💾 Archived View for library.inu.red › file › eepa-building-international-solidarity.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 09:27:58. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
➡️ Next capture (2024-06-20)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title: Building International Solidarity Author: Eepa Date: May 31, 2021 Language: en Topics: internationalism, solidarity, communication, Indigenous Anarchist Federation Source: Retrieved on 9th August 2022 from https://iaf-fai.org/2021/05/31/building-international-solidarity-human-relations-for-global-struggle/
We have entered a new age of communications over the past 30 years. Our
anarchic forbearers could have only dreamed of our ability to rapidly
communicate with like minded anarchic people across the world but it is
important to remember that effective and historically important
international networks of solidarity and communication have existed as
long as anarchic organizing has. When the Haymarket Martyrs were killed,
the working people of the world spoke out in anger as news spread
through communications networks. When Ricardo Flores Magon languished in
a prison cell in the Yuma Territorial Prison, it was people like Mother
Jones and Emma Goldman who used their networks to speak out and advocate
for his release. Communications is a force multiplier for radical
struggle. It enables us to join efforts and create more trouble for
those in power than we could do as isolated groups of people.
Despite the advances in technology, radical communications has not kept
pace. Sure, many anarchics are aware of other struggles through
communiques, news reports, or social media posts, but there is a deep
rift between these casual interactions and meaningful relation building
needed for resilient, effective, and meaningful struggle.
In this brief article, I hope to outline some basic organizational
networks, communications methods, and essential skills needed to build
deeper relations with fellow anarchic people in struggle against
colonialism, capitalism, and domination. Remember, this is only the
suggestions of one person. Building relations is a deeply complex and
often personal affair (when done well). The only way you will learn how
to do this is by trying.
Home region communications should be the most regular form of
communications. This involves people of a mutually agreed region coming
together with regularity to share upcoming events, discuss regional
issues, strategize on ways to combine efforts when appropriate, and to
socialize as people to build bonds. These can follow strict rules for
security, with only member selected representatives forming sub-groups
discussing sensitive items when needed. There are guides out there
discussing methods of organizing sensitive conversations to minimize the
risk of damage from leaks or informants. Broader social events should
minimize the sensitivity of the topics to be discussed and should work
towards building relationships through shared activities (some might
want a regional skype reading group, some might want to organize field
trips, some might want to go bar hopping, etc.).
Continental and Archipelagic organizing really takes place between
regional/island based networks of cells, collectives, crews, and
organizations, with continental/archipelagic organizations acting to
facilitate these regional networks communications into a broader
continental/archipelagic context. Regions can either select a delegation
from the region at large or a delegation of representatives from each
organization to participate in this continental/archipelagic
communications network. This is used to call for material aid
(especially when a certain region is undergoing unrest or catastrophe),
to call for advice, to call for reinforcement, or to announce new
projects of continental interest. Continental networks also act to
ensure that the many varied regions, cultures, and political situations
have a fast and effective means of reaching every other group on the
continent, without relying on word-of-mouth, algorithms, or news
releases.
Physical meetings and movements of material aid in a continental setting
will naturally be easier due to the connectedness of roads, rail, and
land borders. Archipelagic meetings and movements of material aid will
be much more difficult, due to compounding struggles to provide
affordable ocean-going or aviation based transportation, evading state
naval/marine patrols, port costs, customs, etc., and making the time for
these more effort and temporal intensive efforts. One of the most
important tasks is to build strong communications infrastructure and
robust networks or relations. These human relationships can be developed
and nurtured, all while we start to figure out how to bring back the
vital oceangoing networks of our ancestors.
International networks are really vital for ensuring that our politics
do not become blind to the tremendously important political developments
in other continents. So much can be learned from our Indigenous comrades
all over the colonized world. Too often we let our vision of political
thought and our ancestral experience in struggle be limited by the
horizon. Over the horizon is a world of Indigenous people who have been
struggling, learning, philosophizing, creating, and fighting. To not be
connected to them is to allow us all to make the same mistakes over and
over again. It can not be understated how much we can avoid stumbling
blocks by learning from those who have been there and done that.
International networks are also keenly important for ensuring that the
relative wealth of even poorer comrades in the industrialized regions of
the global north, gets shared with comrades in dire struggle with access
to almost no monetary/material resources. We must find ways to ensure
that we are getting funds and materials to the most dire struggles. This
can only be done when we have developed resilient relationships with
comrades across the globe.
Social media, email, and websites are a good basic way to make contact.
Often, you will find one or two people from any given region that have a
digital presence that is in one of the major lingua francas (widely
spoken language of common communication). Finding one person’s blog, an
article with their contact email, or a social media account that posts
anarchic or anti-colonial content, is an opportunity to reach out. They
may not be aware of anyone else in their region that is also anarchic,
but chances are they will. Building a relationship with even one person
will help your organization better understand the political situation in
the region and the needs of people who are organizing there.
Using phone is usually a backup and sometimes more challenging than
digital, because of the need to speak each others language well enough
to communicate the topics needing to be discussed. Additionally,
phones/amateur radios can be a big security risk in some places, so be
mindful.
Organizing trips to build in person relationships can be extremely
effective and can build lasting bonds. Every effective revolutionary
movement has made use of these types of trips, from American wobblies
visiting Magonistas in Mexico, to the Zapatistas recent voyage of
messengers around the world. Make sure that these types of trips are
planned to be reciprocal if at all possible. This ensures that the
relationship building is truly on an even playing field and not a
replication of European missionary saviorship that is so disgusting.
The primary skill that you can start to develop now is language. If you
have a dozen comrades in your group, you have enough people to learn
lingua-francas for most of the colonized world. Monolingualism is an
ethnonationalist project, multilingualism is an internationalist goal.
Immigrants will tell you, knowing three to five languages at a
conversational level is common. You can develop this skill.
(With respect to English speaking & European revolutionaries): It is an
absolute fact, that developing this skill is a fundamental effort for
developing meaningful solidarity. Is it acceptable that your comrades
abroad speak to you in English, yet you can not return this effort to
speak in their language? Is it acceptable that you place the burden of
entire translation efforts onto the comrades who not only speak your
language, but also the language of the people you wish to build
solidarity with? The business of learning a new language is hard work,
make no mistake, but it is work that your international comrades have
already been doing.
Overlapping languages in a friend group has benefits for networking
internationally and for mutual learning. It ensures language redundancy,
while also covering enough language bases to have meaningful
international networks. Here is an example of a small group language
overlapping arrangement:
Translation of texts is also an incredibly important task for sharing
revolutionary thought. Translation into and out of a language ensures
that there is intellectual cross pollination, keeping us from getting
stale or replicating efforts. Even a poorly translated text is better
that no translation at all. Having a group of people work on a
translation will also dramatically increase the quality of the
translation. Tools like google translate can be used to get the bulk of
text translated, with volunteers reading each and making corrections as
they go. This saves time and increases productivity in getting materials
into multiple languages. Overlapping languages also allows a group to
perform a multitude of translations in relatively short time, making
information sharing much more timely.
Knowledge of culture is an important part of building a relationship.
This doesn’t mean coming into international communications with
preconceived cultural expectations, but it does mean that you are
observant, you ask before assuming, and you are adaptive to cultural
needs on both sides of the conversation. Politically we may not yet be
at the same stage of development or we may not agree on all of the same
political objectives. Ensuring that you are respectful of other peoples
right to self-determination means that you don’t dictate the standards
of other peoples struggle or organizing. If something is egregious, yes
speak up. Make it clear why you do not agree with something. If this is
something you can work through, good, try. If not, there is no need to
communicate further with that particular individual or group.
Boundaries, as within all relationships, should be communicated from the
start. Ensure both parties know and agree to what topics & tactics will
and won’t be discussed. Ensure both parties agree to mutually beneficial
security culture. Ensure both parties understand what the forms of
communication and language will be used.
Everything you have in life starts with reaching. A toe dipped in the
water before you learn to swim, your hand reaching out to grasp a rope
you are about to climb, the raised hand in greeting of a new face. You
take the first step by reaching out. Communications and solidarity is no
different. Making connections is an act of revolutionary faith and
solidarity. Take your first language lesson. Send a DM to a comrade you
respect who doesn’t live in your political geography. Sign up for a
language exchange. Go to a regional meet-up. Read an anarchic/decolonial
news blog that isn’t published in English. Start making time to become
more meaningfully connected in true revolutionary solidarity.