one
Privilege, Identity, and Conflict at the 2009 CrimethInc. Convergence : Some hand-wringing, some insight. (See also : APOC ~versus~ CrimethInc : Final Thoughts, August 7, 2009.)
two
Weird scenes in Sweden as Reclaim Rosengård meets with opposition from locals. My knowledge of the Swedish language is only slightly worse than is my knowledge of Danish, and my Danish is only marginally less coherent than my Norwegian — and I don’t speak Norwegian at all, so… buggered if I know. Among a number of competing factions in Malmö are leftists, Muslims, police and a local yoof gang called ‘Black Cobra’ (or possibly Black Scorpions).
Perhaps a gray ragged trousered philanthropist can help?
three
A stylish group of anarchists in Belgrade have recently picked up the gauntlet thrown down by their stylish Greek counterparts and thrown a Molotov @ the Greek Embassy. The action was taken in solidarity with Greek political prisoner Th(e)odoros Iliopoulos, who has been on a hunger strike since July 10. For more infos, see the excellent blog After the Greek Riots.
- The Moar You Know : The Molotov cocktail was named by Finnish partisans during the ‘Winter War’ of November 1939–March 1940, in honour of the hack ‘Soviet People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs’ Vyacheslav Molotov. The ‘cocktails’ were intended to complement the ‘food’ Russian bombers were dropping on the Finns.
four
Ssangyong Motors Strike in South Korea Ends in Defeat and Heavy Repression by Loren Goldner concerns a recent strike by factory workers in Korea, which ended on August 5 in total defeat for the workers.
The Ssangyong defeat cannot be attributed merely to the lame role of the KMWU national organization, which from the beginning allowed the negotiations to be channeled in a narrow focus on “no layoffs”. (By contrast, the local union president, who ultimately signed the surrender document, stayed in the occupied plant right to the end, even though he was not on the layoff list.) Nor can the defeat be fully explained by the atmosphere of economic crisis. Both of these factors undoubtedly played a major role. But above and beyond their undeniable impact, it is the year-in, year-out rollback of the Korean working class, above all through casualization, which now affects more than 50% of the work force. Thousands of workers from nearby plant did repeatedly aid the Ssangyong strike, but it was not enough. The defeat of the Ssangyong strikers, despite their heroism and tenacity, will only deepen the reigning demoralization until a strategy is developed that can mobilize sufficiently broad layers of support, not merely to fight these defensive battles but to go on the offensive.
On Korean workers’ struggles, see also : George Katsiaficas, South Korea’s Rollback of Democracy, May 25, 2009.
five (and six)
On a brighter note, two documentaries: one on the ‘Student Housing Action Collective’ (SHAC), the other on Fatso Schmidt. It’s a little-known fact — and a lamentable fault of Daniel Wong’s documentary — that Fatso’s skillz were a singular inspiration for the students @ SHAC; further, that University of Melbourne Vice Chancellor Professor Glyn Davis AC has long-resented Fatso’s iconic status among the yoof, and fears Keyboard Cat like Dinsdale Piranha feared Spiny Norman.
Fatso’s seminal critique of the disaster that is ‘The Melbourne Model’ — rivalled in its stoopid only by the earlier, similarly-failed ‘Melbourne University Private’ — probably didn’t help matters much either.
[Hat tip : Liz.]
