![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/08/16/1.jpg\")
The Deutsch version of the “Democracy Means…” poster series in action at a demonstration in Germany.
\nWorking with comrades in Sweden, we have prepared Swedish versions of our classic poster series, What Does Democracy Mean?. We’ve also added a new poster in English, “Democracy Means Bureaucracy.” With elections coming up in Sweden on September 9 and in the United States in November, we hope these posters can help to undermine the popular assumption that democracy is the solution for all of the problems it causes, and propose an alternative approach based in horizontality, decentralization, and direct action. For more on the anarchist critique of democracy, consult our book, From Democracy to Freedom.
\n\nBroadly speaking, democracy and capitalism were stabilized throughout the 20th century via the progressive inclusion of populations that had previously been excluded from the privileges of voting and property ownership. This began with women’s suffrage and the Fordist compromise, continued through desegregation and the end of the European colonial empires, and concluded with the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Since then, almost the entire world has been integrated into neoliberalism, an economic system premised on the ceaseless concentration of capital in fewer and fewer hands at the top, and a race to the bottom for wage-earners. Now that it is a worldwide system, there are fewer opportunities to draw in resources with which to continue expanding the pyramid scheme.
\n\nBetween ecological catastrophe and growing inequality, the average participants in globalized capitalism no longer have cause to expect an ever-improving quality of life. State governments are dismantling the programs that once served to offset the vicissitudes of the market, feeding every resource into the fire in order to keep their economies competitive as the crisis accelerates. Contemporary democratic governments preside over an increasingly invasive security apparatus intended to preserve order at any price.
\n\nIn 2010-2014, a wave of movements around the world proposed to solve these problems with a more participatory democratic model. Yet those movements ended in new dictatorships in Egypt and elsewhere in the global South, while they were reabsorbed into representational politics in Europe and the United States—most notably in the cases of Syriza and Podemos. As these efforts reached their limits, a new generation of far-right and outright fascist politicians used the democratic process to gain power: Golden Dawn in Greece, Donald Trump in the United States, Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, the Lega Nord in Italy, and the Swedish Democrats in Sweden.
\n\nIn much of the world, faith in democracy is collapsing. The New York Times reports that in 2017, only 18 percent of Mexicans surveyed said they were satisfied with democracy—a sentiment reflected around much of Latin America. Those who understood democracy as promising liberty, equality, and universal fellowship are discovering that representational politics serves to maintain the old concentrations of power. In this regard, it is a lot like capitalism: it rotates the figures that appear at the apex of power while rendering inequality itself structural and permanent.
\n\nDissatisfaction with democracy will not necessarily produce more inclusive or liberating alternatives. Aiming to preserve the status of traditionally privileged demographics as neoliberalism generates new instability, various nationalists and authoritarians are proposing new criteria for exclusion from political participation, including citizenship, religion, ethnicity, and gender. All of these already have a longstanding history as dividing lines in previous iterations of democracy.
\n\nNarrowing down the number of people who are granted rights and privileges within the prevailing order will undermine all the mechanisms that stabilized capitalism and democracy up to this point. This will almost certainly generate new revolts. The question is whether these revolts can coalesce around new models of decision-making and power relations that do not consolidate control in the hands of the few.
\n\nIt’s up to us to show how capitalism and democracy have failed to deliver the dignity and self-determination their proponents promised and to propose alternative ways of organizing our lives, lest we leave the field of critique to proponents of even more authoritarian systems.
\n\n The Deutsch version of the “Democracy Means…” poster series in action at a demonstration in Germany.
\nFor an academic study of the anarchist critique of democracy, we recommend Markus Lundström’s Anarchist Critique of Radical Democracy: The Impossible Argument.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/08/16/anarchist-critique-of-radical-democracy-the-impossible-argument_front_black_and_white.jpg\")
Click the image above to access the PDF
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/posters/democracy-means-bureaucracy/democracy-means-bureaucracy_front_black_and_white.jpg\")
Click the image above to access the PDF
\nOur forebears overthrew kings and dictators, but they didn’t abolish the institutions by which kings and dictators ruled: they democratized them. Yet whoever operates these institutions—whether it’s a king, a president, or an electorate—the experience on the receiving end is roughly the same. Laws, police, and bureaucracy came before democracy; they function the same way in a democracy as they do in a dictatorship. The only difference is that, because we can cast ballots about how they should be applied, we’re supposed to regard them as ours even when they’re used against us.
\n\nThe more people are governed by a given democratic system, the fewer can actively participate in the decision-making. To function on a mass scale, democracy requires formal processes, protocol, credentials, and so many levels of representation as to effectively exclude most people. The result is a tremendous expenditure of resources—caucuses, conventions, forums, registration, paperwork, lobbying, electoral campaigns—just to maintain the façade of public participation.
\n\nWithout all this red tape, there would be anarchy: we would participate directly in the decisions that shape our lives. Instead of petitioning the authorities or waiting on the arbitrary edicts of government agencies, we could experiment with solving our problems together on our own terms.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/08/16/demokrati-betyder-byrakrati_front_black_and_white.jpg\")
Demokrati Betyder Byråkrati.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/08/16/demokrati-betyder-fangelser_front_black_and_white.jpg\")
Demokrati Betyder Fängelser.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/08/16/demokrati-betyder-granser_front_black_and_white.jpg\")
Demokrati Betyder Gränser.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/08/16/demokrati-betyder-krig_front_black_and_white.jpg\")
Demokrati Betyder Krig.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/08/16/demokrati-betyder-overvakning_front_black_and_white.jpg\")
Demokrati Betyder Övervakning.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/08/16/demokrati-betyder-polis_front_black_and_white.jpg\")
Demokrati Betyder Polis.
\nThis June, CrimethInc. operatives will be traveling throughout Sweden and Finland presenting on our book, From Democracy to Freedom, and comparing notes with Scandinavian anarchists, anti-fascists, and rebels about resistance to tyranny around the world. We will be visiting the book fairs in Stockholm and Malmö and nearly a dozen other towns. Please join us at one of these events!
\n\nIf you are interested in hosting a CrimethInc. presentation in your town, university, or elsewhere, contact us: rollingthunder@crimethinc.com.
\n\nWe will be presenting on From Democracy to Freedom at Stockholm’s day-long Anarchist Book Fair alongside many other speakers and publishers.
\n\nDemocracy is the most universal political ideal of our day. George Bush invoked it to justify invading Iraq; Obama congratulated the rebels of Tahrir Square for bringing it to Egypt; Occupy Wall Street claimed to have distilled its pure form. From the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the autonomous region of Rojava, practically every government and popular movement calls itself democratic.
\n\nAnd yet it was democracy that brought Donald Trump to power, not to mention Adolf Hitler.
\n\nWhat is democracy, precisely? How can we defend ourselves against democratically-elected tyrants? Is there a difference between government and self-determination, and are there other ways to describe what we are doing together when we make decisions? Drawing on From Democracy to Freedom, the latest book from the CrimethInc. collective, we will explore these questions and more. Join us for a lively discussion!
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2018/06/01/1.jpg\")
\nAnarchist Resistance in the Trump Era // Trumpin aikakauden aktivismi Yhdysvalloissa
\n\n7 pm, here.
\n\nHow did Trump come to power, and what does his rise tell us about this era? What strategies are anarchists in the USA using to counter Trump’s agenda and the rise of grassroots nationalism?
\n\nFraming Trump’s Presidency in a global context, we will discuss the new conditions for social struggle and explore the approaches to self-organization and self-defense that anarchists have employed in the United States since the end of 2016.
\n\nMiten Trump pääsi valtaan ja mitä se kertoo aikakaudesta, johon olemme matkalla? Mitä strategioita anarkistit Yhdysvalloissa käyttävät torjuakseen Trumpin agendaa ja ruohonjuuritason nationalismin nousua? Pohdimme valtakautta globaalissa kontekstissa ja keskustelemme uusista olosuhteista yhteiskunnalliselle kamppailulle, sekä tutkailemme itseorganisoinnin ja itsepuolustuksen tapoja, joita anarkistit ovat Yhdysvalloissa hyödyntäneet vuodesta 2016 lähtien.
\n\nAnarchist Resistance in the Trump Era // Anarkistinen vastarinta Trumpin aikakaudella
\n\n6 pm, here
\n\nFrom Democracy to Freedom
\n\n5 pm at Kirjastotalo Metso, Pirkankatu 2, 33210 Tampere, Finland
\n\nDemokratiasta vapauteen - Valtiovallan ja itsemääräämisoikeuden eroista
\n\nDemokratiasta on tullut aikamme universaalein poliittinen ideaali. George Bush vetosi siihen oikeuttaessaan hyökkäystä Irakiin, Obama onnitteli Tahrir aukion kapinallisia sen tuomisesta Egyptiin ja Occupy Wall Street julisti löytäneensä sen puhtaimman muodon. \nKäytännössä jokainen hallitus ja kansanliike kutsuu itseään demokraattiseksi aina Pohjois Korean Demokraattisesta Kansantasavallasta Rojavan autonomiseen alueeseen.
\n\nMutta mitä demokratia tarkkaan ottaen on? Onko olemassa jokin yhdistävä tekijä näiden erilaisten demokraattisuuden ilmausten välillä? Ja pystyykö yksikään niistä täyttämään lupauksensa? Tällä luennolla lähestytään demokratian käsitystä kriittisestä näkökulmasta, ja tarkastellaan kuinka demokraattiset diskurssit ovat palvelleet viimeaikaisia yhteiskunnallisia liikkeitä Yhdysvalloissa, Espanjassa, Kreikassa, Bosniassa, Sloveniassa ja muualla ympäri maailmaa. Luennolla pohditaan myös sitä, mitä tarkoittaisi, jos vapautta tavoiteltaisiin pikemmin suoraan kuin demokraattisen hallinnon kautta.
\n\nLuento pohjautuu Crimethincin kirjaan, joka on syntynyt vuosien kansainvälisen keskustelun tuloksena, jossa on ollut mukana eri yhteiskunnallisiin liikkeisiin ympäri maailman osallistuneita henkilöitä. Sen ytimessä on kysymys siitä, mitä me oikeastaan olemme tekemässä, kun teemme päätöksiä yhdessä.
\n\nLuennon kieli on englanti.
\n\nAiheesta lisää Crimethincin sivuilla
\n\nSuomennettu kappale From Democracy To Freedom - kirjasta
\n\nCrimethincin demokratiakritiiksitä kiinnostuneet voivat myös lukea vanhemman suomennetun tekstin “Puoluejuhlat on ohi: Politiikan ja demokratian tuolle puolen”
\n\nAnarchist Resistance in the Trump Era // Anarkistinen vastarinta Trumpin aikakaudella
\n\n\n\nWe will present on From Democracy to Freedom in Boden, then Resistance in the Trump Era in Luleå.
\n\nFrom Democracy to Freedom
\n\nFrom Democracy to Freedom
\n\nJoe Hill gården (Joe Hill’s childhood home), 5 pm.
\n\nFrom Democracy to Freedom
\n\nUngdomens Hus, Svartbäcksg. 32, at 6 pm
\n\nFrom Democracy to Freedom
\n\nNyköpings LS av SAC, 7 pm.
\n\nFrom Democracy to Freedom
\n\nSyndikalistiska Forum, Övre Husargatan 27, 5 pm
\n\nWe will conclude with a presentation of From Democracy to Freedom at the Malmö Anarchist Book Fair.
\n\n" }, { "id": "https://crimethinc.com/2017/10/12/blocking-the-nazi-march-in-gothenburg-using-every-tool-in-the-toolbox-against-fascism", "url": "https://crimethinc.com/2017/10/12/blocking-the-nazi-march-in-gothenburg-using-every-tool-in-the-toolbox-against-fascism", "title": "Blocking the Nazi March in Gothenburg : Using Every Tool in the Toolbox against Fascism", "summary": "On September 30, over 10,000 demonstrators came together to block hundreds of neo-Nazis from marching through Gothenburg. This account from participants details what happened.", "image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/header.jpg", "banner_image": "https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/header.jpg", "date_published": "2017-10-12T17:13:00Z", "date_modified": "2024-09-10T03:55:35Z", "tags": [ "fascism", "Sweden", "Gothenburg", "antifascism" ], "content_html": "On September 30, several hundred fascists participated in a march in Gothenburg called for by the Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR), a neo-Nazi organization that openly professes the doctrines of Adolf Hitler. Over the past year, members of the NMR have bombed several refugee homes and a left-wing bookstore in Gothenburg, while members of the Finnish branch of NMR murdered a passer-by at a demonstration in Helsinki. In Gothenburg, over 10,000 counter-demonstrators utilized a diversity of tactics to block the NMR march from reaching its starting point; although the police were the ones who physically stopped them, previous precedents show that the police will support and protect the neo-Nazis unless forced to do otherwise by grassroots anti-fascist momentum. It should give us pause that neo-Nazis in a country as small as Sweden could produce a rally on the scale of the one that fascists organized in Charlottesville last August. Here, we present an account from one of the many groups that participated in the counter-demonstration.
\n\nThe following report was authored by Andreas of the group “Inte rasist men…” You can find an extensive photo gallery of the aspiring murderers and bullies who participated in the Nazi rally here. You can read a report from Anti-Fascist Action here. For a Swedish take on why it is a mistake to rely on police to keep fascists in check, read this.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/6.jpg\")
Police barricades holding back anti-fascists.
\nOn September 30, the openly fascist Nordic Resistance Movement (NMR) intended to march in Gothenburg. This date was not chosen by chance. They chose it as a result of the year-long debate about far-right publication Nya Tiders’ (New Times) right to attend the annual book fair taking place in Gothenburg at the same time—and also because it was Yom Kippur. NMR has well-documented ties to Nya Tider; like others on the far right, they claim that modern literature and media are to blame for the supposed downfall of Western Civilization. Add to this the media exposure from Nazis marching outside the book fair and the opportunity to disrupt one of the most sacred Jewish holidays and you can see why this date was attractive to the NMR.
\n\nOn the day of the march, more than 10,000 antifascist counter-demonstrators filled the streets of Gothenburg to await the arrival of the Nazis. Among them, a small group of around 50 people, dressed up like members of the Rebel Alliance from Star Wars, clearly stood out. This group was coordinated by the non-profit anti-racist activist and research collective “Inte rasist, men…” (“Not racist, but…”), or IRM, of which I am a member. The plan for the day was to ridicule the Nazis by marching parallel to them and blasting the Imperial March on a huge portable loudspeaker while dressed up like Jedi, X-wing pilots, C3PO, Yoda, and Princess Leia. We sent a box of Darth Vader masks to one of the Nazi leaders before the event, sarcastically inviting them to join our “Star Wars LARP.” Fortunately, we could not execute this plan, as the Nazis were blocked, beaten by police, and had their leader arrested. They didn’t even make it to their planned starting point.
\n\n[[
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/9.jpg\")
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/10.jpg\")
Inte rasist men… on September 30.
\nIRM is a group of eight people and consists of researchers, writers, podcasters, techies, and even a cartoonist. Over our five-year existence, we have amassed a fairly big following, some of who volunteer with us, and we have become something of a household name in Sweden. Our work consists chiefly of researching and exposing the racism, sexism, and homophobia of politicians belonging to the racist Sweden Democrats (SD) party. We estimate that our work has helped remove at least 200 SD politicians from their positions. Of course, in a party like the SD, there’s always another racist waiting to step up.
\n\nOver the last couple of years, we’ve also ventured into street activism, which has led to us taking on a larger part of the Swedish extreme-right movement. For example, when NMR marched in the Swedish city of Falun on May 1, we borrowed the German “Right against Right” concept by donating money to an anti-fascist charity based on the distance the Nazis walked. On the day of the march, our activists lined up by side of the planned route, holding signs with messages like “Nazis against Nazis,” “A small step for a Nazi, a big step for humanity,” and “You march, we donate.” The Nazis were not amused. On another occasion, we succeeded in planting a sign with our logo right behind the party leader of the Sweden Democrats while he was being interviewed during the annual Swedish politicians week, so that every single picture of him in the media also contained our logo.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/4.jpg\")
Neo-Nazis in Gothenburg on September 30.
\nFrom the start, our strategy has been aimed at humor and exposure. Our internal motto is “Make racism awkward again.” We have also made an effort to be inclusive, as we feel that a broad anti-racist movement which transcends the traditional right/left boundaries of Swedish party politics is needed to counter the momentum of racist and fascist groups in Sweden. The Sweden Democrats have been growing steadily for ten years. According to some polls, they are now the second biggest party in Sweden, a worrying development. This has resulted in a creeping and hard-to-notice normalization of racist and fascist rhetoric and ideas, which has pushed the bar for what is acceptable and enabled organizations like NMR and Nya Tider to grow. We want to push back, and we feel that the best way to accomplish that is to address the root cause by exposing the SD for what they really are.
\n\nLeading up to September 30, NMR had been negotiating with the police. Their initial request for the march route was denied: they wanted to march through the city center, past the book fair and a synagogue. They were given a shorter and less central route. The Gothenburg city office stepped in and shortened the route even more, so that they were only permitted to walk a few blocks some distance from the city center and the synagogue and book fair.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/2.jpg\")
The terrain.
\nTwo weeks before September 30, 50 people from the NMR appeared unannounced in the Gothenburg city center, marched down the parade street, and gave a few speeches in a city square. The police, who had been tipped off about the action a few days earlier but claimed to have “misplaced” the information, gave the Nazis a police escort. When the news spread, anti-fascists rushed downtown and you could soon hear chants of “Alerta, alerta antifascista!” in the streets. The Nazis were gone by then. To many, this march was a worrying display of their power.
\n\nAfterwards, police officials defended the right of Nazis to march without a permit, made it clear that they would not attempt to identify the organizers of the march despite having filed a criminal report, and denied that the Nazis were engaging in hate crimes such as “agitation against an ethnic group.” This is indicative of where the police stand in regard to fascist organizing in Sweden.
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/3.jpg\")
The neo-Nazi promotional march in mid-September.
\nOn September 30, IRM met up with our participants, went over our strategy for the day, and then found a good spot to start our little parade. At the same time, the NMR assembled in the parking lot of a supermarket a few kilometers outside of town. They began to walk towards their designated starting point, accompanied by journalists and police.
\n\nThen the news came in that the Nazis had attempted to depart from their permitted route to aim for the city center. In response, the police pushed them into a corner near another supermarket and formed a ring around them. When people on the streets of Gothenburg heard about this, they headed for the spot where the Nazis were being delayed and managed to completely block the streets leading into the city from there. This gave the police no option but to hold the Nazis there for the time period that their demonstration permit allowed, then let them make the humiliating walk back to their assembly point. As one Swedish journalist put it, “What was going to be the biggest Nazi march since World War II ended up being a humiliating walk between two supermarkets.”
\n\nSwedish police attacking anti-fascist demonstrators on September 30.
\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/5.jpg\")
A smoke bomb thrown by counter-demonstrators.
\nWhile we were a little disappointed that our Nazi-trolling plan could not be fulfilled, we took our group and walked around the city center, much to the amusement of our fellow counter-demonstrators, who spontaneously burst into applause when we arrived. All in all, it was a glorious day. Gothenburg showed that there is no room for Nazis on our streets.
\n\nWe considered it especially important that a large number of the activists who joined us to protest the Nazis were first-timers. They were a diverse range of people from teenagers to a grey-haired old lady, none of whom had experience taking to the streets. It was encouraging that they chose to join us in this demonstration, against the most violent Nazi organization Sweden has ever seen. We also received countless messages on social media cheering us on and asking when our next activity will be so that others can join in. We feel that this is how anti-fascism should work: it should be a broad movement of all ages, sexes, and religions, coming together to fight, regardless of political affiliations or preferred methods.
\n\nWe hope that this text can be an inspiration for others to start their own anti-racist or anti-fascist organizations, or to broaden the scopes and approaches of existing ones. The rise of racism and fascism is global, and we need to share ideas and work together to overcome it. No pasarán!
\n\n![](\"https://cdn.crimethinc.com/assets/articles/2017/10/12/7.jpg\")
\n