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Between Barbarisms: The Arab Spring, Marx, and the Idea of Revolution – by Greg Burris

Published on March 9, 2012 by in Articles/Essays, Egypt, Marx, Plutocracy, Tahrir Square, Theory

An assessment of the Arab Spring half a year later, in light of (1) the “clash of barbarisms” between the U.S. and Al Qaeda, (2) Marx’s concept of revolution, and (3) the possibilities for a revolutionary future – Editors With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dominant Western paradigm for interpreting international conflict underwent something of a transformation. No longer seen as a death match between capitalist “freedom” and communist “slavery,” international conflict instead came to be understood by many as stemming from cultural differences. That is, the world was seen as being enveloped by a “clash of civilizations.” With the intellectual backing of influential academics in the West like Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington, this worldview has served as a new bunker mentality, especially in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.[1] According to this view, the United States is not at war because of its policies. Rather, what is under siege is Western culture itself, the barbarians mercilessly pounding at the gates.[2] From its outset, the notion of a clash of civilizations encountered critics on the Left—thinkers like Edward Said who dismissed it as nothing more than a foolish delusion, as “a gimmick like ‘The War of the Worlds.’”[3] More recently, Gilbert Achcar turned this infamous thesis completely on its head, suggesting that what we have before us in the age of the global “War on Terror” is not a clash of civilizations, but rather a clash of barbarisms—the barbarism of the strong (the United States and its military, the transnational capitalist class, and the neoliberal agenda) versus the barbarism of the weak (reactionary theocrats and fundamentalist terrorists).[4] Thus, the world is not ensconced in a battle between primordially opposed civilizations, a kind of tribal feud gone global. Rather, a war is being waged between the oppressors in power and the underdog oppressors out of power, between the warmongers in Washington and their equally reactionary adversaries abroad. Meanwhile, the rest of humanity is held hostage, standing on the sidelines and serving only as innocent casualties as the deadly doppelgangers remained locked in their perpetual war of attrition. Obama and Osama, then, share more

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Egypt: Textile Workers Call for Revolutionary Democracy

Published on March 8, 2012 by in Egypt, Plutocracy, Tahrir Square, Uncategorized, Worker Struggles
Tahrir Square

A letter from the Revolutionary Association of Textile Workers to the revolutionaries on the barricades in Tahrir Square, Alexandria and Suez Original Arabic here 29 November 2011 Eleven days behind the barricades in the squares of Egypt is proof that the revolutionaries have reclaimed revolutionary legitimacy in seventeen provinces. Yet although the revolutionaries have offered themselves as martyrs in the squares as sacrifices for freedom, equality and justice, they have offered their wounded, and lost more than 11,000 to the military’s prisons, we have still not reaped the harvest of our struggle. Now, after ten months where we’ve seen the remnants of the old system simply recycled, and opportunistic attempts by the political forces with religious authority to ignore the revolutionary legitimacy of the masses in the squares, ten months where the blood of the martyrs has irrigated the pavements anew, now they are fabricating and falsifying the democracy we fought for. They are signing the revolution’s death certificate at the ballot boxes because they know that their path to power can only pass through the blood of the martyrs and the injured. It is therefore down to the revolutionaries in the squares to propose an alternative to the bloodstained democracy which the military council and its allies among the political forces with religious authority have decided upon. The return of the masses to the squares has inspired experiences among the revolutionary forces of the students, workers, peasants, professionals and the marginalized which we must build on to create the new form of democracy that we must defend. The military council and its allies in the corridors of power and the political parties are preparing a parliament to extend their presence and legitimacy. Now is the time for the masses in the squares to create forms of popular revolutionary democracy in Tahrir, Alexandria, Suez, Mansoura and Sohag. We must develop new, legitimate revolutionary forms of democratic representation from the streets and therefore we must create popular revolutionary councils in the public squares by: A public vote by the tens of thousands on the barricades in Tahrir Square to create the first popular revolutionary council by choosing

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Egypt: Army and Police Attack Striking Court Workers

Published on March 2, 2012 by in Egypt, Worker Struggles

  Thousands of court and prosecution service workers were reported to have organised sit-ins and protests across Egypt as part of a national strike which began on 28 February. The strikers are calling for improved salaries and improved conditions at work. Court workers protested outside the courts in Isma’iliyya, chanting the iconic slogan of the 25 January Revolution: Bread, Freedom, Social Justice.   Hundreds of court workers chanting during their occupation of the court buildings in Giza. The courts in Suez were completely closed by the strike. Hundreds of court workers gathered outside and held the doors shut to enforce the shutdown. Police and army forces stormed the court buildings, using electric batons to beat aside the strikers, injuring dozens in the process. Send messages of support for the court workers’ strike to menasolidarity@gmail.com   Technorati Tags: #generalstrike, egypt, protest, sit-in, solidarity, strike, union, workers

 
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International Libertarian Statement of Solidarity with the Egyptian popular Struggle – Anarkismo

Published on November 28, 2011 by in Egypt, Libertairan Socialism, Tahrir Square, Worker Struggles

International Libertarian Statement of Solidarity with the Egyptian popular Struggle – Anarkismo   On the weekend 19-20th a new wave of mass protest all over Egypt broke out because of the systematic violence of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) against the Egyptian masses. People are tired of its dictatorial behaviour, the use of extreme force against protesters, the military trials that in 10 months have ended up with 12,000 comrades rotting in jail, their censorship, the torture, kidnappings and selective murder of activists. People are tired of the military council hijacking the banners of our revolution to continue the same old dictatorship through other means. People are tired of the sectarianism they promote to divert us from our real fight for justice, equality and freedom. [العربية] [Castellano] [Italiano] International Libertarian Statement of Solidarity with the Egyptian popular Struggle On the weekend 19-20th a new wave of mass protest all over Egypt broke out because of the systematic violence of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) against the Egyptian masses. People are tired of its dictatorial behaviour, the use of extreme force against protesters, the military trials that in 10 months have ended up with 12,000 comrades rotting in jail, their censorship, the torture, kidnappings and selective murder of activists. People are tired of the military council hijacking the banners of our revolution to continue the same old dictatorship through other means. People are tired of the sectarianism they promote to divert us from our real fight for justice, equality and freedom. Technorati Tags: activist, egypt, Egyptian, libertarian socialism, Libertarian Socialist Network, Mubarak, north africa, protest, SCAF, socialist, tahrir, violence, Workers Solidarity Movement

 
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Occupy Wall Street strikes deep chord, challenges rulers

Published on November 10, 2011 by in Occupy Together, Occupy Wall Street

NEWS & LETTERS, NovDec 11, Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street strikes deep chord, challenges rulers by Gerry Emmett and Susan Van Gelder The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, since beginning in New York City’s Zuccotti Park–renamed Liberty Plaza–on Sept. 17, has spread to hundreds of cities and towns across the U.S. and linked with the occupation movements in Europe. On Oct. 15, Occupy demonstrations took place in 951 cities in 82 countries. The occupations are open manifestations of long-simmering discontent over growing economic inequality, no end in sight to Depression-level joblessness, looming environmental collapse, and a political system totally hostile to the cries from below. Wall Street became a symbol of the unity of economics and politics under the domination of a small elite. Behind the slogan, “We are the 99%,” lies the reality of state-capitalist warfare against the working class that has grown more brutal for each new generation of young people. These slogans represent a widespread, visceral rejection of what exists–a world of dehumanization and pain. The movement strikes a deep chord in a U.S. society that has suffered under capitalism’s ongoing crisis for decades. The brutal police assault on Occupy Oakland, Oct. 25, said it all. In a disgusting editorial “justifying” the assault, in which Iraq war veteran Scott Olsen was critically injured by a police projectile, Technorati Tags: #occupyoakland, #occupytogether, #occupywallst, #occupywallstreet, egypt, marx, oakland, paris commune, tunisia

 
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To the Occupy movement – the occupiers of Tahrir Square are with you

Published on November 4, 2011 by in Features, Occupy Wall Street, Tahrir Square

To all those across the world currently occupying parks, squares and other spaces, your comrades in Cairo are watching you in solidarity. Having received so much advice from you about transitioning to democracy, we thought it’s our turn to pass on some advice. Indeed, we are now in many ways involved in the same struggle. What most pundits call “the Arab spring” has its roots in the demonstrations, riots, strikes and occupations taking place all around the world, its foundations lie in years-long struggles by people and popular movements. The moment that we find ourselves in is nothing new, as we in Egypt and others have been fighting against systems of repression, disenfranchisement and the unchecked ravages of global capitalism (yes, we said it, capitalism): a system that has made a world that is dangerous and cruel to its inhabitants. As the interests of government increasingly cater to the interests and comforts of private, transnational capital, our cities and homes have become progressively more abstract and violent places, subject to the casual ravages of the next economic development or urban renewal scheme. An entire generation across the globe has grown up realising, rationally and emotionally, that we have no future in the current order of things. Living under structural adjustment policies and the supposed expertise of international organisations like the World Bank and IMF, we watched as our resources, industries and public services were sold off and dismantled as the “free market” pushed an addiction to foreign goods, to foreign food even. The profits and benefits of those freed markets went elsewhere, while Egypt and other countries in the south found their immiseration reinforced by a massive increase in police repression and torture. The current crisis in America and western Europe has begun to bring this reality home to you as well: that as things stand we will all work ourselves raw, our backs broken by personal debt and public austerity. Not content with carving out the remnants of the public sphere and the welfare state, capitalism and the austerity state now even attack the private realm and people’s right to decent dwelling as thousands

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