RAAN

[Inithias]

who's the driving force behind RAAN ?
is it just another network ? or is it really big ?
info info ... =D

Greetz,
Ini.

[bezdomni]

With those sorts of anarchist organizations, the webmaster is the unquestioned leader. :P

[Inithias]

nice one =D ;)

[Nachie]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12, 2007 06:08 pm
who's the driving force behind RAAN ?
Whoever wants to be. Originally we were considered to be "based" in California, though the two original founders were from Montana and DC. Then in 2006 people started assuming we were based in Philadelphia because a more formal crew got started there. RAAN is just whoever is the most vocal about creating it.

Socially, the driving force behind RAAN seems to be kids 15-25 years old who have not been active participants in the anarchist movement, but want there to be some sort of revolutionary organ of attack and base their assumptions about what that should look like on actions. We do not get a lot of people "joining" who were previously involved in the anarchist movement; most people who start RAAN projects are doing so from scratch, without having been in other groups before. This is important to note since it helps to explain the cultural appeal of RAAN as something other than just another activist front. RAAN are the kind of people who don't hold conferences about how to create a revolutionary network, they just pull actions in the name of one and then meet up afterwards to discuss what worked and what didn't. So it's important to recognize it as having a very different generating force than the anarchist movement in general, which is usually very caught up in having conferences about these kinds of things. There is also a heavy participation of communists who have rejected Leninism and the idea of working with Leninists.


is it just another network ?
What does "just another network" mean? What are some example of other networks for you?

RAAN is unique in various ways, particularly in the way it conceives of itself as existing only in action and the ways it has articulated this in the past. The body of literature available which documents the evolution of RAAN and the different discussions within it is actually somewhat impressive and can't be compared to any other network in operation, since those usually have a much less developed idea of what they are and how they function. RAAN has years of practice under its belt.

RAAN is also not "just" a network in the sense that networks might be limiting, for instance only serving as facilitators of communication between different autonomous cells. RAAN is a fully self-actualized front for radical struggle that develops for itself more than just means of communication, but also alternative forms of culture, organization, and history.


or is it really big ?
What's "really big"? RAAN is active in at least ten US states and three other countries (Venezuela, Australia, Canada). In this sense it is probably the biggest self-defined anti-state group in the country that is pulling both nighttime actions and public events under its name. You can of course say that CrimethInc. is bigger or has more supporters, but it's impossible to compare a publishing project like CrimethInc. with a broad-issue movement like RAAN. RAAN "membership" is impossible to determine since some people go through different levels of affiliation fluidly and there have been lots of folks who just do one action under the banner of the network but keep their other work seperate, but our best guess is that there are 50-100 people involved in regenerating RAAN at any given time. Probably only 30 or so are very active at it, though.

RAAN tries to create a cultural identity around itself that is a lot more amorphous than the idea of an "organization" with fixed "members", so it is difficult to talk about how much influence it really has.

I would suggest checking out the RAAN hub site and coming to your own conclusions. Very few people on this forum are actually involved with RAAN or have had face-to-face interactions with any of its manifestations, so it is unlikely that they can give you definite answers aside from their own perceptions and prejudices based on what they've read on these forums (some people on here are also just completely opposed to RAAN, usually because they are a Leninist or "platformist" anarchist).

In particular I suggest looking at the RAAN history of actions: http://www.redanarchist.org/history/index.html

The impact of RAAN on the anarchist movement in general in terms of its organizational challenge, positions taken on the question of Venezuela, and proposals such as the utilization of Parkour for direct action training are also hard to judge, but by all accounts is becoming more and more noticeable in terms of how many people have heard about us and use us as a recognizable point of reference, even if only to criticize us.

[Inithias]

What does "just another network" mean

Different people that "get together", like a movement, but just with groups of ppl that act in their region, but all for the same thing.

Dissent! is an example of a network.




I'm happy to read all of this ! Thanks for the information. :)
It's awesome to see that a movement is grown to something big.

If you need some help or w/e, I'll support you guys. (even though I live in BE.)

Keep up the good werk !

Greetz,
Ini.

[Nachie]

Yeah I dunno, it's hard to really track RAAN or how it's operating in any given region. Sometimes it's just people who come together for a night to do something, and sometimes it's more like fixed groups that have meetings and stuff. It can really be anything it just depends on the situation and it adapts to the situation depending on what is needed.

If you want to help, just start doing RAAN actions in Belgium! That's the only way to really spread the network. Or just start talking about us more so the information gets out there and we can have more supporters in different parts of the world. It's up to you how you want to help.

[TC]

Originally posted by [email protected] 12, 2007 06:15 pm
With those sorts of anarchist organizations, the webmaster is the unquestioned leader. :P
Exactly!



Also, it occurs to me that there have been way too many new topics started about RAAN, typically by Nachie for reasons of ego.

In the last 180 days, there have been 17 threads with the word "RAAN" or "red and anarchist action network" in the topic.

We should consolidate the RAAN topics into a single thread for silly taliRAAN announcements and dump question about taliRAAN there.

[Inithias]

that's a good one !
me me, i support ! ^^

[apathy maybe]

But for some reason Tragic, they get responses. Even if it is Nachie starting a lot of these threads, they are generating discussion. Which is after all, what this website is about isn't it?

And, should these sort of off topic comments be split and trashed? Where are the mods? Oh wait, making the off topic comments.


Slightly more on topic, for those who don't "get" RAAN, perhaps it is because you are too attached to your party, and don't want to make up your own mind on issues? "I don't know the parties position on that" is a response I have often heard from "Socialists" on various issues.

Perhaps the thought of all those people not being controlled from the centre scares you? Or the not having a single responsible body to blame for actions.

Having someone to hold accountable, is that the problem? Is that the same reason you tend to dislike Black Blocs? Or such things as the Arterial Bloc/k (who organised for the G20 protests in Melbourne last year)?

Do you like having someone to tell you what to do? Or someone who can take responsibility?

Talking about "taliRAAN" as if to try and link RAAN to the Taliban is just stupid. Yes there might be cells or groups within the network that have moralisic positions on certain issues, but that is not the whole network. That would be like condemning all communists for the actions of the Red Army Fraction/Faction or similar. It is a network, not a single organisation, it doesn't have a leader. It isn't that hard a concept to grasp surely.

[Forward Union]

These threads are often ok until a lenninist turns up, and for some reason it&#39;s one of the discussions that struggles to remain constructive. But thanks Tc, and sovietpants for helping <_< .

There has only been one other thread in this forum for quite a while regarding raan, that I had to lock. So I will leave this one open. There are some fair questions and responces, please keep sectarian bullshit out.

[chimx]

http://www.revleft.com/index.php?showtopic=63112

There is the thread LU is referring to. A lot of the questions you may have I (and others) tried to cover in that thread. Just try to ignore the trolling and derailment attempts. Feel free to message me or nachie if you have specific questions.

[KC]

Slightly more on topic, for those who don&#39;t "get" RAAN, perhaps it is because you are too attached to your party, and don&#39;t want to make up your own mind on issues? "I don&#39;t know the parties position on that" is a response I have often heard from "Socialists" on various issues.

Perhaps the thought of all those people not being controlled from the centre scares you? Or the not having a single responsible body to blame for actions.

Having someone to hold accountable, is that the problem? Is that the same reason you tend to dislike Black Blocs? Or such things as the Arterial Bloc/k (who organised for the G20 protests in Melbourne last year)?

Do you like having someone to tell you what to do? Or someone who can take responsibility?

Well, the problem with the organization of RAAN is just that; it&#39;s not organized at all. It&#39;s a group of people who work independently of one another; RAAN really has no aims, it has no organizational cohesion and because of that it won&#39;t lead anywhere. It&#39;s really just a name that people support by tagging it everywhere. It&#39;s stupid.

[chimx]

RAAN doesn&#39;t have a goal of being the end-all be-all of anti-capitalist organization. I would prefer to think that it is simply one of many tools people can utilize as they see fit. As I mentioned in the other thread, the organizational model is somewhat similar to the ELF or ALF. Neither groups are the totality of environmentalism or animal liberation, nor do they assume to be. They are just part of the puzzle. The only distinction RAAN takes from these groups is that by having both clandestine and non-clandestine activity, it also maintains a non-secretive open presence that other RAAN affiliates can use for purposes of mutual aid.

[Inithias]

I don&#39;t think it&#39;s so stupid. After all, if ppl see RAAN tagged all over the place, they&#39;ll maybe look it up on the I-net.
Maybe by tagging the shit out of all those walls, we and RAAN will get more ppl on our side.

Greetz,
Ini.

[apathy maybe]

Originally posted by Zampanò@March 14, 2007 05:04 pm
Well, the problem with the organization of RAAN is just that; it&#39;s not organized at all. It&#39;s a group of people who work independently of one another; RAAN really has no aims, it has no organizational cohesion and because of that it won&#39;t lead anywhere. It&#39;s really just a name that people support by tagging it everywhere. It&#39;s stupid.
Which is the whole point&#33; RAAN isn&#39;t meant to be an organisation to provide direction for specific campaigns&#33;

It is basically an umbrella organisation, though with membership rules that are a lot less strict.

You may claim that it won&#39;t move anywhere, but it has already united many non-authoritarian Marxists and anarchists. Shown them that they actually have a lot in common.

So while you may claim it is stupid, I disagree. Groups affiliated with RAAN have done stuff, some of which they might not have done without the RAAN tag.

Besides, it is better then selling newspapers.


(And of course a disclaimer. I am not in RAAN, have not thought about "joining" and probably will not in the future. I just find the idea really interesting and radical (for the left). "No megaphones, no dogma, fuck the old left order&#33;")

[The Grey Blur]

Besides, it is better then selling newspapers.
Not to mention running workshops, educating people, propagating socialism in our everyday activities, leafletting, picketing, film screenings, union work, participating in anti-privatisation campaigns, defending workers rights, anti-war activity, environmental activity, organising socials, international coordination, running in elections, creating debate, arguing with capitalists, tagging, student organisation, community work, postering, stalls and millions of other activities besides...like having fun while we&#39;re doing it.


It is basically an umbrella organisation, though with membership rules that are a lot less strict
I&#39;m an RAAN member.

Oh wait, no I&#39;m not.

Hmm wait I am...

No stopped now, didn&#39;t really feel like it.

I know; maybe I&#39;ll go attack some real Commies&#33;

:rolleyes:

[Fawkes]

Not to mention running workshops, educating people, propagating socialism in our everyday activities, leafletting, picketing, film screenings, union work, participating in anti-privatisation campaigns, defending workers rights, anti-war activity, environmental activity, organising socials, international coordination, running in elections, creating debate, arguing with capitalists, tagging, student organisation, community work, postering, stalls and millions of other activities besides...like having fun while we&#39;re doing it.
As far as I know, with the exception of running in elections, RAAN members or affiliates have taken part in all the things you have listed. Also, the second part of your post is exactly what LU and apathy were referring to and is entirely useless to this discussion.

[OneBrickOneVoice]

Originally posted by Permanent [email protected] 15, 2007 09:13 pm
I&#39;m an RAAN member.

Oh wait, no I&#39;m not.

Hmm wait I am...

No stopped now, didn&#39;t really feel like it.

I know; maybe I&#39;ll go attack some real Commies&#33;

:rolleyes:
members of any communist organizations should not make it apparent unless they are spokespersons or writers. Imagine how easy it would be for pigs if they had a list of everyone in an organization

[Fawkes]

I&#39;m an RAAN member.

Oh wait, no I&#39;m not.

Hmm wait I am...

No stopped now, didn&#39;t really feel like it.
Your idea of a "real" communist organization is one that people are bound to and are unable to leave at will?

[OneBrickOneVoice]

Originally posted by [email protected] 15, 2007 11:29 pm

I&#39;m an RAAN member.

Oh wait, no I&#39;m not.

Hmm wait I am...

No stopped now, didn&#39;t really feel like it.
Your idea of a "real" communist organization is one that people are bound to and are unable to leave at will?
No I think the point he&#39;s trying to make, further than a joke, is that without a solid core of some kind the party can just be blown away in the wind.

[Inithias]

i think it&#39;s maybe a good thing that RAAN doesn&#39;t have a real "core" organisation

if someboy&#39;s trying to fuck RAAN up, it wouldn&#39;t work as good, cause RAAN has groups of ppl everywhere

[bezdomni]

I am a Marxist-Leninist RAAN member, and there is nothing they can do about it&#33;

[KC]

i think it&#39;s maybe a good thing that RAAN doesn&#39;t have a real "core" organisation

if someboy&#39;s trying to fuck RAAN up, it wouldn&#39;t work as good, cause RAAN has groups of ppl everywhere

Uh, it would be hard to "fuck up" because there&#39;s nothing to fuck up. RAAN is a name. That&#39;s it.

[Forward Union]

Ok we&#39;re moving slightly away from a productive discussion here...

[Inithias]

Uh, it would be hard to "fuck up" because there&#39;s nothing to fuck up. RAAN is a name. That&#39;s it.

I meant if they would lock ppl up that tag the name around &#39;n stuff