Press release - Anti-Capitalists publish map of targets in the West End

Capitalism's power resides not in businesses and posh clubs but in the fact that we sustain it everyday through a million social transactions such as work, buying and selling and so on. The fact that such day to day activities seem almost as second nature to most of us is where it's power to maintain itself lies. If we continually aim our protests as symbols of such relationships and particularly symbols of what is supposed to be the worst aspects - arms, banks and so on - we continue to keep it's real strength masked and the whole revolutionary notion of abolishing capitalism is pushed away. Closing down these institutions would not 'Stop Capitalism' as the Stop G8 sticker reads.

Fredy Perlman's The Reproduction of Everyday Life is a reasonably good primer on this:

 http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/perlman-fredy/1969/misc/reproduction-daily-life.htm

Yes, you're right, all of us living with any connection to the economy help sustain capitalism in our everyday lives to some extent. But some of us much more than others. There is a difference between those of us forced to participate in order to survive, and those who profit massively from the exploitation of others. We're not "all in this together".

Yes, they are symbolic targets. Even if you could knock out 1000 corporations and institutions plenty more would spring up to take their place within an over all system of capitalist relations. But I don't think StopG8 are claiming actions in June will destroy capitalism. The point is to get people out on the streets and standing together, to highlight the connections between different struggles we face, and so to get the discussion of capitalism and what it means going again.

That's the thing: it's all very well saying capitalism is a system of social relations and directing us to a theoretical text, but how many people does that reach? And if we want to destroy the system, we need to reach a lot lot more people. Saying: that company that fucked you over, that office that cut your benefits, that bank that funded the regime that made you a refugee, etc., they're all connected, and this is how ... is hopefully a way to get people thinking about capitalism and how it works in our lives today. It's not the whole answer, but just a start.

Also see the text that goes with the map here:
 https://network23.org/stopg8/2013/05/09/j11-map-of-the-capitalist-west-end/

"Yes, you're right, all of us living with any connection to the economy help sustain capitalism in our everyday lives to some extent. But some of us much more than others. There is a difference between those of us forced to participate in order to survive, and those who profit massively from the exploitation of others. We're not "all in this together"."

I never suggested we are 'all in this together'. Revolutionary ideas and activity means having an analysis of that exploitation of others at it's base as well as then understanding that the everyday social relationship that capitalism is gets played out regardless of your standing in the hierarchy - from someone buying stamps in the post office to send a letter to a property investor speculating on land values in Mumbai and kicking people off that land as part ot it.


"Yes, they are symbolic targets. Even if you could knock out 1000 corporations and institutions plenty more would spring up to take their place within an over all system of capitalist relations. But I don't think StopG8 are claiming actions in June will destroy capitalism. The point is to get people out on the streets and standing together, to highlight the connections between different struggles we face, and so to get the discussion of capitalism and what it means going again."

I was suggesting that way the campaign writes about capitalism mystifies what it actually is and how and what might be needed to get rid of it. The constant deferment of revolutionary ideas and actions to the symbolic level is part of this mystification.


"That's the thing: it's all very well saying capitalism is a system of social relations and directing us to a theoretical text, but how many people does that reach? And if we want to destroy the system, we need to reach a lot lot more people. Saying: that company that fucked you over, that office that cut your benefits, that bank that funded the regime that made you a refugee, etc., they're all connected, and this is how ... is hopefully a way to get people thinking about capitalism and how it works in our lives today. It's not the whole answer, but just a start".

The link to the Perlman text was meant for the organisers in case they hadnt seen it. It's a good text full of ideas. There was no intention to set it up as something to reach everybody. Posting a link to Indymedia in a comment would not sent the text very far.

It's not just reaching a lot of people but how and what you say to those people. And also what you think those people shoud be doing. I don't think reacting to the G8 as it moves around the globe is a particularly practical and fruitful way of working with others and.or trying to link up with others as it make politics seem like a kind of activist runaround where we nominate one day for actions against capitalism and some people come and think this is anti-capitalism in action.

I think people understand a lot more about capitalism in their daily lives than you give credit for esp in your three examples. The point is often not that people don't grasp how capitalism exploits them but more so the difficulty of what to do about it.

"The constant deferment of revolutionary ideas and actions to the symbolic level is part of this mystification." Sorry I don't really understand what this means.

"I don't think reacting to the G8 as it moves around the globe is a particularly practical and fruitful way of working with others and.or trying to link up with others as it make politics seem like a kind of activist runaround where we nominate one day for actions against capitalism and some people come and think this is anti-capitalism in action."

Yes, and that may well have been a valid criticism of past summit mobilisations, but I just don't think it applies here. For one thing, it is a week of action in London, very much aiming at getting out on the streets in London again, and with an analysis of what capitalism means in London today (see that text linked above). Most often mobilisations in the street in London tag onto something organised e.g., by the TUC, and this is an attempt to organise something ourselves, using the G8 event as a focal point. You might argue that using the G8 as a peg to organise around distracts from that, but I'm not sure how.

Also, it's not just one day for actions, but the point is to link the days on the streets into a programme of talks and other events, and for it to be part of an ongoing movement. See here:  https://network23.org/stopg8/week-of-action/callout-for-workshopsevents/ How successful all this will be very much depends on who gets involved.

"I think people understand a lot more about capitalism in their daily lives than you give credit for esp in your three examples. The point is often not that people don't grasp how capitalism exploits them but more so the difficulty of what to do about it."

Unfortunately I disagree. I think the destruction of revolutionary movements, working class movements, etc. etc. in the last decades has meant that we have lost a lot of the analysis, ideas and traditions that were accessible and widespread in previous generations. Too many people I know more readily accept racist/nationalist or religious etc. explanations of the shit we live under, or just sheer defeatism, than look to analyses of capitalism. That's really sad, but I think we need to face it, and work to revive and spread anti-capitalist thinking.

I do think that street mobilisation can be one important part in doing this. To be clear: one part of it, one starting point, certainly not the only one.

""The constant deferment of revolutionary ideas and actions to the symbolic level is part of this mystification." Sorry I don't really understand what this means".

It means that if we continue to always target symbols of capitalism (such as banks, arms companies, dole offices etc) we produce an anti-capitalism that creates a mystification of what capitalism is in it's most simple everyday relationships. By this I mean we are confusing the symbols with the actuality. Far better for us to be clear about what capitalism is and how we can then collectively undermine and attack it. This constant deferment of such an understanding is where the mystification is.


"Also, it's not just one day for actions, but the point is to link the days on the streets into a programme of talks and other events, and for it to be part of an ongoing movement".

People are far more concerned about poverty, housing, council tax, bedroom tax, food prices, health and mental health than greek anarchism, fitwatch, 'the financial elite' and no borders even if they might be sympathetic to these ideas. You can't make a movement out of street actions and you can't create a movement from things that are mostly inconsequential to most working class (and increasingly many middle class) people's lives. That is not to say we shouldn't support those things at the week of events but to see that they make very little difference to how people feel right now about their survival and their concerns and desires to survive.

"I think the destruction of revolutionary movements, working class movements, etc. etc. in the last decades has meant that we have lost a lot of the analysis, ideas and traditions that were accessible and widespread in previous generations. Too many people I know more readily accept racist/nationalist or religious etc. explanations of the shit we live under, or just sheer defeatism, than look to analyses of capitalism. That's really sad, but I think we need to face it, and work to revive and spread anti-capitalist thinking".

I absolutely agree with you on this. But that defeatism will only change when we are able to organise together around things that are immediately meaningful to how we are living and where we have bring some hope of collectively changing and overcoming this situation. Anarchists do have a tendency to think that just because they have radical ideas that understanding these ideas means people then act. It's not the transmission of such ideas that creates change but the fostering of agency with communities, groups, projects, campaigns and so on. Getting people to see that they can act is much harder on the ground than pulling together more activist action.

The film Behind The Rent Strike from 1972 about the Kirkby Rent Strike has two great statements by woman involved in this year long battle. As well as the local tenants organising there was a lot of involvement from a left group, BIg Flame. Despite the defeat of the campaign, the women say that this collective struggle determined by themselves and with influence from others has changed everything about how they view their lives and their selves. I use this as an example of radicals being involved with others where the struggle itself empowers and not any notion that people need radical ideas first.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgsiB-mdyyo


I mean no disrespect anyhow to all those organising these events despite the criticism.

"I mean no disrespect anyhow to all those organising these events despite the criticism."

Thanks. No problem with criticism. Actually it's nice to have a serious discussion on indymedia instead of the usual idiotic trolling.

"People are far more concerned about poverty, housing, council tax, bedroom tax, food prices, health and mental health than greek anarchism, fitwatch, 'the financial elite' and no borders even if they might be sympathetic to these ideas. You can't make a movement out of street actions and you can't create a movement from things that are mostly inconsequential to most working class (and increasingly many middle class) people's lives. That is not to say we shouldn't support those things at the week of events but to see that they make very little difference to how people feel right now about their survival and their concerns and desires to survive."

I agree, it would indeed be a shame if there are only events about fitwatch and greece during the week. I do hope there will be much more than that, including on the issues you mention. Again, though, it really needs more people to get involved and organise stuff. If you've got good ideas, contacts, etc. and want to do something do please get in touch with stopg8events @ riseup.net That open call-out for actions and events was meant literally.

That said, I think there is also a place for talking about struggles that go beyond immediate pressures of people here, and about international solidarity. In particular there's two things I think we need to remember on this.

1) In the UK, and above all in London, our economic conditions are now totally globalised. The crises, cuts, etc. we're facing here are part of global changes. We're just not going to be able to create any kind of "revolutionary" struggles here unless we pay attention to the way jobs, living conditions, etc. here are part of an international system, and start linking struggles with e.g. workers in Bangladesh, or anti-fascists on the frontlines in Greece, Italy and Eastern Europe. If we want to revive or re-invent revolutionary ideas and organising, the idea and practice of international solidarity also needs to be a part of that.

2) London is now to a big extent an immigrant city. For lots of us struggles in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Palestine, etc., or on the borders in Greece (which so many migrants pass through en route to UK) are not abstract and distant, it's our friends and family involved. And so it's not surprising that, as you may have noticed, many of the most organised, militant and active movements and demos etc. in London are migrant led and about international issues.

On and thanks for the links, good stuff indeed.

Doing one thing does not mean it's the only thing to be done.

"1) In the UK, and above all in London, our economic conditions are now totally globalised. The crises, cuts, etc. we're facing here are part of global changes. We're just not going to be able to create any kind of "revolutionary" struggles here unless we pay attention to the way jobs, living conditions, etc. here are part of an international system, and start linking struggles with e.g. workers in Bangladesh, or anti-fascists on the frontlines in Greece, Italy and Eastern Europe. If we want to revive or re-invent revolutionary ideas and organising, the idea and practice of international solidarity also needs to be a part of that.

2) London is now to a big extent an immigrant city. For lots of us struggles in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Palestine, etc., or on the borders in Greece (which so many migrants pass through en route to UK) are not abstract and distant, it's our friends and family involved. And so it's not surprising that, as you may have noticed, many of the most organised, militant and active movements and demos etc. in London are migrant led and about international issues. "

Good points. Yes, I wouldn't want to see the desire for relevancy for working class people stuffed into a kind of time-warp view of a mythical white working class which I guess is a skewed way it could be read.

"It may be necessary to have done with symbols and symbolic gestures. I'm not talking about the emblems whose real content is without great significance, but the symbols themselves, as a substitute for revolutionary action. (A provisional definition of this term: every act capable of abrunptly breaking down the bourgeois order with the aim of creating a socialist order). Symbols refer to an action that has taken place, not to one that will take place, since every action that is accomplished (I'm speaking of revolutionary actions) cannot make any serious use of already known examples. That is why all revolutionary acts have about them a freshness that is like the beginning of the world. But a symbolic gesture or set of gestures is idealistic in the sense that it satisfies those who make it or who adopt the symbol and prevents them from carrying out real acts that have an irreversible power'.

Jean Genet, May Day speech, New Haven, USA 1970