The Meaning Behind the Message of the RNC Protests -Robert Augman

For those of us who participated in the protests against the Republican National Convention (RNC) this summer, reading the newspaper articles, watching the TV reports, or speaking with their audience was a schizophrenic experience. It seemed that what we took part in, and what was conveyed, were two entirely different things. Continue reading "The Meaning Behind the Message of the RNC Protests -Robert Augman"

Fighting to Win: Sufficient Strategies for Moving Forward
-Rob Augman, Fall 2002

This article was originally presented at the Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference in the summer of 2002, in Plainfield, VT. It was published in Onward newspaper in Volume 3, Issue 2 (Fall 2002).

In our long-term struggles for a free society, our present organizing must reflect our long-term vision. Not only must it reflect such vision, it must also be our vehicle for moving us closer to such vision. As anarchists, our goal of a self-governed society, where we can directly organize social life from the bottom-up according to ethical criteria, must be at the heart of our efforts. But in the current context where all forms of social struggle are co-opted or defeated by the state and capitalism, we face the difficult task of building a movement that takes us toward our long-term vision. Many people around the world are struggling to fight off exploitation and oppression. But the project of “building the new society in the shell of the old” must be a major part of our efforts if we are to truly transcend hierarchical society. This task is a challenging one for organizers across the globe.

The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) has been getting a lot of attention from the anarchist movement as of late. And rightly so, because OCAP, a 14 year-old direct action organization, has used a popular and confrontational approach in fighting extremities of capitalist exploitation. And they have been largely successful!