We are recording anarchist and related texts and distributing them in audio forms. In this way we hope to make anarchist ideas more accessible and anarchist practice more informed. We may not agree with every word of every text we record but hope that the distribution of these texts in audio form continues lively anarchist discussions and ultimately we hope that those discussions lead us into the streets. resonanceaudiodistro.org
https://resonanceaudiodistro.org
The Illegitimacy of Violence, the Violence of Legitimacy – AudioZine
The Illegitimacy of Violence, the Violence of Legitimacy – by CrimethInc. – MP3 – Read – Print – Torrent – Archive – YouTube
Coming out of the context of the debates within Occupy Wall Street as it spread across the United States, The Illegitimacy of Violence, the Violence of Legitimacy is an essay by Crimethinc that explores questions of “legitimacy” in social movements. What does it mean to be “legitimate”? What does it mean to be “illegitimate”? How are these terms related to the discourse around violence and non-violence? In exploring the topic, they conclude that the quest for “legitimacy” strengthens the state and weakens resistance movements.
“It’s important to have strategic debates: shifting away from the discourse of nonviolence doesn’t mean we have to endorse every single broken window as a good idea.. But it only obstructs these debates when dogmatists insist that all who do not share their goals and assumptions—not to say their class interests!—have no strategic sense. It’s also not strategic to focus on delegitimizing each other’s efforts rather than coordinating to act together where we overlap. That’s the point of affirming a diversity of tactics: to build a movement that has space for all of us, yet leaves no space for domination and silencing—a “people power” that can both expand and intensify.”
Further Reading- Debating Tactics: Remember to Ask, “What Works?”
- Historicizing “Violence”: Thoughts on the Hedges/Graeber Debate
- Solidarity statement from Cairo