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﻿<title﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, Popular Assemblies in Argentina: Discovering new Liberating Practices of Resistance from Below - Article﻿</title>﻿

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Popular Assemblies in Argentina: Discovering new Liberating Practices of Resistance from Below 

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by Maria-Elina Dufau-Kramarz﻿<br﻿>﻿

﻿<i﻿>﻿New Socialist Magazine, April - May 2002﻿</i>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

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﻿<b﻿>﻿A Movement from Below is Growing﻿</b>﻿

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If the unemployed workers movement, the Piqueteros (picketers), had several years of struggle in Argentina, it was not until December 2001 that the petty-bourgeoisie exploded and engaged in a popular revolt. Since December, the Popular Neighborhood Assemblies - which involve neighbourhood people, women, students, young people, and picketers - have been continuing to meet every week and delegates (sometimes around 3,000 people) are going every Sunday to the Inter-neighborhoods (Interbarrial) Coordinating Assembly of Popular Assemblies in Centenary Park, participating in the discussions and approving or not the issues brought for their consideration. Among many others, some of their resolutions are:

﻿<ul﻿>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Refuse payment of the external debt

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Reject the FTAA (Free Trade Agreement of Americas)

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Say no to the dollarization of the economy.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Repeal the labour flexibilization laws 

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Nationalize the banks and essential services that were privatized

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Tax all speculative financial capital

﻿</li>﻿

﻿</ul>﻿

﻿<b﻿>﻿A Brief Historical Context﻿</b>﻿

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

Argentina is the country that has been the most severely crippled under the neo-liberal agenda designed by the international lending institutions as well as the US government as a way to create capitalist "globalization." The international dominating powers found in the Argentinean Peronist government of Carlos Menem a decisive advocate of the neo-liberal agenda. He also aligned Argentina with the United States' foreign policy. Nothing in the neo-liberal model changed with the new government of Fernando de la Rua (Social Democrat, representative of the Radical Party, and supported by the European left). The market model continues to be enforced rigorously by measures such as a 13% reduction in  retired and public employees' salaries, partially satisfying the United States and the international financial institutions demands .

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Struggles from below﻿</b>﻿

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Since 1993 (still in time of Menem) popular revolts have evolved in different Argentinean provinces and in 1996 the unemployed workers movement initiated their first direct action. It was the beginning of  "practices of resistance" from below (not from organized labour), against the "savage capitalism" implemented by the Argentina's government. In this context, it is important to keep track of the two sides of the situation:  the US' foreign policy that, along with the international financial institutions, protected the interests of global capital, and; the Argentina governments who "paid" any price in order "to keep business as usual" and to benefit domestic capital.  Actually, the ones who paid the price were the working class and the petty-bourgeoisie, not the ruling class.

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

The "Piqueteros" had several years of struggles and they were able to organize themselves in the "National Picketers Bloc" (Bloque National Piquetero). On February 5, after strong ideological disputes, the Bloc was divided in two fronts. The first one kept the name. There are several groups in it with different political backgrounds. The second front has the "Combative Class-based Current"  (Corriente Clasista y Combativa-CCC) and "Land and Housing Federation" (Federacion de Tierra y Vivienda), both relating to the "Argentine Workers Confederation" (Confederation de Trabajadores Argentinos - CTA) which has been very much criticized by the National Picketers' Bloc for their "negotiating activities " with representatives of the ruling class.  In spite of the internal and external struggles that the Bloc was confronting, it was able to organize a Workers National Assembly on February 16 and 17. Participants were varied. Not only unemployed and employed workers were present but also representatives of neighborhoods' Assemblies, a number of women, young people, and workers from local unions in conflict, activists, and syndicalists. Several demands were approved, that were part of the "Plan of Struggle against the Government, Capital and Imperialism" ("Plan de Lucha en contra del gobierno, el capital y el imperialismo" by Ernesto Herrera, an Uruguayan socialist)  Among the most relevant were: 

﻿<ul﻿>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Refuse payment of the external debt

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Nationalize the banks and essential services that were privatized

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Re-open under workers' control any factory or plant that was closed (at this time several factories are under workers' control)

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Reject the Duhalde government as an enemy of the working class and the people

﻿</li>﻿

﻿<li﻿>﻿ Denounce the "Reconciliation Plan" promoted by the United Nations and the Catholic Church, as it is a way to coopt, control and divide the workers and preserve the regime.

﻿</li>﻿

﻿</ul>﻿

The picketers brought their "Plan of Struggle" to Centenary Park where the Inter-neighborhoods Coordinating Assembly of Popular Assemblies endorsed the Plan after it was presented. Another Workers' Assembly is being planned for April 2.

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﻿<b﻿>﻿Some Theoretical Analysis﻿</b>﻿

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Up to this point many articles have been written and several political discussions inside and outside Argentina have been taking place that try to define and pinpoint what is happening in Argentina. Is it a revolutionary movement, a pre-revolutionary situation or is it a transitional stage to socialism? Can the situation be described as collective revolutionary practices by which the alienated relations of a capitalist society may be overcome? The new liberating practices, we might argue, have the potential to be all these possibilities. Just to put it into a theoretical context to analyze the popular process that is evolving (in a way too rapidly) in Argentina, it is worth looking up what Rosa Luxemburg said in her critique to those socialists of her time who expected a suddenly revolutionary change. She argues that it is absurd to suggest that capitalist society will simply collapse into socialism: "It is impossible to imagine that a transformation as formidable as the passage from capitalist to socialist society can be realized in one happy act... The socialist transformation supposes a long and stubborn struggle, in the course of which ... the working class will be repulsed more than once, so that the first time [it may] come to power too early."

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

What we are seeing in Argentina is the result of a class struggle. As Hal Harper argues, "to engage in class struggle it is not necessary to 'believe in' it. The working class moves towards class struggle insofar as capitalism fails to satisfy its economic and social needs and aspirations, not insofar as it is told about struggle by Marxists." (Karl Marx, Theory of Revolution, V.II, p 44) For those who don't see that the petty-bourgeoisie has a positive role in a revolutionary situation, Marx explains that it can have a bad and a good side. The bad side would be when as a class it decides to be in a revolutionary process just to make some particular gains. The good would be when it decides to be al﻿ign closely with the working class "in a joint battle against [common] enemies." Today, Argentina's experience is showing a liberating movement from below in which, within the practices of resistance, the Piqueteros as well as members of the petty-bourgeoisie are together in a joint struggle.   

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What is also very important to stress is that never in Argentina has the petty-bourgeoisie said: "Basta! No More." Historically, as a class it had been "sleep walking", losing its  memory of past struggles in the middle of its dreaming (Benjamin: Illuminations). But  they woke up in December. Now, through the process of the Popular Assemblies, they are becoming aware and self-critical of their previous condition, asking themselves, "How come we put our faith in the discourse of market economy and believed that it would bring us progress and prosperity?". They are now awakening to reality and recuperating the "memory of the oppressed." (Benjamin). As "practices of resistance", the National Assemblies are generating a process of radicalization among the population. As Herrera says "the popular movement is creating new expressions of radical political democracy".  The participants are making several demands, which represent their stance as anti-capitalist, anti-liberal and anti-imperialist. Yet, they do not have a clear idea that a political-economic alternative to capitalism is possible. 

﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿

In this context, here in Toronto, in the demonstration against the Tory leadership race, one activist referring to all the movements against capitalism and imperialism (such as those in Argentina, Barcelona, Brazil, Toronto, British Columbia, Quebec, among others) said: "We need you, and you need us, in order to work together towards the same goal within the same flame. We need to learn from each other and support each other in our political struggles. We do not know how long is the process yet, we know that it is a very long one." In Argentina, the liberating process from below is growing in the middle of contradictions and struggles but continuing without dismay.  

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﻿<font﻿ ﻿size="1"﻿>﻿Maria-Elina Dufau-Kramarz is a member of the New Socialist Group.﻿</font>﻿</font>﻿<br﻿>﻿<br﻿>﻿


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