CrimethInc.
CrimethInc , which also appears under the names CWC ("CrimethInc. Ex-Workers' Collective") and Crimethinc , is a decentralized, loose collective with roots in the hardcore and anarcho-punk scene in North America as well as activist groups around Earth First! , Reclaim the Streets , Food not bombs , and Critical Mass movements. It is heavily influenced by anarchism , situationism and post-structuralism . CrimethInc. is both anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian and tries to critically question culture, politics, life, work and emancipatory paths in campaigns and publications. CrimethInc. is mainly active in North America.
overview
The term Crimethinc was taken from the book " 1984 " by George Orwell , in which people are persecuted and convicted for thought crimes (English Crimethinks ). The group first appeared in the mid-1990s, where it appeared as the Inside Front . She began working as a collective in 1996 and has since published widespread propaganda for anarchism.
The collective represents the concepts of affinity groups , social and political groups of 3 to 20 people, and the folk anarchy (German about down-to-earth or popular anarchy). The individual cells not only work as political groups, but also publish books and CDs and a variety of fanzine- like magazines ( zines ), posters and other works. The zine pamphlet "Fighting for Our Lives", which was distributed and distributed free of charge, claims to have a circulation of 500,000 copies. Other well-known books are Days of War, Nights of Love: CrimethInc. for Beginners (2001), a collection of political confessions and Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook (2004) with many DIY entries such as “How to Make a Bicycle into a Record Player”, graffiti - and Screen printing instructions and suggestions for the execution of blockades and performances , formation of affinity groups and assistance on social and legal issues. The authors appear exclusively under pseudonyms and their identity is not mentioned in the publications out of respect for their anonymity, which is one of the most important principles for the members.
In addition to the rejection of the state and capitalism as in classical anarchism, the concept of CrimethInc.s goes further on a few points. The collective supports the straight edge way of life, veganism , the total dissolution of gender roles and propagates revolt against the state, the transformation of the usually given life into a series of moments and criticizes work and calls for refusal to work . CrimethInc. has launched several successful political campaigns and direct actions in the US , for example against elections and in support of the UNA bomber . About 14 bands belong to the collective.
Nothing is known about the exact number of members. When asked about the number of active participants, the “Ten Year Report” said: “Over the past ten years, CrimethInc. sometimes literally just one person ... and then again a network of thousands. ”Anyone can publish or use the logo on behalf of the organization. Each member and each group operates individually .
The publications of CrimethInc.s are written in an easily understandable, less theory-heavy language and are popular in circles that go beyond the anarchist and activist movement. CrimethInc. in anarchist discourse and only delimit themselves verbally from traditional anarchism. Some texts offer sharp political analyzes of the current political scene. In contrast to a large part of the radical left-wing American publication landscape, CrimethInc does without. to polemical attacks against other groups and thus meets our own confession that “CrimethInc. exists to wage a struggle against capitalism until its death, not to get caught up in skirmishes with other radical groups. "
Convergences
CrimethInc has been meeting since summer 2002. annually to congresses, which they refer to as Convergences . Everyone who wants to come is invited. Workshops are usually offered by traveling theater groups, musicians, direct action activists and mutualist groups. These meetings, which last a few days, are received in the newspapers, initiate campaigns such as Reclaim the Streets and Critical Mass Events and represent a catalyst for many other activities.
The Convergence in Athens, Ohio hosted an impromptu street festival that resulted in multiple arrests for minor offenses. The Athens News characterized the meeting as "a kind of networking with possibilities for wannabe radicals, free-thinkers , Levellers , engineering enemies and other malcontents." It is common for all participants at these meetings contribute; Bring food and equipment to share or provide other material, such as writing to a prisoner , or moderating a discussion group. The Convergences mostly have festival character .
Matthew Power of Harper's Magazine described the gathering in Winona, Minnesota as follows:
“Hundreds of young anarchists came dodging and hitchhiking from across the country to attend the annual event known as the CrimethInc Convergence. ... The CrimethInc. Kids crouched dirty and wild in small groups in a clearing ... they spent several days with self-organized workshops, seminars and discussions, the topics ranged from the mutualism of the anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon from the 19th century to practical lockpicking - Introductions to a course on making sanitary towels . The followers of CrimethInc. had come together to live their own lives as a solution. They did not see the "revolution" as an end product, but as a continuous process, they wanted not only to destroy the capitalist system, but to put something worth living in its place. "
These convergences were organized by different groups within the collective from the local grassroots. Each year there were different principles given by the local activists, usually these related to sobriety and abstinence and were consensus-based rooms without any financial transactions. The only clear rule was "No Police Informers," a rule that was ignored at least twice by the FBI in Des Moines in 2004 , Bloomington, Indiana in 2005, and in 2008. Information gathered there was used in the trial against Eric McDavid and his companions.
2010 replaced CrimethInc. National tours and events marked the traditional convergence with a campaign called We Are Everywhere . In 2015, CrimethInc toured. The motto To Change Everything (everything change) two months by the United States.
criticism
In an essay under the name “Rethinking Crimethinc. - Your politics are bourgeois as fuck ”, a review of Crimethinc was published in September 2006 on“ Anarkismo ”. The most important points are the rejection of mass organizations, which is accompanied by the prevention of political clout and the glorification of “dropping out”. This is not an emancipatory policy, but counterproductive alienation within the existing conditions.
Under the title “Of Verbal Radicalinskis and Dinosaurs. Beyond Chomsky, Biehl and Bookchin: Subcultural US Anarchism ”, the monthly Graswurzelrevolution published a sharp criticism of Crimethinc's book“ DIY. Of anarchy and dinosaurs ":
“ In the 1980s and 90s there were many feminists who believed that the military apparatus would become more 'humane' and that society would become more emancipatory once enough women were part of the military. Today we know: Alice Schwarzer's successful “Frauen zum Bund” campaign did not lead to the emancipation of women, but only brought new female murder specialists to the military. Today, most libertarians should understand that the march through the military institutions turns leftists into command, but not revolutionaries. (...) There are young anarchists today who recommend the following to their peers: 'If we really have the claim to act with the most varied of methods and tactics, then the next time the state starts a war again, we should consider the possibility move to join the army instead of wearing a peace sign or an information event. ' "
In the book, according to the reviewer Bernd Drücke in GWR 312, contradicting slogans and platitudes are strung together that " make you howl one time again ". Drücke quotes from the DIY book: “ Many pacifists argue that one shouldn't join the military after all, but there were also activists who had the courage to spread their ideals within the army, that is, among the members of the army, and who courageously did so were enough to shoot an officer in the head. That was at least as effective as another peace demonstration in Washington, DC "Such sentences are a glorification of murder and this" casual contempt for human beings "is repulsive. “ Such inhumane thinking has nothing to do with anarchy! “, So pressures.
Books
English
- Days of war, nights of love. Crimethink for beginners . Crimeth Inc., Atlanta 2011, ISBN 978-0-9709101-0-3 .
- Off the Map (2003)
- Stone Hotel - Poems from the prison by Raegan Butcher (2003)
- Rusty String Quartet - Poems by Raegan Butcher after his release (2005)
- Anarchy in the Age of Dinosaurs - by the Curious George Brigade near Crimethinc
- Fire & Lightning - IvoryBell
- In Search of the World: A Traveller's Almanac- IvoryBell
- Recipes for disaster. An anarchist cookbook. A moveable feast . Crimeth Inc., Salem (Oregon) 2012, ISBN 978-0-9709101-8-9 .
- Curious George Brigade, Crimethinc, Co-Conspirators DIY Anarchy and Dinosaurous
- Expect resistance. a crimethink field manual . Crimeth Inc., Salem (Oregon) 2008, ISBN 978-0-9709101-6-5 .
German
- Curious George Brigade, Crimethinc, Co-Conspirators: DIY Von Anarchy und Dinosauriern Unrast Verlag 2006. ISBN 3-89771-444-2
- CrimethInc .: Message in a Bottle - Communiqués 1996–2011 Translation from the American & ed. from the bm-crew Unrast Verlag 2012 ISBN 978-3-89771-519-6
- Crimeth Inc .: Work. Capitalism - Economy - Resistance - Unrast Verlag, 2014. ISBN 3-89771-542-2
Magazines and pamphlets
- Rolling Thunder
- Fighting For Our Lives
- Harbinger
- DIY Guide 1 & 2
- The Walls Are Alive
- A Civilian's Guide to Direct Action
- The ex-worker
- Crimethinc Worker Bulletin 47 & 74
- Inside front
- Hunter / gatherer
Web links
- Crimethinc.com (communication)
- Reshape Blog Translations of the CrimethInc. Collective
- "Face it, your politics are boring as fuck." , Text to which the review relates ( German )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Peter Seyferth: New revolution or just lifestyle? What we from CrimethInc. can learn (PDF file; 533 kB) Retrieved on August 29, 2012.
- ↑ Frequently Asked Questions {FAQ} www.crimethinc.com, accessed February 3, 2017
- ^ Stacy Thompson Punk Productions: Unfinished Business . Albany: SUNY Press, p. 109. ISBN 0-7914-6187-4
- ↑ Jed Brandt: Crimethinc: In love with love itself Red Flags, accessed February 17, 2008
- ^ Gabriel Kuhn : “New Anarchism” in the USA Unrast Verlag 2008 ISBN 978-3-89771-474-8 , page 53.
- ↑ CrimethInc .: Ten Year Report Online available ( Memento from February 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) quoted. according to Gabriel Kuhn: "New Anarchism" in the USA Unrast Verlag 2008 ISBN 978-3-89771-474-8 , page 54.
- ↑ CrimethInc .: Ten Year Report Online available ( Memento from February 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) quoted. according to Gabriel Kuhn: “New Anarchism” in the USA Unrast Verlag 2008 ISBN 978-3-89771-474-8 , page 56.
- ↑ Anarchist answers to riot charge by Elizabeth Goussetis in Athens Messenger , July 31, 2007 (no longer available)
- ↑ Jim Phillips: Good going; you left town for the summer and missed everything . The Athens News. September 4, 2007. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
- ↑ Several hundred young anarchists from around the country had train-hopped and hitchhiked there to attend the annual event known as the CrimethInc Convergence… Grimy and feral-looking, the CrimethInc kids squatted in small groups around a clearing.… [They] were in the middle of several days of self-organized workshops, seminars, and discussions, ranging from the mutualist banking theories of the nineteenth-century anarchist philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon , to an introductory practicum on lock-picking, to a class on making one's own menstrual pads. ... CrimethInc's adherents had come together there because they wanted to live their lives as some sort of solution. They saw "the revolution" not as a final product but as an ongoing process; they wanted not just to destroy the capitalist system but to create something livable in its place.
- ↑ Matthew Power in Harper's Magazine , March 2008
- ↑ Confidential Source "Anna" -issued affidavit. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: United States District Court Eastern District of California. Archived from the original on August 1, 2007 ; accessed on February 3, 2017 (English).
- ↑ We Are Everywhere announcement on crimethinc.com
- ^ To Change Everything US Tour . CrimeThInc. Ex-Workers Collective. June 15, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ Anarchists come to the Pendleton arts center . East Oregonian. September 30, 2015. Accessed October 22, 2015.
- ↑ criticism Anarkismo.net
- ↑ Bernd Drücke: From Verbal Radicalinskis and Dinosaurs in Grassroots Revolution (GWR No. 312 / Libertarian Book Pages)