http://www.azzellini.net  -  facebook: Dario Azzellini

6/2018, Dario Azzellini's newsletter in English  
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0. Before - Presidential elections in Venezuela

1. New Books (English, Spanish, German): 

"The Class Strikes Back. Self-Organised Workers’ Struggles in the Twenty-First Century," BRILL, January 2018

"Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela. Building 21st Century Socialism from Below," paperback by Haymarket, January 2018.

"Poder Obrero. Autogestión y control obrero desde La Comuna hasta el presente," Oveja Roja, Octubre 2017

"Vom Protest zum sozialen Prozess. Betriebsbesetzungen und Arbeiten in Selbstverwaltung". VSA: Verlag, eine Flugschrift. Hamburg. März, 2018.

2. Academic articles: Book chapters and journal articles (English, Spanish, Portuguese)

3. Videos/Audios (Italian, Greek, Spanisch with English subtitles / German)

4. Interviews and press articles (English, Spanish, Catalan, French, German)

5. Reviews (Spanish)

6. Events 

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0. Before

Hello!

Presidential elections in Venezuela, May 20, 2018

The first preliminary results announced by the National Electoral Council in Venezuela establish President Nicolás Maduro as the clear winner of the presidential elections with 68% of the votes and an electoral participation between 46 and 48%. Maduro received 5,823,728 votes. The main opposition candidate Henri Falcón gathered 21%, 1,820,552 votes, the evangelical opposition candidate Javier Bertucci 925,042 votes and the candidate of the left Trotskyist opposition Reinaldo Quijada received 34,614 votes.

Having organized presidential elections in the midst of the disastrous economic and social situation that exists and in the midst of international threats and pressures is already a success.

In addition, contrasting the international media propaganda, remember that: 

- The electoral process is a result of and was carried out as it had been agreed between the government and the opposition several months ago in the Dominican Republic. A negotiated agreement which - after pressures and / or promises from the US – the opposition suddenly refused to sign on the day the signature was due.

- The Venezuelan electoral system is very safe and reliable. The electronic vote is confirmed with a printed ballot and the results of the electronic count can be ascertained by counting the printed ballots. Maduro announced on Sunday night that there will be manual recount of 100% of the votes.

- It is not true that Venezuela did not admit international observers. In fact, Venezuela asked the United Nations and the European Union to send observers. The two refused. There are several hundred international observers in Venezuela, including the former president of the Spanish State, Zapatero, who surely is not a friend of the government or the process.

Opposition candidates Falcón and Bertucci immediately declared not to recognize the electoral result. This is no surprise. After all elections over the past two decades the opposition refused to recognize the results every when it lost the election. Falcón reported 900 alleged cases of electoral irregularities. The majority in reference to the so-called red spots, awnings mounted by party activists to mobilize citizens to electoral participation. The accusation is quite weak, not to say absurd since the vote is secret and there is no way to find out who the voters have voted for. Beyond the fact that they have existed during the last two decades on the Chavista side as well as run by the opposition. In addition, according to the reports of observers, the red points were at least 200 meters from the polling stations, as stipulated by law.

The opposition was affected by calls for abstention from the most radical sectors. Although during the last months more and more of its leaders had joined to support Henri Falcón. In the presidential elections of 2013 the participation had been 79.68%. In fact, in the popular urban areas and in the rural areas, long queues were formed in front of the electoral centers, similar to previous elections, while in the middle and upper-class areas there was little influx to the polls. Although there was also an electoral abstention on the part of disillusioned Chavistas. But looking at the results with an electoral turnout of 66%, 4 million more votes, and assuming (unrealistically) that the four million would have voted for Falcón, the winner would still have been Maduro.

However, the vast majority of grassroots activists I know in Venezuela went out to vote for Maduro, although they have strong criticisms of government policy or even strong conflicts (such as the El Maizal commune). Who disqualifies the electoral result, who does not understand it, does not understand Venezuela. With all the errors and deviations that the Maduro government committed, most of the rank and file see in the persistence of this government the only possibility of being able to continue fighting and building their projects from below. Yes, they have to struggle hard and get into severe conflicts with the institutions and with the bureaucracy, they are disillusioned by the corruption in many institutions ... but they can still continue to fight and they can build their projects from below. With any other government formed by the opposition forces that possibility would disappear.

Now what?

The international right, the US and the EU will intensify the attacks and sanctions. And although Maduro's electoral victory is an important political victory at a national and international level, it will not solve Venezuela's problems. Venezuela is undoubtedly experiencing its worst crisis in recent decades. Inflation is dramatic, there are serious difficulties to obtain necessary medicines, to get food, many poor people have to stand in long lines, look in different places and pay high prices to speculators (unless they live in the east of Caracas, Lechería and other neighborhoods of upper middle class where you can get everything). Many Venezuelans leave the country in search of better conditions. There is no denying that the government has made serious mistakes in its financial and economic policy and is also partly responsible for the situation in the country. There is no longer a socialist project. The centrality of oil has reproduced the bureaucratic, centralist, clientelist and corrupt structures as it did in the past. Bolivarian Venezuela has not managed to avoid this phenomenon. In addition, there is a lack of clarity about the measures that the government takes (something that Chávez always managed to communicate very well). There is distrust on the part of the rank and file that the government knows how to face the crisis. Corruption remains a huge problem and authoritarianism has increased. There are many criticisms, also open, to the policies of the government by the rank and file and even political leaders of the PSUV and even more of other parties that support the government. The crisis has destroyed much of the social progress achieved. Inequality has increased massively. There are worrying openings to international capital. 

There is also a struggle between different powers in Venezuela. That has been very evident in the case of the peasants. During the last year, and especially during the last months, several land occupations by peasant movements, and also lands legally adjudicated to peasant movements have been attacked and evicted by local and regional police, covered by institutions and local and regional judges who collaborate with the big land owners. On April 10, Maduro has finally responded to the demands of the peasant movements. He asked the National Constituent Assembly to open an investigation and inform in 15 days of the evictions that the peasant movement has lived in recent months. At the same time, he prohibited the evictions of peasant movements, warning that "the one who accomplish an eviction will be hit by the full weight of the law", and Maduro also handed over of 44,000 hectares of land to peasant movements.

The construction of socialism is a long process from below, during which it is necessary to force institutions to respond and to keep up with popular struggles.

Despite the current crisis caused by the collapse of oil prices, the international siege against Venezuela, the violent attacks of the opposition, the economic war of private entrepreneurs, mafias and financial institutions, and also the mistakes of the government in economic and financial matter, there is still alive a broad net of alternative popular construction that we must not lose sight of since that is where the new Venezuela is born. And it is this Venezuela that must be defended, because this is the Venezuela that they want to destroy just because it is a source of hope, of the possibility that creating another world is necessary and possible.

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If you are interested in reviewing any of my new books (see 1), please send me a mail with your address and where you want to review the book (the publishers want to know). I will then contact the publishers and let them know.

Best,

Dario

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1. New Books (English, Spanish, German):

Dario Azzellini and Michael G. Kraft (Eds.): The Class Strikes Back. Self-Organised Workers’ Struggles in the Twenty-First Century. BRILL, January 2018.

ISBN: 9789004291461 / E-ISBN: 9789004291478

Price: Hardback: EU 120 / USD 139 - E-book: EU 109 / USD 126

Serie: Historical Materialism Book Series, volume 150. Pages, Illust.:xii, 321pp. 

"The Class Strikes Back" examines a number of radical, twenty-first-century workers’ struggles. These struggles are characterised by a different kind of unionism and solidarity, arising out of new kinds of labour conditions and responsive to new kinds of social and economic marginalisation. The essays in the collection demonstrate the dramatic growth of syndicalist and autonomist formations and argue for their historical necessity. They show how workers seek to form and join democratic and independent unions that are fundamentally opposed to bureaucratic leadership, compromise, and concessions.

Specific case studies dealing with both the Global South and Global North assess the context of local histories and the spatially and temporally located balance of power, while embedding the struggle in a broader picture of resistance and the fight for emancipation.

http://www.brill.com/products/book/class-strikes-back

http://www.azzellini.net/en/buecher-von-dario-azzellini/class-strikes-back

Radio interview in German with Dario Azzellini on The Class Strikes Back:

https://www.freie-radios.net/86197

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Dario Azzellini: Communes and Workers' Control in Venezuela. Building 21st Century Socialism from Below

Paperback by haymarketbooks, January 2018, pages: 266, $28

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Poder Obrero. Autogestión y control obrero desde La Comuna hasta el presente. OVEJA ROJA, 584 pgs.

Traducción al español de "Ours To Master and To Own: Workers Control From the Commune to the Present"

PVP: 22,50 €  ISBN: 978-84-16227-15-0   

Desde los albores de la era industrial, la mejor arma de lxs trabajadorxs en la defensa de sus intereses ha sido la acción colectiva. Gracias a ella, a lo largo del último siglo y medio y en prácticamente toda la geografía del planeta se han repetido experiencias de ocupación de fábricas, constitución de consejos obreros y democratización de los centros de trabajo. A lo largo de este volumen documentaremos algunas de ellas. Expondremos primero el debate teórico que las ha acompañado para sumergirnos enseguida en luchas desarrolladas tanto en sociedades capitalistas como bajo formas de socialismo de Estado. Desde finales del XIX hasta principios del s. XXI recorreremos diferentes manifestaciones de un movimiento que tiene una inagotable potencialidad política para nuestro presente.

http://www.azzellini.net/node/3022

http://www.laovejaroja.es/poderobrero.htm

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Dario Azzellini: "Vom Protest zum sozialen Prozess. Betriebsbesetzungen und Arbeiten in Selbstverwaltung". VSA-Verlag, eine Flugschrift. Hamburg. 

Veröffentlicht im April 2018 / EUR 12.80

www.vsa-verlag.de-Azzelini-Vom-Protest-zum-sozialen-Prozess.pdf

Betriebsbesetzungen mit dem Ziel der Produktion in Selbstverwaltung sind seit der Jahrtausend­wende aus Lateinamerika, vor allem aus Argentinien, bekannt. Im Laufe der aktuellen Krise haben Beschäftigte auch in Europa und Nordamerika erfolgreich Besetzungen von Betrieben durchgeführt, die von der Schließung bedroht waren. Sie zeigen nicht nur auf, wie in Zeiten der Defensive der Arbeiter*innenbewegung und Gewerkschaften offensive Kämpfe geführt werden können, sie bieten auch praktische Lösungen und zugleich eine konkrete Utopie an. Der Betrieb wird demokratisiert, Produktion, Arbeitsprozess und soziale Beziehungen verändern sich, und die Ware Arbeitskraft wird in Richtung Commons transformiert. Dabei sehen sich die Arbeiter*innen mit einer Vielzahl von Problemen konfrontiert, für die es keine vorgefertigten Antworten gibt. Die Tatsache, dass die ehemals Beschäftigten – jenseits ihrer vorherigen politischen Orientierung – zusammenkommen und im Kampf solidarische Erfahrungen sammeln, unterscheidet diese Betriebe auch grundsätzlich von traditionellen Genossenschaften. Mit all ihren Widersprüchen zeigen sie auf, wie ein Weg zur Emanzipation der Arbeit und zu einer anderen Gesellschaft aussehen könnte.

www.azzellini.net/buecher-von-dario-azzellini/vom-protest-zum-sozialen-p...

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2. Academic articles: Book chapters and journal articles (English, Spanish, Portuguese)

Dario Azzellini: "The Commune in Venezuela: A Utopian Prefiguration".

in: Latin American Utopias: Past and Present. Edited by Juan Pro.  

Sussex: Sussex Academic Press. 235-261.

"In an age in which fears about the future predominate (in the form of dystopias, ecological catastrophes and terrifying Sci-Fi scenarios), utopia is reappearing as the bearer of hope for the fate of humanity. Latin America has historically been a fertile ground where utopian projects, movements and experiments could take root and thrive, and this constitutes one of the region's major contributions to world history."

http://www.sussex-academic.com/sa/titles/latin_american_studies/pro.htm

Pdf file available with index and book introduction: https://utopia.hypotheses.org/1027 

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Dario Azzellini: "Toma de empresas y gestión bajo control obrero en Europa como respuesta a la crisis."

En: Movimentos Sociais e Crises contemporâneas. Vol. 3/ Rogério Fernandes Macedo, Henrique Tahan Novaes, Paulo Alves de Lima Filho  

„Poderíamos dizer que este volume trata dos processos de transformação social sob o capital, contra ou a favor dele, das suas transições socioeconômicas no sentido da emancipação da classe trabalhadora quanto do capital, neste quadrante histórico de reversões conexas e complexas. A captura desses três ricos processos se dá em grande estilo, possibilitando ao leitor e alunos uma rica e apaixonante leitura de tão vitais processos. Os autores foram muito felizes em seus trabalhos, assegurando com eles um mergulho inédito, multifacético e instigante na tão mal compreendida história contemporânea, fora dos clichês dominantes. Ou seja, ousamos dizer que a ciência, ou a teoria, estão aqui muito bem representadas em suas várias vertentes interpretativas sob a batuta da luta comum pela emancipação da humanidade.“

Editora Aramarani, São Paulo, 2018. 139-168.

File pdf available with "Summary, Preface and presentation of the book" available in:http://www.azzellini.net/node/3066

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Construyendo utopías concretas: el movimiento comunero en Venezuela. Convergencia. Revista de Ciencias Sociales. Núm. 76 (2018): enero - abril 2018. pp 191-241.

En el transcurso de la historia las utopías han jugado un papel importante en la construcción de alternativas sociales. En este artículo se analiza al mecanismo de autogobierno local venezolano de las comunas como prefiguración utópica o como "utopía concreta". 

Continuar leyendo: http://www.azzellini.net/node/3040

Disponible en: https://convergencia.uaemex.mx/article/view/4664

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3. Videos/Audios (Italian, Greek, Spanisch with English subtitles / German)

All films by Dario Azzellini and Oliver Ressler with English subtitles

“Occupy, Resist, Produce – Vio.Me.”, 30 min., 2015 (Dario Azzellini/Oliver Ressler)
https://vimeo.com/136730782

“Occupy, Resist, Produce – Officine Zero”, 33 min., 2015 (Dario Azzellini/Oliver Ressler)
 https://vimeo.com/131018982

“Occupy, Resist, Produce – RiMaflow”, 34 min., 2014
(Dario Azzellini/Oliver Ressler)
 https://vimeo.com/108556043

“Comuna Under Construction”, 94 min., 2010
(Dario Azzellini/Oliver Ressler)
 https://vimeo.com/255700836

“5 Factories – Worker Control in Venezuela”, 81 min., 2006
(Dario Azzellini/Oliver Ressler)
 https://vimeo.com/256747792

“Venezuela from Below”, 67 min., 2004 (Dario Azzellini/Oliver Ressler)
 https://vimeo.com/258586643

“Disobbedienti”, 54 min., 2002 (Dario Azzellini/Oliver Ressler)
 https://vimeo.com/261090492

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4. Interviews and press articles (English, Spanish, Catalan, French, German)

"Challenging capitalism through workers’ control" / INVESTIG'ACTION / Ricardo Vaz, 09.04.18 

A common feature in every crisis situation, from the upheavals of the early 20th century to the neo-liberal re-structurings of the late 20th century, is the emergence of workers’ control – workers organising to take over their workplaces in order to defend their jobs and their communities. We interviewed Dario Azzellini* to talk about this issue in depth: the emergence of new values and social relations not just in the recuperated workplaces but also in the communities, the need to re-orient production, the overcoming of the separation between political, economic and social spheres, and the role of workers’ control in the larger struggle against capitalism.

Keep reading: http://www.azzellini.net/node/3064

https://www.investigaction.net/en/challenging-capitalism-through-workers...

"Communes and Workers’ Control in Venezuela" / INVESTIG’ACTION / Ricardo Vaz, 18.04.18

“The communes should be the space in which we are going to give birth to socialism.” – these were the words of Hugo Chávez in one of his famous presidential broadcasts. To discuss the Venezuelan communes and the new forms of participation, as well as its successes, difficulties and contradictions, we have interviewed Dario Azzellini*. He has investigated and documented theses issues throughout the Bolivarian Revolution. His book Communes and Workers’ Control in Venezuela has recently been released in paperback by Haymarket Books.“

Keep reading: http://www.azzellini.net/node/3065

https://www.investigaction.net/en/communes-and-workers-control-in-venezu...

Also available in:

Monthly Review Online: https://mronline.org/2018/05/02/communes-and-workers-control-in-venezuela/

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Is democracy working? One Question: Democracy, in State of Nature Blog, February 19, 2018

Contributors are: Jeremy Gilbert, Renske Doorenspleet, Raul Zibechi, Marianne Maeckelbergh, Henry Giroux, Umut Bozkurt, Christian Fuchs, Tim Jordan, Gerald Sussman, Emma Crewe, Arang Keshavarzian, Marina Sitrin, James Martel, Dario Azzellini, Stephen Zunes, and Paulina Tambakaki.

Dario Azzellini

The term democracy is generally used as a synonym for liberal democracy, which is far from being the only possible form of democracy; indeed, it is even questionable whether liberal democracy was ever intended to be truly democratic. For centuries, liberals and democrats have been fierce opponents. Liberals only accepted democracy when it was limited to the political sphere, excluding it from the economic and social sphere. Liberal democracy became the new form of governance of the emerging production model (industrial capitalism). Stanley Moore wrote that, ‘when exploitation takes the form of exchange, dictatorship tends to take the form of democracy.’

Continue reading by following the links: http://www.azzellini.net/node/3052

To read all comments follow the link below: http://stateofnatureblog.com/one-question-democracy/ 

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Una característica común de cada situación de crisis, desde los levantamientos de principios del siglo XX hasta las reestructuraciones neoliberales de finales de ese mismo siglo, es la aparición del control obrero: los obreros se organizan para hacerse cargo de sus lugares de trabajo con el fin de defender sus puestos de trabajo y sus comunidades. Entrevistamos a Dario Azzellini* para hablar de este tema en profundidad: la aparición de nuevos valores y relaciones sociales no solo en las empresas recuperadas sino también en las comunidades, la necesidad de reorientar la producción, la superación de la separación entre las esferas política, económica y social, y el papel del control obrero en la lucha más amplia contra el capitalismo.

Keep reading: http://www.azzellini.net/node/3068 

https://www.investigaction.net/es/desafiar-al-capitalismo-por-medio-del-...

Also available in: 

Contrainformación: https://contrainformacion.es/entrevista-a-dario-azzellini-sociologo-y-po...

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"Comunas y control obrero en Venezuela" / INVESTIG'ACTION / Ricardo Vaz,  / Rebelión - Traducido del inglés para Rebelión por Beatriz Morales Bastos, mayo 2018. 

“Las comunas deben ser el espacio sobre el cual vamos a parir el socialismo”, son palabras pronunciadas por Hugo Chávez en uno de sus famosos programas de radio “Aló presidente”. Hemos entrevistado a Dario Azzellini para hablar de las comunas venezolanas y de las nuevas formas de participación, así como de sus éxitos, dificultades y contradicciones. Dario Azzellini ha investigado y documentado estos temas a lo largo de toda la Revolución Bolivariana. Haymarket Books acaba de publicar en edición de bolsillo su libro Communes and Workers’ Control in Venezuela.

En su libro usted habla de un “proceso en dos direcciones” en Venezuela, desde arriba y desde abajo, ¿puede explicarlo?

Tradicionalmente algunas personas consideran que el cambio se hace desde arriba, de modo que hay que tomar el poder estatal y el gobierno, y entonces se cambia todo desde arriba. Otras no están de acuerdo y defienden que se tiene que hacer todo desde abajo hacia arriba y desde la base, y superar el Estado.

Keep reading: http://www.azzellini.net/node/3070

http://rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=241434

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“La democracia tiene que estar adaptada a los diferentes lugares” / El Salto (diario.com): Ane López Plaza y Josue Gil Larrañaga / 05.03.18

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Desafiar el capitalisme per mitjà del control obrer, Per què és important el control obrer?/  INVESTIG’ACTION  / Ricardo Vaz / Traduït de l'anglès per a Rebel·lió per Beatriz Morales Bastos, 04.05.18.  

Una característica comuna de cada situació de crisi, des dels aixecaments de principis del segle XX fins a les reestructuracions neoliberals de la fi d'aquest  mateix  segle, és l'aparició del control obrer: els obrers s'organitzen per fer-se càrrec dels seus llocs de treball  per tal de  defensar els seus llocs de treball i les seves comunitats. Entrevistem  Dario Azzellini *  per parlar d'  aquest tema  a profundida d :  l'aparició de  nous valors i relacions socials no només en els llocs de treball recuperats sinó també en les comunitats, la necessitat de reorientar la producció, la superació de la separació entre les esferes política, econòmica i social, i el paper del control obrer en la lluita més àmplia contra el capitalisme .  

Keep reading: http://www.azzellini.net/interviews/desafiar-el-capitalisme-mitja-del-co...

https://misteri1963.blogspot.com/2018/05/desafiar-el-capitalisme-per-mit...

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"Communes et contrôle ouvrier au Venezuela" / INVESTIG’ACTION/ Ricardo Vaz, 21.04.18 

“Les communes devraient être l’espace dans lequel nous allons donner naissance au socialisme” – tels étaient les mots de Hugo Chávez dans une de ses fameuses émissions présidentielles. Pour discuter des communes vénézuéliennes et des nouvelles formes de participation, ainsi que de leurs succès, difficultés et contradictions, nous avons interviewé Dario Azzellini *. Il a étudié et documenté ces questions tout au long de la révolution Bolivarienne. Son livre «Communes and Workers’ Control in Venezuela »  a récemment été publié en livre de poche par Haymarket Books.

Keep reading: http://www.azzellini.net/node/3067

https://www.investigaction.net/fr/communes-et-controle-ouvrier-au-venezu...

Also available in:

Venesol: https://venesol.org/2018/05/03/communes-et-controle-ouvrier-au-venezuela...

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Dario Azzellini: Venezuela: mit Kryptowährung gegen die Krise / Gesellschaftsanalyse und linke Praxis, März 2018 

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Dario Azzellini

www.azzellini.net                www.workerscontrol.net