", that many people were
forced to read since there was nothing else. (When I say the bulletin was filled
with gossip and not news, I present not my personal point of view, but the position
of the editors of the bulletin, who from the very beginning looked at it as
a joke. It's very ironic that they were
delivering crap ahead of schedule (about 30 or 40 issues were published since
the beginning of the last year), while they failed to publish their paper with
the same regularity - although the latter only served the interests of anarchism
in Russia since the paper was filled with RAF communiques and salivating about
how IREAN loves them.)
UKRANIAN ANARCHISTS RE-GROUP (WHAT ELSE CAN THEY DO?)
In September-October last year some Ukranian anarchists, tired of sectarian
fights between KAS and FRAN and the absence of any workable anarchist network
in Ukraine itself, decided to launch some kind of an all-Ukranian federation.
Although not all the Ukranian anarchist groups participated in the gathering,
the organizers (the Donetsk KAS group) got positive responses from various groups
and activists from Lvov, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Nikolayev and some smaller
towns. As a result of
discussion at the conference they decided to put an end to sectarian debates
(that were mainly 'imported' from Russia anyway) and quit all the federations
they were part of - KAS, FRAN and ADA - and form the Confederation of Revolutionary
Anarcho-Syndicalists (KRAS). (In fact the Donetsk KAS group proposed to create
the Confederation of Revolutionary Anarcho-Syndicalists with a more traditional,
IWA-type program at the last KAS gathering in Moscow, but this proposal was
declined partly because of the lack of substantial reasoning behind it and some
rather bureaucratic proposals for how this new federation should be run.) The
new all-Ukranian federation adopted a traditional anarcho-syndicalist program
modelled on the one of the IWA. The latter seems to arouse a lot of comradely
interest for KRAS, although their position on the possibilities of affiliation
with
the IWA is different from that of the "Friends of the IWA" in Moscow
- KRAS feels that the question of affiliation is still not on the agenda and
it won't be in 1996 (the planned date of the next IWA Congress) due to the obvious
weakness of anarcho-syndicalists in the former USSR and the absence of the "critical
mass" for a syndicalist union. And it's true - none of the syndicalist
groups in this country can be called a union, because of their miniscule size.
Although the anarchists of Donetsk region who were the motor behind the creation
of KRAS are rather optimistic about the future of this organization, they obviously
will face some serious problems - like the one they had last year when the officials
warned them that they can't be an "anarchist federation" and publish
a paper of this "federation" since it is not legally registered with
the state. In case they will try to violate this, they were promised to be charged
several hundred dollars worth of fines. This was one of the reasons why the
second issue of their "Anarchy" paper wasn't published (the other
reason was the primitive stage
of capitalism in Ukraine and virtual inavalability of accessible printing places).
Anyway, Ukranian anarchists didn't abandon their desire to continue their publication.
So far they launched a small internal discussion bulletin that aims at creating
a discussion about the activities and principles of their organization.
REVOLUTION OF THE SPECTACLE IN THE SOCIETY OF EVERYDAY LIFE
The lack of appeal of 'radical' ideas and actions to the general population forces 'radicals' to think of new ways to seek popular support.
The latest frenzy in the anarchist, communist and proto- fascist circles is
the concept of being 'cool' and presenting your ideas and activities in the
most spectacular way. The first to dive into this marketing strategy was Edward
Limonov, a scandally-famous Russian writer, founder of the spectacular- extremist
National-Bolshevik Party. That Limonov, this re-incarnation of Malcolm MacLaren,
decided to gain some popularity and money on the scandals surrounding his 'political'
activities was quite
predictable. What was hard to predict was the recent obsession of pretty traditional
Young Communists (RKSM) with creating a new image of communism, which is to
be marketed to the youth. I doubt that they would ever have arrived at such
a 'modern' concept, had they not been surrounded by some 'anarchists', who were
in fact the main orchestrants of this frenzy. Already a while ago some people
from IREAN headed to the Stalinist-lead "Student Defence" "trade
union", where some monarchists and other miserable creatures were also
involved. Anarchists wrote some 'cool' articles for the Young Communists' paper
giving these
bores some brand new ideas and images - some class war, some poorly-digested
feminism, etc. "Student Defence" managed to organize some 'cool' protest
in April last year with some occasional 'anti-capitalist actions', which were
afterwards disproportionally blown up in their papers. After that the concept
of 'spectacular revolution' was given final shape with statements like "to
make a revolution today... it is enough to film the moment of rebellion and
make a videoclip".
On January 17, 1995 Young Communists organized a "theoretico- practical
conference on "New Revolutionary Communism", where they talked a lot
about the need for a new ideology. Also they spoke a lot about the 'similarity'
between the new left and new right and the necessity of acting together on some
concrete issues. The reason for that was found in the 'numerous
historical examples of Communists acting together with {left} fascists'. However,
the reasons for such activities and their possible outcomes were not analyzed
at all - it seemed that analysis of any kind is out of their reach. These tendencies
were rather well articulated in the papers of IREAN, RKSM and the National-Bolshevik
Party recently and thus it became possible for the Russian Section of the Last
International and the Clandestine Committee for the Eradication of Professional
Revolutionaries, Militants and their Sympathizers to go to considerable lengths
denouncing all these stupidities of these self-proclaimed 'radicals'. The communique
of these organisations called "A Good Cure for Obsolete Communism: An Appeal
to the Victims of the Theoretico-practical Conference..." attacked the
superficial claims about putting the spectacle to the service of revolution,
the discovery of the similarity between the new left and the new right that
we should somehow 'use' and the general stupidity of the
above-mentioned tendencies.
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CHRONICLE
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On December 7, 1994 about a dozen anarchists picketed the Indonesian embassy
in Moscow, protesting against the continuing occupation of East Timor and the
genocide of its population. A couple of articles about the tragedy of East Timor
was published in some (almost mainstream) paper, thus putting an end to the
20- year-old silence of Russian propaganda on this topic. Protesters handed
a letter to the ambassador. Unfortunately this time the Moscow office of the
BHP (a company extracting oil from East Timor in spite of occupation and genocide
there) wasn't spraypainted and thrashed, but we'll sure do it next time.
Protests against the war in Chechnya sparked some life into the anarchist scene
in Moscow. Anarchists participated in most of the demonstrations and pickets
against the war. On December 12, which saw the biggest demonstration against
the war (several thousand people, ranging from Communists to liberals and the
Chechen community of Moscow), they tried to
organize a small 'radical' march on the Defence Ministry together with some
young Communists, Trots and radical liberals, but were stopped by the police.
Several people were arrested later in the evening. On December 19 five activists
of radical Democratic Union and anarchists painted the Defence Ministry with
anti-war slogans and even 'bombed' it with
fireworks. Some of them were reported to the police and arrested, but the court
set them free without any fines. There was also some leafleting in Moscow metro
(which is now filled with policemen and military, looking for "Chechen
terrorists"), with a couple of people arrested and fined, and some spraypainting
around the city. On January 30 some Moscow anarchists
and radical liberals from the Democratic Union (DS) spraypainted 13 military
call-up stations with anti-war and anti- imperialist slogans. They are also
planning an active campaign against the military call-up this spring.
In Nizhny Novgorod (former Gorky) the local Anarchist Club, Rainbow Keepers
and the local Green Party launched a campaign against the military institutions
and the war in Chechnya. Local call-up stations were spraypainted with slogans
like "Russia shouldn't be a gendarme!", "Turn your arms against
those who send you to kill!" and "Here are the headquarters of the
fascist army". This happened after the local authorities remained deaf
to the demands of protesters who were organizing
pickets. Well, if they still will be deaf, anarchists promised to go further
than words.
Khabarovsk in the Far East is also bubbling - some anarchists make a radio
show "While Mommy Watches Santa-Barbara", bringing some music and
attitude to a young audience. Khabarovsk anarchists also launched a campaign
against bus controllers, agitating for going without paying, collective obstructing
of controllers and damaging some bus equipment. This campaign is an answer to
another increase in the cost of public transport. Among the other activities
of these joyful Far Easterners are
continuing attempts to organize a rock club and a 'free university' (regular
seminars and discussions on different topics).
In Tver, a city located in the middle of the road between Moscow and St.Petersburg,
anarchists participate in a campaign against the construction of a superhighway
between the two capitals. Construction of the superhighway, that will have a
deep base is likely to destroy the natural underground water system of the region.
On February 11 activists from various anarchist, ecological and radical liberal
groups held a discussion in Moscow. Originally, the topic of the discussion
was rather broad - from the traditional ways of organizing in this country (and
why they can't help us achieve anything) to the role of family in undermining
broader communities to what we can do this spring. However, people who have
gathered for the discussion preferred to discuss how it happened that radicalism
lost even the tiny grounds that it had in
the emerging social movements of the perestroika era (this discussion has been
around for several years already), but didn't pay attention to what was really
wrong with the existing forms of organizing (i.e. ideological groups). Anyway,
since recently we witnessed the creation of some down-to- earth groups oriented
on specific issues (mainly ecological), the radical
movement is moving in the right direction. It's a pity that this is done in
some unconscious fashion. As the discussion proceeded, issues of cooperation
between different groups were discussed, namely around the anti-war and anti-draft
campaign. It was more or less agreed to hold regular meetings and stop inter-
personal and inter-group infights that were going on for several years. The
groups that decided to participate in the future meetings included the Confederation
of Anarcho-syndicalists, the Group of Radical Anarcho-syndicalists (GRAS), Rainbow
Keepers (anarcho-ecological group), "A" Cultural Centre, "Cherepovets-95"
ecological group,the Democratic Union (radical liberals), The Emma Goldman Dancing
Brigade and some other activists that are active in other groups. (All of these
groups are rather or very tiny.)
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DON'T EAT YOUR REVOLUTION! MAKE IT!
On November 7 all the Stalinists gathered on Oktyabrskaya Square in Moscow under
the still-standing huge Lenin. Later they headed to Red Square, followed by
some small groups of Trotskyists and even some anarchists who successfully created
an illusion that "young people" were with them. While the latters'
red-n-black banners and dull papers were surely unable to destroy the traditional
way of celebrating the October revolution day, the assault came from where nobody
expected it. As the
demonstrators were going down their route they inevitably confronted a small
group of some vocal revolutionaries who were standing on the side of the road
under the banner of 'primitive communism' (made of fake red fur) who were fearlessly
banging their big drum. As the crowd passed by them and tried to find out what
they wanted to say, the atmosphere was getting
more and more tense. "The Blind" (that is the name of an artistic
group) announced that people who gathered at the demo had nothing to do with
revolution, that they 'ate' their revolution and shitted it out, that the only
thing they can do is ask the government for more money. Their poster announced
"Proletarians of all lands, enough eating!" Instead of asking the
government for money, The Blind announced, we should make another revolution
and realise the real - primitive - communism. We should care
less about material things and instead turn our attention to people around us.
After the demo passed and the shouts "They are Jews, Zionists! Go back
to Israel!" addressed to The Blind finally dissolved in the air, the 'primitive
communists' headed back home and were stopped by police, who asked for their
IDs. In spite of that, the affair ended peacefully.
STRANGE FRUIT
On September 5 some Moscow anarchists and punks were trying to defend their
'property rights' to a basement that was for some time used as a non-commercial
club named first after the infamous sell-out Jerry Rubin and later after Ho
Chi Min (due to the fact that the club was situated not far from a square named
after him and a surreal monument to Ho). On New Year's Eve anarchists had a
rather nice party there after which the club finally moved out - into nowhere.
Since both the Jerry Rubin/Ho Chi Min Club and the "A" Club which
was run by anarchists were homeless, they decided to join their forces. There
are some reasons to believe that this union will bring about not only a cheap
club where kids can hang out, but some constant place for radical meetings and
activities. So far we found a basement that was given to us and now we are looking
forward to cleaning
it up and using it for meetings and some kind of infoshop and anarchist library.
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THE ABC OF LIBERTARIAN LENINISM (this will be a comix)
Characters:
Male announcer - a hero of some comix, more or less like a Superman
Comrade Lenin - the leader of proletarian revolution, founder of Leninism
Male announcer: Contrary to what is usually believed, Leninism too has strong
libertarian potential. Unfortunately anarchists tend to disregard it while they
point out that only on one occasion Lenin supposedly 'stole' their ideas when
he wrote "State and Revolution". If we dig a little deeper, we will
discover the unknown terrain of Leninism which is highlighted by aphorisms,
not less poetic than those of Bakunin, Marx and the situationists. Please, comrade
Lenin, give us just one example.
Comrade Lenin (sitting on a chair, his arms on his knees, seems a little depressed,
announces in mechanic voice): You can't live in society and be free from society.
Male announcer: Brilliant, don't you think? For years and years philisters exploited
just one of the numerous creative methods
appropriated by Marx from Hegel, namely Marxist dialectical double-speak. Here
we find another creative tool for building a critical social theory, the one
that can be called critical reductionism. Let us now take the same phrase, but
this time without the last word. Please, comrade Lenin!
Comrade Lenin: You can't live in society and be free...
Male announcer: Terrific! But we still haven't seen the rest of the method.
Let's take out some more words. Please, comrade Lenin!
Comrade Lenin: You can't live in society and be...
Male announcer: Fantastic! Do you understand now what a great potential libertarians
missed when they claimed Leninism to be inherently authoritarian? Contrary to
this narrow opinion it is as critical as, say, young Marx... Let's see, what
will happen if we take out some more.
Comrade Lenin: You can't live in society... You can't live... (Clenching his
fists, angrily.) You can't, you can't, you can't!!!
Male announcer: Assistant, please! Can you take comrade Lenin and provide him
with another dose of morphine? His authoritarian syndrome is back, we need to
calm him down!..
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some @narchist e-mail contacts in the former USSR:
cube@glas.apc.org : a little cell of cyberspace occupied by Laure Akai and Mikhail
Tsovma. The name comes from Cube Press, a project that they hope to lift off
the ground sometime. So far one pamphlet was published - on Bakunin's philosophy
and social ideas. The plan for 1995 includes Daniel Guerin's "Anarchism",
George Bradford's "Triumph of Capital", Fredy Perlman's "The
Continuing Appeal of Nationalism" and probably a small anthology which
we so far plan to name "Mickey Mouse, Fuck Off! An
introduction to critical theory" (it will contain some articles from "Anarchy:
A Journal of Desire Armed", some Bob Black, Fredy Perlman, etc.)
tretyput@glas.apc.org : "Trety Put" (Third Way) anarcho-ecological
magazine edited by Sergei Fomichov, part of the rather loose network called
Rainbow Keepers that is organizing some ecological campaigns every year since
late 80's
ecodefense@glas.apc.org : Vladimir Slivyak in Kaliningrad/Konigsberg on Baltic
Sea, also an anarcho-ecologist
nadia@glas.apc.org : Nadezhda Shevchenko from Kiev, Ukraine, anarcho-ecologist
volga@glas.apc.org : Olga Pitsunova, anarcho-ecologist in Saratov
rk@glas.apc.org : Moscow group of Rainbow Keepers, still in the process of building
their technical base, that's why you might not get response if you write to
them
Also available for GlasNet (Russian APC network) is a conference glas.radical.
We intend to keep it mainly Russian-language and thus it is not networked to
other APC networks (there's also a problem with transfering/decoding cyrillic
letters.
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COMING SOON:
In the next issue of News&Views I hope to give some materials about: - anarcho-ecological
groups in Russia and their activities, both in the recent years and the ones
that they plan for the next summer - the activities and the current state of
syndicalists groups in projects - "the wonderful world of ZAIBI",
THE most interesting (anti)music (anti)group and some of its ideas
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Contact us: via e-mail: cube@glas.apc.org via regular mail: POB 500, 107061
Moscow, Russia
Compiled by Mikhail Tsovma, Laure Akai. Long live the ANC (Absolutely No Copyright)!
Materials published above reflect only the personal opinion(s) of the author(s),
but this doesn't mean they should be treated differently from the positions
of the so-called federations.
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If I can't be a graphomaniac once a year, I'm not part of your revolution! (Sorry
for all the non-existent English words that I put into this bulletin.)