Thoughts on "The Coming Insurrection"?

[Ritzy Cat]

I was at Barnes & Noble the other day buying my bourgeoisie history book and I came across "The Coming Insurrection" in the philosophy section. After reading through it, I want to talk about it. I don't really know where to start.

[bcbm]

well what did you think of it? any ideas or pieces that stand out in your mind?

[Ritzy Cat]

I thought it was a pretty interesting analysis to say the least. It was specific on what supposedly needed to be done to overthrow the existing order, something that is not commonly addressed.

I think the theory of the metropolis is accurate, how the division between city and country has become obsolete in a more interconnected world (through internet, highways), however I think the "communes" idea is overplayed.

As a Marxist, I have not really considered the optimal revolutionary method or style, how to go about dismantling the system. At least not in what I have read so far. Lenin makes it clear with a vanguard party, the Invisible Committee here with its "commune" idea.

I sensed a bit of anti-Leninism in this work too. For example pg 99

"Expect nothing from organizations
Beware of all existing social milieus,
and above all, don't become one."

Seems like an indirect critique of the vanguard party(unless I am misunderstanding the concept of a social or political milieu), and the resulting Communist Party later in the USSR. I'm not a Leninist myself but this work seemed a bit anarchist. It did not discuss much on what to do after society has been overthrown, more just an inflammatory work seemingly bent on destroying the society in favor of nothing: although they justify their reasoning well and I agree with what is written in most of the first few "circles"

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

On it's own it probably does come off a little out of context. I don't know if anyone has bothered to confirm it, but is assumed that it was written by members of a defunct collective named tiqqun. You can find their writings here http://tiqqun.jottit.com/ which might make the coming insurrection a little less confusing, but might also confuse you even more just because of their particular artistic writing style.

Tiqqun's conception of revolution relies heavily on communization theory and a hostility not only to vanguard parties but any kind of standing organization that even engages with the existing political establishment, aside from out and out confrontation with it either through violence and sabotage, or more high up on their priorities, desertion. There's an awful lot going on in their writings, it can just be a real struggle to get to it at times.

[exeexe]

Well what do you wanna fight? Society? Then it should be sufficient to drop a few hydrogen bombs.
But i assume you dont want to fight society, and as sun tzu said the art of war is to make the enemy surrender without fighting;)

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

No tiqqun and whoever wrote the coming insurrection definitely do want to fight society, just not necessarily with guns. Their view is that society has already begun to collapse, everyone is just so consumed by the spectacle of the collapse itself, that they just haven't noticed it yet.

[NextElement]

LOVE THE BOOK, LOVE THE MESSAGE. Just finished it, but it was what originally got me interested in Marxism. It's a great tool for our cause.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

What aspect of it's message made Marxism appealing to you?

[exeexe]

Their view is that society has already begun to collapse, everyone is just so consumed by the spectacle of the collapse itself, that they just haven't noticed it yet.
This was identified by Proudhon 150-200 years ago already lols..

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Can you provide a link? I've never taken an interest in proudhon

[BIXX]

This was identified by Proudhon 150-200 years ago already lols..

Cute your source, I don't believe you.

As usual folks, exeexe is spouting bullshit again.

[NextElement]

What aspect of it's message made Marxism appealing to you?

I've always been attracted to the idea of a commune, like the Kibbutz in Israel. And it wasn't the book itself, but it was my first real introduction to Anarcho-Marxist thinking. Beforehand I had been very right wing, and actually bought the book because I saw it on Glen Beck.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

Exeexe did pm me some links but it's not really what tiqqun is taking about. I think the problem is that tiqqun's theory defies simple explanation. They're not interested in the necessity of destroying society, or what steps might lead to it's destruction, they're interested in what possibilities are available to those who are aware that it is already over, and also how this awareness manifests itself in people who are not necessarily disposed towards revolutionary thought or action.

Even what I just wrote there doesn't sound satisfactory, it's not straight forward, but I dont think it's intended to be.

[Ritzy Cat]

On it's own it probably does come off a little out of context. I don't know if anyone has bothered to confirm it, but is assumed that it was written by members of a defunct collective named tiqqun. You can find their writings here http://tiqqun.jottit.com/ which might make the coming insurrection a little less confusing, but might also confuse you even more just because of their particular artistic writing style.

Tiqqun's conception of revolution relies heavily on communization theory and a hostility not only to vanguard parties but any kind of standing organization that even engages with the existing political establishment, aside from out and out confrontation with it either through violence and sabotage, or more high up on their priorities, desertion. There's an awful lot going on in their writings, it can just be a real struggle to get to it at times.

I thought it was supposed to have been written by the Tarnac 9 ("Terrorist" organization in France), unless, that and Tiqqun are different names for the same thing.

[Sasha]

I thought it was supposed to have been written by the Tarnac 9 ("Terrorist" organization in France), unless, that and Tiqqun are different names for the same thing.

They are, though they obviously never confirmed it as both the tiqqun and the invissible commitee texts where brought in as evidence against them.
Though a lot more dense I advise you, if you liked TCI to read tiqquns "this is not a program", "introduction to civilwar" and "theory of bloom".
If you click my tendency you are taken to a defunct usergroup meant for discussion on Tiqqun and related communisation theory groups. There are some intresting posts there.

[NextElement]

They are, though they obviously never confirmed it as both the tiqqun and the invissible commitee texts where brought in as evidence against them.
Though a lot more dense I advise you, if you liked TCI to read tiqquns "this is not a program", "introduction to civilwar" and "theory of bloom".
If you click my tendency you are taken to a defunct usergroup meant for discussion on Tiqqun and related communisation theory groups. There are some intresting posts there.

The Invisible Committee leading The Imaginary Party. I like it.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

V. Bakunin filtered through hipsters.
I actually kind of love it except for some crucial holes:

It doesn't grapple meaningfully with the ways in which class, race, and gender constitute one another and collapses them all into atomized specificities. To some degree, this seems like a kneejerk reaction to identity politics (including the reification of class itself as an identity) which, while tempting, doesn't do a very good job of explaining why, for example, indigenous people (led significantly by indigenous women) are taking up arms while settler society prays for the RCMP.

ie - It's got some real European baggage.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

The Invisible Committee leading The Imaginary Party. I like it.

They don't present themselves as leaders though, they are just conscious of being in the imaginary party while most other members are not. The party moves itself in response to the domination of daily life.

This is from http://imaginary.jottit.com/i-xi

"At this stage, domination, which feels the life trickling out of it inexorably, has gone insane, and claims a tyranny that it no longer has the means to maintain.Biopower and the Spectacle are the complementary moments corresponding to this final radicalization of the commodity aberration, which appears to be its triumph and is but a prelude to its defeat.In both cases, it’s a matter of eradicating from reality everything within it that exceeds representation.At the end, an unchained arbitrariness is attached to this ruined edifice that intends to regulate everything and annihilate as soon as possible anything that would dare to give itself an existence independent of it.We are giving ourselves one.The society of the Spectacle has become inflexible on this point: everyone must participate in the collective crime of its existence; nothing must be able to claim to remain outside of it.It can no longer tolerate the existence of that colossal abstaining segment which is the Imaginary Party.Everyone must “work,” that is, put themselves at its disposition at all times and be mobilizable.In order to achieve its ends, it makes equal use of the most brute means, such as the threat of starvation, and the most underhanded of means, such as the Young-Girl.The dusty old tune of “citizenship,” which is sung everywhere on any and every subject, expresses the dictatorship of this abstract duty of participating in a social totality which has nevertheless become autonomized.And it is thus, from the very fact of this dictatorship, that the negative party of negativity little by little becomes unified and acquires positive content.The elements of the multitude of indifferent beings, not knowing one another at all and thinking that they are part of no party, all find themselves facing a unique and central dictatorship, the dictatorship of the Spectacle - and the wage system, the commodity, nihilism, or the imperative of visibility are but partial aspects of that.It is thus domination itself that forces those who would be content with a floating existence to recognize themselves for what they are: rebels, Waldgängers"

It would be cool if actual discussions took part in the imaginary party user group. I wouldn't mind discussing tiqqun's views on gender race and class, as I think it's there, it just doesn't get much notice.