COMMUNITIES AGAINST CAPITALISM
 

Something Did Start in Quebec City: North America's Revolutionary Anti-Capitalist Movement
by Cindy Milstein

When thirty-four heads of state gathered behind a chain-link barrier in
Quebec City this past April to smile for the television cameras during the
Summit of the Americas, it was the tear gassing outside that garnered all
the media attention. Those on both sides of the fence jockeyed to put a
spin on the meaning of the massive chemical haze that chocked the old city
for over two days. The "insiders" claimed that as duly elected leaders of
so-called free countries, they were attempting to democratically bring
"freedom through free trade," and as such, those on the streets were
merely troublemakers without a cause or constituency that needed to be
dealt with accordingly. The "outsiders" asserted that those hiding behind
the fence were the real source of violence - the tear gas exemplifying
what nation-states are willing to do to protect capitalism and the
dominant elites - and thus, a certain level of militancy was necessary to
tear down the "wall of shame" that many saw as separating the powerful
from the powerless.


What got lost in the smoke, however, was the substantive transformation
that this particular direct action represented. For Quebec City's
convergence, more than anything else, ushered in an explicitly
anti-capitalist movement in North America - one spearheaded by
anti-authoritarians (by and large, anarchists). That was our real victory
in Quebec. But what caused this sudden sea change?


Serendipitously, one fence; self-consciously, two groups.


It was this movement's collective "good luck" that law enforcement
officials and politicians determined on a fence as the heart of their
strategy to counter the protests. "It didn't start in Quebec," one could
say; last June, in Windsor, Ontario, similar trade discussions went off
without a hitch behind chain-link, and barbed wire served nicely to make
Davos, Switzerland, an impenetrable fortress this past winter for the
World Economic Forum. The state-sponsored prophylactic in Quebec City did
in fact ward off unwanted intruders: the summit meetings went on,
generally unimpeded. Thus, if the fence had remained merely a physical
barricade, it could have been counted as a security success.


Unfortunately for Jean Chretien, George W., and their cohorts, the
ten-foot fence became a larger-than-life symbolic divide, in essence
demanding, "Which side are you on?"


The contrasts could not have been sharper. Closed meetings and secret
documents inside; open teach-ins and publicly distributed literature
outside. The cynical co-optation of "democracy" via a gratuitous "clause"
as a cover for free-floating economic exploitation versus genuine demands
for popular control and mutual aid in matters such as economics, ecology,
politics, and culture. The raising of glasses for champagne toasts versus
the rinsing of eyes from chemical burns.


All of the recent direct actions have, of course, also focused on targets
that were figurative to a certain extent. Indeed, the symbolic value of
these spectacular showdowns is an essential ingredient in the fight to win
the majority of minds over to one perspective or another. But previous
focal points, such as the World Trade Organization and International
Monetary Fund, have shown themselves to impart somewhat ambiguous
messages. The debate stirred up has often centered on how these
institutions can potentially be reformed, how the social "good" they do
can be salvaged from all the harm they inflict. Besides, some contend,
what would replace them? It's proved difficult to move beyond questions
regarding the single institution being protested other than to fall back
on the buzzword "globalization."

And "globalization," while suggesting a wider critique, is just as
ambiguous-in no way necessarily underscoring systemic forms of domination
that cannot be reformed.


Things were very different in Quebec City. From the vantage point of those
on the outside, the fence served no purpose. It not only exemplified a
lack of commitment to free expression on the part of the nation-states

represented inside but also a further circumscribing of the possibility of
freedom itself, and those political leaders trying to allege otherwise
were merely revealing their hypocrisy. Hence the heightened level of
militancy, illustrative of a movement increasingly intent on fundamental
social transformation, directed at tearing the fence down. Yet the fence
was crucial for those gathering behind it, too. Beyond providing a literal
sense of security, it functioned as a stand-in for the attempt to control
the debate around - as well as protect the implementation of - the
neoliberal agenda across the Americas. Hence the fiercely fought battle on
the part of the police and military in Quebec City to hold the line.


The widespread hatred of the wall and all it embodied meant that those who
took a leadership role to bring it down - the libertarian anti-capitalists
- stepped not only into the limelight but gained the respect and
admiration of other demonstrators, much of the local populace, and a
healthy cross section of the broader Canadian public. Sympathy - for the
first time in this North American branch of the new global movement - was
largely on the side of those seeking revolution. No longer the pariah or
the parvenu at this direct action, the anti-authoritarian contingent was
able to come into its own as a strong and visible force, rather than a
marginal, marginalized, or even feared element.


To a great extent, credit must be given to two key organizations: la
Convergence des luttes Anti-Capitalistes (the Montreal-based
Anti-Capitalist Convergence, or CLAC) and le Comite d'Accueil du Sommet
des Ameriques (the Quebec City-based Summit of the Americas Welcoming
Committee, or CASA). For starters, it was a brilliant stroke to stake out
a nonreformist posture not only in CLAC's name but in the very theme for
the summit weekend as well: the Carnival against Capitalism. An opposition
to capitalism was openly front and center, both during the many months of
organizing leading up to April and at the convergence itself. It was,
moreover, an anarchist-influenced version of anti-capitalism. As nuanced
by CLAC/CASA's short lists of organizational principles, a rejection of
capitalism included a refusal of hierarchy, authoritarianism, and
patriarchy, along with the proactive assertion of such values as
decentralization and direct democracy. There was no mistaking the message
at this direct action.


At the same time, it is a positive sign that the diversity of tactics
phrase has worked its way into the call for an anti-capitalist bloc in
D.C. at the World Bank/International Monetary Funds meetings well in
advance of the actual protests this October. For where the tangible
commitment to diversity of tactics really shone was in the months of
organizational and educational work prior to Quebec City's convergence.
Here, the tired bumpersticker phrase, "Think Globally, Act Locally," took
on renewed meaning in CLAC/CASA's efforts. While they brought teach-ins to
numerous cities across Canada and the United States, and put out their
politics on the World Wide Web, the real key to their strategy was the
attempt to win over the summit "host" city itself (where many CASA members
live and work). Rather than merely organizing a weekend-long direct
action, CLAC/CASA used the global and continental issues raised by the
Free Trade Agreement of the Americas as a wedge into their own
communities, as a way to develop radical resistance for ongoing struggles
long after the tear gas clears. These Canadian-based organizers, in short,
never lost sight of the need to link the global to the local, and to do
such community work openly as radicals. They thereby succeeded in one of
the more difficult tasks: bringing anti-capitalism home.


A few examples suffice to illustrate the scope of their community
activism. For instance, they asked Quebec City inhabitants to "adopt a
protester," which meant agreeing to house and hence have relatively
intimate contact with an anti-capitalist out-of-towner during the
convergence. CLAC/CASA's massive leafletting effort in Quebec City, on the
streets and door to door, included handing out thousands of copies of a
four-page bilingual tabloid that tried to debunk fear-provoking
stereotypes and urged townfolks to "unite in one big anarchist contingent
on A21." The anti-capitalist organizers worked in and with grassroots
neighborhood associations, and helped ensure that a no-arrest zone was
strategically placed in the residential neighborhood abutting the
fenced-in summit meetings to create a sense of security for the locals as
well as nonlocals. After the convergence, members of CASA pitched in to
help other city residents decontaminate the urban parks affected by tear
gas.


This community organizing campaign - slipping into public relations at
times - put a positive human face to the negative media (and state/police)
portrait of anarchists and gave locals some of the knowledge they needed
to begin to judge (and hopefully reject) capitalism for themselves. It
probably convinced numerous Quebecois to participate in the days of
resistance
(or at least provide water and bathrooms, as many did), and much more
than that, built a solid foundation of support, sympathy, and trust in
the community for longer-term projects. The fact that Laval University
gave several of its comparatively luxurious buildings in Quebec City
over
to CLAC/CASA for such things as a convergence center, sleeping
facilities
(housing over 2,500 people), and rallying point for the two
anti-capitalist
marches is testimony to these two groups' grassroots efforts. As were
the signs in local shopkeepers' windows: "We support you."


CLAC/CASA have proved that it is possible not just to bring thousands into
your city but to also work closely with the thousands already there to
radicalize and mobilize them for the convergence and beyond. Given that
the cities where summits and ministers meet constantly rotate - from
Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, to Prague, Genoa, and even Qatar -
many anti-capitalists will probably get their chance at "hosting" a
convergence and could therefore view it as an opportunity to link global
concerns to on-the-ground local struggles. Left in the wake of summits and
direct actions could be not a small, weary group of anarchist organizers
but a large, invigorated radical milieu along with the foundations for
resistance attempts in numerous cities across the global.


For it is not a matter of community organizing versus splashy direct
actions but how to balance the two so they reinforce, complement, and
build on each other in a way that escalates a revolutionary movement
globally - as the efforts of CLAC/CASA has shown. While journalist Naomi
Klein has been an insightful commentator on this movement, she is wrong in
dubbing direct actions as "McProtests." Putting aside the fact that each
direct action is not alike but borrows from, rejects, and/or transforms
elements of previous actions - that is, there is often a generative,
creative process at work - as Quebec City exemplified, mass actions also
afford moments of real gain that would otherwise not be possible if
resistance and reconstruction were merely parochial affairs. And they give
people hope.


The real task of social transformation has only just been glimpsed, of
course. Quebec City's convergence felt revolutionary, yet it was by no
means a revolution. CLAC/CASA members, like other libertarian
anti-capitalists globally, are a long way from helping to turn the places
they live into free cities in a free society. At least to date, it also
appears that they have done little work, much less published thinking, on
what a reconstructive vision might look like, as well as how to move
toward it in their communities and this movement. Rather than just a
Carnival against Capitalism, a carnival for something might have better
provided the utopian thrust necessary to sustain and give direction to the
difficult struggle ahead.


Nonetheless, by working locally and globally, by nurturing diversity in
the arms of an explicitly anti-authoritarian politics, CLAC/CASA, with the
help of a flimsy fence that became a mighty symbol, motivated thousands
who came to and live in Quebec City to hoist the anti-capitalist banner
onto center stage. Something did start in Quebec - a distinctly radical
movement in North America. Now the hard work of self-consciously
shaping and building that movement must begin.



References:


Comite d'Accueil du Sommet des Ameriques (Summit of the Americas
Welcoming
Committee). "CASA's Principles." Available at
http://www.tao.ca/~clac/principesen.html#casa.


Convergence des luttes Anti-Capitalistes (Anti-Capitalist Convergence).
"CLAC Basis of Unity." Available at
http://www.tao.ca/~clac/principesen.html#btop.


CrimethInc. Rioters Bloc. "CrimethInc. Eyewitness Analysis: Free
Trade Area of the Americas Summit, Quebec City, April 19-22." Available
at http://crimethinc.com/features.html.


Kauffman, L. A. "Turning Point." Free Radical: A Chronicle
of the New Unrest, no. 16 (May 2001). Available at www.free-radical.org.



Klein, Naomi. "Talk to Your Neighbor; It's a Start." Toronto
Globe and Mail, 2 May 2001.

She can be reached at cbmilstein@aol.com. Link: http://www.social-ecology.org/

--Cindy Milstein is currently on the boardd and a faculty member at the
Institute for Social Ecology, where she teaches each summer and works with
degree students year round. Then, too, she is a board member of the
Institute for Anarchist Studies, a nonprofit organization that provides
grants to radical writers, and coorganizer of the annual Renewing the
Anarchist Tradition conference, which attempts to create a scholarly space
for a new generation of libertarian left theorists. Ms. Milstein also
writes for antiauthoritarian periodicals, including a regular column in
Arsenal magazine. An editor and graphic designer as well, she put together
and wrote for the booklet Bringing Democracy Home, which has been widely
distributed at recent direct actions, and produces the Institute for
Social Ecology's print promotional materials. Ms. Milstein has long been
active in a variety of anarchist political organizations,
counterinstitutions, alternative publications, community organizing
projects, and social movements, including the current one. She has also
participated in numerous study groups, including one with social theorist
Murray Bookchin, exploring a range of radical theory and revolutionary
history, and recently lived in Berlin, Germany, for two years studying
Nazism and the Holocaust, plus attending present-day antifascist
demonstrations. Alongside her own ongoing studies in political and social
theory, Ms. Milstein copyedits books as a freelancer for Duke University
Press for a living.