#vanguardist

[u-t-o-p-i-a-6-6-6]

[conspiciouslytransgender]

On the Nature of Society and Crime

The nature of civilization and society is the belief that there are extenuating circumstances and that one commits crimes not because they want to hurt others, but rather because they want to help themselves. The mandate of societies everywhere since the dawn of humanity is to address systemic societal problems and meet the needs of its citizens. People need more mental healthcare, they need better wages, they need equal distribution of wealth. There needs to be harm reduction, we need to quit throwing addicts in jails and put them in psychiatric care. We need to decriminalize drugs immediately. We need to decriminalize prostitution. We need to get rid of mandatory minimums. We need to address that while white people commit crimes at the same rate as black people, blacks are disproportionately more likely to be arrested for crimes. We need to stop throwing petty thieves into jail and start asking ourselves why they stole in the first place. As long as there are millionaires and billionaires in the US, people to gain by keeping the lower class in jail and submissive to the economic and bureaucratic gears of this country, there will be needy, have-nots people, and there will be crimes. The insane wealth inequality, the harsh sentencing laws, and the criminalization of certain actions or substances, all of it contributes massively towards crimes of wants and needs. Labor is entitled to all it creates. By distributing the spoils equally, we all have the world to gain and nothing to lose.

[amali-us]

nada brillante y todo retorcido

[afuturefossilfuel]

Personally I love getting rejected from academic jobs

[hanban371213]

hello again and again Hannah nation

finaly we're at the 12th grade books, which are packed with essencial content for the exam and is a pain to write. book 7 is probably the biggest, split into 5 parts. once again, context in the first post, check through the first tag

Book 7 - Crisis, Ideological clashes and cultural mutations in the first half of the 20th century

Part 1 - The transformation in the first decades of the 20th century.

After the end of the First World War, there were many changes across all aspects of life, society, and the world. The geopolitical landscape of Europe was severely altered. Empires fell(German, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires), democracies triumphed and spread all over Europe, new states were born(such as Finland, Czechoslovakia and Poland), borders were expanded(Alcase-Lorraine returned to France, German colonies annexed by the UK, France and Japan), and a new international organism responsible for solving international conflicts, the League of Nations, was born.

In the Russian Empire, the economic consequences of the Russian participation in the First World War, alongside previously existin problems, such as the unexpected Russian loss in the Russo-Japanese war, that kickstarted the anti-tsar movement, and the various issues and demands across all classes(farmers want land, workers want better conditions, bourgeoisie wants liberal policies), all led to the February Revolution of 1917. This revolution led to the abdication of the Tsar Nicolaus II, and a new Provisional Government, led by the bourgeoisie, was created. Alongside it, Soviets(localy elected councils made up of farmers, workers, soldiers and sailors) proliferated across the country, creating a very unstable dual-power dynamic, with both the Provisional Government and the Soviets ruling the country.

In October 1917, ANOTHER revolution takes place, this time led by the Bolsheviks, who take down the Provisional Government and give all power to the Council of Comissars of the People, and publishes the Revolutionary Decrees. The Decree over Peace(Russia signs a disastrous peace treaty with Germany, losing a lot of land, resources and population), the Decree over the Land(land is taken from the big landowners and given to the farmers), the Decree over Worker Control(workers are given control over the factories and companies), and the Decree over Nacionalities(all peoples of the old Russian Empire recieve equal rights, and the right to self-determination).

This inicial period right after the Revolution is known as "soviet democracy".

These decrees were very unpopular with the kulaks(rich landowners) and with businessmen, and with the bad living conditions of the Russian people, the Bolsheviks end up losing the elections, ending up in second place with only 25% of the votes. However, they refuse to leave the government, and with the existing resistence against Bolshevism, a civil war breaks out, between the Whites, oposition to the Bolsheviks and suported by France, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan, and the Reds, composed of the very disciplined and cohesive Red Army, organized by Leon Trotsky.

With this climate of civil war, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat happens in a very violent matter. Requisition of part of the agricultural production for the army, nationalizations, forced labour from 16 to 50 year olds, alongside increased working hours, mass education of the illiterate masses, and the Red Terror, with the creation of a political police, the Tcheka.

This period of repression during the civil war became known as "war communism".

Before the First World War the Russian economy was way behind the rest of Europe. After the First World War and the civil war, it was left in complete run. Not wanting to build Socialism atop rotten foundation, Vladimir Lenin decided to strategicaly take a step back into Capitalism, in a very limited and controled way, as means of developing the country.

The repressive measures of war communism were lessened, such as the abolishment of obligatory work; The colectivization process was suspended, farmers were allowed to sell their surpluss products, and small businesses were privatized.

These measures led to a slow modernization and revitalization of the Russian economy, but it also placed the Bolshevik's communist values at risk, with the rise of the kulaks(rich farmers) and the nepmen(rich merchants).

These measures were known as the New Economic Program, NEP.

The mass brutality and death caused by the First World War created a large feeling of pessimism and doubt across ALL previous social norms and beliefs, acelerating the already going on changes. Most notably was with Feminism, in two different ways. One relating to social norms. Women began going out, wearing looser and shorter clothing, participating in sports, and cutting their hair. The other way is the fight for equal rights, specificaly the right to own property, acess to education, right to work, and right to vote.

Changes and advancements also occured in technology and science. More acessible cars, plane rides and the creation of the telephone united the world in many ways. Mass media such as the press or radio homogenized hobbies, values and behaviours. And there were many new scientific discoveries, such as the Theory of Relativity, quantum mechanics and even the way the human mind works(by the famous incest guy Freud)

Many changes occured in the arts too, with new vanguardist and modernist art styles being progressively created, that go against the traditional Realist art forms: Fauvism, that sees colour as more important that shape; Expressionism, that focuses on portraying emotions; Cubism, analytic cubism that focuses on decomposing shapes into gemoetric ones, and synthetic cubism that focuses on recreating shapes with random materials; Abstracionism, believes that shapes and colours have their own expressive meaning; Futurism, focus a lot on portraying speed and modernity; Dadaism, rejects art itself, creating "anti-art", in very absurdist ways; Surrealism, uses art as means to project the unconscious, heavily based on Freud's(famous incest guy) mind theories.

[richmondflyingsquirrels]

the mod of a taylor swift snark subreddit is now trying to go band for band with a fanpage

[anxiousbugs]

highly important that the Central Committee and General Secretary have a tease/teased, brat/dom dynamic. otherwise it's not really vanguardist

[jeannie-youre-a-tragedy]

soviet space dogs are further proof that canines are all vanguardists.

[transgenderer]

i think im realizing i fundamentally dont "get" revolutionaries. like. if you want a revolution, you know you need to get most people to agree with you first. or at least like, idk, 40% of people? and i feel like if 30% of people agreed with you, well then electoral politics would shift a lot anyway. and like, if you got 40% of people to agree with you, and then it DIDNT shift, then yeah revolution would make sense. but like were not there yet. maybe they think 40% of people already agree with them? or theyre vanguardists?

[txttletale]

people who make fun of the concept of a vanguard party in the worst possible faith while also themselves holding extreme political views are very silly imo. like the classic 'uhhh so you think the proletariat are too stupid to understand their own situation??' gotcha immediately disintegrates when you realise that you could say the same thing about literally any political platform that involves propaganda, radicalisation, and organisation. if you hold political beliefs that most people don't and think it would be good if more people agreed with you then you're just as much of a vanguardist as me buddy

[dickotomia]

mutual 1: if i had a little turtle i would name it bureaucracy and shed be my friend and id take her everywhere in my pocket

mutual 2: lowkey the beatles were degenerate music. commie shit. but they dont want you to know this ig

mutual 3: got diagnosed today with being god's most perfect creation ever. and narcisomething too i wasnt paying attention.

mutual 4: save a lonesome horse ride a lonesome cowboy. wait it was lonesome ranger. he was a cowboy though. fuck.

mutual 5: i wanna get married and have children but not in a tradwife way more like in a. okay yes in a tradwife way.

mutual 6: look all im saying is a maoist-leninist-luxembourgist post-mariateguian anti-vanguardist revolution is like objectively the only way out of this. its so so so simple and nobody gets it but me.

mutual 7: if my sister had a little turtle i would KICKS IT i would KICKS IT so so hard >:3

[tastethebloodofmeatthawsmoth]

Do you think we would be better off without organising at all as Anarchists? If the CNT and FAI ended up being vanguardist it just makes it sound to me like Anarchists orgs are just doomed to fail and betray their own values. If we can’t trust organisations to not become hierarchical once they achieve their aims than building anarchism at all seems hopeless.

I think anarchist organizations should be small (at least as small as possible), temporary, and for specific purposes, and that once those purposes have been achieved should be dissolved. They shouldn't be allowed to ossify from "instrumental means" to "organizational ends," to use Christie's terminology. That doesn't seem hopeless to me.

[communist-ojou-sama]

In one of your recent posts you made a distinction between Maoist and Marxist-Leninist-Maoist. I wasn’t aware there was a difference, I sort of thought Maoist was just shortening the whole term. Could you explain what distinctions there are between the two?

As I understand it Maoism tends to be more of a theory of revolution and protracted asymmetrical struggle against an established state enemy, with ideological and geopolitical thought that extends from the ideological lines that developed through Mao's tenure as head of the CPC through to the GPCR, and developed further by responses to Mao Zedong thought, especially by other guerilla groups that focus on organizing the peasantry. Notably, as I understand it Maoist groups while not anarchist often reject the idea of a vanguard party. So the communist guerillas in eastern India and the Philippines, for example, are Maoist, but not Marxist Leninist Maoist

Marxism Leninism Maoism is the application of certain aspects of both Mao Zedong Thought and also organizing innovations of the CPC at large throughout its entire history, including after the GPCR, as adjustments to what they consider to be contradictions within Marxism Leninism that the CPC managed resolved with ideological and organizing innovations (such as the mass line). However MLM is fundamentally democratic centralist like Leninism, and in terms of it's theory of revolution is fundamentally vanguardist (if indeed my understanding is correct)

[pumpacti0n]

COMMON TACTICS, PATTERNS, AND TENDENCIES TO WATCH OUT FOR

Here are some red flags to watch out for. You’ll probably also see some of these in non-profits, advocacy groups, or other top-down organizations that operate like a business. However, it’s the ideological motivation that sets the vanguard apart and leads to some of their worst harms. We use “vanguard” to mean a person or group who deems themselves the necessary leader of the masses toward “revolution.” If you’re noticing these red flags, it’s best to stay away and ask others about their experiences with the group.

Heavy Emphasis on Recruitment

Vanguardist groups constantly need new members: to pay dues, volunteer their labor, recruit for the group, and replace burnt-out members. Lots of effort goes into social media and marketing, and actions are heavily influenced by how they can serve as a recruitment tool: the flashier the better. Waves of new people and energy help make the group feel active and relevant, and mask the steady trickle of people leaving.

Ambulance-Chasing and Coopting

Seeking energy and recruits, these groups will suddenly appear around “crisis of the moment” events. As we write this zine, their current target is Palestine solidarity efforts that have increased in response to Israel’s recent escalation of genocide in Gaza in 2023-2024. Watch for groups who appear at events uninvited and focus on distributing newspapers and collecting e-mail list signups. They’ll often bring things like mass-printed signs with their group’s name and website or a large banner advertising the group they can prominently display in photos of events to advertise. They may even hijack open mics and chants.

Front Groups and Front Coalitions:

Creating a front group or coalition is another way vanguards try tapping into movement energy to redirect to their own ends. The front is dominated by members of the vanguard without clear connection to the vanguard group, to better allow the vanguard to hide their politics and intentions. Its purpose is to find recruits for the vanguard, and to be a vehicle for the vanguard’s activities that appears to be separate from them.

Entryism

Taking over groups or coalitions that are independent of the vanguard. This is most easily done to groups that are new, that haven’t settled on goals and values, or who haven’t witnessed these tactics before. Frequently, this is done by abusing and manipulating internal decision-making processes, like seizing positions of authority or having vanguard members join in large numbers. Instead of creating a brand new front group, an existing group is hijacked.

Deceptive and Dishonest Practices

The authoritarian politics of vanguards generally aren’t liked, so they’ll be kept below the surface. Vanguards publicly claim values that can attract people—like police abolition, supporting labor rights, and horizontal power—while hypocritically supporting police attacking workers in authoritarian nation-states they support, like Cuba, Iran, or China. How can you value someone’s consent and autonomy if you lie to them?

Shutting Down Dissent

Member obedience is necessary if a vanguard’s orders are to be obeyed. This sometimes appears as “Democratic Centralism,” often with some kind of central or executive committee making decisions for the group. This can also appear in group social dynamics, where members self-censor or modify behavior when they dissent from the group’s “party line.” Historically, this has led to a cascade of purges within notable Marxist-Leninist, Trotskyist, and Maoist organizations.

Party Lines in General

Vanguardist ideas of discipline and a “scientific” revolution that must be followed to a ‘T‘ require conformity, obedience, and strict binary thinking. The world is more nuanced than that, but this nuance isn’t allowed in vanguardist politics.

Centralization

A vanguard needs a power structure they can exert control from. If it doesn’t exist, they may try creating it to place themselves or their close associates at the center.

Redirecting Autonomous Efforts into Spaces They Control

Autonomous efforts and independent projects can be enticed into spaces a vanguard controls, often with promises of resources, a plea to not “duplicate efforts,” or “left unity.” The intent is to gain influence over the project. Like a mixture of Entryism and Cooptation.

Hyper-Focus on Bureaucracy

Getting the group stuck in loops of committee forming, decision-making, writing points of unity, establishing cadre leadership, etc. Most likely during power struggles and Entryist takeovers. Often causes non-vanguard members to leave in frustration.

Never-Ending Tasks

Revolutionary change will require lots of effort, but within vanguardist organizations the pressure to fulfill duties and demonstrate commitment and discipline often lead to members committing most of their time to the vanguard group. This can lead to relationships outside the group weakening from neglect, becoming socially dependent on the group, and eventually burning out without a support network to help them leave the group.

Charismatic Leader

Vanguard groups often center around a charismatic leader or founder who is elevated to a level of importance. This can be a leader/founder of the group itself, or an ideological figurehead.

Sheltering Abusers

Patriarchal violence is a serious recurring problem basically everywhere. But vanguardist groups often treat attempts at accountability as an attack on the group and their ideology, or a distraction from “the cause.” They become defensive, and in practice shield abusers while dismissing survivors of abuse.

Taking Credit for Others’ Work and Action

Vanguards may take credit for events, actions, and work organized by other groups. This is particularly true for things that are flashy or popular, but other things may be claimed by the vanguard group if it seems like it will be useful for recruiting.

Lack of Care for Members and Vulnerable People

The thirst for attention-grabbing actions can lead to vulnerable people and the group’s members being used as means to an end, resources to be exploited. Many “flashy” actions, such as an occupation, require extensive preparation, consideration, and care to manage various risks of harm (to the extent that we can). Nothing can be made perfectly safe, but a vanguard’s sloppy approach to actions can put people through unnecessary harm for what is ultimately a PR stunt.

Coercive “Self-Criticism”

Space for intentional reflection and evaluation is necessary for anyone trying to have an impact on the world. However “self-criticism,” (sometimes called “crit and self-crit” or “struggle sessions”) can be deployed to coerce group members to dedicate more time and resources to the group, shut down dissent, and re-mold members into more obedient followers. Puritanical efforts to root out “bourgeois” sentiments/mentality/social influences are a serious indicator of manipulation.

Defending and Glorifying Authoritarian Leaders and Governments

For ideological reasons, vanguards in the “Western world” (our experience is from the “US”) often uncritically support authoritarian governments and leaders in the name of “anti-imperialism.” In extreme cases, this ends up being a sort of conservative patriotism. The actual practices and values of the nation-states they defend don’t matter, only their geopolitical relation with the US. This comes from the history of authoritarianism in leftwing politics, and specifically the influence of a tendency called “Marcyist” or “Campist,” which encourages uncritically supporting governments the “US” opposes. The result can be ugly. During uprisings, they’ll callously attack dissidents under a regime the vanguard supports, calling them CIA spooks and calling their autonomous revolts “Color Revolutions”—if those same dissidents were in the US, ironically, the vanguard group would try to recruit them.

Expecting Queer People and People of Color to Assimilate

Vanguards may try to make themselves more acceptable to “the masses” by sidelining the concerns of marginalized people, or pushing those people to be less visibly “different.” This can sometimes go as far as the vanguard adopting conservative stances like transphobia. This can also be ideologically driven, with vanguards claiming problems like racism and sexism are actually just created by capitalism, and fighting them is a distraction from the more important “class struggle.”

Use of “Left Unity” Rhetoric to Demand Inclusion in Spaces

Some imagine “Left Unity” as creating a friendly and powerful movement, but in practice it suppresses diverse opinions and approaches in favor of a false “unity,” frequently giving authoritarians power within movements they otherwise wouldn’t have. You don’t have to sacrifice all your values and autonomy to work with others on tangible, shared goals. Local Organizers

Controlled by a Central Committee

For example, a vanguard’s central committee may order organizers to get involved in a particular struggle like Palestine solidarity work. At worst this launches a destructive wave of front groups and entryist takeovers. At best these organizers honestly aid in an effort, only to vanish when the organization’s whims change to a different hot new movement.

[source]

[warsofasoiaf]

I kept wanting to post my ideas on what a full term gus hall presidency would look like and yet I never had the energy or time to do it. so basically I think the best description of him would be something like an american robespierre. Initially targeting groups genuinely hated and for some, justly so, by the general american public. like american fascists and nazi sympathizers as well as the cia and fbi for their roles in targetting the civil rights movement. Though using lies and manipulative tactics to get rid of threats and push forward radical policies and that are initially favored as well as putting supporters into power so he can rule by decree. like better rights for those historically discriminated. though as time goes on he then targets less "just" enemies like moderates on both sides, and those who while sympathetic to what he's trying to do, are opposed to his methods like harrington or labor unions until he's going full stalinist, killing even other leftists and anyone who isn't sufficiently loyal. If he succeeds in keeping power then his US is just an american USSR with all the implications that brings. if he fails and overplays his hands he gets removed and risks a civil war or opening up the US to a military dictatorship or a future demagogue.

While this is a lot better than what the Hall writers seem to have come up with, this doesn't really mesh with Gus Hall as he was in real life.

In our own history, Gus Hall was a dedicated vanguardist who offered his full-throated support for the Soviet invasions of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Domestically, he demanded the New Left fall in line and refused to even deign any of their criticism of the Soviet Union. He facilitated Soviet espionage through the CPUSA, laundered Soviet money, and was openly pro-authoritarian. The Hall writers, in this thread, largely ignored Hall's support of the Soviet invasions into Eastern Europe and Hall's own parroting of the Soviet line in favor of portraying him as a sort of well-meaning extremist and someone who regularly broke with the Soviets (ignoring that 90% of the time, he didn't). They portray his domestic policy using the CPUSA's policy from the 1990's after the Soviets fell, before that they were unflagging supporters of the Leninist model.

Hall in the TNO-verse would be uncompromising and brutal, regularly throwing any suspected counter-revolutionaries into prison. Hall (and one of the prominent people in his arc, Angela Davis) talked a big game criticizing the US's prison-industrial complex but issued glowing statements about the USSR's system of prison labor for dissidents - there's no reason to think that this wouldn't be the case in a Hall USA. Prison camps, extrajudicial violence, these would be as commonplace in a Hall USA as they would be in a Yockey USA.

Heck, given the TNO-verse, which has the Soviet Union collapse due to following Bukharinist thought, Hall should be even more extreme. The prevailing idea among TNO-verse Communists is that the Lenin NEP the reason that the Soviets failed against the Nazis, so they'd look to purge that sort of weakness from the nation that would cause it to collapse in the face of an ascendant Reich.

I don't know why the writers dropped the ball so spectacularly with Hall. The writers largely found the Hall they want to portray and worked backwards to justify it, ignoring all countervailing evidence, and it's honestly very disappointing. My theory is that there was pushback from his earlier portrayal, which definitely had its problems (the Lavender Scare) , which led them to overcorrect.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[post-leffert]

Anarchist Zines and Pamphlets Published in July 2023

Welcome to our mostly monthly round-up of new zines published in the anarchist space. We aim to highlight a broad range of anarchist thought. Inclusion here doesn't imply endorsement.

You can view past round-ups if you want more reading material. If you have something you want us to include next month, contact us. For a curated collection of zines, view our catalog.

Beyond what you can find here, we also recommend you support anarchist print media. Two recently released print projects include Plastic in Utero: a journal of anti-civ anarchy reborn from the compost of wasteland modernity #1 and Rupture Mag #1

The image accompanying this post is memorial mural in Lyon, France for Carlo Giuliani, a 23 year-old anarchist who was shot dead by police on July 20, 2001 during the anti-G8 protests in Genoa, Italy (source)

Against Capitalist Wars, Against Capitalist Peace

"In Ukraine, the Czech Republic, the UK, Italy, Syria, France etc… All over the world there is a voice against capitalist wars and also against capitalist peace. Only class war can end this terror and that is what we mean when we say No War but the Class War!

The new pamphlet contains 14 texts by various groups and individuals. The aim is to explain and affirm the meaning of antimilitarism, internationalism and revolutionary defeatism."

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Animal Bodies, Colonial Subjects: (Re)Locating Animality in Decolonial Thought

"Similar to the ways in which Indigenous peoples can undergo a violent process through which we rid our colonial mentalities, I argue that animals can be liberated from their colonized subjecthood through an aided 'process of desubjectification'. That is, thinking through animality as an infrastructure of decolonization re-positions animal bodies as agents of anti-colonial resurgence.They can consequently engender 'forms of energy that are capable of engaging the forces that keep [Indigenous people and animals] tied to [a] colonial mentality and reality'. Settler colonialism has therefore required the normalization of speciesism within Indigenous communities to obfuscate the radicality of Indigenous-animal relations. In that sense, recalling the representation of animals in Indigenous cosmologies/oral traditions and unsettling speciesism as a 'colonial mentality' must be prioritized in decolonial thought..."

Download PDF: [ Imposed ]

Black Flag Vol. 3, No. 2

This issue features a lenghty essay titled "Anarchy in the USA: The International Working People's Association (IWPA)". The IWPA is famous for its association with the Haymarket anarchists. Alongside this, there are several writings published by members including Albert Parsons and Lizzie Swank. It also includes a selection of writings by Marie Goldsmith, Rudolf Rocker, and Max Baginski. Most of the material here covers the historical anarchist space, with the exception of a review of a more recent book.

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Breaking Ranks: Subverting the Hierarchy and Manipulation Behind Earth Uprisings

This zine contains three critiques from anti-authoritarians in France critical of the Tiqqunists and their actions in post-ZAD struggles. These texts focus on manipulative and vanguardist practices, the spectacularization of the struggle, and the use of radicals as shock-troops. The goal of these texts, and our translation effort, is to increase familiarity with these deceptive practices and strategies, an essential first step towards sabotaging the influence and control of any similar attempts in our own neck of the woods.

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Dissent From Within: The Hidden Story of the Anti-Whaling Members of the Makah Tribe

This zine was put together not only to honor the memory of Mahak whale protector Alberta Nora Thomspson, but also to commemorate the story of resistance surrounding the Makah anti-whaling warriors whose very existence has been (intentionally) hidden from the world. Their dissenting voices silenced by the powers of intimidation, patriarchy, and a capitalist pursuit disguised as "traditional hunting". For many outside of the situation, the narrative most widely accepted is one that reduces the situation to mere identity politics; White animal rights activists vs Indigenous people. Indigenous writer Linda Hogan and Seattle writer Brenda Peterson journeyed to Neah Bay to interview Makah elders who were breaking the silence about this narrative and speaking out against their tribe’s return to whaling.

Download PDF: [ Imposed ]

How to Set Up a Burner Phone

This zine is a step-by-step guide to setting up a burner phone, from purchasing the phone to installing recommended apps -- all without a Google account! If you are interested in using a temporary phone to avoid surveillance or hinder a police investigation, this zine will give you some best practices to consider.

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Kaimangatanga: Māori Perspectives on Veganism and Plant-based Kai

"To adopt a form of veganism -- a plant-based lifestyle and ethics -- that acknowledges, is based upon, and celebrates Te Ao Maori, is a break from the dominant and from the status quo and but also an act of decolonialism. It is a way to reclaim sovereignty and exercise individual choice.

And finally, it is a means by which collective power and community may be built; this is evident in the existence of online forums and comment threads on Maori-based vegan and plant- based social media accounts."

Download PDF: [ Imposed ]

Living in an Earthquake: The Fight Against Cop City Confronts Unprecedented Repression

"In the following account and analysis, participants in the movement in Atlanta trace its trajectory from the fifth Week of Action that began on March 4, 2023 through the City Council vote of June 5.

At first, it appeared to be an ordinary forest defense campaign aimed at discouraging Atlanta city government from pouring money into an unpopular police training facility. But over the past two years, the fight against Cop City has escalated into one of the fiercest struggles of the Biden era, pitting a wide range of courageous people against a united front of politicians, prosecutors, and police.

In setting out to stop the militarization of police, activists have discovered that they are challenging the state on a point that all of its representatives consider non-negotiable. Police and prosecutors have pressed trumped-up domestic terrorism charges against almost every defendant arrested since last December; they have killed one forest defender; they have charged those engaged in legal support for the arrestees."

Download PDF: [ Imposed ]

Of Diets and Morality: A Vegan Egoist Perspective

The title summarizes this well. It's a vegan egoist text that argues for seeing animals as having inherent value. A quote:

"Animals can offer me many things that other "humans" can not; new ways of communicating, of perceiving the world around me; the unique, aesthetic pleasure of their appearance, especially the details that one only notices with familiarity, and the mystery, intrigue and exciting unexpectedness of beings so morphologically and genetically different from myself! Just as a plate with greater variety is far more delicious, relationships with a greater diversity of beings is far more delectable for me and I will not limit myself to consuming only relations with Man!"

Download PDF: [ Imposed ]

Security Culture: Building Relationships of Trust and Care

These zine provides an accessible introduction to security culture and its place in social movements. Beyond the basics, it explores how security culture can be informed by kinship, an Indigenous value system based on responsibility, vulnerability, trust, and reciprocity. The zine also offers tips and examples on how to apply critical thinking, relationship building, communication, and feedback to security culture. It uses elephants as a motif (complete with illustrations) to reinforce the concepts presented.

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The People and the Library

"An oral history of the coalition that united Philadelphia to challenge the logic of austerity, protect public goods and save eleven branch libraries, as well as a series of reflections on the importance of the commons, the enduring legacy of movement victories and the ongoing struggles to protect and expand access to non-commercialized public space, accompanied by a series of freely reproducible cut paper graphics by Erik Ruin.

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The War in Front of Us: An anonymous, afro-pessimist militant’s challenge to the Stop Cop City movement

"There is a tension stewing right now, not simply between differing tactics but with the outright acceptance of the position we are currently in, that of a social war. The third day-long descent on the Atlanta City Council has again hammered home that legalistic attacks and appeals to the political machine are going to keep failing. Despite that being so overwhelmingly evident, the more progressive-inclined elements of the struggle continue to insist upon a peaceful endurance, one that refuses escalation and actual conflict for their safe, faux-rad- ical abolitionism. We have been locked in this social war since the rebellion and the terrain needs to be read as such."

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Veganism and Mi'kmaw Legends

"This text proposes a postcolonial ecofeminist reading of Mi'kmaw legends as the basis for a vegan diet rooted in Indigenous culture. I refer primarily to veganism throughout this work because unlike vegetarianism, it is not only a diet but a lifestyle that, for ethical reasons, eschews the use of animal products. Constructing an Indigenous veganism faces two significant barriers--the first being the association of veganism with whiteness... ...A second barrier to Indigenous veganism is the portrayal of veganism as a product of class privilege."

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Veganism as Anti-Colonial-Praxis: A Collection of Indigenous Vegan Perspectives

"Despite the absorption of veganism by the capitalist market – a process that admittingly reinforces pre-existing divisions across class and racial lines -- a vegan lifestyle taken to its logical conclusion is fundamentally anti-capitalist and anti-colonial. By (re)acknowledging sentience and personalities within the bodies of colonized (animal) subjects, a vegan lifestyle rejects authoritarian relationships based on disrespect for the bodily autonomy of those whose lives have been re-purposed for human supremacist consumption."

Download PDF: [ Imposed ]