From 14th to 16th November, the 2nd FAO will be held in São Paulo. The FAG is making internal preparations for the sending of delegates, discussing lines and elaborating proposals. See the call below for more details: 

2nd Forum of Organized Anarchism (FAO) 

14 - 16 November, São Paulo 

What is it? Very simply it is a discussion forum for anarchists who work or who intend to work in an organized way, acting socially. 

It is not interested in building anything hastily before its time, but in bringing together individuals, groups, collectives and organizations that have this desire and feel this need. The objective is that the Forum can be a space where anarchist individuals, collectives, groups and organizations can meet, discuss, establish agreements, work together and create the conditions for the construction of a true anarchist organization in Brazil. This is not a short-term task, but needs to start at once. That is what we propose with this FAO in São Paulo.

After the first edition in Belém in 2002 and a plenary in Porto Alegre in January 2003, the Forum will take place in São Paulo this year. We are living in a period when anarchism is regaining its vigour and is being discussed again. We can see in Brazil and throughout the world the presence of anarchism in various forms in the social struggles. Examples of this are the anti-capitalist protests all over the world and the ever-stronger presence of anarchists in the struggles of our class, of our people. These facts are evidence of a new impulse in the libertarian area. 

At the same time, there are still distorted visions of what anarchism is, fed as usual by the media and the bourgeoisie, which facilitate the repression and the discrediting of anarchism in the minds of a good portion of the population. 

We believe that it is time to begin a more vigorous and regular discussion within anarchism with those who intend to organize as anarchists and to act socially. A discussion that is not a mere exchange of ideas and reports nor a sterile academic debate. We want to accumulate a discussion, to explain points of view, to understand each other and to move forward. We want to begin as of now to trace, within the concrete limits we have, some form of united action.

At this moment, two points seem to us to be fundamental to mark out the area outside of which we would have difficulty making progress: organization and social performance. We say that frankly because the anarchist area is quite wide and varied, but many ideas exist that reject the notion of organization and social action, and there it is impossible for us to do anything more concrete together. If you are one of those that thinks that any organizational form is authoritarian, if you are one of those that does not have the slightest intention of acting socially, please do not come, as we do not have anything to build together. 

But if you want to see an active, organized anarchism, a true transforming agent of society, if you are not satisfied with just ideas and stances, but really want to see anarchism in action, you can feel free to be our guest. We are not proposing any one model, we believe that there are various ways to organize in order to act in the social sphere and that everyone should bring their experience to the discussions. Organization and Social Action are lodestones of the 2nd FAO. We will be talking a little about what we think about this.

Organization: a necessity for anarchists 

"We repeat it again: without organization, free or imposed, society cannot exist; without conscious, desired organization, there can be no freedom nor guarantee that the interests of those who live in society are respected. And those who are not organized, who do not seek the cooperation of others and who do not offer theirs, in reciprocal conditions and in solidarity, place themselves necessarily in a state of inferiority and there remains an unconscious gear in the social mechanism that others work in their way and to their advantage." 

(Errico Malatesta, 1897)

As we can see, this is a very old subject in the anarchist milieu. It is over a hundred years since Malatesta broached the theme. No matter how much it may seem to us to be a simple subject, there is still a lot of confusion regarding it and there are a lot of people who sincerely think that anarchism is against any form of organization, which would be bureaucracy, authoritarianism, etc.

That is understandable. After all, the concrete organization models that people have seen (such as authoritarian and centralized parties) do not encourage anybody to think about it. But it is necessary to break with that, to notice that these were just one historical organizational method and that anarchism has always had other organizational forms: horizontal, participatory, federative. Now is the time we need to be organized, to overcome the fear of bureaucratizing. 

To discuss organization nowadays is not only a question of re-taking anarchist history, but above all a real need. We cannot remain atomized in the face of an articulate, well-informed system with a great operational capacity. To "remain isolated, acting or wanting to act each off his own bat, without understanding each other, without preparing ourselves, without gathering together the fragile forces of the isolated, means condemning ourselves to weakness, to wasting our energy in small ineffectual acts, to losing faith quickly in our objectives and to complete starvation". (Malatesta, 1897).

With organization we can avoid the isolation, weakness, frustration and scepticism that many fall into after failing to reach the desired objectives. Organization multiplies our forces, allows us to take precautions and to defend ourselves in the face of repression (which gets stronger and stronger) and turns into a reality the solidarity that we have written and spoken about so many times. 

We know that there are many anarchists who are contrary to the idea of organization, mostly individualist anarchists. They are not more or less anarchist than us as a result, just anarchists of another type, of another conception. Let them follow their path. We will follow ours, and with every right to do so. Because we believe that in order to face this capitalist system, it is necessary to be organized.

Social militancy 

" (...) to nurture popular organizations of every type is the logical consequence of our fundamental ideas and, therefore, it should be an integral part of our programme". 

(Malatesta, 1897) 

Anarchism is composed of a diversity of currents, it is true. But it is also true that not all of them are disposed to work closely with our class, our people. Historically, there have been moments of very strong anarchist presence in Ukraine with the Makhnovishchina, in the Spanish Revolution, the Mexican Revolution, with revolutionary syndicalism throughout Latin America, not to mention the countless other experiences. In all these cases, which are a reference point (at least theoretical) for all anarchists, there have been organized anarchists, who had class-struggle positions and definite social practices. 

We live in a time where poverty is getting ever worse. The abyss betwen the classes is today greater than it was a hundred years ago. 85% of the world's population is poor or living in poverty. In Brazil alone, 40 million people live below the poverty line.

The manifestations of this poverty are brutal and they are there for anyone who wants to see. We have not lost the capacity to be angry, to revolt in the face of this permanent aggression, we will not "keep to our own kind" or stand by with an "each to his own" attitude, because it is only us who have to suffer this situation. 

We believe that anarchism has something to say about this situation. We believe that anarchism has answers to this situation, that anarchism lives in this situation and is not closed off from the situation. Anarchists have been carrying on several forms of action. We maintain relations with each other, publish bulletins and zines, promote libertarian encounters, maintain internet sites, publish books and create channels for alternative information, etc. All this is important and necessary. But have we been giving due attention to a type of militancy that is fundamental: community action together with the popular movements, in the neighbourhoods, schools, universities, workplaces, etc?

We know that there are anarchists who already do this in several ways, but we sincerely think that it is too little, and we do not only say this about other anarchists, we include ourselves among those that need to improve and to increase their work in the communities. We believe that all the activities of contacts, publications, encounters and books would be greatly enriched if they were linked to community activities on the part of anarchists. 

Therefore we all believe thought that at this time it is fundamental to discuss how anarchists can act within the community, what relationships to establish between anarchists and the social movements, and what types of action would be more or less interesting, etc. 

Above all, we believe that anarchists alone will not make the revolution, and that if we do not have a militant presence in the struggles of our class we will have no chance.

To business... 

So that this whole discussion can be widened we propose a national encounter which we offer to host. We hope others will join us and contribute even at this stage to the preparations by publishing, proposing dynamics, circulating texts of contributions and above all by participating in the Forum of Organized Anarchism. 

Proposed Agenda:

1. Opening with presentation of participating groups, collectives, organizations and individuals

2. Conception of organization

3. Organizational methods

4. Anarchism and Social Militancy 

5. Perspectives of the Forum of Organized Anarchism and closing

Dynamics of the Encounter: 

We intend to use the morning and afternoon sessions for discussion and to leave the evenings free for cultural activities and to give participants a chance to get to know each other. Those that want to bring material such as books, journals, t-shirts, pictures for exhibition, exchange or sale, can do so. 

This agenda was proposed on the basis of contributions and suggestions by several groups and individuals since February 2003, when it LUTA LIBERTÁRIA started to circulate reports on the FAO and to receive contributions. We are still open to contributions. 

Date: 14 -16 November

Where: São Paulo, SP 

To participate: 

Get in touch with LUTA LIBERTÁRIA - organized anarchist group, by e-mail: fao2003sp@yahoo.com.br or lutalibertaria@hotmail.com or at PO Box 11639 São Paulo, SP CEP: 05049-970 or even by telephone (11) 9431-7568 (Sandro). In this way you can get the registration form to send.

Registration Fee: R$10.00 - this is to provide for the facilities of the encounter. 

Venue: LUTA LIBERTÁRIA - organized anarchist group (São Paulo) 

Organizers: Coletivo Ruptura (Fortaleza, Ceará), Coletivo Libertário (Cuiabá, Mato Grosso), Coletivo Domingos Passos (Niterói, Rio de Janeiro), União Popular (Goiânia, Goiás), Federação Anarquista Gaúcha (Rio Grande do Sul), Federação Anarquista Insurreição (Rio de Janeiro), JULI-Juventude Libertária (Caxias, Rio Grande do Sul) 

Supporting the initiative: Rede Libertária da Baixada Santista (Santos, SP), AR-S26 (Mogi das Cruzes, SP) e RNT-1936 (Guarulhos, SP) 

NB! It will not be possible for individuals and groups that are not registered in advance to particpate, because we have to know the number present in advance in order to organize sleeping places and the premises for the encounter. 

FAO right now! We will start at once to circulate reports, adhesions and texts of contributions on the FAO. Once again we point out that the FAO is open to all those that sincerely want to be organized as anarchists and act as militants in the community.

SAÚDE E ANARQUIA!

Luciana - sec. relações - Federação Anarquista Gaúcha
tel. (51) 3211 2476 / 91484391
http://www.fag.rg3.net
fag.internac@terra.com.br
cx postal 5036 CEP 90040-970
Porto Alegre/RS/Brasil