How do insurrectionists respond to especifismo?

Question

I know insurrectionists denounce the organization of synthesis, which is the form many anarchist organizations take in Europe, but what do they think about specific active minority organization espoused by especifismo? Maybe Chilean insurrectionists have written on this? It seems insurrectionists also call for specific organization in the form of active minorities, but just organized informally...

Answer 1

As far as I know, there aren't any texts that have been translated into English that specifically deal with this question. You can find contemporary Spanish-to-English translations of texts from insurrectional positions at thisisourjob.org and waronsociety.noblogs.org, and many of these may tangentially address the question.

Especifismo seems a lot like platformism. Insurrectional anarchists obviously exist as an active minority and organize from there, but the differences with platformism go beyond the question of formal organization. Bonds of solidarity stem from affinity rather than any laid-down principles of theoretical or tactical unity. Engagement with popular movements is done on the basis of intervention rather than insertion. Instead of a unified & federated body, I@s form a multiform constellation of groupings and individuals, sometimes coordinating with each other on particular initiatives, connected through common insurrectional ideas and practices, and abandoning formal organization.

I image that I@s in places where especifismo exists respond similarly to US I@s towards platformist groups--sometimes with critique, but mostly ignoring them and do their own thing.

Answer 2

There is a written work by an argentinian anti-platformist anarcho-communist on "especifismo". here is a translation of that:

"...especifismo has only one difference with platformism and it is its historic origin, reaching the same conclusions. In order to avoid confusions we will use a term more appropiate for practice and theory of especifismo: Party anarchism. The organization paradigm is the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU)"

The FAU, as Daniel Barret well says "starts a process of searches of open endings which will take it to a gradual loss of its anarchist identity in the strong and uncompromising sense of the term". According to this author, the anarchist definition will be each time more relativized, incorporating marxist contributions, until a point in which they talk of "FAU without dots" or a denomination which will respond to an anarchist past but not anarchist initials. The characteristics of this anarcho-marxist mutation could be summarized as follows: a redefinition of the conception of power as a motor of social change, organizational centralization, internal discipline and a politics of aliances with the revolutionary left.

According with an ex member of the FAU (and a current member of the contemporary Party for People´s Victory, which is a part of the ruling coalition in uruguay Frente Amplio) "the organization didn´t saw itself as "anarchist", but saw that it was nessesary a synthesis between anarchism and marxism...We will not go deeper on the history of the FAU since it escapes our goals, but nevertheless we will point out that the FAU after the return of democracy in Uruguay went back to a big part of its anarchist ideals, but got rid of many of its marxist "influences" "

Entre la Plataforma y el Partido: las tendencias autoritarias y el anarquismo x Patrick Rossineri
(Between the platform and the party: authoritarian tendencies and anarchism by Patrick Rossineri)
http://elanticristodistro.blogspot.com/2011/01/entre-la-plataforma-y-el-partido-las.html

So just as platformism, especifismo is another sad episode of negative marxist influence on anarchism. The author of this essay points out that the FAU had this marxist turn due to the influence of the cuban revolution. And so while Fidel Castro and Che Guevara was persecuting, jailing and sending to exile cuban anarchists and anarchosyndicalists, the people of the FAU were embracing some of the methods of marxist-lenininism. Sad but true.

But let´s point out that i am not an insurrectionist. I think insurrectionism is unwise since there are many insurrectionist in jail in many countries for doing things with almost no impact on the "masses" like putting bombs in a period were the people are conformist and not in insurrection. I am an eclectic individualist anarchist with anarcho-communist econonomic views who is supportive of synthesis anarchism. And I think Platformism and especifismo are closer to trostkism than to anarchism. The only marxism worth of collaboration are autonomist marxists and council and left communists.

Comments

iconoclast - how does this answer the question of how insurrectionists view especifismo?

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I guess insurrectionists can well also adhere to this view persented here which says that "especifismo" and "platformism" are responding to marxist-leninist concepts of revolution with an "anarchist" marxist-leninism