Towards Practical Interventions...

The Theory by Fire discussion series is finished, at least for the time being. One conclusion we've drawn is that while the discussion was sometimes intellectually stimulating, and it felt promising to have new and different people participating, there seemed to be very little potential for collective interventions to come out of it.

Moving forward I'm less interested in discussion for discussion's sake and more committed to fostering a discussion from which interventions could emerge. By “interventions” I mean actions undertaken as revolutionaries focused on class-based struggles occurring in our areas. The goal of such interventions is to encourage direct action and self-organization within the struggle and to generalize it throughout the class.

This could mean supporting strikes or other workplace struggles when they occur by showing up at picket lines, and providing an analysis of the situation by talking to workers and distributing leaflets. It could mean supporting individuals who are abused by bosses and landlords by way of disruptive delegations against the offending party (like the group Stand aims to). It could mean holding public forums on current issues that affect our class ranging from smaller neighbourhood-based issues like the “swarmings” to broader issues that affect more people like Nova Scotia power rate increases. These are just a few ideas.

For me Theory by Fire made it clear that there is a need to couple theoretical discussion with strategizing potential interventions,  and to develop our theoretical perspective by putting it into practice and then engaging in critical discussion about it. I'm not convinced that a new formal organization is needed, but there needs to be a space for radical workers to discuss, share political experiences, and strategize interventions where and when it makes sense to do so.

Three short articles, which I think are helpful, and in part reflect my current political perspective:

Basic principles of revolutionary organisation -  libcom.org group

http://libcom.org/library/basic-principles-revolutionary-organisation

Appeal to the pro-revolutionary milieu - Internationalist Perspective

http://internationalist-perspective.org/blog/2009/03/02/appeal-to-the-pro-revolutionary-milieu/

The historical moment that produced us - Loren Goldner

http://insurgentnotes.com/2010/06/historical_moment/

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