Every recent G8 summit has taken
place alongside large anti-globalisation and
anti-capitalism protests. Protesters have come from a
wide range of backgrounds – different countries,
different races, different lifestyles – but one common
theme has been the rejection of party politics.
BOB SEVERN
In 2003, the group News From Nowhere said of
the anti-capitalist movement: ‘For we are everywhere. We
are in Seattle, Prague, Genoa, and Washington. We are in
Buenos Aires, Bangalore, Manila, Durban, and Quito. Many
of these place names have been made iconic by protest,
symbols of resistance and hope in a world which
increasingly offers little room for either.’
Global discontent presents itself in
Gleneagles this year as Britain plays host to the G8. In
their search for an alternative world, however, groups
like News From Nowhere are sceptical towards any from of
party politics. This is understandable following the
undemocratic Stalinist states in Eastern Europe, along
with the sell-outs and careerists that now run former
workers’ parties like Labour in Britain or the SPD in
Germany.
Some form of organisation is needed though to
mobilise opposition to the policies of capitalist
governments and companies. Tim Jordan, a writer on global
activism, showed an alternative to party structures:
‘Flat-hierarchies are, ideally, based on direct
communication between all participants and are facilitated
through open meetings that all interested parties.’
Open meetings and discussions are essential if
for a global anti-capitalist movement to provide an
alternative way of running the world. Jordan has admitted
though that hierarchies can occur in flat-hierarchy
groups: ‘Reclaim The Streets has, at times, enforced media
silence on some members that the group felt were speaking
too often in public and so gaining too high a profile.’
Who enforced this silence? Was there a vote on
this strategy or on opinions within the group? Not
everyone can attend every meeting or vote, so people need
to be elected – formally or informally – to posts of
responsibility. The media cannot interview every member of
an activist group, so spokespersons need to be elected. If
they misrepresent the group they could be punished through
group criticism or demotion.
Naomi Klein, author of No
Logo, supports the idea of ‘self-organisation’, which
supposedly does not need leaders. She has also shown its
practical limitations by reporting a World Bank protest in
Washington DC. Demonstrators had blocked every exit of the
World Bank headquarter to stop delegates inside from
leaving. They had to decide whether to continue the
blockades or rejoin the main demonstration.
Self-organisation meant that, instead of a vote to stay or
go, some exits remained blocked while others were not.
This meant that World Bank delegates left via the open
exits while other ‘self-organisers’ wasted their time
blocking the remaining exits!
Flat-hierarchies and self-organisation, as
well as anarchist groups, do not just result in practical
problems. Though they may appear to act on a ‘spontaneous’
basis, a certain level of structured organisation is
needed for a group to function, as virtually all events,
from blockades to demonstrations, need some level of
organisation. To give the appearance of spontaneity to
rank-and-file activists, decisions will be made by a small
number of people with little debate. This means the
‘decision-makers’, whether they are good or bad
tacticians, are not accountable to their supporters.
Democratic organisation is essential for the
future of the anti-capitalist movement; that there is as
much discussion and debate as possible before decisions
are voted upon and the resulting action is taken; that
people are elected to organisational roles and
responsibilities but that they can be recalled upon
request of the people they represent.
Democratic structures are
vital as sometimes discussion is not possible and quick
decisions have to be made, but organisers should be
accountable to the people they lead. Those who disagree
with the majority decisions should have the right to
organise to convince others that they are in the right;
otherwise there is an undemocratic limit on debate.
A democratic anti-capitalist political party
organised like this does not just mean taking part in
parliamentary elections, but being active on every level:
in the workplace, in trade unions, in local communities
groups and of course in mass demonstrations for social
change like Gleneagles.
A democratic party is also an essential tool
in the struggle to change society. Socialists understand
the collective power of the working class, who produce the
wealth of society under capitalism - from the farm to the
factory to the call-centre - while the capitalist class
profit from our work.
If a few directors take a
week-off to go to their luxury villas (or wherever), there
is little change in terms of what is produced and profited
from. If a workforce takes industrial action for a week,
the bosses power and profit is severely undermined.
Notes From Nowhere think that those involved
in the anti-capitalist movement, such as ‘the indigenous
people of Latin America’, do not fit this ‘Marxist model’
of working class power. However, thanks to neo-liberal
globalisation, the global working class is far bigger than
ever before, especially in comparison to when Karl Marx
lived in the 19th century. All oppressed
classes have a role to play in changing society, but the
working class, because of its potential collective power,
is key in the neo-colonial world, as well as in the
economically developed countries. For example, in the
current uprising in Bolivia involves the whole of the
oppressed, most of whom are from an indigenous background.
However, the organising working class, particularly in the
mining industry, is at the forefront of the struggle.
Similarly, the mighty working class in Nigeria has shown
itself capable of leading a struggle of all the oppressed
in the course of eight general strikes during the last two
years.
As socialists, we believe that
this social change needs to be the replacement of
capitalism with socialism, where the world’s resources are
democratically owned and managed by all of society,
instead of a few rich men (and even fewer women). To
achieve this a well organised, democratic and
international social movement is essential. The size of
such a task shows why anti-capitalism needs a party!
