From Anarchist Communist Group UK

ACG comments:

Whilst the ACG approves of this Manifesto overall, internal discussions have highlighted some concerns over the use of the term “revolutionary defeatism”. We feel that the document would benefit from either clearer definition of what is meant by the term, or possibly the use of a different term. For us ‘revolutionary defeatism’ can only mean a refusal to call off the class war in the name of ‘national unity’ during a war between states. However it is possible to interpret ‘revolutionary defeatism’ as meaning that the organised working class within a state should work towards the military defeat of that state’s national forces by an enemy state.

In the latter case it might be argued that whichever state has been most ruthless and successful in suppressing its own organised working class in the years leading up to war, might benefit from “revolutionary defeatism” amongst the stronger working class of its “national enemy”. It seems logical that this could contribute to the military victory of the most successfully anti-worker of two warring states.

The ACG would like to emphasise the need for a defensive posture amongst armed workers to, for example, defend their communities (not ‘the nation’) against an army of invasion, and to make explicit our acknowledgement that in the chaos and terror of war an ideologically pure response is often extremely difficult to maintain for both individuals and organizations.

Statement

In these months in which the tragedy of war is increasingly brought to international attention by the crisis in Ukraine, the theme of anarchist anti-militarism is more compelling than ever. We see how, already before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some heavy-handed criticism of our traditional anti-militarism was carried out by some individuals and groups who declare themselves anti-authoritarian, libertarian or anarchist. We have carefully considered these positions in the last few months, and we believe today that we need to clarify our point of view.

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