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Title: Anarchy in Trieste Author: Bob McGlynn Date: 1990, Summer Language: en Topics: anarchist movements, conferences, gatherings, international Source: Fifth Estate #334, Summer, 1990 Notes: Retrieved December 26, 2019 from https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/334-summer-1990/anarchy-in-trieste/
The Italian group Germinal sponsored the first-ever large scale planning
meeting of anarchists from the East and West in Trieste, Italy from
April 14 through 17. Although they did not intend to have a huge
gathering, 332 people registered from 23 countries. Among the groups
represented from Eastern Europe were the Confederation of
Anarcho-Syndicalists (USSR), the Czechoslovakian Anarchist Union,
Autonomia (Hungary), Autonomija and A! (Yugoslavia) and Black Aliens and
the Polish Anarchist Federation (Poland).
There was no severe harassment from the authorities, but there were many
border detentions and identification checks by the cops on the street.
One detained Yugoslav was told to get a haircut!
Germinal did a good job of organizing the gathering, securing halls for
meetings, supplying food and lodging, providing translations via
earphones, etc.
On Friday night preceding the conference, activists from the formerly
East bloc countries held a special meeting with Germinal. The Easterners
were concerned that not enough time had been set aside for practical
organization and networking cooperation. It was agreed that the Monday
morning assembly would concentrate on that.
All of Saturday was devoted to a general assembly where the various
delegates gave speeches and reports on the situation in their countries,
their political views, and their organizing activities and other
efforts. A wide range of subjects was covered; they included the history
and perspectives of neither east nor west type activity (much applause
for that!), squatting, racism, and anti-nuclear struggles.
A consensus emerged in the assembly that in this new period of
Capitalist/Communist collusion it’s more vital than ever for opposition
movements in the east and the west to cooperate and engage in joint work
with one another; we share the same enemies. The Communists have not yet
disappeared; elites remain. Alternative visions are still on the
defensive. Glasnost is a power-game adaptation to new political/economic
conditions.
Saturday’s meeting also had plenty of literature tables and exhibits of
photos and leaflets from a bunch of countries like Poland, the U.S. and
the U.S.S.R.
On Sunday three commissions (workshops) were scheduled to discuss a
number of topics: the ideological crisis of Marxism, the development of
the opposition movements in the East, and the opening of new common
perspectives due to German reunification and the future of Europe after
1992. Missing was a workshop to concretely plan joint activism and
cooperation between anarchists east and west, so a group of us put our
heads together and announced a networking meeting at the Germinal office
on Sunday afternoon.
I don’t know what happened at the workshops. A couple times during the
networking meeting someone would pop in to say that easterners were
lacking at the three workshops and couldn’t an easterner please attend
one? Clearly our workshop was packed with East Europeans who wanted to
get down to nitty-gritty business.
Plenty of practical ideas and proposals were tossed around by the 40 to
50 people who attended, including a computer network, an activist
bulletin (similar to On Gogol Boulevard), international camping, support
for miners’ strikes in the USSR, a solidarity statement for the April 23
Earth Day protest on Wall Street. prisoner support, a simultaneous day
of action, an emergency response network/phone tree, and the
coordination of sending money, books, printing supplies. computers and
other items to the East. (Many easterners need info on the basics of
feminism, anarchist history’ and theory; they’re starving for info on
everything.) Hungarians wanted help with squatting. Solidarity actions
and statements were asked for a May 19 protest in Canada against NATO
military training flights over Innu (Native Americans) land and the
construction of a NATO base in Canada.
Trying to organize a world revolution in a few hours certainly got
hectic, but a number of concrete things were decided.
During the general assembly on Monday, practical planning among
anarchists east and west was discussed. The walls of the auditorium were
covered with sheets of paper for people to write down their proposals,
appeals, and so on. Reports on the networking meetings were given. The
solidarity statement for the Wall Street action was read as well as the
Black Banner Brigade’s statement supporting an action against the
International Monetary Fund meeting in Austin, Texas on July 9 through
11. Both Statements were unanimously agreed to by the assembly.
It was agreed that Arianne and others of the NY group would coordinate a
newsletter. People should send her photo-ready copy sheets which she
will xerox, staple and mail out to the network contact list. It will be
assembled monthly, or every other month. Those in the west would be
required to subscribe at $10/year with easterners getting a freebie.
We’d call it or subtitle it “The Intercontinental Neither East Nor West
Newsletter.” It would stress short, concise items calling for activist
cooperation on projects. reports on the activities/histories of various
groups, and so on. For now, the newsletter would be an internal bulletin
board for the network. There would be no editorial control; what comes
in goes out. Nice and easy. huh? Shucks.
The generous souls from Poland’s Anarchist Federation pledged to
fund-raise for the bulletin by sending anarchist T-shirts and patches to
be sold at Sabotage Books in New York.
On Monday night a special women’s meeting was held, as well as some
impromptu gay networking.
Tuesday morning saw a public display of anarchist posters, publications
and photos in a local plaza. Tuesday afternoon the East Europeans held a
special meeting for themselves (which was open to westerners).
On Wednesday, as the gathering ended Germinal members and others
feverishly worked on assembling packets of submitted material to send
out to conference participants.
The gathering was amazing and very successful. There was plenty of fun
and partying. Despite the usual differences of opinion and various
frictions, we all got along quite well and loved each other. Camaraderie
was quite strong.
The major drawback of the conference, something which seems to plague
the anarchist movement everywhere, was the lack of Third World or Fourth
World participation. North Americans informed the conference of a
gathering planned by Mexican anarchists for 1991 in Mexico City.
One difference between this gathering and the recent ones in North
America was that there was much more of an age mixture in Trieste,
something that made it more interesting.
One last comic note: Inevitably when you use the term “anarchy” most
people think of “mindless chaos.” An example often brought up is “what
would happen if there were no traffic lights?” Some of us noticed that
there were very few traffic lights in Trieste. Guess what? Nothing
happened!
See you at the next one.
For the anarchist networking bulletin: Intercontinental Neither East nor
West Newsletter, PO Box 1737, New York. N.Y. 10009. USA ($10 cash).
For the anarchist computer network: Tjebbe Van Tijen, Niewe Amstelstr.
70, 1011 PM* Amsterdam, Holland.
For the Europe/North American communications improvement network: Ralf
Landmesser. Rathenower, Str. 23, D1000 Berlin 21, Germany.
The most recent On Gogol Boulevard contains more information from
Trieste—Eastern documents, etc., a long contact list, an analysis of
what the changes in the east mean, plus an intriguing article. “Was the
CIA Behind the East European Purge Trials?” It’s available for $1. from
Bob McGlynn, 528 5th St., Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215.