In Swiss city, global anarchists reject gov't debt
SAINT-IMIER, Switzerland (AP) — It was a well-organized affair, particularly for a bunch of people who bristle at the thought of rigid organization. And in an era of discontent with debt-riddled government, they offered a striking solution: no government at all.
The International Anarchism Gathering got underway Wednesday at the movement's spiritual birthplace in Switzerland's western Jura mountains, its many loose parts moving like Swiss clockwork. Which seemed fitting, given the host city's pride at its historical role both in the development of the anarchist movement and of luxury watchmaking.
They flocked by the hundreds, a well-mannered band of fringe thinkers and casually dressed youth aiming to create a world without rulers. The welcome in the lush mountain setting was a model of orderly and efficient hospitality, setting the stage for five days of alternative music, cinema and earnest discussions on topics such as utopia, revolution, militancy, sexuality and authority.
At a time when many face harsh austerity programs, job losses and cutbacks in social safety nets in Europe, the congress drew people from anarchist movements around the world to celebrate a radically different vision for the future.
Organizers opened the meeting with a call for demonstrations, worker strikes and other acts of defiance. They rejected the idea that workers should have to shoulder any of the debt or losses amassed by governments, banks and other capitalist enterprises.
One thing they all agreed on: an emphatic rejection of the use of violence. That contrasted with the tactics of Italian anarchists who in the past couple of years have claimed responsibility for shooting an official with a nuclear energy company and sending letter bombs to embassies and a tax collection agency.
"Capitalism goes from crisis to crisis, so this is an opportunity for us," said Aristides Pedraza, part of a Lausanne-based movement and one of the main organizers.
"We think that we are in a period of continental crisis, and we think that there is no government solution to this crisis. There is no solution within institutional policy," he said. "We want to build in Europe a public space of resistance and solidarity."
Anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 people were expected to attend the gathering, which marked the 140th anniversary of the first anarchist worker congress in Saint-Imier in 1872.
The Saint-Imier Anarchist International was created by anti-authoritarian members expelled from Karl Marx's movement and local workers — mostly watchmakers — from French speaking areas of the Swiss Jura mountains. One of its champions was the well-known Russian revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, considered the father of anarchist theory.
There's irony in the proletarian themes.
The rolling pastures and green cliff-speckled hills of Saint-Imier gave rise to the Longines and Breitling luxury watch brands. The Swiss valley boasts skiing, alternative energy and an astronomical observatory.
One street of Saint-Imier bears a plaque explaining that it is named for a French engineer who helped create Longines watches and was "a true industrial spy" at the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia, returning with the shocking news of American competitors with cost-efficient production methods.
As the morning shops along the main street opened, it was not too difficult to pick out some of the scruffy out-of-town anarchists from the local residents who cheerfully greeted everyone in their path.
"From the beginning, the international anarchists' organization struggled to abolish all forms of authority — political, economic and social, religious, cultural or sexual," said Frederic Gautheron of Bescancon, France, close to the western Swiss border. "As long as it eliminates the exploitation of man by man."
The International Anarchism Gathering got underway Wednesday at the movement's spiritual birthplace in Switzerland's western Jura mountains, its many loose parts moving like Swiss clockwork. Which seemed fitting, given the host city's pride at its historical role both in the development of the anarchist movement and of luxury watchmaking.
They flocked by the hundreds, a well-mannered band of fringe thinkers and casually dressed youth aiming to create a world without rulers. The welcome in the lush mountain setting was a model of orderly and efficient hospitality, setting the stage for five days of alternative music, cinema and earnest discussions on topics such as utopia, revolution, militancy, sexuality and authority.
At a time when many face harsh austerity programs, job losses and cutbacks in social safety nets in Europe, the congress drew people from anarchist movements around the world to celebrate a radically different vision for the future.
Organizers opened the meeting with a call for demonstrations, worker strikes and other acts of defiance. They rejected the idea that workers should have to shoulder any of the debt or losses amassed by governments, banks and other capitalist enterprises.
One thing they all agreed on: an emphatic rejection of the use of violence. That contrasted with the tactics of Italian anarchists who in the past couple of years have claimed responsibility for shooting an official with a nuclear energy company and sending letter bombs to embassies and a tax collection agency.
"Capitalism goes from crisis to crisis, so this is an opportunity for us," said Aristides Pedraza, part of a Lausanne-based movement and one of the main organizers.
"We think that we are in a period of continental crisis, and we think that there is no government solution to this crisis. There is no solution within institutional policy," he said. "We want to build in Europe a public space of resistance and solidarity."
Anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 people were expected to attend the gathering, which marked the 140th anniversary of the first anarchist worker congress in Saint-Imier in 1872.
The Saint-Imier Anarchist International was created by anti-authoritarian members expelled from Karl Marx's movement and local workers — mostly watchmakers — from French speaking areas of the Swiss Jura mountains. One of its champions was the well-known Russian revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin, considered the father of anarchist theory.
There's irony in the proletarian themes.
The rolling pastures and green cliff-speckled hills of Saint-Imier gave rise to the Longines and Breitling luxury watch brands. The Swiss valley boasts skiing, alternative energy and an astronomical observatory.
One street of Saint-Imier bears a plaque explaining that it is named for a French engineer who helped create Longines watches and was "a true industrial spy" at the 1876 World's Fair in Philadelphia, returning with the shocking news of American competitors with cost-efficient production methods.
As the morning shops along the main street opened, it was not too difficult to pick out some of the scruffy out-of-town anarchists from the local residents who cheerfully greeted everyone in their path.
"From the beginning, the international anarchists' organization struggled to abolish all forms of authority — political, economic and social, religious, cultural or sexual," said Frederic Gautheron of Bescancon, France, close to the western Swiss border. "As long as it eliminates the exploitation of man by man."
you know, a world without rules or rules would be chaotic. But ironically, these people have something of a good idea. Its our very rulers that have committed us and our country to the brink of collapse. Our rulers are thieves, liars, crooks, and they spend our money without any limits or boundaries.
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Our rulers invade other countries under false pretenses, they create rules and laws, only to circumvent them on their own. Our rulers defined "due process", and then created a new term "enemy combatant" so they could hold one of their own; a US citizen (Jose Padilla) without any due process, indefinitely. Whether he is guity or not, he is a citizen and allowed due process.
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So maybe a nation or world without rulers would not be so bad? Rules and laws have not had any benefit for us
No government at all??? Just a bunch of pigs slopping around with each other in the pen. Yeah, I think I'll pass on that one. And this is the youth of today...boy we're in big trouble.
So they are communists! Interesting when considering the Occupy movement.
 @justsayin They are at the point where libertarianism and communism meets, and only the latter when they espouse small and very local government (which not all anarchists do).
There is a Country with no Government called Somolia. Feel free to move there any time you like, then after a year, come back and talk about what a utopia it was.
@eichler34 Somalia now has a central government. There are other countries without central governments worse off. There are other countries with central governments that are even worse off. Read about Zimbabwe's inflation rate; the highest in the world. Also referred to as hyperinflation.
I wonder if any of our $80,000 a year college professors included this in their summer travel plans...