SENZA CENSURA n.6
Italy, october 2001

GLOBALISATION AND COUNTER-REVOLUTION

Something about Genova

First of all we want to say that when we speak of noglobal movement we intend the numerous subjectivities that express their dissent to the actual policies of globalization and we don't speak about its pseudo spokesman or "political heads".
In a few words: we use the term globalization for its common meaning of sinthesy of international policies the bourgeoisie develops in the actual phase.
What's happened in Genoa can't be definied unexpected if we don't want to eliminate, strengthly, the state (in its national or international articolation) needs to repress preventively every request of changes, even if chaotic and without a political-organizative autonomy.
A repression that assumes different charatheristics and intensity according to the strategy the imperialist bourgeoisie chooses in the several phases of the capitalistic contradictions.
Speaking about the italian political scene, that we have seen in the preparatory phase of the G8 meeting, in the movement and in the italian government, it's undeniable that in Italy the rise to power of the right respond to Capital historical necessity to carry out an authoritarian change of the state for the need to face an head-on collision with the rigth proletarian claims to have the end of the inequolities, internal and international, in comparison with the need of capital to harden them.
But the rise of right in Italy and the repressive and authoritative policy that it brings on is the continuation of the policy done by the centre-left government that, thanks to a certain social consent and through its sydacates and parties, played a central role in redrawing the balance of power between class and capital (in favour of the second).
It can not be denied that the repressive policy, both inside the Courts and outside in the streets, didn't start with Genoa, but with the centre-left government. During the attack in Ex-Jugoslavia the centre-left hardly repressed the movement against the war, using the media in order to label the dissent as terrorism and trying to give new legitimacy at the counterivolutionary struggle syntesized by the "emergency laws", nowdays primary part of the italian repressive legislation. But this isn't all. This legislation has been recently hardned: rising the term of preventive custody at 24 months for crimes related to acts of terrorism; with the "Security Laws" that allows judiciary police to investigate without the judge's consent; using the army in tasks of domestic order etc ....
This repressive strategy has not used only the traditional means but could find cooperation also in parts of the so-called "movement", expecially against them who continued during theese years refusing compromise in the struggle's level and in its instruments. Many of them, who also supported the aggression against ex-Jugoslavia, created conditions for the partition in "goods" and "bads" that will be one of the basis of the repressive attack against the entire movement.
Forgetting all this we could not understand what is really changed with the Berlusconi government.
Already in Naples the same argument was used to legitimate police making against the demonstrators, or better, a part of them.
But with the centre-right government all this has ended; all demonstrators, with no distinctions, are bad and accomplices; every level of mediation has ended, even if selfmade representatives of noglobal movement tried until the end to achieve it. After Naples all the theatral rapresentations made by those who tried during the last years to propose themselves as "political heads" of the no-global movement, became impossibles. Those various spokesmen occupied the media with instrumental arguments (more or less radical) in order to be recognized as real spokesmen. From the unviolent Agnoletto to the "hard" whitesuits (among the others) it has been a competition in saying it bigger untill the "war declaratio" of Casarini. This war lacked of a real opposing party for the State. Both the pacifists and the so-called "unsubmitted" frequently entered repression's offices for meeting the brains and supporters of the national repressive policies. No press conferences or television debates allowed them to do what they succed doing with the centr-left government. They only succed in causing problems for those who chose not to be part of this game. Searching or not the dialogue with institutions, as well as being or not in a "Social forum" became in itself the difference between goods and bads, between those who have the right to demonstrate and those who have not. At the same time a debate only on the date of meeting and a luck of political continuitiy of the discussion around the meaning of those kind of meetings reduced the question on how and when demonstrate and not on the question of building a clear strategy of attack against capitalist policies.
The various ways to aggregation in Italy didn't find a real development exept for few example .
Many realities of revolutionary and anticapitaòlist left has been undervalued, leaving the debate
In the hand of opportunists ( a debate prepared in the halls of Power and born harmless ).
We ourselves couldn't influence the political debate. We didn't succed in letting prevail struggles really bursting for capitalism as that one in Palestine, Argentine, euskady, greece or Korea.
We couldn't help people tom understand wath G8 really is, how it is undemocratic ( as well as the governments that it represents) and organic with capitalist affairs, not with proletarian interests.
Beeing unable to affirtm real autonomy from institutions, we showed our weakness and a central step of counterevolutionary strategy that aims to make consistent with the system all tensions expressed by various souls of noglobal move. In the reality the efforrt to rule globalization and to make institution as WTO, WB, IFM, and G8 increasingly democratic is part of the "third way strategy" proposed by trhe previous center left government.
AIDS in Afica is surely a big problem as wellas it is the debt for the entire "third world. But we could not separate this questions from contraddictions typical of those countrie rip in capitalism.
Global competition has been the cause of worsening of live conditions, reduced wages and pensions, introduced precariousness and flexibility, brought denationalization in key sectors of national economy and did of education a private enterprise. The making of Europe as an imperialist pole is an important step in this dangerous process. It's a big mistake to consider Schengen Treaty as a potential instrumentfor "free circulation of bodies" instead of one the main bricks of "fortress Europe". But some opportunists did that. They aided themselves under a presumed incompatibility with the system but moved attention hundred miles away, forgetting internal contraddictions.
Sooner or later we will have to fight our national class enemy because it is the same all over the world. Those so-called spokesmen of noglobal movement,m who nowdays ask a revision of european Charta and a bigger role for UN coul be considered as a branch of the past center left government.
We consider a different positive example of opposition to the present capitalist policies that one of those who demonstrate confusely and with non indipendent thought or initiative but with an high level of tension towards globalization process.
The riots in Goteborg with the wounding of a comrade from the police hand proposed again the debate on violence or not violence. But this was not finalized at showiing the real face of capitalism or state's repressive role or again the present necessity of war for that part of middleclass that wants to expande its range of supremacy. Nowdays it's really difficult that the noglobal move could have one homogeneus position respect this kind of debate. The problem violence/not violence has reduced the present tension in breaking current democratic instituytions. The move against globalization today defines itself as pacific and unviolent and asks institution to " take in provisional arrest violent elkements and prevent them to infiltrate peaceful corteges" as it happened in Goteborg before and after Genoa. Medias and secret services (not only italian) sharpened this division leaving many to dissent from every possible act of violence.
The media campaign, followed by the declarations of some exponents of antagost sectors, let the repressive strategy to hit more easily the one who dissent from the noviolence positions. During the months before Genoa there has been a lot of perquisitions and arrests against comardes belonging to this area. Not a word was spent by the famous spokesmen of the noglobal movemnet. They were too busy in meeting thge responsibles of these acts of repression.
Nobody of us expected the level of repression showed in Genoa, maybe used at a selective form of repression. But many words have been spent on much the violents are responsible of police attacks, and how much government wasc responsible for the lack of preventive arrest. The reality is that preventive repression has already disclosed by the fully application of Schengen treaty and with the process of police integration at european and international level. The presence of foreign intellicence agencies inside police head quarter during G8 has been confirmed more then once. The war machine of repression was ready with its gas and letal weapons and it was not a coincidence (This machine is daughter of the right as well as the centerleft parties)
It has been clear the intention of the state to show all its force in a moment of attack at its role and its present interests.
The Bolzaneto barracks was prepared in advance with its "hall of torture" as well as the possibility to spread all over north Italy the arrested and prevent them from a defense. Thios is exactly the same thing that happens to youn basque or palestinians comrades and in democratic Turkey.
We did see the real face of capitalist supremacy. Inside Bolzaneto and Diaz school buildings, out in the street we lived a new kind of experience but it wasn't so new for them who saw italian comrades beated and tortured from the men of Dallachiesa or fron Padova police-dpt(celere). For years police didn't open fire during a demo, but they did in some other occasions. The death of Carlo Giuliani has shocked us; there is no excuse, no sudden responsible, no virtual fight. The present protest against imperialist bourgeoisie's policies tries to delegitimize them and is searching its own autonomy in politics and organization. If it will succed wath happened in Genoa won't be an exception.
All this shows clearly who is the real responsible for the repression in Genoa and nobody can deny it and accuse the "violents". I can be a non violent person without asking repression for them who don't exclude thie kind of struggle. The myth of dangerous Black Block has to be discredited.
If 80% of world population lives with 30% ris and claim its right trying to change this situation with non attention to wath is stated by democratic institutions.. This 80% doesn't live entirely hundred miles away and could be helped in a better way than giving it some crumbs with Tobon tax or remissinf its debt. A part of this 80% live inside the reach Europe and is linked to others proletarian expectations, has its same clear enemy. It can surely take the deciosion that a procession won't be just a party but also an occasion to hit exploitation's symbols.
We can discuss the moment or the place and situation, if time is right for a step forward in identifying the class enemy, but unfortunately the social awareness isn't yet t such a level of development.. A broken window doesn't change the world and could be used for legitimize an attack against us, but htis could be said also for all the other acts done by the move.
During the present political phase the power do grant something only if it has the necessity to normalize conflicts. This was already clear before Genoa, and should have been much more clear after the death of a comrade. But for some the problem was and reamind how to embank BBs from manifestation. But who decided that it has to be peaceful?
There were in Genoa groups organized that had chosen not to be found unprepared in case of police attacks, they were ready to defend themselves and help others to avoid beatings. But after what happened on Friday many felt the necessity to be supplied by defense instruments. Others confined themselves in public war declarations and thrats without preparing a defense, but organizing the hit at BBs inside the demo itsels and forgetting soon all the people kept in arrest for fear of getting involved with terrible BBs. Protests against the arrests in Genoa were surely more abroad than in Italy.
Today the problem to solve is: wath poerspectives for the noglobal move. The entire movement needs to find its autonomy anf if it wants new forms. of expressions. A really important aspect isn't prperly new: internationalism. The days after Genoa showed that we are acquiring an international awareness of the struggle and international solidarity has done much more than we expected. This is not one simple move but it proves that working class can unite at international level even not in Porto Alegre. We won't hide the necessity for working class of decide its future under the intention to give a new form at dissent. We won't be rapresented by spokesmen who represente themselves or are ionvolved in no profit organizatio, Banca Etica or other organization that helped states to run denationalization. This situation will lead contraddictions and we must be prepared to face them.
We have to define our daily political effort in order to keep togheter all revolutionaries and anticapitalist requests, organize them in each country and at international level, give strenght to every single claim. As the struggle against imperialist policies in Meaddle East show clearly, each question can be at the same trime red in a partial(opposition to zionism) or in a global dimension( opposition to the NATO imperialist supremacy and occupation in that area).
We should be able to place each partial claim inside the some process of destruction of capitalist system.
Only in this way the tendence opposed to that of opportunists inside the noglobal move could be strenghtened. Repression, imprisonment, police integration, Schengen r, role of NATO, all these things try to put these claims back into a democratic frame. On these questions we should put more attention, now and broadly, not only when there is a meeting to contest. The facts of Genoa, the fate of all comrades arrested must be elements of the present struggle.
Working class exploitation, denationalizations are common problems in the Mediterraneo and could represent a linking factor with political working organizations of many countries. It is surely difficult, but what rose during these months could not be lost.