Black Flag

After a delay of about a year, Black Flag has returned. A lot of exciting events have happened in this time: Genoa, Argentina, the protests in New York and Brussels, a general strike in Nigeria - the list seems endless.

This issue discusses some of these events in detail. We have analysis of Genoa, partly exposing the anti-anarchist hype and partly trying to learn lessons from the events. Genoa was a turning point for the "anti-globalisation" movement - the state attacked a mass demonstration in order to send a clear message to protestors and split the movement by demonising anarchists. Anarchists need to evaluate and understand what happened and the attacks on anarchists after the events by liberals and trots must be countered. Moreover, the European Police (Europol) has been busy. We discuss this aspect of the EU and Europol's invention of "anarchist terrorism" as a means to criminalise struggle. The parallels to the Italian "strategy of tension" in the 1970s are striking and given the actions of the police in Genoa, we need to learn lessons from the past. More positively, we discuss working class self-organisation in Argentina. The events in Argentina are a striking confirmation of anarchist theory and practice. The "principles of anarchism" (to use Kropotkin's words) have been reinvented yet again in working class struggle. Hopefully, the Argentine anarchists can help these seeds of anarchy to grow and bloom. We also have an eye-witness accounts of life in free Chiapas. Eight years on, their struggle for a better life continues and, thankfully, they are not postponing change until after the "glorious revolution."

A recurring theme in this issue is the importance of applying anarchist ideas in working class struggle. The horror of September 11th shows the importance of applying our ideas on the ground - if a viable libertarian alternative does not exist then people will turn to the dead end of apparently radical, but in fact deeply reactionary, ideologies.

Issue 221 available now from Black Flag BM Hurricane, London, WC1N 3XX. The deadline for issue 222 is mid-August.