A new anarchist communist organization for Ontario
this isnt a criticism or anything (and i wish you the best of luck), just a curiousity...
as you guys seem to agree pretty strongly with what NEFAC's all about, and since, as you said, many of you are either NEFAC members or supporters, and as Ontario is in the north-east, why is this organization separate from NEFAC? i mean, there must be something specific which separates it from NEFAC - perhaps a specific goal or something which you believe cannot be done within NEFAC as it stands today?
anyway, again, not a criticism, just curious. hope you fellows do well!
Asher wrote:
But surely the North East in NEFAC refers to North America, not Canada? In which case anything in Canada would be North, and we've just established Ontario is East, thereby making it North East. Or am I missing something?
No. You're right. Canadians are just a little slow.
Feighnt wrote:
why is this organization separate from NEFAC?
This organisation doesn't exist as yet - we are in the process of forming it. So just as we are not picking a name until the founding conference we are also not defining our exact relationship with NEFAC beyond saying that we want one.
I think he just answered that. They don't exist yet. At their founding conference they'll decide whether to join NEFAC or not.
As far as I know NEFAC is a federation of collectives as oppossed to a federal organisation with branches. so the way it normally works is collectives join as oppossed to individual members.
Chekov Feeney talks about and criticises this in this article. It's an old article but I think that's still how they work.
P.S. Go one Joe - best anarchist ever. (And the others are okay as well - I guess.)
NEFAC is in the process of looking at how function internally.
The Quebec section has traditionally been the strongest, and we are also the most regionally organised. That is we have a provincial publication (free newspaper with distribution of 4000 copies every two months), a provincial congress and a presence and contacts in many smaller towns and villages, aside from the collectives in the two large cities.
The US regions are also looking at moving more towards a more regional structure, so It makes sense to have a strong Ontario based organisation.
I hope they will eventually formally join NEFAC, and many of them are formally involved with NEFAC now, but the best thing for the movement is to have a strong organisation with a presence on the ground, NEFAC or not.
Good luck to yall, and hopefully well se some of you at this falls congress.
If we're slow, that dosnt say much for you yanks, cause that whole discussion was between an yank who thought Ontario was in the west, A guy on an island in Asia who knows more about Canadian Geography than most of our beloved Neighbors to the south, and another yank who assumed because he wasn't from the US he must have been Canadian...
PS southern Ontario is still North.
good luck. this initiative could be really important in introducing a new organizing dynamic to the continental scene.
although there are many weakness' to what constitutes the "Left", recent events like the USSF shows that the haze of the last few years might be shifting. NO post Katrina, continued decline of the rust belt, ecological crisis, immigration and reactionary action being taken against foreign born workers/migrants, all of this (and of course more) is creating an atmosphere in which people on different levels want to figure out ways to organize and fight. we need a libertarian, militant, pro-revolutionary class based movement, i hope your initiative will help further this along.
i'm sure many of us look forward to seeing more from you all...
rebelworker wrote:
If we're slow, that dosnt say much for you yanks, cause that whole discussion was between an yank who thought Ontario was in the west, A guy on an island in Asia who knows more about Canadian Geography than most of our beloved Neighbors to the south, and another yank who assumed because he wasn't from the US he must have been Canadian...PS southern Ontario is still North.
meh, we outnumber you in population by several orders of magnitude. We can afford to think of you as a place we go to get weed and drink underage.
Building A Popular Anarchism: The Story of the Irish WSM
An illustrated talk in which speakers from the Workers Solidarity Movement will outline the growth of anarchism in Ireland in the last decade, the struggles that have been fought and the role of the WSM in the process that has seen anarchism move from a tiny marginal current to a prominent force on the left.
http://wsm.ie | http://nefac.net
Email the organisers at: ontarioac@gmail.com
HAMILTON
7pm at the Skydragon Community Center
Tuesday 21st August
27 King William St
TORONTO
4pm at the Concord Cafe
Saturday 25th August
937 Bloor St West
More dates to be announced..
Yes illustrated - why not? As Joe Black delivers one of his grand sermons on the coming tide of revolutionary fervour in the grand old Eire, there will be an accompaniment of interpretative dancers, pictionary experts and finger-paint drawings to illustrate the key concepts along the way. This is intended to break down the artifice of a hierarchical lingustics that bind us to linear patterns of struggle. It is hoped that using this new illustrative approach and some incantations from Crowley we will be able to summon "the strength of ages" as a dues paying membership base and Jebus - wait until you see the size of the boom-stick we are cooking..
Now back to your online bickering.
Mainly because most of the discussion on this site unfortunately makes me want to blow a hole in my head. I do enjoy lurking though, some of it can be quite entertaining and even educational - but mostly it really is just no where near approaching a political dialogue that I see as useful to advancing a contemporary anarchist understanding or movement. I rate iniatives like the news section and the circulation of items on the CPE struggle through a blog massively, but really that just doesn't square with most of the other behaviour that goes on here. But sure this has been gone through dozens of times...
antrophe wrote:
Yes illustrated - why not? As Joe Black delivers one of his grand sermons on the coming tide of revolutionary fervour in the grand old Eire, there will be an accompaniment of interpretative dancers, pictionary experts and finger-paint drawings to illustrate the key concepts along the way. This is intended to break down the artifice of a hierarchical lingustics that bind us to linear patterns of struggle. It is hoped that using this new illustrative approach and some incantations from Crowley we will be able to summon "the strength of ages" as a dues paying membership base and Jebus - wait until you see the size of the boom-stick we are cooking..Now back to your online bickering.
That sounds amazing. Will it involve spiritual oils (bog water) being used to christen, i mean flooden, new militants,
We are a group of anarchist communists in the process of forming an organization in Ontario. We are so fresh we don't yet have a name. We are inviting other anarchists to consider getting involved with us in helping to create an anarchist movement across Ontario.
Right from the start we want to have a regularly updated web site accompanying a regular free newspaper that will be distributed in the 1000's. It will combine articles on anarchism with reports on the struggles of ordinary working people that are taking place now in this province. Our intention is not to build yet another small group of a dozen or so people but to begin the process of building an organization of thousands that will have a presence in every town, workplace and neighboorhood across the province.
The individuals involved in drafting this statement of intent are located in southern Ontario but we are interested in making contact with both individuals and groups outside of this area. Some of us have lived here for a while, and been involved in previous anarchist initiatives in Ontario, others have migrated here recently and have been involved in organisations in other provinces and countries. We want to get in touch with anarchists of all ages right across the province whether you have been active forty years or are just taking the first steps.
Some of us have been members of the North East Federation of Anarchist Communists or the Workers Solidarity Movement (Ireland). Most of us are now NEFAC members or supporters. We think it sensible that any Ontario anarchist communist organisation will have an open relationship with the NEFAC groups in Quebec and the North Eastern USA. However our key focus is on building an organization that will build a movement in Ontario capable of providing real solidarity with struggles and that through local strength can contribute to the global struggle for an anarchist world. In terms of basic political positions we are seeking to contact people who broadly agree with the Anarkismo.net statement (see link below).
We want you to get involved, contact us at ontarioac@gmail.com letting us know your first name and where you are located.
Anarkismo.net statement http://www.anarkismo.net/docs.php?id=1
NEFAC - http://www.nefac.net
WSM - http://www.wsm.ie
Translations of this statement are available on Anarkismo.net