General Strike Readings, Lists, Panels, Assemblies, Calls
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Matt Peterson
Mar 12, 2012, 3:15:00 AM3/12/12
to Matt Peterson
Hey all,
An open reading group I'm in, Our Lives Are Not Negotiable, is meeting Monday at 8 to talk about texts about women on/and the general strike: http://nyc.thepublicschool.org/note/3881
12 March 2012, e-flux (311 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002)
--"A Study of the General Strike in Philadelphia" - Voltairine de Cleyre, 1910, 4 pages: http://libertarian-labyrinth.org/archive/A_Study_of_the_General_Strike_in_Philadelphia
--Syndicalism: The Modern Menace to Capitalism - Emma Goldman, 1913, 11 pages: http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/pdfs/a4/Emma_Goldman__Syndicalism__the_Modern_Menace_to_Capitalism_a4.pdf
--"On the General Strike" - Mariarosa Dalla Costa, 1974, 4 pages: http://www.commoner.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/03-dallacosta.pdf
--"First Stutterings" - Precarias a la Deriva, 2003, 22 pages: http://caringlabor.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/precarias-a-la-deriva-first-stutterings-of-precarias-a-la-deriva/
--"A Very Careful Strike: Four Hypothesis" - Precarias a la Deriva, 2005, 10 pages: http://www.commoner.org.uk/11deriva.pdf
We previously read Rosa Luxemburg's THE MASS STRIKE (1906), and some texts by Jean Baudrillard on strikes in the early 1970's. If you're interested in participating in the group on an ongoing basis, go here: http://nyc.thepublicschool.org/class/3880 and click "I'm interested" on the right-hand side, which will allow you to receive/send messages to the the participants.
---
The Strike Everywhere group has created a new open listserv for the action committees formed at its March 4th assembly (Media, Neighborhood, Precarious, Propaganda, Student, Tactical), and any others that might start up: https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/strikeeverywhere
---
There will be a panel on the General Strike at the Left Forum this Sunday, March 18th, at 12pm, "Towards the General Strike": http://www.leftforum.org/panel/towards-general-strike
A general strike has been called for May Day, first by Occupy Los Angeles on November 15th, and locally by Occupy Wall Street on February 14th. In the time between and since many other city and neighborhood assemblies have taken up the call, and a number of other coalitions, collectives, and committees have started to agitate and organize for a general strike in 2012.
These recent calls for a May Day general strike have taken inspiration from Occupy Oakland’s wildcat general strike of November 2nd, 2011, and the struggles in Wisconsin last Spring which first reignited interest in the concept. In the months since the Occupy movement began we have seen general strikes called in Belgium, Egypt, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom.
We are now confronted with the challenge of what a general strike could look like in the United States, how it is called; who is to strike and against what; what people are asked to do before, during, and after the strike day itself; and what do we expect a general strike to lead to? What are our historical and political conceptions of the general strike, how do they relate to our present contexts, and what forms of communication and solidarity are necessary to see the strike we want to see?
Mike Andrews is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn. He is part of the May Day planning group of Occupy Wall Street and he has participated in OWS since its inception.
Katherine Bryzynsky is an anarchist.
Matt Peterson is an archivist, curator, filmmaker, and writer. He is a part of the 16 Beaver Group, and participates in the reading group, Our Lives Are Not Negotiable. He was a member of Red Channels, and Assistant Editor of Evergreen Review.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is a critic and theorist, and is University Professor at Columbia University, where she is currently teaching a course entitled Imagining General Strike. In November she published a piece in a Calcutta weekly, The Frontier, called “Defining the General strike.”
Abe Walker is an Adjunct Instructor of Sociology at Queens College (CUNY), a PhD candidate in sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a rank-and-file agitator in the Professional Staff Congress (AFT Local 2334).
---
The "2nd Open Assembly on the General Strike" will be Sunday March 25th: https://www.facebook.com/events/363734260314360/
The second Open Assembly on the General Strike will be Sunday March 25th at 6PM at the Commons. We hope to continue in the coordination of our efforts to agitate and organize for the May Day General Strike.
At our first assembly we formed the following Action Committees: Media; Neighborhood; Precarious; Propaganda; Student; Tactical. We've formed an open listserv to facilitate communications about these and any others: https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/strikeeverywhere
Draft Agenda: 1. Reportbacks, 2. Action Committee Break-Out Sessions; 3. Build-up to May 1st, 4. May Day Plans, 5. Communication.
Please note: we will not discuss the merits of a general strike, whether one should be called for May 1st, and whether we should use the language of the "general strike" in our outreach and propaganda. We are proceeding from the standpoint that the General Strike has already been called, and it is now up to us to organize and agitate to make it happen.
New York City anti-authoritarians have assembled to participate in organizing the May Day General Strike, to provide whatever infrastructure we can, and to present our analyses, critiques, ideas, and tactics. We invite all those interested in organizing along these lines to join us to challenge capitalism in the heart of the beast.
---
A general strike has been called in Portugal for March 22nd, and Spain for March 29th.
Please keep me posted of any relevant info and updates, and forward this around.
M
An open reading group I'm in, Our Lives Are Not Negotiable, is meeting Monday at 8 to talk about texts about women on/and the general strike: http://nyc.thepublicschool.org/note/3881
12 March 2012, e-flux (311 East Broadway, New York, NY 10002)
--"A Study of the General Strike in Philadelphia" - Voltairine de Cleyre, 1910, 4 pages: http://libertarian-labyrinth.org/archive/A_Study_of_the_General_Strike_in_Philadelphia
--Syndicalism: The Modern Menace to Capitalism - Emma Goldman, 1913, 11 pages: http://www.theanarchistlibrary.org/pdfs/a4/Emma_Goldman__Syndicalism__the_Modern_Menace_to_Capitalism_a4.pdf
--"On the General Strike" - Mariarosa Dalla Costa, 1974, 4 pages: http://www.commoner.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/03-dallacosta.pdf
--"First Stutterings" - Precarias a la Deriva, 2003, 22 pages: http://caringlabor.wordpress.com/2010/12/14/precarias-a-la-deriva-first-stutterings-of-precarias-a-la-deriva/
--"A Very Careful Strike: Four Hypothesis" - Precarias a la Deriva, 2005, 10 pages: http://www.commoner.org.uk/11deriva.pdf
We previously read Rosa Luxemburg's THE MASS STRIKE (1906), and some texts by Jean Baudrillard on strikes in the early 1970's. If you're interested in participating in the group on an ongoing basis, go here: http://nyc.thepublicschool.org/class/3880 and click "I'm interested" on the right-hand side, which will allow you to receive/send messages to the the participants.
---
The Strike Everywhere group has created a new open listserv for the action committees formed at its March 4th assembly (Media, Neighborhood, Precarious, Propaganda, Student, Tactical), and any others that might start up: https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/strikeeverywhere
---
There will be a panel on the General Strike at the Left Forum this Sunday, March 18th, at 12pm, "Towards the General Strike": http://www.leftforum.org/panel/towards-general-strike
A general strike has been called for May Day, first by Occupy Los Angeles on November 15th, and locally by Occupy Wall Street on February 14th. In the time between and since many other city and neighborhood assemblies have taken up the call, and a number of other coalitions, collectives, and committees have started to agitate and organize for a general strike in 2012.
These recent calls for a May Day general strike have taken inspiration from Occupy Oakland’s wildcat general strike of November 2nd, 2011, and the struggles in Wisconsin last Spring which first reignited interest in the concept. In the months since the Occupy movement began we have seen general strikes called in Belgium, Egypt, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom.
We are now confronted with the challenge of what a general strike could look like in the United States, how it is called; who is to strike and against what; what people are asked to do before, during, and after the strike day itself; and what do we expect a general strike to lead to? What are our historical and political conceptions of the general strike, how do they relate to our present contexts, and what forms of communication and solidarity are necessary to see the strike we want to see?
Mike Andrews is a writer and editor living in Brooklyn. He is part of the May Day planning group of Occupy Wall Street and he has participated in OWS since its inception.
Katherine Bryzynsky is an anarchist.
Matt Peterson is an archivist, curator, filmmaker, and writer. He is a part of the 16 Beaver Group, and participates in the reading group, Our Lives Are Not Negotiable. He was a member of Red Channels, and Assistant Editor of Evergreen Review.
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is a critic and theorist, and is University Professor at Columbia University, where she is currently teaching a course entitled Imagining General Strike. In November she published a piece in a Calcutta weekly, The Frontier, called “Defining the General strike.”
Abe Walker is an Adjunct Instructor of Sociology at Queens College (CUNY), a PhD candidate in sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center, and a rank-and-file agitator in the Professional Staff Congress (AFT Local 2334).
---
The "2nd Open Assembly on the General Strike" will be Sunday March 25th: https://www.facebook.com/events/363734260314360/
The second Open Assembly on the General Strike will be Sunday March 25th at 6PM at the Commons. We hope to continue in the coordination of our efforts to agitate and organize for the May Day General Strike.
At our first assembly we formed the following Action Committees: Media; Neighborhood; Precarious; Propaganda; Student; Tactical. We've formed an open listserv to facilitate communications about these and any others: https://lists.riseup.net/www/subscribe/strikeeverywhere
Draft Agenda: 1. Reportbacks, 2. Action Committee Break-Out Sessions; 3. Build-up to May 1st, 4. May Day Plans, 5. Communication.
Please note: we will not discuss the merits of a general strike, whether one should be called for May 1st, and whether we should use the language of the "general strike" in our outreach and propaganda. We are proceeding from the standpoint that the General Strike has already been called, and it is now up to us to organize and agitate to make it happen.
New York City anti-authoritarians have assembled to participate in organizing the May Day General Strike, to provide whatever infrastructure we can, and to present our analyses, critiques, ideas, and tactics. We invite all those interested in organizing along these lines to join us to challenge capitalism in the heart of the beast.
---
A general strike has been called in Portugal for March 22nd, and Spain for March 29th.
Please keep me posted of any relevant info and updates, and forward this around.
M
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