Monthly Archives: June 2019

Objavljen je drugi broj! / The second issue is out!

Posted on by

Tema broja: Jugoslavija. Broj stranica: 194.

English below.

Objavljen je drugi broj Antipolitike. Tema broja je Jugoslavija. Kao i u slučaju prvog broja štampali smo dve verzije, na engleskom i na našem jeziku. Ovaj broj će imati i verziju na grčkom jeziku koja će biti objavljena do kraja godine. Javite nam se ukoliko želite kopiju ili da pomognete sa distribucijom. Trenutno je dostupan na sledećim mestima: Beograd: Okretnica, Utopia, Beopolis; Babušnica: KKUSIUSK, Novi Sad: Rizom; Zagreb: Što čitaš?; Zadar: Nigdjezemska.

Continue reading →

Over the Walls of Nationalisms and Wars

Posted on by

[Statement of participants of 8th Balkan Anarchist Bookfair]

It is clear that nationalism is a tool used against the exploited classes. In the Balkans, (especially in the region of ex-Yugoslavia) the rise of nationalist ideology in the 1990’s helped enable the brutal capitalist attack against society. It further atomized the population and destroyed established networks of cooperation and solidarity.

The need to confront nationalist ideology from a radical and anti-authoritarian perspective gathered us in Mostar on the 5th and 6th of September 2014, for the 8th Balkan Anarchist Bookfair. We came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Albania, Romania, Greece and other countries outside the Balkan area.

Continue reading →

Preko zidova nacionalizama i rata

Posted on by

[Izjava sudionika/ica 8. Balkanskog anarhističkog sajma knjiga]

8. Balkanski anarhistički sajam knjiga održan je 05. i 06. 08. 2104 u Mostaru. Sam sajam se ove godine održavao pod nazivom “Preko zidova nacionalizma”, a u duhu naziva učesnice i učesnici su napisali izjavu koju prenosimo u cijelosti.

Jasno je da je nacionalizam sredstvo koje je upotrebljeno protiv eksploatisanih klasa. Na Balkanu, (posebno u regionu bivše Jugoslavije) uspon nacionalističke ideologije 1990-ih pomogao je omogućavanje brutalnog kapitalističkog napada na društvo. To je dodatno atomizovalo stanovništvo i uništilo ustanovljene mreže saradnje i solidarnosti.

Potreba da se suprotstavimo nacionalističkoj ideologiji iz radikalne i antiautoritarne perspektive okupila nas je u Mostaru 5. i 6. septembra 2014, na 8. balkanskom anarhističkom sajmu knjiga. Došli smo iz Bosne i Hercegovine, Hrvatske, Srbije, Slovenije, Albanije, Rumunije, Grčke i drugih zemalja izvan područja Balkana.

Continue reading →

Preparedness, the Road to Universal Slaughter

Posted on by

Emma Goldman

Ever since the beginning of the European conflagration, the whole human race almost has fallen into the deathly grip of the war anesthesis, overcome by the mad teaming fumes of a blood soaked chloroform, which has obscured its vision and paralyzed its heart. Indeed, with the exception of some savage tribes, who know nothing of Christian religion or of brotherly love, and who also know nothing of dreadnaughts, submarines, munition manufacture and war loans, the rest of the race is under this terrible narcosis. The human mind seems to be conscious of but one thing, murderous speculation. Our whole civilization, our entire culture is concentrated in the mad demand for the most perfected weapons of slaughter.

Ammunition! Ammunition! O, Lord, thou who rulest heaven and earth, thou God of love, of mercy and of justice, provide us with enough ammunition to destroy our enemy. Such is the prayer which is ascending daily to the Christian heaven. Just like cattle, panic-stricken in the face of fire, throw themselves into the very flames, so all of the European people have fallen over each other into the devouring flames of the furies of war, and America, pushed to the very brink by unscrupulous politicians, by ranting demagogues, and by military sharks, is preparing for the same terrible feat.

In the face of this approaching disaster, it behooves men and women not yet overcome by the war madness to raise their voice of protest, to call the attention of the people to the crime and outrage which are about to be perpetrated upon them.

Continue reading →

Anti-militarism in Serbia in the 1990s – Interview with Igor Seke

Posted on by

Drafted soldier Vladimir Živković deserted from the Vukovar front and parked his armored vehicle in front of the Parliament building in Belgrade, protesting the war. September, 1991.

Igor Seke is a peace activist from Serbia, currently living in Mexico. From year 2001-2004 he was coordinating the Conscientious Objection campaign in Serbia, together with other Campaign members, mainly coming from the punk and underground music and art scene. Currently, he’s participating in various initiatives in favor of the rights of the indigenous communities in Mexico. He’s a council member of War Resisters’ International (WRI) and also an active member of the Antimilitrist Network of the Latin America and the Caribbean (RAMALC).

Antipolitika: Tell us something about the general characteristics of the anti-war movement of the 90s in Serbia.

Igor Seke: The anti-war movement had many forms. For example, the Civil Alliance of Serbia was a political party that participated in the elections and had clear anti-nationalist and anti-war characteristics, and many intellectuals of the left and social-democratic orientation were members or sympathizers of that movement. In addition to that, in the beginning of the war, a group of rock musicians gathered and made the song  “Slušaj ‘vamo” (“Listen here”) that called for people to boycott the war and calls for mobilization. Women in Black Against the War was also founded, and they openly helped the deserters and conscientious objectors, and they were—in the literal sense—the cradle of the conscientious objection movement in Serbia. Women in Black became members of the global anti-militarist network War Resister’s International (WRI) and through an international network made contact with conscientious objectors movement from Spain (MOC) from which we learned a lot. YUCOM, the committee of lawyers for human rights also joined the struggle for the recognition of the right to conscientious objection, and in cooperation with them a campaign for the collection of 30.000 signatures for a citizens initiative for the recognition of the right to conscientious objection was started. The initiative was rejected by the parliament, but it was the first indicator that things would change.

Continue reading →

Antimilitarizam u Srbiji devedesetih godina – Intervju sa Igorom Sekeom

Posted on by

Mobilizirani vojnik Vladimir Živković dezertirao je s vukovarskog fronta i parkirao oklopno vozilo ispred skupštine Jugoslavije u Beogradu u znak protesta protive rata (1991).

Igor Seke je mirnovni aktivista iz Srbije koji trenutno živi u Meksiku. U periodu 2001-2004 bio je koordinator kampanje prigovora savesti u Srbiji, zajedno sa drugim učesnicima ove kampanje, koji su uglavnom dolazili iz pank i andergraund muzičke i art scene. Trenutno učestvuje u različitim inicijativama u korist prava urođeničkih zajednica u Meksiku. Član je saveta organizacije War Resisters’ International (WRI) i aktivni član Antimiliarističke mreže Latinske Amerike i Kariba (RAMALC).


Antipolitika: Kaži nam nešto o generalnim karakteristikama anti-ratnog pokreta devedesetih godina u Srbiji.

Antiratni pokret je imao mnogo oblika. Na primer Građanski savez Srbije je bio politička stranka koja je učestvovala na izborima i koja je imala jasni anti-nacionalistički i anti-ratni karakter, i mnogo intelektualaca leve i social-demokratske orijentacije su bili članovi ili simpatizeri tog pokreta. Osim toga, s početkom rata su se okupila i grupa rok muzičara koji su napravili pesmu “Slušaj ‘vamo”, koja je pozivala ljude da bojkotuju rat i pozive za mobilizaciju. Osnovane su i Žene u crnom protiv rata (ŽuC) , koje su otvoreno pomagale dezertere i prigovarače savesti, i one su u bukvalnom smislu bila kolevka pokreta za prigovor savesti u Srbiji. ŽuC su postale članice globalne antimilitarističke mreže War Resister’s International (WRI) , i kroz međunarodnu mrežu Žena u Crnom stupile su u kontakt sa pokretom za prigovor savesti (MOC) iz Španije od kojih smo mnogo naučili. Borbi za priznavanje prava na prigovor savesti se priključio i tadašnji YUCOM, komitet pravnika za ljudska prava i u saradnji sa njima se pokrenuta kampanja za prikupljanje 30.000 potpisa za građansku inicijativu za priznavanje prava na prigovor savesti. Inicijativa nije prošla u skupštini, ali je bila prvi indikator da će se stvari promeniti.

Continue reading →

Greek Militarism in the age of SYRIZA

Posted on by

20.20.2014. Future PM in the Ministry of Defense

Barefoot Battalion, Presented as part of the Mediterranean/ Balkan Anarchist Meeting, Athens-Thessaloniki-Chania, 9-18/10/205

 

This paper was presented for the first time at the 5th Antimilitarist Gathering organised by the Barefoot Battalion on 4-5th September 2015, in Ioannina, Greece. It was then enhanced to include the period shortly after the elections of 20th September 2015.

 

***

The continuation of the State

It is a fact, that the issue of anti-militarism is not always a central issue on the agenda  of the anti-authoritarian movement and its structures. This has been the case in Greece for many years, and is especially true today. The total number of social and class struggles has clearly decreased. Despite the valuable legacy of recent struggles, they have not managed to overcome internal and external limitations in order to halt the increasingly intensified undermining of our class. Capitalist restructuring continues to rampage our lives, worsening our position within the fields of social struggle and decreasing the possibilities of collective action and thought.

Arguably, it is precisely during such a critical period, when inter-capitalistic competition makes war an increasingly less remote reality, which can be simply ‘shoved under the carpet’, that anti-militarism should preoccupy us in a much more serious and targeted way. The sweeping statements traditionally adopted by the Left that imply an antimilitarist approach (ie. opposing NATO or US foreign policy), have succeeded in attributing a certain ‘anti-imperialist’, confrontational character to their own agents and have masked the true nature of militarism and the way it has weaved itself into our everyday lives, into our neighbourhoods, in the structures of ‘our own’ state. There is a general tendency to view fascism, nationalism and racism as exaggerated deviations (from the otherwise ‘democratic’ European norm) and as socio-historic elements of only specific eras or states, as in the case of Germany during WWII. Similarly, militarism seems to be perceived as a phenomenon that is only apparent in remote dictatorial regimes (where leaders wear military uniforms and tanks roam the streets) or in the ‘exceptional’ chapters of contemporary greek history (such as the military junta between 1967-1964). In any case, an analysis of militarism which focuses neither on N.Korea nor on the military junta of 1967, but instead, focuses its’ attention on Greece in 2015 under the rule of SY.RIZ.A, is not the ‘hottest’ of subjects. Even though Rosa Luxemburg taught us almost 100 years ago that “militarism in both its’ forms – as war and as armed peace – is a legitimate child, a logical result of capitalism”. However, we hope that through efforts such as this one, the genetic relationship between militarism and the state will become clear.

Continue reading →

Grčki militarizam u eri Sirize

Posted on by

20.10.2014. Budući premijer u Ministarstvu odbrane

Bosonogi bataljon, izlaganje sa Mediteranskog/Balkanskog anarhističkog okupljanja, Atina-Solun-Hanija, 9-18.10.2015

Ovaj rad je prvi put predstavljen na Petom Antimilitarističkom skupu, organizovanom od strane Bosonogog bataljona 4-5. septembra 2015. u Janjini, u Grčkoj. Naknadno je dopunjen i osvrtom na period neposredno nakon izbora od 20. septembra 2015.

***

Nastavak Države

Činjenica je da pitanje antimilitarizma nije uvek glavna stavka u programu antiautoritarnog pokreta i njegovih struktura. U Grčkoj je tako godinama, a pogotovo danas. Ukupan broj društvenih i klasnih borbi u očitom je padu. Bez obzira na dragoceno nasleđe koje su nam ostavile skorašnje borbe, one nisu uspele da prevaziđu unutrašnja i spoljašnja ograničenja i tako zaustave sve žustrije urušavanje naše klase. Kapitalističko restrukturiranje nastavlja da divlja našim životima, slabeći našu poziciju na polju društvene borbe i smanjujući prostor za zajedničku akciju i stav.

Možda bi upravo u takvim kritičnim trenucima, kada se usled globalnog kapitalističkog nadmetanja rat čini sve bližom stvarnošću koja se jednostavno ne može ‘strpati pod tepih’, antimilitarizmom trebalo da se pozabavimo na mnogo ozbiljniji i artikulisaniji način. Uopštene izjave kojima se levica tradicionalno služi na temu antimilitarizma (npr. protivljenje NATO-u ili američkoj spoljnoj politici) uspele su da daju izvestan ‘antiimperijalistički’, borbeni karakter njihovim zagovornicima i prikrile pravu prirodu militarizma i načina na koji se on utkao u našu svakodnevnicu, u našu stambenu četvrt, u strukture ‘naše vlastite’ države. Postoji opšta tendencija da se na fašizam, nacionalizam i rasizam gleda kao na preterana odstupanja (od inače ‘demokratske’ evropske norme) i društveno-istorijske elemente isključivo određenih istorijskih perioda ili država, kao što je slučaj sa Nemačkom iz doba Drugog svetskog rata. Takođe, militarizam kao da se uzima za fenomen koji se javlja samo pod dalekim diktatorskim režimima (gde se vođe odevaju u vojne uniforme, a ulicama gaze tenkovi) ili u ‘nesvakidašnjim’ poglavljima savremene grčke istorije (npr. vojna hunta 1967-1974). U svakom slučaju, analiza militarizma koja se ne bavi ni Severnom Korejom ni vojnom huntom iz 1967, već svoju pažnju usmerava na Grčku iz 2015. pod vlašću Sirize nije ‘najvrelija’ tema, iako nas je Roza Luksemburg pre gotovo sto godina učila kako ‘militarizam u oba svoja oblika – i kao rat i kao mir pod oružjem – predstavlja zakonito čeljade, logičan ishod kapitalizma’. Opet, nadamo se da ćemo putem pokušaja kao što je ovaj razotkriti genetsku vezu između militarizma i države.

Continue reading →

the mars barcode: 12 illustrated shorts and a post-scriptum on capitalist war

Posted on by

IMAGE 1
Bonaparte visitant les pestiférés de Jaffa (Bonaparte visits the plague stricken in Jaffa, oil on canvas, 1804, Louvre, by Antoine-Jean Gros) is a propaganda painting idealizing Napoleon’s disastrous Egyptian campaign. It shows his (alleged?) visit to his sick soldiers in March 1799 in his attempt to reverse the negative rumors about him ordering plague victims to be “mercy-killed” by poisoning. The outbreak of the bubonic plague had followed the violent “sack of Jaffa” by the French army. This romantic oil-painting, with several neoclassicist elements, was exhibited in the months between Napoleon’s proclamation as emperor and his coronation. It portrays the emperor as god-sent healer offering the traditional “royal touch”, as he thaumaturgically lays his hand on the armpit of one of the sick.

Clandestina, November 2015

1. war as spectacle within the bourgeois subject

The battlefield had become a mass spectacle decades before the discovery of photography. With the Napoleonic wars, the boundary between exercising lethal violence and observing it became blurred. Napoleon realized that in war, succeeding in propaganda is more important than winning a real military confrontation. Napoleon’s operations had to be celebrated as victorious, even if if they could not be won on a technical military level. They had to be described in detail and these glorious narratives of fighting battles had to be distributed as widely as possible. He was the first leader to make “live war reporting” as definitive as it still is for the subject formation of the Western citizen “in the peaceful world”.

Military operations in war had long become mass industrial affairs and could no longer be represented in their entirety by simple observers, such as painters or writers. Now that armies had technologies of mass destruction to their disposal, a whole variety of accounts, comments and descriptions, as well as knowledge of the stages of tactical and practical preparations were necessary for “a whole battle” to be recomposed in the Press for the news-hungry public.

Over the course of the 19th century, war itself started adapting to the requirements of the remote-controlled imagination of its consumers. Everyone could now have an opinion about how an operation would be best carried out, how its tactics should be interpreted, how a battle should be evaluated or repeated avoiding past failures. Soon, war had found a comfortable place in the everyday life of consumers in bourgeois States.

As a natural law of the global balance of power, real war would soon appear even banal.

This sense of a split between “peace at home” and “war abroad” (or “war elsewhere”) is expressed in most binary oppositions of meaning in the spectacular industries of the 20th century. The opposite genres of “news” and “entertainment” are emblematic of this dialectics – their merging in today’s “infotainment” carries their complementarity to its logical conclusion.

Continue reading →

marsov barkod: 12 ilustrovanih crtica i post scriptum o kapitalističkom ratu

Posted on by

SLIKA 1
Bonaparte visitant les pestiférés de Jaffa (Bonaparta obilazi zaražene kugom u Jafi, Antoan-Žan Gro (Antoine-Jean Gros), ulje na platnu, 1804, Luvr) je propagandna slika koja idealizuje Napoleonovu katastrofalnu Egipatsku ekspediciju. Ona prikazuje njegovu (navodnu?) posetu bolesnim vojnicima u martu 1799, u pokušaju da zaustavi zlonamerne glasine kako je naredio da žrtve kuge budu trovanjem „ubijene iz samilosti“. Izbijanje bubonske kuge je usledilo za nasilnim „pustošenjem Jafe“ od strane francuske vojske. Ova romantičarska uljana slika, sa nekoliko neoklasičnih elemenata, je bila izložena u mesecima između Napoleonovog proglašenja za cara i njegovog krunisanja. Ona prikazuje cara kao od boga poslatog iscelitelja koji nudi tradicionalni „kraljevski dodir“, dok poput čudotvorca polaže ruku na pazuh jednog bolesnika.

Clandestina, novembar 2015, Solun.

1. rat kao spektakl unutar buržoaskog subjekta

Bojno polje je postalo masovni spektakl decenijama pre otkrića fotografije. Sa Napoleonovim ratovima, granica između činjenja smrtonosnog nasilja i njegovog posmatranja je postala maglovita. Napoleon je shvatio da je u ratu propagandni uspeh važniji od pobede u pravom vojnom sukobu. Napoleonove operacije su morale da se slave kao pobedonosne, čak i ako nisu mogle da budu dobijene na tehničkom vojnom nivou. Morale su da budu opisane do detalja, a ti veličanstveni narativi o vođenju bitaka su morali da se razglase što je više moguće. On je bio prvi vođa koji je „izveštavanje iz rata uživo“ učinio presudnim za formiranje subjekta Zapadnog građanina „u mirnom svetu“, u onoj meri u kojoj ono to još uvek jeste.

Ratne vojne operacije su odavno postale predmet masovne industrije i obični posmatrači, poput slikara ili pisaca, ih ne mogu predstaviti u potpunosti. Sada kada su armije na raspolaganju imale tehnologije masovnog uništenja bila je neophodna čitava paleta izveštaja, komentara i opisa, kao i znanje o fazama taktičkih i praktičnih priprema, kako bi javnost gladna vesti dobila prikaz „čitave bitke“ u Novinama.
Tokom 19. veka je sam rat počeo da se prilagođava zahtevima daljinski kontrolisane mašte svojih potrošača. Sada je svako mogao da ima mišljenje o tome kako bi bilo najbolje izvesti operaciju, kako bi trebalo tumačiti njenu taktiku, kako bi bitku trebalo proceniti ili ponoviti uz izbegavanje ranijih neuspeha. Rat se ubrzo udobno smestio u svakodnevni život potrošača u buržoaskim Državama.

Kao prirodni zakon globalne ravnoteže moći, pravi rat će uskoro čak početi da deluje banalno.

Ovaj osećaj odvojenosti „mira kod kuće“ od „rata u tuđini“ (ili „rata negde drugde“) je izražen u najbinarnijim suprotstavljenostima značenja u spektakularnim industrijama 20. veka. Oprečni žanrovi „vesti“ i „zabave“ su simbolični za ovu dijalektiku – njihovo stapanje u današnju „infozabavu“ (infotainment) izvodi njihovu komplementarnost do njenog logičnog zaključka.

Continue reading →

Pripremljenost, put ka sveopćem pokolju

Posted on by

 

Emma Goldman

Još od samog početka požara koji je zavladao Europom, gotovo cijeli ljudski rod je upao u smrtonosni zagrljaj ratne anestezije, otupljenosti na bol.

Prevladan je od strane ludog kolektivnog bijesa uzrokovanog krvlju natopljenim kloroformom, koji mu je poremetio vid i paralizirao srce. Zaista, sa izuzetkom nekih divljih plemena, koja ne znaju ništa o kršćanstvu ili o ljubavi prema bližnjemu i koja također ne znaju ništa o bojnim brodovima, podmornicama, tvornicama municije i ratnim kreditima, ostatak ljudske rase se trenutno nalazi pod tom užasnom narkozom. Čini se da je ljudski um svjestan svega osim jedne stvari — ubojite špekulacije. Naša cijela civilizacija, naša cjelokupna kultura je koncentrirana u ludoj potražnji za što savršenijim oruđima za pokolj.

Municije, municije! O, Gospode, ti koji vladaš na nebu i na zemlji, ti Bože ljubavi, milostivosti i pravde, daj nam dovoljno municije kako bi uništili svoje neprijatelje. Takve molitve se svakodnevno upućuju u smjeru kršćanskog raja. Baš kao što se stoka, prestravljena kada se suoči sa vatrom, baca u plamen, tako su svi stanovnici Europe jedni preko drugih popadali u pobjesnjeli požar zahuktalog rata, a Amerika, dovedena na sam rub od strane beskrupuloznih političara, brbljavih demagoga i vojnih službenika, priprema se na isti užasan čin.
Potrebno je da muškarci i žene, koji još uvijek nisu podlegli ovom ratnom ludilu, podignu svoj glas protesta, kako bi usmjerili pažnju ljudi na zločin i užas koji će se svaki čas provesti nad njima.

Continue reading →

Anarchist solidarity and anti-war initiatives in post-Yugoslav countries

Posted on by

Z.A.P.O Anti-War Demo, 19.06.1991.

(personal recollection from Croatia)

A few important notes: I am writing from my own personal perspective, meaning that I lived at the time in Croatia and that all of this is my point of view. I will note if something is a quote or reference.

Also, it’s important to note that this is not a historical text. There’s no such thing as objective history. This is a personal overview of activities and events that were organized to oppose war, nationalism, militarization and to show and practice solidarity with all those suffering directly from war or its (side)effects.

Most of all, this is not an analysis of the war(s) in former Yugoslavia, neither an attempt to discover why they happened. It was never really a question – as any war in the past it was all about power, wealth and control over territory and people, no matter which side in the war you look at.

For a better understanding of the context in which the events that I’m writing about take place, it is important to note that in the years before the war(s) in former Yugoslavia there was no anarchist movement, just few individuals and initial groups being formed at the very end of 1980’s and the beginning of the 1990’s. So, the time of war(s) was also a new beginning (after almost 60 years) for organized resistance coming from anarchists.

Continue reading →

Anarhistička solidarnost i antiratne aktivnosti u Hrvatskoj

Posted on by

 

Z.A.P.O. antiratni protest 19. lipanj, 1991. godine

(osobno prisjećanje)

 

Za početak, par važnih napomena: ovo što pišem je moj osobni stav i sjećanje, što zapravo samo znači da sam u vrijeme događaja o kojima govorim živio u Hrvatskoj. Sve što pišem je moj stav, a ukoliko je riječ o citatu ili drugom izvoru, to ću posebno napomenuti.

Također, važno je napomenuti da ovo nije povijesni tekst. Objektivna povijest, kako nam to obično prezentiraju, ne postoji. Ovo je samo osobni pregled aktivnosti i događaja koji su organizirani protiv rata, nacionalizma i militarizma kako bi se pokazala i prakticirala solidarnost sa svima koji su patili zbog rata i njegovih posljedica.

Continue reading →

Militarizacija svakodnevnog života

Posted on by

Živimo u militariziranom svijetu. Za državu i kapital nikad nije pitanje da li je to potrebno, već je samo pitanje razine. Koliko militarizacije? Balkan je uvijek bio snažno militariziran, čak su i razdoblja “mira” bila obilježena stalnim prisustvom vojske u svakodnevnom životu. Govoreći s teritorija koji se jedno vrijeme zvao Jugoslavija, a sada ima neka druga imena, posve je jasno da mitologija i opća militarizacija uvijek priprema društvo za nove ratove, a nikad ne služi tome da očuva “mir”, u šta nas uvijek uvjeravaju oni na pozicijama moći.

Povijest posljednih ratova nas uči mnoge stvari: pokazuje, još jednom, pravo lice države i kapitala, koje postaje lice zvijeri, čim sve maske padnu i otvoreno se upuste u rat. U vrijeme rata, nema potrebe za sofisticiranim marketinškim trikovima, širenje straha i razaranja je posve dovoljno. Rat ima svoju logiku, koja je već duboko ukorijenjena u društvu jer je godinama pripremano za novi pokolj. Dovoljno je reći: “novi neprijatelj je tu i oni su prava prijetnja tvom životu, tradiciji i, iznad svega, nacionalnim interesima”! Koliko puta smo to već čuli?

Continue reading →