Platformism

[Lord Daedra]

Care to explain?

[Blake's Baby]

You say that like a parent telling off Arshinov and co.

What do you want, an historical explanation, a political explaination, a factional explanation?

Malatesta criticised it on the grounds that the Russian (and Ukranian, etc) Anarchists were so traumatised by Bolshevism that they had to 'Bolshevise' Anarchism.

Another way of looking at it might be as a sensible attempt by Arshinov and Makhno and others who'd been through the revolution to come up with a workable framework for the worldwide Anarchist movement.

It's not very long. Why don't you read it?

http://www.nestormakhno.info/english/newplatform/org_plat.htm

[Let's Get Free]

Platformism seeks to unite as many libertarian communist groups as possible under a shared theory and strategy (a platform) with the goal of building a mass workers' movement. It differs from Leninist partyism in that does not seek to become a mass organization itself, or lead to one. Rather, the idea is to assist progressive grassroots struggles wherever they arise.

Platformism came about when a group of Ukrainian Anarchists lead by a guy named Nestor Makhno got pissed off with the fact that the anarchist movement in russia didn't have it's shit together during the revolution, and, in many people's opinions, over-reacted to the situation by writing a rule-book on Anarchist organization with some silly ideas such as the general union of Anarchists.

There are 4 core ideas of the platformist tradition

Theoretical Unity- This doesn’t mean that everyone has to agree all the time (they won’t) but there does need to be a certain amount of ideological unity. Everyone being ‘anarchists’ or ‘libertarian’ isn’t enough. If half the group believe in class struggle while the other half don’t, then both sides would benefit from having two smaller groups rather than one big group which spent all its time arguing.

Tactical Unity- members of an organization should struggle together as an organized force rather than as individuals. Once a strategy has been agreed by the collective, all members should work towards ensuring its success saving resources and time concentrating in a common direction.

Collective Responsibility -This means that each member should take part in the collective decision-making process and respect the decisions of the collective.

Federalism- an organizational structure based on “the free agreement of individuals and organizations to work collectively towards a common objective”. All decisions are made by those effected by them as opposed to centralism, where decisions are made by a central committee for those effected by them.

There are probably other anarchists on here who can explain it better than i can

[subcp]

It's an interesting historical document. Class struggle anarchists (or 'internationalist anarchists' or 'anarchist-communists') are an important part of the greater communist movement.

It's been criticized as being too 'authoritarian' or too 'Marxist'.

[Tim Cornelis]

I believe that criticisms of "authoritarianism" and "Bolshevisation" directed at "platformism" are unfound and find their basis in semantical miscommunication and misinterpretations.

One reason I am of the platformist persuasion is that when working within a common theoretical and ideological framework, constituent groups of a federation can explore and develop tactics locally and autonomously without the need for a central coordination to ensure coherence. Leninists insist decentralisation is inefficient and thus opt for democratic centralism; while clearly this can be and often is inefficient precisely because it is centralised (counter-productive in fact in some cases where party members have to await consultation by the Central Committee before being allowed to take action, disillusioning activists).

Generally, theoretical and tactical coherence ensures a more efficient operating of an organisation, but it does have drawbacks. Identifying explicitly as anarchist communist and more (e.g. feminist) heightens the barriers to entry. Hence the need for complementary organisations that are less ideologically homogeneous. Because of high barriers to entry, platformist anarchist communist organisations are likely to remain minority organisations and their role in class struggle needs to be adjusted accordingly. It is to function as a vanguard seeking to lead mass movements and promote anarchist praxis within them.

Additionally, it's little use to be working towards a revolution with those that want to retain profits, for instance.

Of course, platformism itself does not solve much. It is one thing to have theoretical and tactical unity, it's another thing to a have proper theoretical underpinnings and strategies. Strategy and tactics need to be under constant critical scrutiny, developed, and advanced. Platformism, therefore, must not be an excuse to dismiss those questioning the organisation's positions.



There are 4 core ideas of the platformist tradition

Theoretical Unity- This doesn’t mean that everyone has to agree all the time (they won’t) but there does need to be a certain amount of ideological unity. Everyone being ‘anarchists’ or ‘libertarian’ isn’t enough. If half the group believe in class struggle while the other half don’t, then both sides would benefit from having two smaller groups rather than one big group which spent all its time arguing.

Tactical Unity- members of an organization should struggle together as an organized force rather than as individuals. Once a strategy has been agreed by the collective, all members should work towards ensuring its success saving resources and time concentrating in a common direction.

Collective Responsibility -This means that each member should take part in the collective decision-making process and respect the decisions of the collective.

Federalism- an organizational structure based on “the free agreement of individuals and organizations to work collectively towards a common objective”. All decisions are made by those effected by them as opposed to centralism, where decisions are made by a central committee for those effected by them.

This sounds awfully familiar. Are you sure you did not forget to use quotation marks?

[ckaihatsu]

[3] Ideologies & Operations -- Fundamentals

http://s6.postimage.org/cpkm723u5/3_Ideologies_Operations_Fundamentals.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/cpkm723u5/)


Ideologies & Operations -- Left Centrifugalism

http://s6.postimage.org/zc8b2rb3h/110211_Ideologies_Operations_Left_Centrifug.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/zc8b2rb3h/)


Leftism -- Want, Get

http://s6.postimage.org/r5gbb6l0t/101216_Leftism_Want_Get_aoi_04_tiff_psd.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/r5gbb6l0t/)