"all you anarchists do is organize book clubs and get into fights with chuds, how are you a proper Leftist movement" was a question I got asked by a pro-state leftist earlier today. so let's talk about the visibility (and invisibility) of anarchist work.
About the value of invisible “work” done by anarchists behind the scenes
Depending who you’re talking too, anarchists are unrealistic book worms, OR they never read any theory.
About the invisible work done by anarchists, it’s all about building a community and mutual aid : no profit grocery, work cooperatives (with or without money), helping migrants, learning languages, neighbourghood gardening, book clubs… Of course it’s not as visible as building a political party or a big trade union. But without this kind of small local mutual aid and social bounds your revolution won’t last long.
My favorite manager had a background in many of the types of activism you listed (I’m not clear on the specifics). She learned how to be inclusive of many different voices. All too often with how societies are set up, the wealthiest or loudest voices carry the most weight instead of the best ideas. She helped foster an environment where people felt comfortable hawking their idea. That’s especially important in IT, which has a lot of introverted people that struggle to share ideas. I know she helped me get through some of my anxiety over public speaking.
Depending who you’re talking too, anarchists are unrealistic book worms, OR they never read any theory.
About the invisible work done by anarchists, it’s all about building a community and mutual aid : no profit grocery, work cooperatives (with or without money), helping migrants, learning languages, neighbourghood gardening, book clubs… Of course it’s not as visible as building a political party or a big trade union. But without this kind of small local mutual aid and social bounds your revolution won’t last long.
My favorite manager had a background in many of the types of activism you listed (I’m not clear on the specifics). She learned how to be inclusive of many different voices. All too often with how societies are set up, the wealthiest or loudest voices carry the most weight instead of the best ideas. She helped foster an environment where people felt comfortable hawking their idea. That’s especially important in IT, which has a lot of introverted people that struggle to share ideas. I know she helped me get through some of my anxiety over public speaking.