Has anybody here read "The Coming Insurrection"

[ВАЛТЕР]

I read it recently and found the theory to use every major public uprising/protest/etc to the advantage of the cause, whether it be originally related or not quite interesting.

The book itself is more or less a brochure explaining how modern capitalist society has alienated people from each other and suggests direct action against this system.

Well anyways, I was seeing if anybody else had read it and what they thought of it.

If you haven't read it, then I would suggest it as a quick read as it is only about 130 or so pages in length, with some useful ideas and concepts.

It's called "The Coming Insurrection" by The Invisible Committee.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

We've had a few threads on it before. I personally wasn't impressed. There's a few gems here and there, but it comes off as pretentious and elitist.

[ВАЛТЕР]

We've had a few threads on it before. I personally wasn't impressed. There's a few gems here and there, but it comes off as pretentious and elitist.

Yeah I found it a bit pretentious as well. Some of the ideas are sound though and their heart seems to be in the right place considering their views. It doesn't really start getting to the good parts til the last three of four chapters considering much of it is just the same old rhetoric we all know.

[Red And Black Sabot]

I liked it a lot. A few disagreements here and there but very thought provoking.
I'm currently reading Introduction to Civil War which is by Tiqqun but I believe they may be the same people as the Invisible Committee.

[No_Leaders]

I've read it. It was quite interesting but nothing stood out as ground breaking. Very good read though none the less. I've been meaning to pickup some new books once i have a little extra money after paying for debt and my classes :(

[o well this is ok I guess]

pretentious Can we not use this word
at all

[Susurrus]

Can we not use this word
at all

What are your objections to it?

[o well this is ok I guess]

What are your objections to it? Consider the word "hipster".

If I call anything hipster, it is hipster. That is to say, one can identify at least one more quality of an object described as hipster that they can attribute to hipster objects. By having a hipster quality, everything is hipster by some stretch of imagination
The same is so of pretentious. When ones hears it alone, all one can think of is some vague snobbishness and probably horn rimmed glasses. It's a vague word that says nothing and relies on interpretation by the one hearing it used. Anyone with a bit of imagination can find anything to be "pretentious".

[NoOneIsIllegal]

The same is so of pretentious. When ones hears it alone, all one can think of is some vague snobbishness and probably horn rimmed glasses. It's a vague word that says nothing and relies on interpretation by the one hearing it used. Anyone with a bit of imagination can find anything to be "pretentious".
But you hit the nail on its head... Pretentious = one thinking of themselves of high importance, snobbish, elitist, etc.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I kind of like to think of TCI as being influenced by the French ghetto revolts of 2005 and 2007 (much like Situationist rhetoric being influenced by events leading up to and during Mai 68, or UATWMF being influenced by the 68 riots in the USA). I think significant portions of the French radical left were influenced by the banlieue unrest...I've read a couple pamphlets analyzing them from a French leftist perspective. They fit into the kind of quasi-nihilistic theme of TCI as in "we're not approaching a crisis, we're LIVING in it", the fact that the "Tarnac 9" were brought up on terrorism charges for their supposed sabotage plot, and the "occupy everything, demand nothing" mantra of some insurrectionary circles. As opposed to say the rebellions of 68, which were firmly in the tradition of the historic left (i.e. strikes and political demands, etc)

maybe I'm just talking out my ass, though.

[Revolutionary_Change]

I read it a little while ago (accidentally left my copy in a photocopier)
It was interesting, though I think a little too reliant on Chaos to fuel change. If people don't understand why you are sabotaging a train then doing so will only alienate them. Direct action as they describe must be carried out within a population that can contextualize it within the Class struggle. In France there already is a relatively high (compared to the United states) level of class consciousness among the population; but for the same tactics to be effective within the US they would have to be preceded and accompanied by a broader propagandist campaign.

Without context many people see sabotage as a personal inconvenience on them, rather than a political act. The target of sabotage must be understood as a symbol. Once people understand the true nature of capitalist society and their role in it, they will be able to make the connections between an act of sabotage and a strike against capitalist dominance.

[Magón]

I don't think TCI's message really connected well with American Leftists, or the American Left movement entirely, as much as it probably did with French and other European Leftist movements.

When I read it, I felt their message connected better with the Mexican Left movement (part of it anyway), more so than it did with the American.