Toronto Anarchist Gathering: Saturday, April 4th

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Mon, 2009-03-16 08:43

Maysie

Quote:

Toronto Anarchist Gathering
Saturday, April 4th
10-5pm, Steelworkers Hall (25 Cecil St.)
****
It's time for us to gather. To meet up and to stare at each other. To bring together folks who secretly or not so secretly identify with anarchism. It will be a smorgasbord of anarchism-related groups and activities. It will be quick and dirty. And its happening soon.

We need your help.

We're writing to invite you to participate in a day of fun and anarchy at the Toronto Anarchist Gathering on April 4th. This will be a space for a wide variety of anarchist individuals, radical political groups, and anti-authoritarian organizations to come together, meet, greet, educate, skill-share, and hear about each other's projects and plans.

Hopefully this will be an opportunity to educate some people about what anarchism is all about, to encourage people to get involved with some of the organizing and organizations that exist in Toronto, and to provide a space for already-established groups to hear about each other's work.

There will be booktables, group tables, displays and workshops from 11-3. Then from 3-5 there will be a giant go-around so folks can hear what other people are up to.

PLEASE GET INVOLVED.

Want to distribute flyers, sell literature, buttons, shirts, or whatever else?
Send us an email at: [email protected]
First come first serve.

Want to put on a workshop? If so, bring a proposal to the workshop meeting on Tuesday March 24th at OISE (252 Bloor Stree west) at 6pm. We'll do as many workshops as we have space for, and go with the ones that are the most popular
at that meeting.

If you want to help out in any other way, that'd be awesome. Give us a shout at [email protected]

The Toronto Anarchist Gathering is open to anyone who shares our anti-oppressive perspective against classism, sexism, racism, ableism, colonialism, homophobia, and other hierarchical attitudes, practices and crap.

Mon, 2009-03-16 15:22

Hope it goes well. I was at the San Francisco Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair this weekend, where writer Andrej Grabacic said to general agreement "as someone who has been an anarchist in the Balkans since I was 12, I think I can safely say the anarchist movement in the United States is a mess." He also called for a return to some good old-fashioned community organizing, sine "we are suffocated by theory" and by white middle-class guilt that excuses inaction. If anyone goes to this Toronto gathering, hope they'll share some highlights!

Mon, 2009-03-16 16:27

Maysie

Ze, I'm so not cool enough to be an anarchist.

But I might pop by the gathering on April 4th.

Mon, 2009-03-16 17:21

Heh, neither am I, really, I don't have nearly enough pirate-style black to wear.

Mon, 2009-03-30 22:55

Mick

Well, for one, I'm currently sporting beige trousers and a grey Toronto FC training jacket, so don't let fashion stop you from identifying as an anarchist.

As for the state of the anarchist movement in North America, people might want to check out the below discussion at the gathering;

The Role of the Anarchist Organization
12:15pm - 1:15pm

Organized anarchism is currently experiencing significant growth with
new organizations and projects emerging across the continent. In other
parts of the world strong anarchist organizations have been built and
are playing a significant role within popular struggles. Yet some
anarchists in Ontario remain skeptical of the idea of a formal
political anarchist organization. Unfortunately, debate on this issue
has rarely gone beyond dogma and caricactures (not very anarchist of
us!) This presentation will discuss the role of the anarchist
organization and argue for its advantages hoping to spark a fruitful
debate. A significant amount of time will be left for discussion.

Presenter: Alex is a member of Common Cause, an Ontario-based
anarchist organization with branches in Ottawa, Hamilton and Toronto.
He is also active in workers’ struggles in the university sector and a
member of both the Industrial Workers of the World and the Canadian
Union of Public Employees. [email protected],
http://www.linchpin.ca

Tue, 2009-03-31 07:49

Michelle

Does anyone have a good link that has kind of like an "anarchism for dummies" intro in it, from an anarchist source, which is written in plain language as opposed to academese? I have an idea what anarchism is all about, but I also have the feeling that I probably have a lot of misconceptions as well, and I don't really consider Wikipedia to be a great source when it comes to social movements.

I have done a bit of googling, and I'm getting a lot of "history of anarchism" and general definitions of the word, but I'm not really finding much about anarchism as promoted by activists now. So I'll probably check out this shindig on the weekend too. :)

Tue, 2009-03-31 08:22

thanks

i don't know the academese on this at all, but i do know from being with anarchists that there is an amazing process for meetings. there are also lots of discussions about tactics! (chuckle) ...(laughs out loud)...

and when these discussions are held jointly with other social movement people, it becomes Really interesting ! but always productive. so productive in fact that the emerging consensus was able to reveal that it was in fact the police at the Montebello 'Security and Prosperity Partnership' meeting a while back were in fact doing the violence, dressed up as anarchists. we've seen this before, at a Prague summit a while back, and i even think it was happening at the FTAA in Quebec City, though these issues had been worked out well before that, and things were kind of...cloudy there...

anyway, always a good bunch to hang out with.

Tue, 2009-03-31 08:24

thanks

sorry, i meant to say the joint discussions with diverse social movements hadn't been done sufficiently before the FTAA. but you likely knew that.

Tue, 2009-03-31 10:55

George Victor

"anyway, always a good bunch to hang out with. "

------------------------------------------

Don't think Maude Barlow would agree with you there, thanks. And I would not disagree with her. Gives a bad name to people who are there on principle, not just to throw rocks...

Tue, 2009-03-31 11:18

#10

thanks

re: #8,

well let's just say that people can be free to choose when and where they hang out, given negotiated parametres.

and it's those negotiated parameters that i'm talking about in points above. others know all about this. and that's why the process that happened before Montebello was so very important. it was precisely because parameters were negotiated ahead of time, and because all participants, including and especially the anarchists were so disciplined, that together the diverse participants in that event were able to identify that those who were actually 'throwing the rocks' were in fact undercover police. Real anarchists pointed out that a masked bandit causing trouble had been doing so all day, and when that individual was confronted by a union leader, and 'taken down' by police, their police boots identified them as undercover. The SQ were forced to admit the issue.

How many times in the past has the role of provocateurs been clouded?

Of course there can be situations where there are idiots just out to get drunk and 'throw rocks'. What's interesting is that at the FTAA protests in Quebec City, these people were not arrested ! I saw it myself. No, those throwing stuff were intentionally let off the hook by the thousands of riot police there, while bystanders on the sidewalk were arrested.

Why? So that media could report sweeping arrests were made, while allowing the very few people throwing rocks to continue (whoever they were) so that there could be continued justification for the 5,000 US-made tear gas cannisters to be unleashed on the city, with all of their toxic contents, for Quebec City residents to consume.

Thankfully, these residents also came out in numbers to protest, and to rinse the eyes of tear-gas blinded protesters. The wind also helped, blew the stuff back into the hotel complex where the leaders were meeting...what goes around comes around...

Tue, 2009-03-31 11:24

#11

That' hardly a fair description of all anarchists, George. One, fighting back against people who are tear gassing you is not automatically wrong. Two, don't judge an entire movement by a few people. Three, it's a real shame when social movement folks marginalize one another. Four, there is a really big non-violent stream within anarchism.

[u][url=http://elainebriere.ca/struggle/05_strug.html]A picture that you [i]didn't[/i] see from the FTAA summit.[/url][/u]

Tue, 2009-03-31 13:00

#12

George Victor

And back in the 1960s it was always a few (dozen)...some of whom are not police and not motivated by ego and the pursuit of notoriety and a disregard for those who are sensitive to public perception - what a protest is all about. No, I don't think Maude and the others were wrong in condemning such behaviour - were not being unfair.

Of course, they could have all started out with good intentions on arrival - to paraphrase Mae West :"beginning as Snow White but then sorta drifting".

Tue, 2009-03-31 13:03

#13

It's Me D

Good thread.

George's comments strike me as funny because the biggest rabble-rouser throwing things at the cops at the protests I attended in my youth was a retired teacher and staunch NDPer, no anarchist; you'd have liked him George.

Tue, 2009-03-31 13:14

#14

George Victor

What were his other "attributes", D, besides his anarchistic tendencies which were strong enough to even keep him from joining up?

Tue, 2009-03-31 13:17

#15

It's Me D

Sorry, joining up?

And the point was that throwing things at the cops isn't an "anarchistic tendency"; sometimes its just good old-fashioned politically-expressive fun

Tue, 2009-03-31 14:51

#16

George Victor

You said he was "no anarchist". He had not "joined up" because of those strong anarchist tendencies that kept him from even joining an anarchist....

Ah well, what the hell, I never could do comedy. (But I thought it was a howler....uh ....LOL

Tue, 2009-03-31 14:59

#17

It's Me D

Actually, just to add another detail I remembered, he was also an active Council of Canadians member and participated in protests against the Summit of the Americas under that banner. The Council helped a number of young people from my rural Nova Scotian community to attend those demonstrations. I think Maude approved.

Tue, 2009-03-31 16:57

#18

Michelle

George: :D Well, someone had to make the joke, right? I was waiting for someone to make the joke about how it was possible to organize an anarchist event...

Tue, 2009-03-31 16:58

#19

George Victor

If Maude approved of him "throwing things" he had to be throwing brickbats.

Tue, 2009-03-31 17:02

#20

Michelle

How about teddy bears?

Tue, 2009-03-31 17:06

#21

George Victor

Cuddly is not the anarchist style.

Tue, 2009-03-31 17:11

#22

George Victor

Although, if they find favour among hockey fans....

Tue, 2009-03-31 18:13

#23

George Victor wrote:
Cuddly is not the anarchist style.

Oh c'mon -- a cannon firing teddy bears? What's cuddlier than that?

Tue, 2009-03-31 18:38

#24

Sineed

Who organizes anarchist gatherings?

Tue, 2009-03-31 18:48

#25

saga

George Victor wrote:

"anyway, always a good bunch to hang out with. "

------------------------------------------

Don't think Maude Barlow would agree with you there, thanks. And I would not disagree with her. Gives a bad name to people who are there on principle, not just to throw rocks...

You're out of line, George.

It was the police agentes provocateurs that had the rocks and tried to coach the anarchists to throw them (which they did not).

Obviously you fell for the scam! Sucker!

Should we malign anarchists because the police do?

Tue, 2009-03-31 18:52

#26

Well, lots of people. Since anarchism isn't about the "me first" individualism of caricature, rather it's about building autonomous community. In my opinion. ;)

Tue, 2009-03-31 21:14

#27

George Victor

You mean the round, dark canister with the smoking fuse carried by a sinister figure under a flowing cape is history?

Gosh, guess I'll have to change my view of anarchism in the age of sink or swim together. All together.

But when the police sat in on our gatherings of wooly-minded Marxists - looking, no doubt, for those Leninists concerned with action - we all thought that anarchists were just shit disturbers out for fun. At a rally on Parliament Hill protesting Lyndon Johnson's appearance there during the Vietnam War, the anarchists were concerned with spectacle. And they could not all have been out-of-uniform police, saga.

I always thought that social protest should aim at gathering public opinion behind it . That's why Maude Barlow and the NDP leadership felt let down by those who plotted "autonomous community".

Always thought that John Donne had it right with his "No man is an island".

But there we go - the brickbat can have different meaning, and appeal, to different people.

Wed, 2009-04-01 00:37

#28

saga

George Victor wrote:

But when the police sat in on our gatherings of wooly-minded Marxists - looking, no doubt, for those Leninists concerned with action - we all thought that anarchists were just shit disturbers out for fun. At a rally on Parliament Hill protesting Lyndon Johnson's appearance there during the Vietnam War, the anarchists were concerned with spectacle. And they could not all have been out-of-uniform police, saga.

I was referring to Maude Barlow and the anti-SPP protest in Ottawa.

One thing I've noticed about anarchists: They tend to be far younger than this old hippie. Could account for their youthful 'zest', which is not to be sneezed at.

Thu, 2009-04-02 23:18

#29

Mick

Michelle wrote:

Does anyone have a good link that has kind of like an "anarchism for dummies" intro in it, from an anarchist source, which is written in plain language as opposed to academese? I have an idea what anarchism is all about, but I also have the feeling that I probably have a lot of misconceptions as well, and I don't really consider Wikipedia to be a great source when it comes to social movements.

I have done a bit of googling, and I'm getting a lot of "history of anarchism" and general definitions of the word, but I'm not really finding much about anarchism as promoted by activists now. So I'll probably check out this shindig on the weekend too. :)

The authoritative but tome-sized "Anarchist FAQ" can be browsed at: http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/1931/

Part of the problem with defining anarchism is that there's such a wide range of political thought and tendencies associated with the term, some of which have strong contradictions with one another.

Everything from the Anarcho-Syndicalist workers unions, to individualist egoists like Max Steiner, to dumpster diving punk rock kids, to back to the land hippies, have claimed "anarchism" as their political label.

BTW, if anyone is interested in reading / discussing anarchism with people on a pro-organizational, class-struggle, anarchist-communist message board I recommend http://anarchistblackcat.org/

Fri, 2009-04-03 14:30

#30

Krystalline Kraus Krystalline Kraus's picture

George Victor wrote:

"anyway, always a good bunch to hang out with. "

------------------------------------------

Don't think Maude Barlow would agree with you there, thanks. And I would not disagree with her. Gives a bad name to people who are there on principle, not just to throw rocks...

a: are you implying that those people who choose to throw rocks are not there by principle? (ergo, they have no principles?)

b: in Quebec city's FTAA summit, the alternative summit was not located right at the fence. Diversity of tactics states that there should be a space where all different forms of political activism can exist in the same location (this case, city)

c: who made Maude Barlow the supreme leader of all the protesters in Quebec City?

and Mick, c'mon now, don't you know i wear my black gear, balakava and gas mask 24/7...even when i'm sleeping to make sure i always look the part ...slacker! : )

Fri, 2009-04-03 14:57

#31

Michelle

Hey folks, can I suggest that we move this discussion about violence at protests to the currently running thread on that topic, and leave this one to discuss anarchy and this pleasant-sounding event in this one?

What did those nice anarchists ever do to us, anyhow? :)

Sat, 2009-04-04 17:38

#32

remind

Any news on this meeting yet?