A presentation given at the 2007 Renewing the Anarchist Tradition conference.
www.anarchiststudies.org
At RAT 2004, Chuck Morse argued that the anti-globalization movement was dead, and Aaron vigorously contested that idea. Now, three years later, Aaron concurs . . . kind of. Reflecting on the recent demonstrations against Bush, Harper, Calderon, and the Security and Prosperity Partnership summit in Montebello, Quebec, we will question the utility of large street demonstrations. While police lines, miles of fences, and tear gas canisters have become the most visible symbols of confrontation between anarchists and the state since the turn of the millennium, we would contend that the real focal points of confrontation are in the everyday--deportations, job precarity, evictions, and so on--and that this is where we should focus our organizing energies. Given that the anarchist movement, organized through the People's Global Action bloc, seemed to have relatively little impact in the Montebello demonstrations, we ask the following question: What are the points of confrontation for the anarchist movement--large street demos, or local, community organizing? Where should we put our efforts in the context of a revolutionary strategy?
Mostafa is an organizer with the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal, and was active in the Ontario Coalition against Poverty and the Toronto coalition of concerned taxi drivers. He is also involved in a campaign around the precarity of immigrant and migrant workers in Montreal through what is now called temporary worker programs in Canada.
Aaron is a community organizer and independent journalist from Montreal. He works with a variety of different anti-authoritarian groups, including Block the Empire, Solidarity across Borders, and more recently, the People's Global Action (PGA) bloc. Aaron has filed radio and print reports from Israel/Palestine, Haiti, Mexico, and across occupied Turtle Island.
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