Alternatives to Electoralism?

When you say "working class led councils" do you mean actual workers' councils or do you mean taking over or somehow seizing control of municipal councils? The former is difficult with such low levels class consciousness and there's also the view workers' councils are a product of a politically advanced and class conscious working class, of the revolutionary moment. The latter would be just a smaller version of seizing the state apparatus, only on a local scale; micro-bolshevist bollocks, if you like. Anyway, we're a long way from either.

Workers' councils or not, we should be getting back to popularising solid class politics in the face of the recent increase in nationalism from the right, and the more self-destructive forms of identity politics from both the left and right. We should be fighting where we are, inside and outside unions and other organisations (sometimes against those very organisations) with a view to building independent revolutionary working class organisations. We also need to thoroughly assess where we are now as a class and build from there, developing a revolutionary class politics. True, it's all a bit of a long game and some of us ain't getting any younger.

Klas, not sure I get the "mechanics" of this.
Can you please flesh it out a bit more?

The workers' councils (soviets) are the organic products of conditions of revolutionary upheaval, this is different from voluntaristic attempts to build parallel political systems, or institutions of 'counter-power'. In the absence of any such conditions, of any appetite for a fight, or militancy, the working class will simply not care, it will just attract other activists. The development of class-consciousness precedes and spurs the development of radical organisations and initiatives, not the other way round.

More to the point, it's a mistake to focus one's politics on the locale/municipality, because the level of municipal/city politics is too weak, too small, too isolated, it is subject to the pressures of national (and even international) politics. This is why the working-class must unify and focus its struggles towards one aim: the destruction of the capitalist state; it will have to destroy the state in one, swift blow, from the top-down. Not gradually from the bottom-up.

klas batalo

Been starting to think about this more, wondering what others think?

An idea I have floating around is base building and direct action organizing towards working class lead councils as a counter power to and instead of trying to get elected to capitalist municipal or city councils, and so on.

Anyone wanna take a shot at ideas?

I think it's a great idea. Well, it will be in the future. But for now? Like Serge Forward and Craftwork say, we can't build something like that in a period with barely any class-struggle.

So, as an alternative to electoralism, I don't think it's a good idea at this point in time.

Electoralism appeals to people because voting is something they can do NOW (or at the next election). To compete with that, we need something that has immediate appeal.

Class-struggle offers that, because we can use it to win demands and make our lives better. It beats waiting on the empty promises of politicians.

And as a bonus, as class-struggle builds and spreads, it makes possible exactly the kind of thing you're talking about.

Is 'electoralism' defined as any instance of contesting elections?

There are groups trying to organise workers and tenants, not using trade union structures. You either need to be working at a viable workplace or live somewhere with enough local contacts to start a solidarity network though, but the ones that exist are encouraging.

(UK)

https://angryworkersworld.wordpress.com/

http://www.brightonsolfed.org.uk/

(US)

https://nrvstrike.wordpress.com/

See also https://libcom.org/library/you-say-you-want-build-solidarity-network

I've heard some criticisms of the solidarity network model. First I wanna say that, as someone who's doing fuck all, I'm not in much position to criticize!

That said, a critical discussion is worth having about anything.

The main thing I've heard is that SolNets aren't fit to the task of building a lasting organization routed in workplace (or neighborhood) based relationships. It ends up being more like a group of activists taking on class-struggle casework for individual grievances.

Originally the hope was that workers and tenants who are not the activist type would get drawn into the SolNet as permanent participants. But I heard that this hasn't happened anywhere. People quickly drop out after their case has been settled.

Is this an unfair criticism? Are there any SolNets that have overcome this?

On the positive side, in a period of so little class struggle, anything is better than nothing. Getting people familiar with class-struggle and direct action is always a good thing, and could inspire people to take these skills and experiences to where they work and live.

Lucky Black Cat

Originally the hope was that workers and tenants who are not the activist type would get drawn into the SolNet as permanent participants. But I heard that this hasn't happened anywhere. People quickly drop out after their case has been settled.

In HASL, in Haringey Housing Action Group and in Brighton Solfed people have definitely stayed involved after their case was resolved, and in other solnets too but these are cases where I know the people concerned.

Lucky Black Cat

The main thing I've heard is that SolNets aren't fit to the task of building a lasting organization routed in workplace (or neighborhood) based relationships. It ends up being more like a group of activists taking on class-struggle casework for individual grievances.

That's a definite risk that it could turn into that (or that the main organisers burn out and the groups fizzle out), but people involved in solidarity networks have written critical things about it turning into invidual casework themselves, and how the groups try to resolve it. And as Fingers said some people do join groups after originally getting in touch about their own specific issues.

For long term organisation in a workplace, Angry Workers of the World is not following the solidarity network model as such, they produce a newsletter for specific groups of factories in West London, and take jobs at them - if there's a name for that, it's closer to 'workers inquiry / informal workplace group'.

Here's HASL's website btw: https://housingactionsouthwarkandlambeth.wordpress.com/ - a difference between them and Brighton Solfed, is that Brighton SolFed's housing stuff is usually to do with private landlords stealing tenant deposits and/or refusing to carry out repairs - these generally would have a relatively short turnaround (the repairs get done, the deposit is returned). HASL does a lot of work supporting people to navigate social housing gatekeeping - i.e. if they're in over-crowded 'temporary' accommodation and should be eligible for a council house. This can take months or years, so even if someone stayed only for the duration of their own issue, it could still mean they're taking part supporting other people's housing struggles for a decent length of time.

craftwork

The development of class-consciousness precedes and spurs the development of radical organisations and initiatives, not the other way round.

Glaberman would say that activity precedes consciousness. This does not mean voluntaristically trying to build mass organisations out of nothing, but it's not impossible to organise around workplace and housing issues, and draw in people who are not 'activists'.

Glaberman

The problem is compounded by the fact that those who study the problem of consciousness are intellectuals, not workers. They tend to assume that consciousness is overwhelmingly a matter of the mind, of verbalization. (Workers, however, do not have a public platform or press. Unions do, but that is another matter.) But verbal responses to formal questions, given the limited range of alternatives allowed to workers in such situations, inevitably give a picture of working-class consciousness that is much more conservative than the underlying reality. It has the tremendous advantage, however, of being immensely satisfying to the intellectuals (whether radical or conservative) because it buttresses their own sense of superiority. There is a reality in which often, when not given any other choice, workers appear to be saying things which are conservative or reactionary.

https://libcom.org/library/working-class-social-change-martin-glaberman

Most respectfully and comradely, I'm still not clear as to what is being suggested here.
What is being counter posed in an organizational way? Are town or city "councils" to attempt to contest in elections, seek to engage on legislative issues (even in a direct action it's way) Work in in a non parliamentary way, but is not anti parliamentary? What sort if overall coat to coast organization, if any, helps to network and semi-coordinate the things? Basically interested in the nuts and bolts thinking. I realize I've got a thick skull and may be missing the most obvious.

klas batalo

I Municipal soviets. It's my impression that the soviets were geographically constituted, not mere factory committees.

I am not saying that this is what you mean but it sorta sounds like you mean something like a more class based and less socially pluralistic version of Bookchin's Libertarian municipalism. Is that kinda what you mean?

klas batalo

An idea I have floating around is base building and direct action organizing towards working class lead councils as a counter power to and instead of trying to get elected to capitalist municipal or city councils, and so on.

If I were thinking of attempting something like this the first thing that I would ask myself is whether or not there exists a libertarian-communist political organization that has enough potential organizers to carry out such a seemingly ambitious project on anything approaching a meaningful scale?

Craftwork

More to the point, it's a mistake to focus one's politics on the locale/municipality, because the level of municipal/city politics is too weak, too small, too isolated, it is subject to the pressures of national (and even international) politics. This is why the working-class must unify and focus its struggles towards one aim: the destruction of the capitalist state; it will have to destroy the state in one, swift blow, from the top-down. Not gradually from the bottom-up.

I have a question about this but don't wanna derail this thread, so I started a new one. http://libcom.org/forums/theory/destroying-state-one-swift-blow-23022018

Thanks for the replies on my SolNet question! :)