anti-imperialism

Of war and revolution: Ukraine

A Ukrainian soldier stands in the ruins of the Azovstal metalworks in Mariupol, Ukraine. Photograph: Dmytro Kozatsky

And without wishing to linger further on the Marxist debate around war and revolution, anarchists were historically confronted by the very same dilemma. For some, anti-militarism was a categorical imperative – as it remains now – while for others, wars of resistance against domination were an obligation. And if the “theory” seemed to be clear in its opposition, anarchist practice always revealed a more complex political reality. In the three “great revolutions” of European anarchism – the Paris Commune, the Russian Revolution, the Spanish Revolution –, anarchists never acted alone. They were always part of broader fronts of actors who did not share the anarchist vision, but which by itself did not prevent them from engaging militarily. But then this was the failure of the anarchists, some contend; a judgement whose soundness rests only on the clarity of ideology and hindsight.

Communique from Operation Solidarity, Ukraine

"Greetings, comrades!

We are the Ukrainian anti-authoritarian volunteer network, “Operation Solidarity”.

Since the first days of escalation by Russia, we have taken part in the resistance against the invasion, as have the majority of Ukrainian anarchists and anti-authoritarian left activists because we believe that this war is imperialist and usurping.

Against Annexations and Imperial Aggression

from avtonom

We do not want to stand up for any states. We are anarchists and we are against any borders between nations. But we are against this annexation, because it only establishes new borders, and the decision on this is made solely by the authoritarian leader—Vladimir Putin. This is an act of imperialist aggression by Russia. We have no illusions about the Ukrainian state, but it is clear to us that it is not the main aggressor in this story—this is not a confrontation between two equal evils. First of all, this is an attempt by the Russian authoritarian government to solve its internal problems through a “small victorious war and the accumulation of lands” [a reference to Ivan III].

TOTW: Anarchist Anti-Imperialism

Anti-imperialism is a term used in a wide variety of contexts, usually by nationalist movements who want to secede from a larger body politic (often in the form of an empire, but also in a multi-ethnic sovereign state) or as a specific theory opposed to capitalism in Marxist–Leninist discourse, derived from Vladimir Lenin's work Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism. People who categorize themselves as anti-imperialists often state that they are opposed to colonialism, colonial empires, hegemony, imperialism and the territorial expansion of countries.

Against US Intervention in Venezuela: Death to Yankee Imperialism

RAM denounces any and all acts of U.S. imperialism and stands, unequivocally, in solidarity with the revolutionary movement in Venezuela, particularly our anarchist comrades formerly in the organization Manifiesto de La Federaction Anarquista Revolucionaria de Venezuela (FARV). We stand in solidarity with the destitute, the oppressed, those who have found dignity through the revolutionary process and who have organized within their own communities for decades, in an effort to gain autonomy from capitalism and the state.

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