8th National Congress

Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici

Fano, 31 October/1 November 2010

The crisis in democracy in Italy

 

In Italy, there is a clear deterioration in the levels of democracy in the country, which can be seen both at institutional level and in general within society:

This situation has in effect marginalized the parliamentary strategy as an instrument for the emancipation of the popular classes, and evidenced the uselessness of seeking to represent the interests of the workers within parliament and/or the government.

The doubling of power throughout the country as a result of the expansion of administrative power and the use of vertical subsidiarity (EU) and horizontal subsidiarity on regions and macroregions that guide the economic, financial and occupational structures of services, where the State merely has to ensure compatibility with Maastricht and manage the social contradictions that derive from them, in effect makes it impossible for the grassroots to participate and organize, either in a constructive way or in seeking redress in disputes.

The deterioration in democracy and participation also affects the world of labour through

The reform of the collective bargaining system imposed by Confindustria aims to accelerate these processes by pushing for the full involvement of unions in individual company affairs (which can be seen in a whole range of changes including the new limit of 3 years on the validity of collective agreements, the 7-month freeze on the right to strike during labour disputes and the new bilateral bodies) and by effectively cancelling collective agreements for thousands of workers in small and medium businesses, who are mostly unrepresented by unions.

In exchange for concentrating bargaining power in the hands of companies and eliminating its collective, universal and solid nature, the unions are being offered bilateral bodies and guarantees of survival, in an attempt to force them to accelerate the process already under way which transforms them into service agencies. The penalties for anyone wishing to violate the rules imposed by Confindustria are a clear signal of the end to all trade union autonomy and any grassroots action in the workplace.

But the deterioration of democracy can also be seen in the reduction of freedom for grassroots participation thanks to the implementation of:

Lastly, the attack on our freedoms also affects our rights regarding self-determination in reproduction, relationships, health and individual behaviour.

Faced with this fiction of institutional democracy, with the fencing in of union democracy, with the passive democracy within society, we need to promote grassroots democracy, democracy from below, direct democracy, through:

For first-person involvement of the exploited and oppressed, for the autonomy of the immediate interests of the working class:

 

Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici

Fano 31 ottobre 2010

Document amended and unanimously approved by the 8th National Congress of the FdCA