Anarchism in times of Punkdemic
Pelao Carvallo[1]
- Anarchism is against the hierarchical teaching class.
That's precisely why I do it. Trump has publicized this activity by declaring three major US cities "anarchist."[2]We couldn't have had more press coverage than that, and it clearly highlights one of the points to be developed. To begin, what do we mean by punkdemic, anarchism, and power (system)? a) Pandemic: that unexpected but not surprising mass disease that attacks humanity in a scandalous way. This punkdemic is capitalist, extractivist, statist, neoliberal, militarist, and patriarchal because those are the pillars of the system. Capitalist because it is a business opportunity; extractivist because its origin can be traced to the expansion of the agricultural and urban frontier in China; statist because it pushes the State (and governments) to exercise all their authority to the limit, to the limit that each State has and/or can and/or wants to. Neoliberal because it is a punkdemic that is traded on the stock exchange, in the form of pharmaceutical companies and apps (TikTok, Zoom, Cornershop, Amazon, Marketplace); militaristic because in whatever way (crude, subtle), military practices have flooded the world stage (such as curfews, internal customs, border closures)[3], such as quarantine concentration camps[4], such as field hospitals in the middle of cities, as emergency battalions, as personnel forced to test vaccines, as scientific personnel on mandatory leave, as mask manufacturers, etc.); patriarchal because women have been locked up in places under the hatred of men[5]Girls and adolescents have had their access to economic autonomy cut off while at the same time their caregiving responsibilities have increased.
- Scope of anarchism.
Anarchism is that political movement that fights against power from the perspective of freedom, understood as a social reality in constant construction.[6]This struggle is waged through libertarian processes and practices such as direct action, self-management, and mutual aid, all understood as pedagogies of themselves and, in some cases, as a culture and/or an identity. Never before in world history, not even during the classical period of global anarchism (from 1880 to 1920), has anarchism been so present in so many places simultaneously and with such force.[7]Anarchism can be traced across all continents and in all territories within those continents that have a relatively dense population. Its reach is multidimensional, and this is all I will say about this multidimensionality, because there is so much more to say on the subject: it is present in academia (Graeber, may he rest in peace), in the arts, in political action, and in reflections of all kinds. This presence does not imply mutual knowledge or contact between all experiences, even if these are considered sectorally, which implies a reiteration of both practices and frustrations. It also implies a global collective responsibility: the misfortunes of some anarchists in Zimbabwe affect some anarchists in Quito, for example. This global reach also implies a break in the historical geopolitics of world anarchism, which, from its known scope and production, distributed between Europe, the Anglo-Saxon north and the southern cone of the Río de la Plata, now sees experiences emerging almost everywhere, making geographical reality the decentralization that anarchism proposes (Mexico, Syria, India, Hong Kong, Fiji, Nigeria, the Caribbean, Tunisia, South Africa, etc.)[8]This presence is a rebellious one that permeates and opens up spaces in the face of all authoritarianism. Fortunately, all cultures possess an anti-authoritarian content with which anarchism can connect, using a respectful yet critical and uncompromising approach. This is because, while cultures contain this authoritarian and resistant content, they are also integral to the paradigm in all its components. Therefore, the pedagogical aspect of libertarian struggles must be made visible to foster self-awareness and experience them as a satisfying, accomplished endeavor, deeply embedded in the struggle. Libertarian Popular Education[9] This is an example of this: it has never been a separate process but an integral part of the liberation struggles.
- Pankdemic is systemic.
What we popularly call “the system” is the violence/domination paradigm,[10] This system, which has been attempting to impose itself for millennia, has had different forms (and names) throughout history. These pillars are the economic exploitation of the many by the few, the cultural exploitation and imposition of the many by the few, and the reproductive exploitation and imposition of the many by the few. These forms of exploitation and imposition are possible because they are imposed through and by violence, which, when prolonged, becomes domination. Violence is the use of harm to achieve objectives against other people and against nature. Domination is the persistence of that achievement through the memory of the harm, both as memory and as epigenetics. This paradigm of domination/violence that we commonly and accurately experience is called “power.”[11] And it is against this power (violence/domination) that anarchism rises up as an anti-power or a non-power through actions and practices that strive to break free from the triad of exploitations: economic, cultural, and reproductive autonomies. Certainly, power, as the Foucauldian update maintains,[12] It's a relationship, a relationship of domination and violence, supported by a millennia-old marketing and media apparatus that updates and cools it every so often, selling us power as the solution to the problems that power brings, and domination and violence as the intelligent ways out of domination and violence. Byung-Chul Han is another who updates power by hijacking the content of the concept and practice of freedom to imbue Power with them.[13]In this sense, anyone who claims that power is the path to this or that liberation is just another publicist for power, since what power (that is, those interested in maintaining this paradigm) has invested most heavily in is theorists, publicists, and violent actors (today's police, military, drug traffickers, and mafiosos) who make it a theoretical, communicative, and experiential reality. That is why those who hold positions in the power hierarchy are not allowed to go beyond their customs, their convictions, and their culture, in that order. No one in power will have an epiphany, a vision, an illumination that will allow them to confront the pandemic in a different or revolutionary way. For this very reason, the pandemic can only be systemic: the entire way of producing and confronting it, both from health specialists and governments, falls within the range of possibilities that the paradigm offers, including those based on human rights, and these possibilities are: repression, commodification, judicialization, spectacle, and heroism. Looking back at the history of pandemics, none have produced any revolutionary change. The most that people have managed to improve as a result of a pandemic is the bargaining power of the many over the few, due to the decline in the exploitable population. The system will cause more of these pandemics as a consequence of its objective to extract everything from the entire Earth for commercial consumption. In this, the system offers no concessions or respites. That is why it is targeting the last uncontacted indigenous groups.[14]Although it's not really about them, it's about the territory they live in, from which it expects to profit, produce goods, consume, and gain power. And if any legal impediment temporarily halts extractivism, it's because the business is profitable in other ways. For anarchism, stopping extractivism is a matter of life or death for humanity. Because the Earth, as a whole, can survive everything we do to it, but humanity cannot. The problem for humanity is that the entire paradigm is extractivist: of bodies, of minds, of communities, of creative and reproductive capacities.
- The system delivers solutions to the punkdemic.
But only those solutions that are feasible and useful to them. That's why militarized solutions are part of their arsenal (redundancy intended). The pharmaceutical industry, both in empires (China, the US, Russia, the EU) and in other states, explicitly or implicitly has a military-industrial component, or establishes rapid alliances to use soldiers as guinea pigs and military scientists (what an oxymoron!) as part of the personnel for testing and developing vaccines.[15]Vaccines will be the quick fix, the band-aid, for a problem handed to us by the extractive component of global ecocidal capital. This is why “vaccine nationalism” is so important now, because it is the battleground they have chosen to reinforce their presence. Heroism is part of these solutions insofar as the narrative of what is happening is also a solution, and if that narrative coincides with what the system constructs and needs, with the show it constantly puts on, all the better. Therefore, the heroic narrative, whether or not detached from its patriarchal matrix, but not from its militaristic imprint, is fundamental when it comes to telling us about the “punkdemic,” as well as almost anything else. That is why we hear about heroism in the healthcare sector and not about work and exploitation. Heroism is a central cultural trap of power, and we must be suspicious of any narrative of what we do (as anarchists) that is tinged with heroism. The entire system tries to convince us that it is the solution, or has the solution, to the problem it creates—in this case, the punkdemic. The main problem, by the way, is hidden because the system is inherently in denial. It denies, for example, that the only truly global production, the only thing that hasn't stopped but has actually increased, is garbage. Garbage. Because without garbage, there's no room for new solutions, for new future garbage that will solve the problems of past and present garbage: for example, thousands upon thousands of airplanes of all sizes are rapidly being scrapped; tons of that garbage are being produced right now… To solve the problem of that garbage, Airbus is announcing new “zero-emission” Coal planes.2for a few more years[16]The system exploits crises, whether as a business, a future prospect, a medicine, or a means of production. That's why the narrative of the "pankdemic" constructed by those in power is nothing more than reiterations and updates of the same old heroism, the same old victims, the same old expectations and hopes, the same old villains—albeit with different clothes and motives, but always the same because the narrative is inherently reproductive if it comes from the system or works for it. That's why the press never reports news, only repetitions. The anarchist narrative of the "pankdemic" must be disruptive, or it won't be an anarchist narrative at all.
- Anarchism in this pandemic
It seeks to transform it into a pankdemic, through a balancing act between the autonomy of care and resistance to militarization/policing/statization[17] of spaces and lives, on the one hand, and the virtual encounter of those same balancing actions and longer-term processes/projects. These mostly thematic, local, and interregional encounters are fostering an awareness of this currently existing global presence, its possibilities, scope, and limitations. The tapestry of “anti” approaches strengthens this global network of resistance, which, in the forced pause imposed by the pandemic, is being rapidly constructed with the urgency of knowing that the pandemic's brief respite from school breaks is quickly exhausted and that daily resistance to a new normal of hunger for the many and speculation for the few will require energies and capacities that these networks must strengthen, especially considering that migration as a social response is now definitively established as a crime by those in power. This network of resistance is, above all, a network of communities—pre-existing communities and communities under construction—that are part of, critically engaged with, and dialogic within the culture in which they are immersed, and it accompanies all the struggles undertaken by these communities as part of the transition offered by anarchism. The solution that anarchism offers to this pandemic is a transition: from this paradigm to another that will not be this one and that is defined by two foundational struggles: against hunger and the control of food[18] and against the forced reproduction of the same. Ultimately, the paradigm is maintained so that a few can eat better and more, gaining epigenetically, while many eat less and poorly, leading to hunger and/or disease. In the history of subjugated humanity, every update by the elites has involved the theft of food from the communities.[19] To feed these elites, in order to ensure their reproduction and their protection from disease, because human illness is always related to what one eats or doesn't eat. The elites are predatory in both food and reproduction.[20] And the domination/violence paradigm we live under is part of that active and ongoing predation we resist. We resist like the anti-state Indigenous communities being cornered by the expansion of the extractive and urban frontier. We not only resist, but we build, in the streets, where real politics happens. The street is work, community, neighborhood, village, town, sidewalk—every space of coexistence in dispute with the paradigm.
- People rarely abandon the known for the unknown.
Therefore, anarchism must insist on offering a revolutionary transition from this known evil to a good yet to be discovered. That transition is social, community-based, and personal all at the same time. That is why anarchism must move beyond timid criticism, beyond not wanting to offend allies (which we don't have!). Because what ally is going to have an anti-authoritarian conviction in authoritarian circles? None, except in circumstantial, minimal and momentary moments: therefore antifascism is a trap of authoritarianism towards anarchism. Falling into that old authoritarian trap speaks not only of political naiveté among anarchists, but also of the inability to offer resistance to the updates that the paradigm has for rebellious sectors. On the other hand, we also suffer from historicism and colonialism. Like those who call for Constituent Assemblies in the 21st century (when they were already domesticated in their origin in the 18th century) or like those who form militias for Rojava invited by a political party that governs a proto-state that bothers Turkey and Syria, who are bothered by that: that it is a proto-state, not whether it is revolutionary or not, just as the Islamic State bothered them, not because of its anti-human rights foundations, but because it was a competing proto-state. Colonialism is going to a place without being invited by the communities that are fighting their own battles, which they will continue to fight even and mainly without guests. The anti-fascist narrative is yet another reiteration, another domesticated narrative that serves the interests of power, with its components of heroism, tragedy, and war tourism. Such naiveté is unnecessary; moreover, it is counterproductive from a revolutionary point of view, both on this issue and on others. We must build from deep, strong, and insightful criticism, even if we make mistakes in it. Because the danger lies in sustaining the statism we criticize, the selfishness we despise, the imposed identities, the underlying machismo. The fear of being left alone is an unfounded fear, since from the recognition of the starting point of our struggles (what we are and what we are in when we become aware of our struggle) is the starting point to form not alliances, but networks, comrades, with which to build communities in resistance. Our starting point will always be what we are and what we want to be: workers (and we form unions), children (and we build community with parents and siblings, or if not, we go into exile to build other community families), migrants (and we organize ourselves as such), privileged (and we live a life that destroys those privileges), poor (and we organize ourselves against the rich), men, women, etc. What we don't do is become professionals of the revolution that goes looking for the perfect fight to bring out the romantic rifle of freedom. We are against any reproduction of the system, especially against the myths that power gives us to domesticate us. We are, therefore, against the Power that is called father, mother, boss, leader, company, mayor, intendant, governor, president, queen, king, and also partner, companion, friendship, love. We are, as they say in Primera Siembra[21]We are anti-adult-centric adults, like the adults we are. As anarchists, we have a great advantage over the left wing of power that considers itself revolutionary: anarchism, as a custom, culture, and conviction, allows us to fight socially (and personally as well) to free ourselves from sexism, authoritarianism, elitism, adult-centrism, and everything that power wants us to reproduce in order to perpetuate itself. This is part of the transition that anarchism offers as a way out, based on two alternative courses of action: desertion and autonomization. We call for desertion from reproducing the system, desertion from reproducing exploitation and imposition. We call for desertion because it is both the easiest and the most difficult part of the struggle, because power counts on your presence. Autonomization because we must build or strengthen what is already being built against power. And since no one goes from the known, however bad it may be, to the unknown, it is necessary to give strength, image, and narrative to anarchism as the driving force behind this transition, perhaps with an umbrella organization—informal, in fact, nonexistent—that provides a sense of direction and belonging to those who need it to break away and become autonomous. An umbrella of minimal agreements, perhaps direct action and nonviolence, and a fictitious name to refer to, perhaps the Anarchist World. -Hey, who did that really nice thing? -Ah, the Anarchist World. Because nothing comes from unhappiness, nothing comes from defeat, only submission and rage, which is another form of submission. That's why the call to desertion and autonomy must come from humor, triumph, and joy. We must see triumph, achievement, in what the people do, even if that triumph contradicts us, because we love and respect the people in their wisdom and their mistakes, and that makes us critically accompany them in all their experiences and be there to celebrate and remind them that every social triumph is the result of their struggle—autonomous and defiant—with joy, because joy begins with A for anarchy and ends with I for empathy. With the people, we build that nonviolence and powerlessness, nameless things that make us uncompromising revolutionaries.
[1] Chilean writer. Member of the Latin American and Caribbean Antimilitarist Network. Master class given on September 22, 2020 by Pelao Carvallo, broadcast via Jitsi and developed from discussions in Caracolito GA and Ramalc (Latin American and Caribbean Antimilitarist Network).
[2] https://www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20200921/483612160179/nueva-york-anarquista-calificacion-trump-estados-unidos.html
[3] At this point I described all the customs checkpoints I would have to pass through traveling overland from Paraguay to Chile, most of which were nonexistent in December 2019: municipal, district, and departmental health customs checkpoints in Paraguay, municipal and provincial checkpoints in Argentina, and communal, provincial, regional, and even neighborhood checkpoints in Chile, not to mention the borders between the States
[4] https://elsurti.com/coronavirus/reportaje/2020/05/21/confinados/
[5] https://www.france24.com/es/20200509-repunte-feminicidios-durante-pandemia-aislamiento-covid19.
[6] All data is easily traceable because it is taken from the press. Definitions, opinions, and inferences are my own, and I cite the source of the idea whenever possible.
[7] For example, to trace the reach of the IWA (International Workers' Association) and its splinter groups
[8] The book Rethinking Anarchy, a collaboration of different Central American experiences, demonstrates this; ten years ago, anarchism in that region was invisible and made invisible. https://archive.org/details/repensar-94xx
[9] http://ramalc.org/2020/06/20/evolucion-de-la-educacion-popular-libertaria-en-latinoamerica-y-el-caribe/
[10] Original idea in: Nonviolent Politics and Social Struggle. Nonviolent Alternative to Military Defense. Contagious Utopia Collective. Books in Action. Madrid, 2012. Page 141. The synthesis in “power” is mine.
[11] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc-ECPkivJY
[12] Michel Foucault
[13] https://www.abc.es/cultura/cultural/abci-byung-chul-han-reflexiona-sobre-poder-201611071117_noticia.html
[14] https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-54171643
[15] https://aristeguinoticias.com/2008/opinion/rusia-y-china-ganan-la-carrera-mundial-por-la-vacuna-contra-el-covid-19-articulo/
[16] https://okdiario.com/video/asi-son-aviones-cero-emisiones-del-futuro-airbus-video-6181710
[17] http://ramalc.org/2020/05/23/boletin-no2-covid19-y-militarizacion-de-las-sociedades-en-america-latina-y-el-caribe/
[18] Even and especially in these times of abundance and overproduction of food
[19] https://www.ciperchile.cl/2019/05/06/por-que-los-pobres-se-achican-y-la-elite-no-tres-siglos-de-variacion-en-la-estatura-de-los-chilenos/
[20] https://www.abc.es/ciencia/abci-invasores-erradicaron-hombres-peninsula-iberica-hace-4000-anos-201903141900_noticia.html
[21] https://www.facebook.com/primera.siembra
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