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Title: Statement of Principles
Author: Collective Action
Date: 4 November 2013
Language: en
Topics: principles
Source: Retrieved on January 26, 2021 from https://web.archive.org/web/20210126193109/http://www.collectiveaction.org.au/statement-of-principles/

Collective Action

Statement of Principles

The following points of agreement are neither complete nor final. They

represent, at best, where our group was at the time they were adopted.

As anarchists we fight to create a self-managed, socialist and

stateless society, in which all contribute freely according to ability,

and through which all have full access to the material basis for pursing

their individual and collective fulfilment. In this libertarian

socialist society, individual freedom is harmonised with communal

obligations through cooperation, directly democratic decision making and

social and economic equality. We believe such a society is both

desirable and possible, and we actively work toward overcoming the

hierarchies, exploitation and systems of oppression that stand in its

way.

To confront oppression in all its forms, the self-organised activity

of all persons experiencing oppression is necessary. Systems of

oppression manifest both as structures in the economic system and in the

ideology of the dominant culture. Within the dominant culture of our

society, intertwined oppressive systems include (but are not limited to)

sexism, racism, queerphobia, transphobia and ableism. These oppressive

systems, whilst occurring within the context of capitalism and shaped to

serve its purpose, are not reducible to capitalism. Unless we actively

struggle against all oppressive power systems, these hierarchies will be

reproduced both within our own organisations and in any post-capitalist

society. We see fighting against these forms of oppression as just as

important to the creation of an anarchist society as fighting capitalism

and the state. Only by working to eliminate oppressive power relations

within the working classes will we be able to create a revolutionary

movement capable of genuinely transforming society.

Australian capitalism is founded on an act of genocide – the murder

and dispossession of this continent’s indigenous people. Capitalism on

this continent was built on the seizure and exploitation of indigenous

land, and continued attacks on indigenous communities are perpetrated by

Australian capitalism and its racist state in the pursuit of what lands

and resources that remain. We unequivocally support the ongoing struggle

for indigenous self-determination in Australia, and recognise that

indigenous sovereignty over the Australian landmass was never ceded.

Capitalism is a social system based on the private ownership of the

means of production (land, factories, workplaces, machinery and access

to raw materials). A tiny minority own the means of production and

profit from the productive labour of the working class. The working

class consists of all whose access to the means of existence requires

that they place their ability to labour at the service of capital. This

includes all who labour for a wage, all who are presently unemployed,

and all who labour in the reproduction of the working class (domestic

labour). Workers are paid the minimum the capitalist can get away with

in a given situation, and the capitalist steals the rest. The private

property owned by capitalists is the wealth stolen from past generations

of workers. Capitalism denies the vast majority their economic and

social inheritance through recourse to violence and coercion. Any

incursion into private property is punished by the state. This system,

capitalism, the state and the oppressive ideologies that support it,

must be abolished in their entirety.

The state is a centralised structure in which a small number of

people, through their control of the police, military and courts (a

monopoly on ‘legitimate’ violence), impose decisions on the vast

majority. The state is not simply a “body of armed men” in service of

the dominant class, it is also an institution that develops its own

interest and that seeks to perpetuate its existence and expand its

power. As anarchists we wholly reject the state, and instead we aim for

“the most complete realisation of democracy—democracy in the fields,

factories, and neighbourhoods.”

Capitalism reaches across the entire globe. Military and economic

imperialism (so-called globalisation) continue to subordinate most of

the globe to the capitalist system, securing access to resources, labour

and markets for the capitalist core. As capitalism is global, the

struggle against capitalism must also be global, and we must act in

solidarity and support for the struggles of oppressed people wherever

they occur.

Capitalism has wrought upon our planet a global ecological crisis that

now threatens the basis of existence for the majority of humanity.

Capitalist entities grow or perish, whenever capital is not growing it

is in crisis. Capitalism, as the effective cause the present

environmental crisis, cannot effectively solve or even lessen the extent

of environmental degradation. Capitalism’s demand for continued growth

on our finite planet is at odds with human survival as a species, and

therefore as a matter of necessity, and not just desirability, it must

be abolished.

The role of anarchists is to build the capacity of oppressed peoples

as a whole to struggle for our collective emancipation. It is only when

the collective and conscious social force of the mass of oppressed

people exceeds the power of capitalism and the state, that a revolution

with truly libertarian socialist potential be possible.

We believe that revolutionary unionism, or syndicalism, is an

essential strategy to build the collective power of the working class.

We seek to build rank and file organisations that unite workers across

existing unions, and advocate for directly democratic structures and

militant strategy.

We unite as a specific anarchist organisation on the basis of

theoretical unity, tactical unity, collective responsibility and

federalism. By theoretical unity we mean developing and organising

around a shared understanding of anarchism, capitalism and the context

in which we operate. By tactical unity we mean developing and

collectively implementing a common strategy for achieving our goals. By

collective responsibility we mean agreeing to act collectively – rather

than individually in the pursuit of our common strategy. By federalism

we mean organising on a directly democratic “grass roots up” basis,

rejecting any “top down” command structure.