Helen Scott on Rosa Luxemburg

Part 2 Part 3

A wonderful introduction into the life and times of Rosa Luxemburg, the early 20th century German revolutionary. Helen Scott is editor of "The essential Rosa Luxemburg : Reform or revolution & The mass strike".

Slavoj Žižek in Roda Viva

In this excellent interview with Slavoj Žižek, the thinking of this fascinating philosopher is nicely introduced as Žižek is confronted with questions from different sides; he explains why he is a marxist in political economy and Freudian, Lacanian and Hegelian in matters of ideology.

Books by Slavoj Žižek

People Power Politics

Compared to the last American government of course, the Obama administration is quite responsive to public opinion. But, to be frank, it should be clear by now that Obama’s policies are miles away from taking measures to dismantle the empire, take care of the poor in your country, set up single payer health care, or implement a crucial emergency rescue plan for energy and climate, for instance. The crucial question therefore, I think, is not what the current administration is proposing and doing, but rather what American activists will be able to achieve in the present historic window of opportunity. As Christopher Hayes expressed a similar optimism: "history is pointing in our direction". So in this article I would like to address the strategy of the American left, the vital actors who put pressure on the only state that can on its own seriously change the course of world politics.

I am of course not alone in calling for the active citizens of the US to think about the most effective way to act in the longer term. For example, former UN weapons inspector and anti-war drill sergeant Scott Ritter stated that the anti-war movement needs to reinvent itself:

“It is high time for the anti-war movement to take a collective look in the mirror, and be honest about what they see. A poorly organized, chaotic, and indeed often anarchic conglomeration of egos, pet projects and idealism that barely constitutes a "movement," let alone a winning cause.” ('The Art of War for the Anti-War Movement')

Ritter is often a little harsh and rigid to my taste, and understandably suffered from some culture shock after siding with anti-authoritarian activists, he does have an important point. I think it can help all of us to be shouted at by people like him from time to time. Not because activist groups need to organize in a military manner per se, but to become better at strategic forward thinking; setting objectives, and consequently figuring out concrete ways to achieve them. There is, however, one crucial issue he does not address: the need to formulate an independent radical vision of and for society. Strategic action is always a means to an end, it by definition only makes sense if it is instrumental to a larger goal. The task for the left is to formulate this alternative vision for society.

So the left does not only need to reinvent itself organizationally, but also ideologically. Theory is a necessary first step to opening up political possibility. These times of proliferation of crises should be used first and foremost to return to the fundamental questions and critiques of capitalist social relations, the state and its relation to capital, democracy in the economic sphere, the relation between the economy and the natural environment, alienation and consumer society and so on. The ongoing search for forms of collective action that transcend the now all too apparent shortcomings of liberal democratic capitalism is what needs to give the left a lasting sense of direction.

But in the mean time, reforms are urgently necessary to open space for radical ideas. Electoral reform and environmental reform are two illustrations of this necessity. Electoral reform is needed to break open the two party system, to show that the Democrats or the Republicans are not the only political options. And whatever society one would like to see take form, it will have to live with natural constraints like climate change, depletion of natural resources; in short the limits to growth. Our current transgression of the limits to growth is one fundamental difference between the situation in the 1930s and today. As a consequence of these new concerns, I would argue, the American left will have to seriously press for reform while engaging in a fundamental debate of self-reinvention. The issue is therefore not whether you should take a step back and think or act immediately out of a sense of urgency, but rather how to combine the two activities.

To determine a way to start realizing those long-term visions, it is helpful to think in terms of social processes. Quite understandably, the last eight years of the Bush administration evoked a serious amount of popular disenfranchisement; resulting in passive apathy but also active resistance. The depression and the bailouts have also motivated people to protest in the streets of New York, London and Strasbourg. People power has been on the rise lately. If the process of disenfranchisement continues during the Obama administration, it could very well become the foundation for a commonplace independent activist citizenry on the longer term, in which citizens organize, self-educate and determine their own course rather than limiting themselves to passively endorsing the Democrats, the Republicans, or being apathetic. The two essential missing ingredients are active organization and critical theory.

For some time, the campaign and election of Barack Obama took away a lot of energy from the movements. Especially in the weeks following the election the Obamania was absolutely intolerable. But lately, popular discussion and pressure increased by mainstream media is forcing him into a dilemma. If I understand the significance of the torture memoranda debate correctly, there are two possible outcomes. In the most likely case, Obama will keep to his line of only 'looking forward' and stop short of prosecuting those responsible for the torture under Bush (and during his own presidency! Democracy Now reported that since the closing of Guantanamo was announced, the treatment of prisoners there worsened significantly), which means he will bend and twist to keep the torture conspirators above the law. Such preferential treatment would be another sign that real change can only be the result of pressure from below, as was shown by the conservative staff appointments, the intensification of the war in Afghanistan, the silence during the Gaza siege, the Geithner plan, etcetera. Pressure would have to increase for the Obama government to make the changes that are necessary, pressure that will only come from your actions and patience.

The other possibility is that Obama shows himself willing to give in to pressure from below on issues that can draw on widespread coverage and popular support, and really allow prosecution. Just imagine Dick Cheney, Condi Rice and Donald Rumsfeld as defendants in court! That would be an amazing victory, again not for the Obama government, but for the American people; earned especially by those who have made the case for justice and fought for years to get to the truth of the matter.

If anything, this debate shows there is a chance to realize successes. The Obama administration is predictably wriggling around and torturing logic in avoidance of making powerful enemies, so do not be fooled into passivity if he will not go through with prosecution of those who allowed and committed torture. But there will be new chances. Anyone who has read books by Chomsky will know that there is no short supply of issues on which the policy elite, Republican or Democrat, opposes the views of a wide majority of the American population. Herein lies possibility of reform not only for the sake of reform itself, but also to show that another world is possible.

So what I would like to convey to you is this: for your own countries’ sake and for people around the world, self-educate and become effective. While engaging in the necessary ideological debates on the bigger picture, join an activist group if you haven’t already. Get into touch with other groups on a national level, coordinate and pick a topic to campaign on, have patience and try to use the mainstream media as your own platform. I am not saying that this will be easy, but when the chance is there, you have to be able to take it and use it well. Because, as we see in the recent debate on torture, it actually is possible to get even Fox News hosts to unequivocally denounce torture and call for prosecution of those responsible. You may not agree with how Shephard Smith puts his argument -“If we are to be Reagan’s shining city on the hill..”- but he was able to suddenly disrupt the indoctrination of millions of your countrymen. His broadcast outrage was as politically valuable a service as countless hours’ worth of organizing, licking envelopes, sending emails, having meetings and staging rallies. The trouble so often is, you need to latter to have the former; the very fact that Obama released the memoranda or that Shephard Smith felt the need to denounce torture to such a degree, are the sweet fruits of effective activism. Never forget that you, the active citizens of the US, are the real superpower.

Freek Blauwhof is a philosophy student and member of the Dutch Green Party, as well as the International Socialists.

Interview with Eva Golinger

I've found an excellent twenty-minute interview with Eva Golinger, the American-Venezuelan lawyer and journalist who obtained documents proving USAID and CIA's involvement in the 2002 coup attempt in Caracas. She tells about the coup, the direction and deepening of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela, and US policy towards the country.

Books by Eva Golinger

Announcing Dutch and British Marxism Festivals

As spring comes into full swing in Europe, the traditional 1st of May is followed by a series of Marxism festivals. In Holland, the International Socialists organised a two day event, hosting a myriad of discussions, film screenings, meetings and musical performances. The language will occasionally be Dutch, but the list of speakers is international so there will also be plenty of opportunities for those who don't speak Dutch.
During the course of weekend of the 9th and 10th of May, the following speakers will shed their light and engage in discussion on the depression, its causes and opportunities, climate change, NATO and Afghanistan, Obama and what he means for imperialism, 10 years of Chavez, the food crisis, the state of the unions, and much, much more:

Arnold Heertje (economist)
Ronald van Raak (Socialist Party MP)
Linda IJmker (Milieudefensie; Environmental Defence)
Mohamed Rabbae (Een Land Een Samenleving; One Country, One Society)
Lindsey German (Stop the War, UK)
Cees Ladestein (OR Nemef / FNV)
Maina van der Zwan (International Socialists)
Hajo Meyer (Een Ander Joods Geluid; A Different Jewish Voice)
Sotiris Kontogiannis (SEK, Greek Socialist Worker Party)
Nora el-Jebli (Moslima Polder Brigade)
Henk Overbeek (University of Amsterdam)
Mike Gonzalez (socialist from Venezuela)
Rebecca Gomperts (Women on Waves Foundation)
Peyman Jafari (author of 'The Other Iran')
Marjolein ’t Hart (University of Amsterdam)
Erhan Can (organizer with Dutch labour Union, the FNV)
Sara Farris (Sinistra Critica, Italy)
Marienella Yanes (filmmaker Red Oil)
Erkan Dogan (socialist from Turkey)
Miriyam Aouragh (Oxford University)
Antonio Carmona Baez (IIRE)
Volkhard Mosler (Die Linke, Germany)
Sjaak van der Velden (IISG)
Bart Griffioen (head editor 'De Socialist')
Mani Tanoh (socialist from Ghana)
Kees Kalkman (VD Amok)

So for those of you who live in Holland, I very warmly invite you to join the festival.

For those of you who live in Britain, this kind of festival is organised in an even more grandiose style in London, spanning five days with several events simultaneously. The list of internationally renowned speakers is just extraordinary. I plan on going there as well to see in real life some of the people who have been real sources of inspiration to me: Tariq Ali, Tony Benn and Slavoj Žižek in particular. So if you are in Britain, mark the 2nd to the 6th of July in your diary and make sure you do not miss this opportunity!

No Volveran -The 21st Century Socialism of Venezuela

Documentary No Volveran: Behind the bold policies of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez is a revolutionary mass movement that is saying NO to capitalism, and attempting to change the course of Latin American history. Journey deep into the barrios, out to the factories and into the heart of the revolution to find out why there is a movement to transform society. Meet the people who are fighting for power in their communities, and taking control of their work places. Follow the factory workers of Sanitarios Maracay in their struggle against sabotage and corruption, as they pave the way forward with their unprecedented campaign for full nationalisation under workers' control. In this feature length documentary, meet many of the key revolutionary figures to find out how they are trying build socialism of the 21st century, and how it is changing peoples lives. www.handsoffvenezuela.org www.alteredstatefilms.com www.marxist.com

Report from Strasbourg

RTL 4 News Report on the Dutch International Socialist Demonstration

Below this report is a transcript in English.

Last weekend I joined the Dutch International Socialists to try and peacefully protest NATO and the occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine in the French border city of Strasbourg. While no demonstrations were allowed inside the city, we agreed to try to get into the city as early as 4 am on Saturday, where we were met with extraordinary police repression. The gendarmerie immediately fired tear gas grenades at our manifestation the moment we were first spotted in the Strasburg suburbs. This encounter would set the tone for the entire day. Nonetheless we tried to reach the city centre, but had to back off when the riot police threatened to hopelessly split open our already decimated group of, at that moment, around 300 protesters. This is where Sanne, interviewed in the news clip, got hit directly in the face by an exploding tear gas grenade. She, some other comrades and I locked arms and got away as quickly as possible while we were trying to reach the retreating group, resisting the gas and grenade impacts. Many fellow protesters, me included, got hit by explosive grenades directly aimed at our bodies. In several cases this resulted in injuries. Inside the protected 'orange zone', we got trapped by lines of armed and armoured riot police, who refused to let us out to join the major demonstration. We were locked in at an intersection for several hours, Over time other split off groups of demonstrators joined our blockade, and so we slowly regained morale.

It took determination and a lot of pressure before the riot police let us cross the bridge to join the planned major demonstrations. The battle for the bridge started when a bigger group of several hundred people joined our group cheering. The police felt threatened and moved in to ram us away from the bridge. We stayed our ground, lifting our hands in the air, chanting: "We are peaceful, what are you?". The pressure mounted and we were forced to retreat, but the police apparently feared retaliation and returned to the bridge. It was at this time that the 'Black Block' started rioting. The Black Block are a radical group of anarchists who want to beat the system with violence. They got increasingly worked up, reacting with stones, clubs and eventually a few Molotov-cocktails to the police blockade and their continuous volleys of direct tear gas and CS grenade fire from launchers aimed with laser guidance. They also lobbed deafening and dangerous sonic grenades. An especially grim detail we witnessed was that a medic in uniform got hit frontally in the crotch by another directly aimed exploding gas grenade. As he was dragged to the side of the road by his colleagues, they got hit as well while treating their colleague's wounds. The police definitely seemed to single out the medics.

It started to look like we might be surrounded for real, when, at precisely the right moment, a thousand strong group of fresh Englishmen, Greeks, Italians, Turks, Frenchmen and others gloriously tipped the scales in our favour. When we finally broke through the bridge blockade the riot police moved to the side of the road and let us through to the main stage; the starting point for the official demonstration outside the city centre. But a few hundred Black Blockers turned right one street later than we did, where hundreds of riot police let them set fire to a hotel and a bank office before they felt the need to quell the riot. We suspect the fires were allowed to happen because, from our stage site, we saw smoke coming from the other side of a wall at least half an hour before we heard any serious grenade and rifle fire. When it hit, though, nobody knew what would happen to the planned demonstration - tension was definitely in the air.

The manifestation was quiet, while the widely spread frustration with the Black Block got confirmed one more time. Another bridge was occupied by at least two hundred fully equipped riot police now blocking a route to the city centre, but this time we could just have passed them by. In stead of ignoring the gendarmerie and following the normal route for the demonstration, the black mob chose to pick a fight anyway. This incident resulted in intense fire with rubber bullets, water cannons, and a suffocating amount of CS and tear gas. Disappointed with these irrational rioters, we decided it was time to go home to the Anti-NATO village and called it a day.

As Strasbourg was my first demonstration at an international summit, I never expected this amount of violence. But neither did the more experienced members of the Dutch IS. We agreed to have a peaceful blockade before the main demonstration, something that is to my mind an act of perfectly legitimate civil disobedience to a refusal of right to free speech. However, it seemed that the police would not let a peaceful blockade happen. The police response combined with a Black Block that is immune to arguments of non-violence leaves little room for an honest and widely supported demonstration against NATO and the occupations in the Middle East. Still, we managed to win the sympathy of the local population in the city centre at least. We crossed a good part of the 'orange zone', and even got our message of peace and solidarity across two Dutch national television broadcasters. Reporting teams from the public news programme Netwerk (transmission Monday the 6th, 20:25) and RTL Nieuws (Saturday the 4th, 19:30) followed us in our attempt to cross the city.

I think our movement has two major problems that prevent it from spreading in the hundreds of thousands. The Black Block were in my view just as much a threat to our message as the riot police was to our right to convey it. Despite serious difficulties for peaceful protesters at this summit, we have reached more than a million of our countrymen who might see through the general picture of violent rioters as a result. I want to thank all the comrades who made our efforts a success in spite of everything with their courage, caring, solidarity, and clarity! THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!

Transcript:

(0m;0s) Suzanne Rosman: Compliments back and forth, Bastiaan, eh, outside people are apparently less happy."

Bastiaan Hetebrij: "You can say that again. There have been demonstrations in both Germany and France today, as was the case yesterday and the day before. Some fifty protesters got wounded in the process today, and colleague Jeroen Akkermans got up very early this morning to report from the demonstrations."

Jeroen Akkermans: "Columns of smoke over the NATO summit. Strasbourg is the scene of riots and fires despite the enormous security operation. A group of around 100 Dutch socialists is on it's way early in the morning, but time and time again they find the police in their way."

Maina: "Emm, look, this is also not what we are looking for, but we want to make our voices heard against the war and escalation here today. It's hard, but we do it nonetheless."

Jeroen Akkermans: "De police fears spontaneous action and ar present on every corner of the street."

Pepijn: "If it were up to us, then all those security measures, that whole 110 million would not be necessary, because we are not out to kill those world leaders at all, our intention is to forcefully make our voices heard."

Bart and the IS: "A! Anti! Anticapitalista! A! Anti! Anticapitalista!"

Jeroen Akkermans: "Next to Bart, disguised protesters are singing along."

Jeroen Akkermans: "That protesters disguise themselves. Is that okay?"

Bart: "Yeah, I think it's okay, but erm, I don't understand the reason for it. Because protesting I think is something you do in complete openness, to plead for ewaul rights, human rights, democracy, I don't do that in disguise, and I would like to ask everyone to do it without disguise."

Jeroen Akkermans: "Because?"

Bart: "Because we don't have anything to hide, literally."

Jeroen Akkermans: "But this is not the place nor the time where protest is allowed. Also the police without uniform sees more and more protesters join in."

Maina: "So, firstly, this is a good feeling that we are with so many, by the way I have to take some measures now, but this is an excellent... development..."

Jeroen Akkermans: "Because?"

Maina: "Because, eh, there's a line of, er, riot police coming towards us, and we are a little surrounded."

Jeroen Akkermans: "The police fires with tear gas regularly. The protesters are not impressed. They retreat, only to advance later. Afterwards rocks are being thrown. The police beat with t heir batons, and people get injured."

Sanne: "All of a sudden there was this kind of BAM, and then this thing had exploded in my face."

Jeroen Akkermans: "But do you think this is worth it?"

Sanne: "I don't understand, why in a city like, you know, Strasbourg, we don't have the right to peacefully protest, in that sense I think it's really true: 'This is what democracy looks like.'"

Jeroen Akkermans: "Finally the demonstration is allowed to start, far away from the NATO leaders.(2m:46s)

More Reports: G20 Demonstrators Get Interviewed by OneWorldTV in London

Watch OneWorldTV - Interviews from the G20 protests in London in News  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

I've found this two hour but very instructive lecture on how to read 'Das Kapital', by one of the world's foremost Marx interpreter professor David Harvey. After decades of experience with the text he has an unique ability to understand what exactly Marx was doing in its entirety.
He is the world's most cited academic geographer (according to Andrew Bodman, see Transactions of the IBG, 1991,1992), and the author of many books and essays that have been prominent in the development of modern geography as a discipline. His work has contributed greatly to broad social and political debate, most recently he has been credited with helping to bring back social class and Marxist methods as serious methodological tools in the critique of global capitalism, particularly in its neoliberal form.

Marx's Capital with David Harvey
An open course consisting of a close reading of the text of Volume I of Marx's Capital in 13 two-hour video lectures by Professor David Harvey.



He appeared today in an interview at Democracy Now to analyse the G20 summit and the state of the economy. See the interview here.

His latest books:

An Introduction to Capital (forthcoming 2009)
The Communist Manifesto- New Introduction Pluto Press (2008)
The Limits to Capital New Edition (2006)
Spaces of Global Capitalism: Towards a Theory of Uneven Geographical Development (2006)
A Brief History of Neoliberalism (2005)
Paris, Capital of Modernity (2003)
The New Imperialism (2003)

The Mondragon Cooperatives

A lot of writers that I have cited or linked to here have deep criticisms of capitalism, which should raise questions about what might replace it. I think this is a topic that should be far more debated than it is today, because it deals with possible answers on how life might be better if organised in a different way.

The worker cooperative 'business model' is one promising practical example of how people might reclaim their democracy in the work place and become an empowered community; and Mondragon in Spain is one of the places which can show us how it's done.

So to approach economic democracy in a practical way, I thought I might link to a documentary and a speech on the Mondragon Cooperatives, which are one of the largest federations of cooperatives in the world. Learning about their integrative system is seriously inspiring because it works so beautifully. It is a group of democratically governed businesses helping each other to get ahead. They take care of the creation of new coops in the neighborhood through coop banks using refined development strategies. If they run a profit, the workers generally share 70% amongst themselves as dividend because the workers ARE the shareholders. 20% goes into reinvestment, necessary for productive capital, and 10% goes into community services, from a research university to medical care and cultural activities. Empowered by this well-designed system, these people are in a constant process of figuring out how to live democracy in their daily lives.
The coops coordinate to ensure no member worker goes unemployed for long. If some do, they are guaranteed 80% of their original wage under the coops' social security funds. The system has been so successful that from its quiet birth in 1955 under the Franco fascist regime, it has grown into a network providing more than 100.000 jobs and countless services in the Basque country. After seeing this, who can claim capitalism is the only possibility?

Mondragon Website in English

"The Mondragon Experiment" is a BBC documentary produced in the 70s, which documents the founding and rise of the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation. Tracing its birth back to the time of the Civil War in Spain and its remarkable success since then, combined with an analysis of the actual structure of the company, The Mondragon Experiment makes a strong case for industrial democracy as an alternative to the present economic order.



Praxis Peace Institute Founding Director, Georgia Kelly discusses the unique collaborative business model of the Mondragon Cooperatives located in the Basque country of Spain. This presentation will cover the ethics and vision of Mondragón as well as unique success stories that are an inspiration to those seeking alternatives to business-as-usual. The goal of the Mondragón Cooperatives is to create community through economic relationships and to transform society through conscious economic practices. (Video a little bad, sound is no problem though)



Books on the Mondragon Cooperatives

One of my favorite comedians, Mark Steel combines a sense of british humour, an amazing ability to make history come to life, and a healthy activist spirit in this lecture (or performance) on the French Revolution. First of two parts.