Mutiny 61 Web

8/4/2019 Mutiny 61 Web

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Rioting in London

Stop Coal Seam Gas!

Disaster Communism &Anarchy in the Streets

greeK Rebel Dog Speaks!

Police at Jura

Review ofThe Wolves

at the Door

me!

in The zine This issue:

FREE


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EditorialLong-time readers of the zine will knowthat Mutiny has had a thing for cats. Thisissue, we give dogs some much neededtime in the revolutionary sun. We publish

an interview with Loukanikos, a rebelliousdog from Greece who has appeared atnearly every protest in Athens over thelast few years.This issue is jam-packed with otherinteresting content. One of Mutinysoverseas correspondents gives us someanalysis of the recent rioting in the UK. NickSouthall writes about disaster communism,with a focus on the community response tothe Queensland floods at the beginning of

2011. Michelle Collis gives us an updateabout campaigning against Coal Seam Gasin the Illawarra.In the last few issues we have interviewedmembers of collectives that also put outradical publications in Australia. Whilewe hope for this series to continue, thistime we instead publish a lengthy review(by two Mutiny editors) of the new journalThe Wolves at the Door. We hope thisencourages critical thinking about how

to make radical publishing as effective

as possible. We publish two pieces thatdiscuss how activists should relate to policesurveillance, in the light of a strange recentincident in which a cop openly attemptedto join Sydneys Jura Books collective, agroup that runs an anarchist bookshop in

Petersham. Another article stresses the

importance of a collective response whenactivists/revolutionaries have to deal withcourt cases. Finally, we have put out a callfor regular updates from radical collectivesin the region, in order to highlight organisingthat is happening and link up activistsinvolved in different projects. This issuewe publish a report from the Melbourne

Anarchist Club about their recent activity,and we hope that other collectives send usreports for future issues!

Love and solidarity,Mutiny Zine Collective

Editors: L-Dog, Syzygy, Blackbeard

Mutiny is an Anarchist collective based in Sydney.

We meet regularly, contact us at:

mail: c/- PO Box 4 Enmore, NSW, 2042, Australia

email: mutineers [at] graffiti.net

Web: back issues at jura.org.au


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brief newsVictoria

On the 9th oAugust severalpro-Palestinianactivists werearrested indawn raidsin Victoria,or breaching bail conditions imposedollowing arrests at a protest on 1st July.Tis protest targeted Max Brenner, achain store with strong ties to the Israelimilitary. Police demanded $18,000as surety or the release o the ouractivists. 19 people were arrested on theday and ace court on 5th September,acing charges o trespass, besettingand acting in a riotous manner. Teprotests are part o the worldwideBoycott Divestment and Sanctionscampaign, which aims to draw attentionto the ongoing genocide committed bythe Apartheid regime in Israel againstPalestinians. For more inormation see

http://boycottisrael19.wordpress.com

California, USAOn July 20th the hunger strike oprisoners at Pelican Bay and otherCaliornian prisons ended as authoritiesthreatened to issue orce eedingorders. Te strike, which spread to 13prisons and had over 6,600 individualsparticipating, led to some immediate

changes in policy such as the opportunityor some educational programmes, theprovision o all-weather caps (beanies)and wall calenders. Authorities also

agreed to investigate changes to otherpolicies. Hunger strikers are giving2-3 weeks rom July 20th to come upwith substantive changes in responseto their 5 core demands, and may go

back on hunger strike i authorities donot ollow through. For more ino seehttp:/prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.

wordpress.com

BulgariaJock Palreeman is a young Australiancurrently serving a 20-year prison termor murder in Sofa, Bulgaria. Arrestedon 28 December 2007 and convictedin December 2009, Jock maintains hisinnocence. Jock and a couple o riendswere in Sofa enjoying a night out whenJock witnessed an attack on a youngRoma man by a group o skinheads.Jock rushed to help the victim and wasthen surrounded and attacked by thegroup members with concrete tiles.In the subsequent melee, two o thegroup were wounded, one atally. Moreinormation on the case is available at

reejock.comTe last opportunity or appeal inBulgaria was heard at the Court oCassation on May 16 2011 and despitethe abundant and obvious evidencesupporting his case the BulgarianInjustice system has decided to upholdJocks sentence. Te Palreeman amilyslegal advisor Julian McMahon hassaid that Jock could have a chance ihe appeals to the European Court o

Human Rights.I you want to write letters o support to Jock,you can get in touch with us at [email protected] or Jocks amily at reejock@live.

com.au


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It is with pleasure that the MelbourneAnarchist Club (MAC) responds to the

invitation o the Mutiny Collective toreport about whats happening at MAC.It is o note that this resulted rom thecoming together o anarchists romacross South-Eastern Australia at therecent Melbourne Anarchist Book Fair.Tis event was an important exampleo the continuing vivacity o anarchismhere, as well as a level o attraction to it.

At MAC, there has also been a continuingeort to help anarchism live and grow inour city. First, this year MAC has heldevents like a 140th Anniversary o theParis Commune gig, where MACs newpublication Black Light was launched,also including bands and an interactivetheatre piece; a 75th Spanish Revolutionparty; a very popular talk by SteveIgnorant (Crass); and a post-AnarchistBook Fair BBQ, where anarchists romaround Australia had a chance to meetand talk about our common struggle.Next, as well as regular readings/discussion o anarchist themes at theFantin Reading Group, there is ongoingardent lively discussion o anarchist

Collective Report

MelbourneAnarchistClub

theory and practice within MAC,ranging rom better anarchistorganisation and propaganda toprinciples o Federation, to moveus to ever more useul action or

anarchism.

In addition to this work, we have beenimproving the physical space, which is

the MAC building an island within ouroppressive world where ree and equalrelations can become the norms o lie,and authentic struggle or anarchistsocial revolution the raison dtre. Tishas meant basic things like paintingwalls, putting in more bookshelves, andorganising our reerence/borrowing

library and resources (rom audio- visual equipment to tea and coeeacilities). More importantly, MACmembers have given their scarce timeor regular MAC drop-ins, wherepeople can come in and discuss, look atbooks and generally experience a littlepiece o what were working towards in

a uture ree society.

For more inormation on MAC, visit our website at http://mac.anarchobase.com/ or email us [email protected]

Alternatively, go postal at:Melbourne Anarchist Club

PO Box 494Brunswick, Vic 3056

Australia

mac


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Some thoughts on

the riots across

the UK

But why are people rioting?

Tats what its all about showing thepolice we can do what we want. Andnow we have. [] Were just showingthe rich people we can do what wewant.- Young women interviewed by the BBCin London

I dont claim to understand the motivationso anyone else who took to the streets. Idont want to claim as my own the anger opeople whose lives are dierent rom mineand whose positions are much harder. But,speaking only or mysel, its no mysterythat people chose to riot: that people tookthe opportunity to be, with others, orsome hours, out o control.

Te greater mystery is that peoplefnd it such a puzzle. Tat even peoplewho spend their lives talking o theiropposition to this system have beenspending these weeks trying to explainto each other what went wrong to permitsuch a surge o unrest. Its a shock to fndanarchists speaking o the angry crowd as

an other to be studied and interpreted. Itsas i, because those rioters who do speakdont use the language o demands andnegotiation, that they dont make words.

Police patrol these streets every nighto the week and we only get to riotevery ew years. Tey cant come herelaying down the law like they do all year

round. People are rioting because theriot is fnally here.

- Man in Liverpool interviewed by theGuardian.

Tat is not to say that its not worth talkingabout what makes lie miserable. Its worthtalking about policing and about povertyand their increasing interconnectedness.As austerity measures cut away any illusiono a social saety net, or o social mobility,

more and more people are pushed tothe edge to be controlled and policed assubjects. Look at the response to the riots,where whole amilies are being threatenedwith eviction rom their council housesbecause a child has been charged (noteven convicted) o riot. Tis is collectivepunishment, a colonial strategy.

But this tangle o reasons is the wholeo society: we cant blame a segment inthe hope o advancing a narrow politicalagenda. It makes no sense to call ormore youth centres, or even or less racistpolicing as i such a change is possible orwould prevent uture unrest. We shouldhave no interest in trying to work out

which small changes in managementtechnique could calm the suddenly visibleanger.

On looting and destruction

Te riots were massive and diverse. ocelebrate such widespread rebellion isnot to say that the riots were not also

ugly, terriying and brutal. It is importantto contradict the media narrative thatonly talks about the worst aspects: thatpeople were killed and burnt out o theirhomes. Tis does not mean ignoring suchthings or hardening ourselves against theinevitable brutality that is already parto social breakdown. However, the actremains that much o the destruction was

well targeted: against police (fve policestations attacked in Nottingham andcountless smaller attacks everywhere),


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banks, courts, bailis oces,pawn brokers, chain stores andluxury stores. In Bristol theoces o the local newspaper,which had printed photos opeople police were seekingto identiy rom these riotsand earlier riots in April, wasattacked.Tere are some who seek to

dismiss much o this becauseit was looting. Tey condemnnot just damage to small stores,which hurt people who were ar

rom rich, but looting per se. Tey argueit is mere consumerism, selfsh the. Teysuggest that an action is only political, orworth consideration, i you gain nothingrom it but a eeling o sel-satisaction.o demand a better standard o lie isacceptable: to take things to improveyour lie is mere criminality. As one

commentator put it:buried beneath the attack on the crassmaterialism o the looting is a nastierworm, that o distance and sheen, thatsupports critique and dissent preciselyto the degree it remains irrelevant andimmaterial, that it is to be seen andheard and not ever elt.

-http://socialismandorbarbarism.blogspot.com/2011/08/open-letter-to-those-who-condemn_10.html

Looting is about more than what you gain:its about the act o taking en masse. Whenwe take to the streets together the barriersthat keep us rom the things we need orwant are literally shattered: everything is

ree.However, while some critiques olooting were about protecting propertyor propertys sake, other critiques madeon the street were a matter o collective

sel deence that didnt rely on the state.Shopkeepers in Dalston came out togetherto protect their small shops but watchedthe Argos down the road get looted. Tisis a ar cry rom those who came out inHackney the next day with brooms in theair as i the basic work o getting glass othe streets was a photo opportunity or a

celebration.

No conclusion

So what happens next? O course,repression. Te prisons are uller thantheyve ever been, with hundreds o peoplebeing remanded or sentenced or riotrelated oences. It could well be that the

strategy o repression, ar rom bringingcalm, pushes things urther not leastinside the prisons themselves. It couldalso be that ear o having your houseburnt down leads to stronger support orpolice rom many. As I write, police arepreparing to send ten thousand ocersonto the streets o London or Notting Hillcarnival weekend. wo days ago a policecar in London was frebombed. Tings

arent over.

-anon.


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By Michelle Collis

Te campaign against coal seam gas mininghas been active both in Sydney, and inthe Illawarra. Gas company Dart Energyhold an exploration licence to drill or gasacross Sydney and have targeted a site inSt Peters, behind Sydney Park, only 200m

rom residents and 5km rom the CBD. TeSt Peters well would be the frst in an urbanarea in Australia.

Te Stop Coal Seam Gas Illawarracampaign has been active in highlightingcommunity concerns about theenvironmental and health risks o Coal

Seam Gas (CSG). Te risks o CSG arethat it always involves using contaminatedwater. Te extraction o gas that is drawnout o the coal seam is highly saline and cancontain toxic and radioactive compounds,endocrine disrupters and heavy metals.When hydraulic racturing (or racking)is used this contaminates large quantitieso resh water with the sand and chemicalsthat are pumped underground. It lowersthe resh water table and is a fre hazard,as wells, processing and pipelines leak.Tere are a range o direct and indirecthealth impacts resulting rom this suchas heart, lung, kidney and neurologicalproblems and cancer. Over a twenty yearperiod, CSG has a global warming impact

that it is as bad i not worse than coal.Tis issue has been highlighted in the

Illawarra region through the circulationo a petition. Campaigners have been busy

gathering signatures and talking aboutthe health and environmental concernswith the general public. Te local websitehttp://stop-csg-illawarra.org/ has madethe petition available to be downloaded.Each Friday at the Wollongong Produce

and Creative raders Markets in the localmall there has been a Stop CSG stall. Testall has been raising awareness by selling-shirts and signs or people to place ondisplay at their homes and asking thecommunity to sign the petition. Volunteerdata collectors have been counting thenumber o signatures gained. Te goal

to obtain 10,000 signatures has nearlybeen reached so it can then be tabled inParliament. Te petition is advocating amoratorium on all Coal Seam Gas mining,a royal commission into all aspects oCSG mining and a total ban on racking.o date the original 3 month moratoriumon all new but not existing rackingprojects has been extended to the 31stDecember, 2011.

On 1st July there was a undraiser gigheld at the Heritage Hotel, in Bulli. Tisevent was a huge success and the place wasflled with enthusiastic people bringing asense o un and positivity. Communityspirit was evident as local bands andperormers provided entertainment

throughout the night. Tere was localart on display which could be purchased.Money was raised to continue to und the


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campaign. Te event was an example ohow to link creativity, music and arts inorder to promote a worthwhile cause.

A community orum was held atTirroul Community Centre on 21August. Te orum was called Why did

over 3000 join together at AustinmereBeach in May? reerring to a humansign that was organised on the beach inthat month. A heated discussion was heldbetween a panel o experts and concernedcommunity members. Over 200 peopleattended the event. Te panel o expertsincluded om Fontaine, the Managing

Director o Ormil Energy, one o the CSGmining companies with approval to drilllocally, Alan Lindsay, a chemical engineerwho has held senior executive positionswith the oil industry in Australia andoverseas, and the coal industry in theHunter Valley, Kirsty Ruddock, principalsolicitor within the NSW Environmental

Deenders oce and Dr Helen Redmondrom Doctors or the EnvironmentAustralia.

Fontaine said that the campaign wasunounded and ostered ear amongstthe community. He said that some o themain organisers were doing this only topromote their own political causes. Hereiterated that there would be no racking

in the local area, as the area had beenmined heavily already and there would beno need or it. However, when asked i hewould enter into an agreement with thecommunity and guarantee that rackingwould not occur in the uture he said thathe would not do this. Later he stated I amnot anti-racking. It can be done saely.

Other panel members provided evidencecontrary to this outlining the many healthand environmental risks that were causedby racking. It was also highlighted that

there were clear risks to the environmenteven i racking is not used. Te event wascovered on local WIN V news, ABCnews and radio and a story was placed inthe local paper.

Te band Dead Letter Circus came to

the Wollongong Unibar at the Universityo Wollongong on 20th August as part otheir No racking way tour. As part o thetour the band requested that Stop CoalSeam Gas stalls be set up at their gigs.Te lead singer o the band addressedthe crowd saying that people shoulduse their own minds to analyse current

issues and not necessarily believe whatis portrayed in the media. He explainedthe signifcance o CSG mining. Peopleat the event were keen to sign the petitionthroughout the night and a lot o peopleindicated that they had not been awareo the impacts o the industry beore this.Tis was a demonstration o what bands

with political conscience can achieve.Te Stop Coal Seam Gas Illawarracontinues to apply a theme o how tosuccessully unite creativity with politicalorganising. Overall, this has been metwith positive enthusiasm by people inthe Illawarra and has ostered a sense ocommunity spirit. It helps demonstratewhat the power o people can achieve

and has been a key element in keepingthe issue in the mainstream media . Formore inormation or to fnd out moreabout how to get involved please call JessMoore 0416 232 349, Chris Williams 0425329 963 or John Spira 0438 538 393 [Eds-or see website stop-csg-illawarra.org. oget in touch with SOP CSG Sydney see

nogasmininginsydney.com, email [email protected] or phoneMoira (0420 504 411)].


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Disaster Communism

and Anarchy in the

Streets

- by Nick Southall

In January I sat in ront o my Vspellbound by the oods that sweptthrough Queensland. For those o uswho have been campaigning or yearsaround environmental issues and climatechange the oods werent a huge shock.However the eelings o helplessness inthe ace o such astounding power canrapidly ow into the sort o deeatismexperienced by those who believe that its

too late to make a dierence in the ace owidespread environmental destruction.My initial reaction to the ooding wasto contact amily and riends, isolatedin rural Queensland and evacuated inthe ace o the rising waters in Brisbane,oering what support I could. Te oodsstarkly posed the questions What should

we, or could we, do in the ace o suchpower? Yet no sooner had these questionsbeen posed than a multitude o answerswere immediately provided by those whoindividually and collectively conrontedthe disaster, working alone and togetherto protect homes, salvage communities,minimise injury and save lives.

During the days that ollowed I wasreminded o Naomi Kleins Te ShockDoctrine. Kleins book details how neo-

liberalism takes advantage o peoples

disorientation ollowing massive collectiveshocks wars, terrorist attacks and natural

disasters to push through unpopulareconomic measures oen called shocktherapy. In Te Shock Doctrine Klein doesa good job o exposing what she callsdisaster capitalism. Most o the book isan unremitting horror story, a poweruland grim exposition o the viciousness ocontemporary capitalism. Tere is little else

in the book apart rom violence, torture,terror, surrender and deeat. Te problemwith this concentration on, and emphasiso, the power o capital and capitalist stateorms, is that it ends up reinorcing theshocks o disaster capitalism. What wouldhave made this book more useul to thosestruggling or a better world was more

attention to the growing alternatives to theshock doctrine. It is not until the very endo the book that Klein acknowledges thosewho are learning how to build shockabsorbers into their organising modelsthrough the development o democracyin daily lie. Here she explains that theexperience o living through a disaster isthe eeling o being completely powerless:in the ace o awesome orces, parents losethe ability to save their children, spousesare separated, homes, places o protection,


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become death traps. However what sheand many others dealing with disastershave learned is that the best way to recoverrom helplessness is helping, being part oa communal recovery.

Even beore the Queensland oods

arrived in many areas people had alreadyormed human chains, organised deencegroups to protect homes rom the risingwater, turned neighbourhood centresinto bases or local organising and setup resident action groups to address theneeds o those aected. Ten there werethose who risked and lost their lives.

Most o the daring rescues were carriedout by ordinary people. And no ormalduty made emergency service workersthrow themselves into harms way. All othese heroes risked their lives and gave othemselves, not or glory, a pay packet or apromotion, but because o their humanity.And nothing requires that people help

out aerwards. Tose, like me, watchingon V, went rom being shocked by theoods devastation to being awestruckby peoples response. In the waters wakecame a great surge o common eeling andcollective action rom tens o thousandso eager volunteers. Prime Minister JuliaGillard exclaimed that Te scale o the

volunteering is taking peoples breath

away . . . literally everyone is trying tofnd someone to help, selessly goingand helping a neighbour. Flood survivorChristina Avolio told the media there wasso much kindness it makes you want tocry.

Queensland Premier Anna Blighquickly attempted to have the government

organise, and claim as OperationCompassion, those who turned up toclean out inundated homes and streets.However the Brisbane City Council, which

organised the cities ocial volunteerorce, had to turn away thousands opeople every day or whom it simplydidnt have any transport. Most o them,took it upon themselves to get to whereverthey could be most useul. In act, they

had a better chance o getting more donethis way. Te governments attempts tocoordinate the stream o volunteers wasseverely hampered by the time and energywasted on red tape and bureaucraticstupidity. Although there were hundredso ocial volunteers in many areasscraping and digging away at the toxic

sludge that blanketed the area, there werethousands more who arrived o their own

volition carrying at headed shovels,rakes, brooms, cartons o drinking water,disinectant, ood supplies, whatever theythought might be needed. Amongst themwere people rom all walks o lie, youngand old, multicultural and rom many parts

o the world. As hundreds more poured inrom interstate, it was ascinating to seehow such a multitude cooperated. As oneobserver noted; All up and down the longroad broom pushers realised they couldsweep a small tide o mud away romthe houses and back towards the river ithey locked their broom heads togetherand pushed all at once. Somebody had

come up with the idea o ashioning agiant squeegee rom the doors o ruinedcupboards sitting in the trash piles by theside o the road. Tere were no oremanor gang bosses to coordinate the eorts othis volunteer orce, and yet it organiseditsel .

Soon those who couldnt get to

Queensland, or to the aected areas,were making donations o money, ood,clothing, toys, urniture and transport,collecting goods and undraising.


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Hundreds o millions in cash, supplies andequipment was quickly donated by peoplerom around the globe. Evacuation centresacross Queensland were overwhelmedwith oers o help. A group o people whohad lost their homes in Kinglake Victoria,

during the Black Saturday bushfresdrove up with supplies and joined therecovery eort. Reugees in detentioncentres donated money. Individuals andgroups, rom local cricket clubs to rockbands, organised sausage sizzles, concertsand cake stalls, taking it upon themselvesto redistribute wealth to those in need.

Te ood crisis unleashed on a massivescale something thatoccurs every day yetis oen neglected,ignored or denied;people oering othersa helping hand.Tese actions make a lie out o the idea

that people are selfsh, sel-absorbed andapathetic, that there is no alternative toindividualistic cravings or commoditiesor a brutal dog eat dog world. ens othousands o people showed that wedont need capital or governments toget things done. Tey demonstrated thewill o people to take part in comortingeach other, re-building, creating and

moulding their own utures. In Te ShockDoctrine Klein uses the term direct actionreconstruction to describe the eortso communities hit by disaster that donot wait or the state, or allow capital totake the initiative but instead negotiatewith their hands, rebuilding their owncommunities and healing themselves,

resulting in communities that are stronger.I call these eorts disaster communism,others call it anarchy.

In her recent book,A Paradise Built in

Hell: Te Extraordinary Communities TatArise in Disaster, Rebecca Solnit explainswhat people tend to do or themselves indisasters. Her book is an investigation othe moments o altruism, resourceulness,and generosity that arise amid disasters

grie and disruption and considers theirimplications or everyday lie. WhatSolnit highlights is not merely that somany people rise to the occasion, but thatthey do so with joy and love, revealinga widespread yearning or community,purposeulness, and meaningul work. Aswell, she details how the negative impacts

o disasters are oen deepened by thosein power, throughear or panic, and howoen and quickly theauthorities resort toextreme and violentmeasures. Te heroism

o ordinary people is part o Solnits study.

But she also questions the widespreadtendency to assume that people will notact in heroic and altruistic ways and howocial responses come out o this belie.Solnit examines the dominant narrativegoverning business and state reactions tospecifc case studies including the Londonblitz, the Mexico City earthquake o 1985and Hurricane Katrina and its aermath

in New Orleans. In these cities wrackedby disaster much o the response byauthorities was based on belies that theirprimary job was to protect private propertyrom rampaging mobs and suppress thepanicked populace. As Solnit uncovers,these visions o post-disaster policing areat best a misinterpretation o the reality

on the ground. Te standard assumptionamong government planners, Hollywoodflmmakers and wealthy people is thatdisasters result in anarchy, crime and

the flood crisis

unleashed on a massive

scale something that

occurs every day...


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panic in the streets. We are all amiliarwith the dominant themes o apocalypticscenarios; terrifed crowds trampling eachother to escape, the rapid breakdown osocial order, people looting, hoardingand deending their tur as they viciously

fght each other or limited resources.Tese scenarios are based on depressing,demoralising and ear inducing viewso human nature promoted by themainstream media, governments and lawenorcement agencies, which are oenused to justiy authoritarian and violentrepression. Solnit argues that pessimistic

views o how people respond to disastersare undamentally wrong. Instead, sheexamines how disasters are ar more likelyto bring out the best in people. Disastersare extraordinarily generative, she writes,as capitalism collapses: In its placeappears a reversionto improvised,

c o l l a b o r a t i v e ,cooperative andlocal society.

When creeks andrivers burst theirbanks they powerully dey the borderso an unnatural order. Te structures onormal lie are ruptured; many acadeso capitalist society topple and are swept

away, exposing both hidden vulnerabilitiesand potentials, transorming people, theirrelationships and communities. It is oenduring such events that we eel mostalive, most human, the most connectedto our amily, neighbours, riends andcommunity, the rest o humanity and theplanet. Anything could happen. Tings

that seemed impossible a day or two beoresuddenly seem irresistible and we discovernew ways o doing things. O coursecertain things are no longer possible, the

power maybe out, the roads closed; wearent able to do what we usually do. Butother things seem, and are, more possible.For many there is no need to go to work,school or university. In some respectsthere is more reedom or people to act

as they wish reedom to connect, toengage in communal activity, to use theirimagination, to make things dierent ordierently, to fgure out or themselveswhat to do, how to do it and then organiseto get it done. And what did most peopledo with this liberty during the oodcrisis? Tey reached out to each other,

took direct action, re-confgured spacesand relationships, got to know each otherand developed more democratic, caringand egalitarian social processes. Tesealternative communities arise at times oturmoil. Tey demonstrate the capacity o

people to stop doingwhat they usually do,

to transorm privatespace, private timeand private propertyinto communityspace, community

time and community property, to sel-organise production, distribution andexchange.

Disasters prise open the apparent

limits o the possible into which canrush potentials or progressive newdevelopments and anti-capitalistexperiments. Although people continueto use old methods and mechanisms, theyalso create new, more valuable and useulways o getting things done. Te horizontalnetwork orms o organising that replace

the usual state orms are shown not justto be more inclusive and democratic, butmore ecient and more productive. Telived experience o alternative society

[people] reached out

to each other, took

direct action, re-

configured spaces and

relationships...


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transorms norms, values and belies, romthose o sel-interest into those o humaninterest. Skills or attributes that are oenunder-valued; healing, caring, exibility,sel-suciency, counselling, localknowledge and community connections

are suddenly understood as crucial. Aspeople come closer to each other they arebetter able to share resources, knowledges,ways o doing and experiences, enrichinglives and communities, opening upnew horizons or creativity, and urtherdeepening interactions.

InA Paradise Built in HellSolnit details

how people who went through the SanFrancisco earthquake or the immediateaermath o 9/11 in Manhattan reportthat it was a peak experience o humanconnection and shared purpose. Sheuses the work o sociologist and disasterexpert Charles Fritz who wrote: Disastersprovide a temporary liberation rom

the worries, inhibitions and anxietiesassociated with the past and uturebecause they orce people to concentratetheir ull attention on immediatemoment-to-moment, day-to-day needswithin the context o present realities.Disaster provides a orm o societal shockwhich disrupts habitual, institutionalisedpatterns o behaviour and renders people

amenable to social and personal change.In disasters, writes Solnit, the hierarchies,administrations and institutions, thesocial structures, tend to all apart, butwhat result tends to be anarchy in [the]sense o people coming together in reelychosen cooperation rather than themedias sense o disorderly savagery. Te

experience o reely chosen cooperationin disasters allows people to see therigid, inept, sel-serving, authoritariannature o rulers, and encourages them to

entertain the communal as an appealingalternative. Te rise o communism isprecisely what is so threatening to elites,which is why they oen react to disasterswith military/police power. Solnit calls itelite panic, the deep ears among elites

that the commoners will go wild anddestroy private property, challenge thegovernment and the status quo. As Solnitexplains, this ear is not unounded aspeople themselves in these momentsconstitute the government, the actingdecision-making body, as democracy hasalways promised and rarely delivered.

Tus disasters oen unold as though arevolution has already taken place.

Te reason that this type ogovernment, this democracy, can occurduring these critical times is becauserevolution has already taken place, andis already taking place. Te new orms ogovernment, spontaneous communities

and commons that arise in disasters are inact constructed rom pre-existing supportnetworks, organisational orms andalternative economies. As one reviewero Solnits book explains; Te powero disasters . . . may be in their power togive us a real-lie glimpse o the utopiasthat exist within us and our communitiesevery day, but which are papered-over by

the accumulated patterns o culture andpolitics. Disasters disclose another reality.We can actually matter. We can actuallywork together with strangers o dierentbackgrounds. We can actually play heroicroles and improvise eective solutions. Wecan actually experience membership in abeloved community . . . people can begin

to experience their own personal agencyand collective power.

Disasters like those in Queensland,Christchurch and Japan pose questions


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about what has personal value and socialworth? What is really precious? Whileaccountants, bankers and technocrats tryto calculate the cost o disasters in moneyterms, the impact on the economy or GDP,many people cease to care about their

possessions and open their wallets, theirhomes and their hearts. Over and over youhear survivors and rescuers exclaimingthat possessions are not important;lie is important, we are important,our relationships and communitiesare important. Tis understandingchallenges the capitalist concentration

on consumption, commodifcation andexchange value as common social realities.People in crisis dont just conceive o doingthings without money, they do thingswithout money. And they are much morelikely to recognise that amily, riendshipand community networks are incredibly

valuable. Te Queensland oods, exposed

the existing social solidarities, the moraland gi economies o community service,ellowship, sel-help and improvement, thesharing o work, money, goods, emotionaland psychological support provided by the

on-going organisation o non-capitalistexchanges. oday these social relations oproduction are widespread, ranging romgi economies such as the open sourcemovement, peer-to-peer networks andgrass roots activism, to moral economies

that include recovered enterprises,cooperatives and air trade networks. Tespread o sharing and barter economiesthat organise production, distributionand exchange through collaborativelabour is today weaving networks oeconomic solidarity involving millionso people working or common beneft,

rather than or proft. Communities andsocial movements have always relied onsuch sharing, cooperative and caringrelationships and the more visible thesepractical alternatives become the morepeople become aware o the actualexistence o liberatory communism.

Disasters are horrifc. People die; many

more are injured, lose their loved ones andtheir homes. Washing over the devastatedareas o Queensland, along with the toxinsand shit, were a layer o people actinglike human scum, taking advantage o

the disaster in order to rise tothe top. Tere are those whoprofted rom the oods; scamartists, much o the media,

some politicians, businessesand developers. And i you wantmore details on how horrifc thisdisaster capitalism can be thenI defnitely recommend TeShock Doctrine. However as theQueensland government rushedto restore coal exports ASAP,

and the diggers and the skipsremoved the otsam o the pastand the muck o the present,we were not only presented


15/28

with a new capitalist year zero. Insteadthis biblical ood reminds us o ourcontinuing attempts at exodus, our ightrom the toxins and shit, rom the chromeand plastic crap, rom alienation, bad jobsand shallow relationships. Looking upon

the remnants o their lives the frst thingsthat most people choose to save rom theirpast are pets, photos, sentimental itemsand most importantly, o course, theyrescue each other. While some quicklyreturn to business as usual, countlessothers continue to rely on their socialnetworks, the support, generosity and love

o others. As the most vulnerable ace thedevastating impacts o extreme weather,environmental, economic, military andsocial crisis, we all ace the question ohow we should conront these righteningchallenges. During and aer disasterssome government intervention is helpuland useul. Tere are a variety o capitalist

state orms, some o which are worse thanothers. For example, the reaction o theQueensland and Federal Governmentsto the oods was dramatically dierentto the Bush administrations reaction tohurricane Katrina. Te ability o people topowerully sel-organise themselves helpsto shape, transorm and limit the impacto state power. Te extension o existing

communism, democratic, peaceul andloving sel-government, is a movemento autonomy, both against and outsidecapital.

In the wake o disasters things do not just return to normal and we do not just start anew. Instead we rebuild onoundations that have weathered the storm;

oundations o solidarity, o riendship,o love, strengthening our relationshipsand communities, re-imagining work,not or pay or proft, but or each other.

Counter-disaster activities producenew relationships, networks, sharedexperiences, understandings and goals,and these are not just le to oat away orsimply discarded like rotting debris. Tesharing o money, goods, labour, skills,

expereiences, knowledge and resources,can construct communal relations,where the reliance on others is capable osustaining alternative cooperative society.When capitalism and its state orms areweakened, orms o mutual aid, anityand social collaboration can ourish. Inthe ace o disaster we see more clearly that

we cannot rely on capital, governmentsand bureaucrats, and in response manyo us turn to each other or support,building camaraderie and trust. Tese arethe social relations we can rely on whenaced with uture crises. Although thereare dark clouds on the horizon and ourlives oen seem to hover on the edge o an

abyss, environmental and other disastersare not the only rising tides. Tere are alsosurging global waves o struggle, rebellionand revolt. As we have recently seen, inplaces like unisia and Egypt, when peopletake part in revolutionary uprisings theybehave in dierent or unexpected ways.Many people do the same when acedwith disasters like those in Queensland,

New Zealand and Japan. It is easy to orgetthat this also happens in a multitude oways every day. In response to the dailyindividual and collective disasters ocapitalist society, the desire to help others,to make a dierence, to aid recovery andhealing, to share and care, to make liemore wonderul, and to construct a better

world together, inspires a vast amount opowerul aective social action. Disastercommunism is everyday communism writlarge.


16/28

Rebel Dog Speaks!Loukanikos (Rebel or Riot Dog) has gained international fame for being present at nearly

every protest in Greece in the last few years. You can check out pictures of his exploits

athttp://rebeldog.tumblr.com/. He has over 72,000 likes on Facebook! We interviewedLouk in mid-August 2011. To send solidarity to Louk, you can contact him at revoltingdog@

gmail.com. For ongoing updates about the struggles in Greece, see Occupied London -

http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog/. A number of statements about recent events were

reprinted in our previous issue, Mutiny #60, as well.

Favourite food?,DPPRVWO\DIDQRIWKHJUHHNFXLVLQH

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In English your name translates as sausage,is there a story behind the name?

-XVWOLNH7UDPSRI7KH/DG\DQGWKH7UDPSPRYLH,KDYHPDQ\QDPHV

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VRXYODNLWKDWGD\$QGWKHYROXQWHHUVWKDWWDNHFDUHRIWKHVWUD\DQLPDOVRI$WKHQVLQFOXGLQJPHZURWH

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Do you identify as male, female, intersex or gender diverse?

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PRUHFOHDUO\RQWKHFDXVHQRZ$Q\KRZ,VXSSRUWWKHJD\ULJKWVPRYHPHQW+RPRVH[XDOLW\LVDSDUWRI

QDWXUHKRPRSKRELDFDQRQO\EHIRXQGLQVRPHKXPDQFXOWXUHV

Do you call yourself an anarchist?

,GRQWXQGHUVWDQGIDPH,DSSUHFLDWHWKHORYHWKRXJK6RPH

SHRSOHVD\WKDWIDPHLVSXWWLQJPHLQDGDQJHURXVSRVLWLRQ

3DUWLDOO\WKH\DUHULJKWEHFDXVH,GRQWOLNHFRSVDQGFRSVGRQW

OLNHPH%XW,EHOLHYHWKHUHLVRQO\RQHFHUWDLQW\7KLVOLIHLV

JRLQJWRNLOO\RXRQHGD\VR\RXEHWWHUFKHZLWWRWKHERQH

You are a world wide celebrity now, you have songs writtenabout you & multiple blogs and facebook pages in your honour.How do you deal with the fame?

,GRQWOLNHQDPHVDQGWDJVDV,VDLGEHIRUH,FDQVD\WKDW,KDYHKXPDQLVWLFIHHOLQJV

WKDW,GHVSLVHLQMXVWLFHDQGRSSUHVVLRQDQGWKDWDOOKXPDQVKDYHWKHULJKWWREHVWUD\7KHJUHHNZRUGIRUVWUD\LV$GHVSRWRVZKLFKPHDQVZLWKRXWDPDVWHUZLWKRXWD

GHVSRW6R,SUHIHUWKHZRUGDGHVSRWRV


17/28

1RLWVWKHRSSRVLWH7KLV&6WHDUJDVVWXIIFDQQRWDIIHFWGRJVEXWLWVTXLWH

XQEHDUDEOHIRUFDWVDQGKXPDQV'RQWNQRZZK\LWZRUNVWKDWZD\

What is the situation like at the moment as you see it?Are we really on the cusp of social revolution in Greece & what still needs to be done?

6RFLDOUHYROXWLRQLVQRWD*UHHNV\PSWRP:HDUHDOOLQWHUFRQQHFWHGSROLWLFDOO\DQGPRVWRIDOO

HFRQRPLFDOO\$QGZHDUHDOORQWKHYHUJHRIDQHZHUD7KH*UHHNJRYHUQPHQWPDGHGHDOVZLWKWKH,0)DQGWKH(XURSHDQ8QLRQWKDWDUHGUDLQLQJWKHOLIHRXWRIWKHSRRUDVZHOODVWKHPLGGOHFODVV

7KHSODQNQRZQDVDEDLORXWLVDFWXDOO\DOLIHEXR\ILOOHGZLWKFHPHQW+RZFDQ\RXVXUYLYHKROGLQJ

WKDW"8QGHUWKRVHFRQGLWLRQVDFWVRIUHVLVWDQFHDUHLQHYLWDEOH7KHWKLQJLV\RXFDQWWXUQDOOSHRSOH

LQWRUHEHOVEXW\RXFDQFKDQJHKLVWRU\ZKHQWKHUHLVVRFLDOFRQVFLRXVQHVVZKHQSHRSOHDUHWKLUVW\

IRUMXVWLFHDQGHTXDOLW\DQGIHGXSZLWKDOOWKDWQHROLEHUDOFDSLWDOLVWLFPXPERMXPER

Does tear gas affect you more than the human protestersbecause of you heightened sense of smell?

$OOVWUD\VDUHDQ[LHW\UHOLHIDJHQWVLQWKHFLW\EHFDXVHZH

UHPLQG\RXWKDWZHDUHDOOSDUWRI1DWXUH,DPDOZD\VWKHUH

ZKHUH,PQHHGHG

Do you do much in-between protest support like

anxiety relief and arrestee solidarity?

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Have you ever bitten a cop? what did it taste like?

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DUHVXUH\RXDUHJRLQJWRUHWXUQLQOLIHDVDKXPDQRUDVWUD\GRJLQ$WKHQV

Do you want to give a shout out to any other riot dogs?

:HOOWKHUHLVDORWWRVD\


18/28

On Monday, August 15th, 6comrades were beore the courtsor the conclusion o a case thathad stemmed rom their arrestat a protest against a racist muralthat had occurred in Newtown

(Sydney) in January. All chargesthat were being contested weredismissed by the magistrate aera two and a hal day hearing. Techarges aced by the deendantsinvolved some combination ohinder police, assault police andresist arrest generally standard

stu or the state to throw atprotesters, but nonethelessstressul or those involved. Teonly conviction recorded in thiscase occurred as one o the 6 pleadguilty to a charge o maliciousdamage.

Te dismissal o all contestedcharges is a antastic outcome

and a relie, but the purpose othis statement beyond reportingthat, is to provide a brie overviewabout what the collective responseto these charges looked like andwhat issues came up. Discussionsabout how to organise a collectiveresponse to the charges occurred

airly quickly aer the arrests and includedthose arrested as well as those wanting to actin solidarity with them. Getting everyonetogether airly promptly is a crucial step,beore people eel it is necessary to go oand explore their legal options on a purelyindividual basis. It is important to alwaystalk to comrades beore talking to lawyers.

Te idea o a collective response to

such charges and ongoing solidarity isgoing to be repeatedly emphasised herebecause the act o sticking together is a

statement o intent and empowermentor revolutionaries beore a legal systemthat seeks to isolate and disempower us.Obviously, active solidarity (as opposed tosimple well-wishes) rom those not arrestedis also crucial in building some sense o

empowerment as it signals that protestsand actions belong to all o us and do not just end on the day but continue throughthe legal process o those who happen to bethe ones that are nicked.

In this situation organising a collectiveresponse quickly meant we could cometo some common idea about what our

legal strategy might be. It also meant importantly that any potential conictsin individuals cases could be identifedand worked around. Tis is a crucialreason or organising an all-in responseto such charges. Beyond the obvious notpointing the fnger at anyone else (whichno-one would do, right?), theres also thepoint that in such collective situations it

is not politically useul or someone torun a deence along the lines o yes, whathappened was very bad, but I wasnt theone who did it. An admission that anyactions on the day were wrong (apart romthe cops, obviously) can have a negativeimpact on others fghting the charges andare otherwise just pretty poor orm.

It even turned out to be airly useulthat there was diculty organising legalrepresentation as it meant those involvedcame to know the details o the caseintimately and didnt come to rely solely onthe advice o lawyers. Additionally, beingunrepresented and having to speak orthemselves during the preliminary courtdates allowed the deendants to overcome

some o the intimidation actor that thelayout o the court space is meant to create.Overall, working collectively rom the

We

foughtthe

lawa

ndwe

kinda

won...


19/28

get go allowed all involved to share theirdiering skills, capacity and experience andsomewhat spread the workload in terms othe boring, bureaucratic paperwork andchasing up o various contacts that needsto be done in these situations.

Less positively, there was also a 7thperson acing charges rom this protest.Tey chose to separate their case romthat o their (ormer?) comrades.Unsurprisingly this person has majorupper-class credentials, with a parent that isa partner in a law frm no less. Rather thanattempt to take their material advantages

and spread them amongst the group, thisperson (with that parent representingthem) argued orceully in court thatthey absolutely had to be separated romthe others. Maybe they were worried theappealing shine o their class credentialswould be dulled amongst the rest o therabble-rousing mob. Pointing this out isnot to be purely (only partly) vengeul or to

shame that person. It is necessary becausei in a relatively minor case like this asupposed comrade chooses a positiono sel-interest, it does not bode well ormore serious matters. It raises questions owhether we actually have each others backswhen the repressive orces o the statecome calling.

So where he had a team o lawyersworking the case or him, we as a groupin solidarity with each other did thesame things, all the while trying to notlet the isolating tendencies o the legalprocess dictate our actions. O course itwas stressul, but plenty was learnt. Oneo the most important lessons was that oneeding to organise deence witnesses in

the most useul way or the case a waythat isnt necessarily the one suggested inlaw school manuals or by those with legal

qualifcations. Something to think aboutor the uture.

Tere is one last thing to say on thiscase that most o us probably understand,but is maybe never made explicit. Tatas revolutionaries involved in ongoing

struggle against the state, a positive verdictin the courts should in no way be used assome armation or justifcation or ouractions or decisions. Choosing to standtogether against the police aggressionat the mural protest is not now armedbecause those arrested got o even i thecharges had stuck it was a necessary course

o action. Similarly, acing the legal processin as collective a manner as possible andinvolving comrades beyond just thosearrested, is a decision to stick to ourcollective hope in struggle no matter whatthe outcome o the case may have been.

Note 1: Tis report was not written byall, or even most, o those involved in thiscase (whether arrested or not) and so the

points in it cannot be said to representall their opinions. It really is only a brieoverview o some o the things that shouldbe considered in uture court cases.

Note 2: Te one conviction or maliciousdamage led to an 18 month good behaviourbond or the accused. In sentencing theymade the political decision to not bring any

reerences beore the court as they were notinterested in proving their good characterto any arm o the capitalist states repressiveapparatus.

Note 3: Te legal proession is obviouslynot presented in a good light in the wordspreceding. It does not ollow that everyonewith legal qualifcations is thereore notwith us. Tere were some people who made

it their business to use their knowledge tohelp with this case. Cheers or that.

- anon.


20/28

There has recently been some discussion in radical circles in Sydney around the question of how activists should relate to

police surveillance. This was sparked by a cop attempting to join the Jura Books collective (Jura is an anarchist bookshop

in Petersham - www.jura.org.au). We publish two pieces in relation to this. The first is by some Sydney anarchists who are

not members of Jura. The second, by the Jura collective themselves, responds to both the first piece and to the situation in

general. After these articles were written we were alerted to Alberts intentions to start the SYDNEY ANARCHIST GROUPmeeting at the Crown Hotel in Revesby to discuss the political and philosophical idea that is Anarchism .

-Eds

Throughout the last year an agent of the Australian Federal Police (AFP),

Albert Osseily has associated with the anarchist, radical left, and

activist milieu in Sydney. This information was brought to our attention

when he admitted to being a cop via email.

He uses this identity on Facebook, and has posted comments

on various websites and forums. Recently he expressed interest in becoming

more involved at Jura Books. He claims to be a legitimate anarchist cop,

and that he sees this to bear no contradiction.

To emphasize how serious this is it may be necessary to describe the AFP.

The AFP is the law enforcement agency that investigates crimes against the

nation such as organised crime, terrorism, information technology and

communications, transnational and multi jurisdictional crime, and serious

major fraud against the government. It is equivalent to the FBI in the

United States.

As anarchists, our project of liberation is the natural enemy of the

culture of exploitation, alienation, hierarchy, discrimination and

subjugation we now live under. Our self managed spaces are our bases of

attack against political and economic power, political parties, police,

media, union bureaucrats, the state and its apologists. Lets make it

clear - snitches, informers, and cops are not welcome in our spaces.

We dont know the true motivation for Alberts surreal

confession, but we do know that the police wish to silence us by sowing

fear, mistrust, and misinformation in our community, and to gatherinformation to make arrests so they can lock people up. With the growing

wave of repression by the state towards direct action oriented struggles

it should come as no surprise to find police agents or privately employed

informers in our midst.

To develop an effective long-term resistance movement we must develop a

reflexive anti-snitch security culture. This text is part of this process

by making these developments public, and hopefully helping others to avoid

being put in danger by the police.

NO TOLERANCE FOR SNITCHES, INFORMERS, AND COPS

- sydney anarchists


21/28

Jura Books is open 5 days a week and on any given day, numerous diverse people will visit

the bookstore to find out more about anarchism, whats going on in Sydney or to share their own

organising projects. In the past few months, a man named Albert has come into the bookstore

once or twice, and attended an event at Jura (on the politics of Twitter). Albert appeared genuinely

interested in anarchist theory like the ideas of Noam Chomsky, and he was keen to discuss therecent uprising in Egypt and how it related to him personally as a middle-aged working class man of

Egyptian heritage.

About a month ago, Albert emailed Jura to inform the collective that he is employed as a police

officer with the Australian Federal Police. He seemed aware of how being a police officer and an

anarchist may seem mutually exclusive, and how having a police officer within an anarchist space

might affect Jura. However he said that he wanted to be honest and open with the Jura collective,

and also asked if the collective would accept him becoming more involved with Jura.

This strange and almost surreal situation has prompted much discussion and debate within the

Jura collective, and the broader anarchist community within Sydney. The Jura collective agreed that:- All members of the working class have to do jobs that involve things that they dont agree

with. However there is a difference between this contradiction and people that work within

the active repressive arm of the state. Politically, we would like to engage with everyone,

but practically this simply isnt possible. We cant engage with the police due to the very

nature of their employment which includes the surveillance of political and activist groups.

- The Jura collective does not encourage police to visit Jura. If possible we actively

discourage it.

- The Jura collective acknowledges that we cannot guarantee that the Jura space is free

from police (plain-clothed or in uniform). All users of the space are encouraged to be

mindful of this and to avoid discussing matters that may incriminate themselves or others.- Everyone at the collective meeting that discussed Alberts request agreed that they did not

want to engage with Albert, either within or outside of the Jura space. To our knowledge,

no-one has discussed anything with him relating to the inner workings of Jura or the

anarchist community.

- If a person left an oppressive profession e.g. the police force, the collective may be

willing to reconsider engaging with that individual.

Jura wrote to Albert explaining these issues and that the collective had decided that because of

his employment with the police, his presence would make members and users of the Jura space toouncomfortable. We politely requested that he does not visit the bookshop, and that we rescinded

any implied invitation for him to enter Jura Books. We informed Albert that we would be willing

to reconsider engaging with him if he leaves the police force, and sent him links to websites about

anarchism.

Albert replied and seemed to accept this decision. However he said that he was upset with the

decision, particularly because it seemed like we were making a personal judgment about him

without knowing him. He also disagreed with the collectives analysis that all police officers are

inevitably involved in the repression of activists and the working class.

Jura has responded by explaining that we identify the distinction between the person and theinstitution. Our decision was not intended to be a personal judgment of Albert, but we have judged

the institution that he works for. We encouraged him to continue to do research about the police and

how they have impacted labour struggles, working class and activist movements throughout history.


22/28

We informed him that we did not intend to assert that he is not a member of the working class as

hed suggested wed done, however we do assert that his job is oppressive to workers in the current

system.

This situation has raised some important issues and questions about police in activist spaces,

broader issues of security culture and policing, and the politicisation of police officers. The Jura

collective would like to share some discussions that weve had on these issues:

- Suspected cops have come into Jura many times in the past. This particular cop hasouted himself. There are likely to be other cops and informants that we dont know about.

- Having said this we endeavour to foster a useful security culture a way of

communicating, having discussion and organising that is open and accountable, but

that also seeks to minimise incrimination and infiltration. We aim to always be vigilant

about the states repressive capabilities, whilst also seeking to avoid being incapacitated

by paranoia, fear and internally destructive behaviours. Broadly we aim to develop a

culture of solidarity and safety within our communities, to build movements capable of

transforming the entire society, free from violence and oppression.

- Radicals are under the particular attention of the state because of our opposition to

existing systems of exploitation and oppression. Across the world there are too manyhistorical and current examples of surveillance, infiltration and repression of political

groups. However we believe that opposition to policing should be located within a broader

analysis of the police, including the daily, systematised policing that affects many other

people and communities like Aboriginal and working class neighbourhoods. We think that

it is a mistake to focus on activist-oriented critiques of the police, as we dont think that

this is the most effective way that activists can contribute to building broader movements

against the state.

- The contradictions of work under capitalism and the complexities surrounding workers

relationship with their jobs certainly requires considered thought and discussion. For

example some people in the collective made a comparison between someone being a

police officer and someone being a coal miner, and the fact that we would seek to engage

with the coal miner, so why not also a police officer? Other people in the collective felt

that the comparison wasnt a valid one, as they drew a distinction between undesirable jobs

under capitalism, and being employed as an agent of the repressive arm of the state.

- Having identified the distinction between the person and the institution, we think that it

is important to be aware about the person. However in this situation we think that it is a

mistake to be distracted by focusing on any one person. The real task is to organise.

The Jura collective has dealt with this situation through its internal processes that seek to makedecisions via a democratic, collective process, which we believe to be the appropriate way for

anarchists to discuss and resolve controversial matters. We have reached agreement on our position,

but we recognise that not all anarchists will agree with it. We claim only to represent ourselves, and

note that one text that has circulated about this issue claims to represent all anarchists in Sydney,

which we dont think is ever appropriate (this is referring to the above piece that is signed sydney

anarchists - Eds). Weve written this article in order to articulate some of our discussion about

these issues, and hope that it is a useful contribution to broader discussions about police in activist

spaces, broader issues of security culture and policing, and the politicisation of police officers.

For some excellent resources on security culture (though UK-specific), visit:

http://www.activistsecurity.org/


23/28

mindsetbreaker press-

support comrades in

the philippines!

I you want to donate to support this

project, please contact the collective [email protected]

We are an underground anarchistpublishing and distribution entitybased in the Philippines. We believethat every issue that aects our lives isinterconnected; be it social or ecologicalcatastrophes, small scale or large, [related

to] society or the individual. It does notcome rom us but maniests throughdomineering hierarchical structures andcentralized order; maintained by the stateand religion, morality; the spectre ocapitalism aimed towards greed and proft.Tis was organised, ounded and carriedout rom the ashes o ruthless terror andbloodshed many centuries [ago] that weblindly inherit today .

We believe in no borders and willullycontinue fghting against [them] until[their] destruction: alongside sexism,homophobia, racism and other orms ooppression that was created and needs tobe challenged...

Mindsetbreaker Press started in early

2010 as an individual project that ocusedmainly on translating anarchist literatures(English text) into local languages thatwill be more applicable and relevant tothe rather complex political, social andeconomic currents o the Philippines.As time passed, the membership o thepress grew aer personal collaboration

with some riends involved in anarchistsocial networks and activism. However,the project is open to new people whoare interested in taking part or extending

their support [which would be] benefcialto the project... Te press is now runby our people specifcally working onpublishing and distribution, besides otherexisting projects. [Tese include running]social centres or inoshops, making zines

and alternative publications, organizingissue-based radical events and shows,protest and demonstrations, leaetingor campaigns, opening ree shops andgiving out ree ood on the streets, holdingorums, working with communities(armers, fsher olks and indigenouspeople) and fghting capitalist and

state developments (Mining, Freeport,Agribusiness, etc.). Tese actions havebeen carried out independently rom stateintervention, businesses, the mainstreammedia, NGOs and religious institutions.

Te project is ongoing. Activities rangerom translation work and literature tablingto community events like local ood not

bombs, gigs, workshops and discussiongroups in various universities. Many othese actions were run by independentpeople and riends that we have personalconnections with, linking up a diversityo ideas and activities in the hope obeing embraced by lots o people who areinterested in or new to such alternativeexistence. As an underground press, we

are here to openly reach dierent peopleand stand our ground in a way that is notonly limited to subculture and scenes.And ultimately become a worthwhileinitiative that can keep projects runningand contribute services to other people,so they can start projects themselves. Tismight not be limited to ideas but include

action and building solidarity.

Yours in trouble,Mindsetbreaker Press and Distribution


24/28

Te Wolves at the Door is a new anarchist journal. Te frst issue, published inSydney, came out in late June this year. 7pieces appear in it. Tese are all thoughtuland well-written, and we thoroughlyenjoyed reading them. Wolves is one o anumber o radical publications to appearrecently: others include Melbourne Black(which is no longer being published),Black Light, Black Kite Quarterly, BroadLe and Renegade Activists. o us, thiswork o putting publications togetheris a airly basic and essential part obuilding successul social movementsand, ultimately, revolutionary politics inAustralia.

O course, dierent publicationshave dierent aims. In Mutiny, we try tomeet a ew objectives. We cover news oresistances around the world which mightnot appear in the mainstream media, andprovide an anarchistic or revolutionaryperspective on some current events. Teseparts o the zine might be o interest to

both those who identiy as revolutionariesand people in the general public (or wanto a better word). We also publish articlesthat are specifcally orientated towards

people around the radical scene. Tese arepredominantly critical reections aboutthe organising and politics o both thebroader le and the anarchist/ultra-lemilieu.

In contrast to Mutinys eclectic mix omaterial, Wolves has a clear ocus on thequestion o how to change and improveupon revolutionary practice. We thinkthis is a both a strength and a weakness.On the one hand, it reects a positivedesire to critically reect upon the ormsthat activism takes and not just organiseprojects or the sake o doing something.Clearly, the radical le milieus in Australiaare in an extremely weak position at

the present, with little, i any, inuenceover society at large. In this situation, adetailed exploration o the strengths andweaknesses o various activist strategiesis a logical thing to do, and might helpus fnd a way out o the ar les currentimpasse.

However, ocusing overly on

revolutionary practice risks separatingthis practice rom an understanding othe nature o the society that we live in.We thought that Wolves could do a better

Review: The

Wolves at the

Door

By Syzygy and L-Dog (twoof Mutiny Zines current

editors)


25/28

job at relating practice to these materialconditions. Although the articles doengage with stu happening in the worldthey generally only analyse things that arewithin the confnes o the ar le - theydiscuss British social centres, reugee

protests, anarchist spaces and liberaltendencies within activism. Tere are twoarticles on Libya and Greece but neithero these analyse conditions within eithercountry in depth. Instead they unctionmore as emotional appeals to stand insolidarity with people struggling there.

We eel like eective practice stems

not just rom reecting on particularorganising experiences, as most articlesin Wolves do, but also rom reectingon the world in general. For instance,some articles in Mutiny have examinedconditions around welare in Australia,as well as how international students ftinto Australian capitalism. Hopeully,

these articles have helped people thinkabout how to organise eectively aroundthese issues by better understanding suchconditions. At the least, having a betterunderstanding o whats going on mayallow people to make more convincingarguments in support o radical politicsand avoid unsubstantiated moralising.In a publication like Wolves, with a airly

long word limit, theres plenty o scope topublish articles like these.

Related to this, one point that comesup in Wolves (in both the articles Cakeor Death and Untangling the Knots)is a critique o how people within theanarchist/ultra-le milieu are reluctant tohonestly talk to olks in the general public

about revolutionary politics. What we havesuggested above might help to providepart o the solution to this problem. Wedsuggest that part o this reluctance comes

not rom a lack o revolutionary ervour,but rom the types o writing and politicalconversations/debates that happen withinthe milieu. Tere are sophisticated andcomplex debates about strategies, but wetalk and write about more general political

issues ar less requently. I Wolves wereto encourage people to write about thesekind o issues it might help activistsbecome more willing to talk about theirrevolutionary views to others, as theymight be able to communicate them moreeectively.

Perhaps activists are reluctant to write

and talk about this stu because thesocialist sects have really poor articles oncurrent events or material conditionsin their publications, with terriblewriting and an overwhelming ocus onsupporting a political line, which obscuresthe actual issue that they are supposed tobe analysing. But it is possible to do this

well. Te Sydney-based blog Le Flank, inparticular, has a lot o good articles in thisvein. From overseas, one example to learnrom might be Richard Seymours Leninsomb blog (rom the UK).

Untangling the KnotsUntangling the Knots was one o the mostthought-provoking articles in the journal.

It argued that liberal ideology has becomenaturalised within Australian activism,and contends that revolutionaries shouldidentiy and expel this. Te article is at itsstrongest where it identifes specifc waysin which this liberalism is the activist norm- such as through the stage-managing oprotests and pathologising militancy.

Again, in the Australian context wherethe radical le is extremely weak, it issurely useul to experiment with dierenttactics, rather than traditional approaches


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(the unending cycle o orums, rallies,speak-outs and stalls) being the only wayto organise.

O course, similar cycles occur withinthe anarchist/ultra-le milieu too. Insteado orums and rallies, we run bookshops,

social centres and put out zines, withmaybe an occasional direct action or aconerence to spice things up. Even i thesethings are explicitly called revolutionary,this cycle can be just as boring as theles rallies. Te article in Wolves aboutanarchist spaces identifes some problemsthat can be encountered by uncritically

repeating certain orms o activity, but thisis not really touched on in Untangling theKnots (perhaps or lack o space).

A more signifcant concern or us isthat Untangling the Knots doesnt reallyanalyse the connection between liberalideology and material conditions. Liberalideology isnt just created by people

reading certain theorists, rom politicians,unions hacks or NGO bureaucrats arguingliberal things, or rom boring rallies.While these actors serve to reinorce andexacerbate liberalism, wed argue that,overall, liberalism is produced by a muchwider and more pervasive range o socialexperiences.

Unortunately, we only have space

to oer a brie summary o some othese experiences. But wed argue thatsome o them include: 1) Te act thatwe actually do have certain reedomswithin contemporary capitalism, suchas to demonstrate, to talk about radicalpolitics, to put out anarchist zines or sellle-wing newspapers. Tis lends credence

to liberal ideas about rights 2.) Te actthat the political realm o governmentetc may appear to be more democraticthan the economic realm o the market,

and that state-run services have providedneeded services to people who otherwisecouldnt aord them, helping to supportthe idea that the state is a relativelyneutral body that one should appeal toas a tool or reorm 3.) Te ostering o

individualism in modern society, such asthrough discourses like i you work hard,you can succeed, leading more naturallyto liberalism than a radical politicsemphasising collective action.

Why does this matter? It mattersbecause i we accept our conception,that liberal ideology is ormed out o

particular material conditions that weall experience (to varying degrees), itmeans that all contemporary movements,including ones that call themselves radicalor anarchist, necessarily contain liberalelements. Tis is as everyone constantlyexperiences these conditions - includingradicals. Although we should try and

argue against maniestations o liberalismwhen they appear, accepting that thingsare going to be awed and contradictorymeans that we can actually participatein movements, rather than constantlybeing on the outside. It might also help us


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recognise and critique liberal tendencieswithin our own ultra-le/anarchistmilieus. We cant romanticise disaectedparts o the population as being immuneto the hold o liberal ideology, thoughthey are perhaps less aected by it. For

instance, a 16 year old non-white teenagerliving in the Western suburbs may be lessinvested in /aected by liberal discoursethan a proessional greens-voting middleaged person rom Marrickville. We wouldbe interested in disscussing what ormso organising might enable us to workwith a wider variety o people, perhaps

stepping urther away rom reormistaction and rhetoric, and hopeully beingmore eective in radically changingsociety. However, while it is possible toreduce liberalisms power, the articlesstated goal o identiying and expellingliberal ideology rom revolutionarypractice is ultimately a utile one, as long

as capitalism persists.

Some final thoughtsTe remaining articles in Wolves alldeserve plenty o analysis, but our ownword limits are restricting us! Hopeullyothers can take up this challenge. So arWolves has received much more online

eedback and reads (i the zinelibrary.net reads counter can be presumed tobe anywhere near accurate) than real-lieeedback rom people in the Sydney scene.No doubt this has been disappointing orthe editor and the authors o articles.

When publications are produced, itis easy to eel like i people fnd themuseul theyll read them/ write or them,i they dont they wont. But maybe thereneeds to be more eort put in to buildinga stronger culture o reading, producing

and reecting on local, original writing.One way o creating this culture could bethrough reading and discussion groups.Activists have organised discussion groupson bell hooks and other amous leies, andhave spent years reading Capital. Whilethese groups are worthwhile, perhaps theycould better link up with local attempts at

radical publishing.In addition to needing a strong culture

o reading and writing, publications likeWolves need networks o people who candistribute them, in person and online.Tey need people other than the editingcollective to put on undraisers or printingcosts, give them out to their riends,

start conversations about them, and giveeedback. Tey need other publications toreview and engage with them! In one othe articles in Wolves, Bulldawg arguesthat le-wing conerences are not only theresponsibility o the organisers, but can beseen as:

a site o collaborative production, we

each bring to it the stu we have doneand the stu we know, but, like anyother social relation, it is more than thesum o its parts.

Te same is true or our publications.


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Upcoming Events:

Sunday Sept 4 Snapdragon Zine Fair & the launch of Mutiny Zine #61- Red Rattler, 6 Faversham St Marrickville 11am - 4pm

Wednesday Sept 7 the Peoples Kitchen donation dinner [vegan & g free]

- 22 Enmore Rd, 4pm food prep, 7pm service

Thursday Sept 8 Public Rally: Protest against Barry OFarrells IR changes- NSW Parliament House (on Macquarie Street), 12 Noon

Thursday Sept 8 Villawood: Survival+Resistance Opening NightArtworks, film, talks, hip hop, music, poetry, performance art about theVillawood Detention Centre and what it means for Western Sydney- ICE: Information & Cultural Exchange, 8 Victoria Rd Parramatta, 5.30pm

Friday Sept 9 Forum: Malalai Joya, Afghanistan 10 Years On- Marrickville Town Hall, 303 Marickville Rd, 5.30pm

Saturday Sept 10 Letter Writing to Prisoners- Black Rose Library, 22 Enmore Rd, Newtown, 5pm

Sunday Sept 11 Dinner & Film: The Battle of Chile- Black Rose Library, 22 Enmore Rd, Newtown, 5.30 Dinner, 6.30 Film

Wednesday Sept 14 the Peoples Kitchen donation dinner [vegan & g free]- 22 Enmore Rd, 4pm food prep, 7pm service

Friday Sept 16 Gig: Only Sleeping, with Let Me Down Jungleman,Handsome, FGWMWS and Fixtures

- Jura Books, 440 Parramatta Rd Petersham, 7pm

Saturday Sept 17 Film: Manufacturing Consent- Jura Books, 440 Parramatta Rd, Petersham, 3pm - 7pm

Sunday Sept 18 Public Rally: Stop Gas Drilling in Sydney- Camperdown Memorial Park (Cnr Lennox and Eliza St Newtown), 11am

Wednesday Sept 21 the Peoples Kitchen donation dinner [vegan & g free]- 22 Enmore Rd, 4pm food prep, 7pm service

Friday Sept 23 Gig: Crouching 80s Hidden Acronym with Rara Avis- Jura Books, 440 Paramatta Rd, Petersham, 7pm

Sunday Sept 25 Dinner & Film: Murundak Songs of Freedom

- Black Rose Library, 22 Enmore Rd, Newtown, 5.30 Dinner, 6.30 Film

Tuesday Sept 27 Jura & Mutiny Zine Workshop: Radical Publications

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