Aufheben
Articles from aufheben, a Brighton-based annual Marxist journal with autonomist influences. For aufheben's homepage on libcom see http://libcom.org/aufheben
LA '92: The Context of a Proletarian Uprising
Distorted by the bourgeois press, reduced to a mere 'race riot' by many on the left, the L.A. rebellion was the most serious urban uprising this century. This article seeks to grasp the full significance of these events by relating them to their context of class re-composition and capitalist restructuring.
Behind the 21st Century Intifada
Written in 2001, this article is an excellent history and analysis of the new Intifada of the time, covering the roots of the problems in Israel and Palestine and the class struggles of both Arabs and Jews in the region throughout the 20th century
Introduction
A Commune in Chiapas? Mexico and the Zapatista Rebellion, 1994-2000
Since the occupation of January 1994, many have projected their hopes onto this 'exotic' struggle against 'neo-liberalism'. We examine the nature of the Zapatista uprising by moving beyond the bluster of the EZLN communiqués, on which so many base their analysis.
[b]Not proletarian, yet not entirely peasant, the Zapatistas' political ideas are riven with contradictions. We reject the academics' argument of Zapatismo's centrality as the new revolutionary subject, just as we reject the assertions of the 'ultra-left' that because the Zapatistas do not have a communist programme they are simply complicit with capital.
Intakes: Communist Theory - Beyond the Ultra-left
Last century (a few years ago), the French group Théorie Communiste (TC) translated and published our articles on 'decadence' (Aufheben issues 2 - 4), accompanied by a critique. We publish that critique here, plus a short presentation by TC on their theoretical positions.
Aufheben Introduction
Aufheben: (past tense: hob auf; past participle: aufgehoben; noun: Aufhebung)
There is no adequate English equivalent to the German word Aufheben. In German it can mean "to pick up", "to raise", "to keep", "to preserve", but also "to end", "to abolish", "to annul". Hegel exploited this duality of meaning to describe the dialectical process whereby a higher form of thought or being supersedes a lower form, while at the same time "preserving" its "moments of truth". The proletariat's revolutionary negation of capitalism, communism, is an instance of this dialectical movement of supersession, as is the theoretical expression of this movement in the method of critique developed by Marx.
Stop the Clock!
Critiques of the
New Social Workhouse
What is the link between the struggle to mitigate alienation (for higher wages, shorter hours, more benefits, less work intensity etc.) and the struggle against alienation itself? The answer to this question distinguishes communist practice from merely leftist practice.
Dole autonomy versus the re-imposition of work: analysis of the current tendency to workfare in the UK
Dole Autonomy versus the Re-imposition of Work:
Analysis of the Current Tendency to Workfare in the UK
1. Introduction
The politics of anti-road struggle and the struggles of anti-road politics - the case of the No M11 link road campaign
Through the passionate creation of conditions favourable to the growth of our passions, we wish to destroy that which is destroying us.
Ratgeb (1974)[1]
Open Reply to Loren Goldner
Introduction
Oil Wars and World Orders - Old and New
Aufheben analyse the 2003 invasion of Iraq in the context of US foreign policy and geopolitics since the 1980s.
While the American-led interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo during the 1990s were presented as ‘humanitarian wars’, it was hard to disguise the fact that the invasion of Iraq was primarily motivated by a drive to reassert American power, and in particular its control over the world’s oil supplies.
