Cover of 'The RAG' #2

Why Anarchafeminism?
A women-only discussion hosted by RAG

RAG, the Revolutionary Anarchafeminist Group is now in its third year. The collective was set up in order to explore our ideas and produce a magazine, the Rag. Meetings are held weekly on Mondays, but the first Monday of every month is an open meeting, in which non-members are invited to a workshop or discussion.

On Monday 7th April, the open meeting was entitled “Why Anarchafeminism?” The purpose of the meeting was to encourage women outside of RAG to question and explore their ideas about feminism and anarchism and to draw links between the two. Also, it gave members of the group a chance to revisit the fundamental aspects of our beliefs. The following is a personal account by two of us of the discussion. It is limited by the quality of our notes and recollections. It does not present a RAG position on anything, but is simply an attempt to share some of the ideas that were touched upon with those who were unable to attend.

Related Links: Rag's Blog Feminist Gathering Fundraiser

Fishermen on the beach at Triunfo

Enclosing the commons – the historical process of fencing off land which had previously been in the public domain, for private use – is perhaps one of the most blatant expressions of the fundamental criminal nature of the capitalist state. Today it's the voracious neo-liberal model which stalks the last pockets of community-held global territory for privatization - from Chiapas, Mexico, to the deep Amazon, to the Garifuna coast of Honduras, leaving no stone unturned.

"We have hundreds of kilometers of beaches that aren't developed, and it's a waste,'' said the then Honduran Tourism Secretary, Ana Abarca in 2001. "We want strong tourism. We are going after the sun and the beach."

While the neo-liberal government sees unproductive beaches and waste, other people see living communities existing in harmony with their surroundings. These hundreds of kilometers of "waste" are home to 76 Garifuna villages, where people live as they have for a couple of hundred years, reliant on the sea for fishing, on the beach for coconut and fruit, on the wetlands for rice cultivation and the surrounding hillsides for growing manioc, yucca, firewood, and hunting. Their simple wooden homes are built along the beaches, or on stilts above the waves. Men fish from dugout canoes or dive with spears along the reefs.

Related Links: Recent articles by the same author.

American Anarchism is Full of Surprises

I spent the last month Greyhounding around the USA speaking about anarchism in Ireland. Fourteen cities, 20+ meetings in thirty days in cities with populations from thirty thousand to over eight million.

On my travels I used the opportunity to record interviews with many of the local anarchists who were organizing the meetings which I edited on the bus and posted to indymedia.ie once I hit my next wi-fi signal. I've collated these interviews below, over two hours of audio in all.All those interviewed are anarchists but apart from that they represent a section of the population of the North East ranging in age from perhaps 20 to nearly 70. Together they give an impression of 'the other America', that is the vast majority of the US population that is not visible in the election coverage or as characters on 'Friends' or 'Sex & the City'.

Related Links: Andrew's Archive | Black Cat Forum | Blog | Nefac: Cross border Makhnovites

New Jersey 0.12 Mb Dyer Lum, mentioned in the North Hampton interview 0.1 Mb The Lucy Parsons anarchist bookstore in Boston 0.23 Mb The community centre in Richmond which was the venue for my talk there 0.21 Mb

Over the weekend of November 24-25, protesters clashed with police in Sucre, Bolivia - they were demanding that the capital of the country be moved to Sucre. Three people died and over some 100 were wounded in the clashes. Yesterday Morales announced plans for a nationwide referendum to resolve a deepening political crisis in the country. A few months ago, two recent works on Bolivia were given a look over for the WSM's Red and Black Revolution 14. The review now appears on line for the first time.

Related Link: Info on Ben Dangl and link to interview | New Politics in Old Bolivia: Public Opinion and Evo Morales | Bolivian Land Reform: La Paz´s Streets Become A Theatre of Power | ZNet - Bolivian Horizons: an Interview with Historian Sinclair Thomson

Hugo Chavez casts his vote in the referendum
Photograph courtesy of Agência Brasil under a Creative Commons License

Sunday's referendum defeat may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for the Venezuelan Left

An analysis of the recent Venezuelan referendum including coverage of the issues by both alternative and mainstream media. This article includes some factual data about the reality of Venezuela’s economy which effectively counters the “conventional wisdom” arising from propaganda spread by much of the mainstream media. The article also draws some interesting contrasts between the political situation in Venezuela and its next door neighbour, Colombia.

Related Links:
Venezuela after the Referendum: Socialist Unity — Tariq Ali on CounterPunch
Recent Indymedia Coverage: Global Women’s Strike in Venezuela call for a Yes vote