The Problem with “Privilege”

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The Problem with “Privilege” by Andrea SmithAuthor: Andrea Smith  |  File size: 328 KB

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“In my experience working with a multitude of anti-racist organising projects over the years, I frequently found myself participating in various workshops in which participants were asked to reflect on their gender/race/sexuality/class/etc. privilege. These workshops had a bit of a self-help orientation to them: “I am so and so, and I have x privilege.” It was never quite clear what the point of these confessions were. It was not as if other participants did not know the confessor in question had her/his proclaimed privilege. It did not appear that these individual confessions actually led to any political projects to dismantle the structures of domination that enabled their privilege…”

This article is from the blog of Andrea Smith.
It was found on the website of Miami Autonomy & Solidarity

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Beating Back the Bureaucrats: A Rank-and-File Struggle for Trade Union Democracy in Argentina and its Strategic Implication

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Beating Back the Bureaucrats by Jonathan PaynAuthor: Jonathan Payn | File size: 360 KB

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“Much time has been spent on the left discussing whether or not the existing unions can still be seen as capable of representing workers’ interests or whether they have been completely and irrevocably co-opted to manage and contain worker struggles on behalf of the bosses – be they private or public. Consequently, a lot of time has also been spent debating whether unions can be taken back by workers (and made to serve their interests), or whether they should be abandoned altogether in favour either of revolutionary or dual unions or so-called new forms of organisation such as workers’ committees, solidarity networks etc…”

Text from: Recomposition: Notes for a New Workerism

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Don’t Vote, Organise!

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Don’t Vote, Organise!Author: unknown | File size: 359 KB

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“It seems amazing that after over 100 years of electioneering, the Left still thinks that standing for elections is a good thing. It is even more amazing that certain anarchist thinkers are arguing along similar lines. Recent developments within the left and the US anarchist scene make it worthwhile to present the anarchist case against standing for elections…”

This text was downloaded from the excellent and highly recommended Struggle.WebSite

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Anarchism and Violence

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Anarchism & Violence by Errico MalatestaAuthor: Errico Malatesta | File size: 751 KB

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“Anarchists are opposed to violence; everyone knows that. The main plank of anarchism is the removal of violence from human relations. It is life based on the freedom of the individual, without the intervention of the gendarme. For this reason we are enemies of capitalism which depends on the protection of the gendarme to oblige workers to allow themselves to be exploited…”

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Socialism from Below: Defining Anarchism

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Socialism from Below: Defining Anarchism by Lucien van der Walt and Michael SchmidtAuthors: Lucien van der Walt and Michael Schmidt | File size: 759 KB

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This pamphlet is Chapter 2 of the book Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism (Counter-Power vol. 1) by Lucien van der Walt and Michael Schmidt. All references to other chapters throughout this text are references to that book.

See: black-flame-anarchism.blogspot.com

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The Nation in the Light of Modern Race Theories

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The Nation in the Light of Modern Race Theories by Rudolf RockerAuthor: Rudolf Rocker | File size: 575 KB

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German anarcho-syndicalist Rudolf Rocker’s excellent critique of the concept of “race” used to justify the on-going exploitation and oppression of those races considered inferior. This pamphlet is an extract from his book Nationalism and Culture, first published in English in 1937. It was originally supposed to be published in Germany in 1933 but, with the Nazi’s coming to power, Rocker was forced to emigrate.

2nd Zabalaza Books Edition | November, 2014

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The God Pestilence

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The God Pestilence by Johann MostAuthor: Johann Most  |  File size: 684 KB

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We live in a time when the alliance of religion and the state, assisted by technology and big business, promises to create an all-encompassing world order in which citizens will have everything except freedom. Laws abound, most of them proclaiming “public interest” – i.e., your interest, – as their reason for being. Religious fanatics, who want their notion of right and wrong, based on the crazy ravings in the Bible, to control the lives and conduct of everybody else, constantly put forward decrees on what thou shalt or shalt not do.

2nd Zabalaza Books Edition | November, 2014

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“Only the Organised Survive”: A Rebel Worker Handbook

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“Only the Organised Survive”: A Rebel Worker HandbookAuthor: Various | File size: 430 KB

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THE INDIGNITY OF WORKING FOR A LIVING is well known to anyone who ever has. Democracy, the great principle on which our society is supposedly founded, is thrown out the window as soon as we punch the time clock at work.

With no say over what we produce, or how that production is organised, and with only a small portion of that product’s value finding its way into our paycheques, we have every right to be pissed off at our bosses.

Ultimately, of course, we need to create a society in which working people make all the decisions about the production and distribution of goods and services. Harmful or useless industries, such as arms and chemical manufacturing, or the banking and insurance scams, would be eliminated….

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