#diversityoftactics — Public Fediverse posts

#MartinSostre #ArmedStruggle #fascism #DiversityOfTactics

"One might not guess it from its title, but Martin Sostre’s essay, 'Armed Struggle: Natural Response to Fascism,' is a nuanced, careful, and eloquent consideration of political strategy in the context of repressive, totalitarian rule. Published in 1975 in the magazine 'Black Flag: Organ of the Anarchist Black Cross', Sostre’s essay is partly a response to leftist critiques of the strategies of the controversial Symbionese Liberation Army, or SLA, whose acts of assassination, kidnapping, and armed-robbery were often deemed vanguardist, tactically-ill thought, and politically disastrous. Yet Sostre reads the theoretical manifesto of the SLA against the real-world political conditions in the United States, where in the 1970s, just as now, a set of 'repressive fascist measures' were being implemented—from restoration of the death penalty to a system of total surveillance to 'infiltration, frame-ups, assassinations, brutalisations, de-humanisations, behaviour modification, and genocide.'

In this light, Sostre asks, what should the popular response to fascism look like? If the political rhetoric of fascism is white supremacy and its primal political program is violence, can it only be challenged via appeals to humanity, calls for reform, or prayers for peace, democracy, and non-violence? Sostre is also clear, however, that the fight against fascism demands not a single strategy, but a range of strategies: the anti-fascist response must be 'multi-dimensional,' 'complex,' and able to meet people where they are."

https://www.blackagendareport.com/essay-armed-struggle-natural-response-fascism-martin-sostre-1975