INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SWEDEN:

EMBRYOZINE LOOKING FOR CONTRIBUTIONS:

Embryozine is a project of the Swedish anarchist group Anarkisterna, and they are looking for articles for their next issue. Despair not, this zine is bilingual in Swedish and English, so the average reader of this blog might actually be able to write something for them. Here's their appeal.

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Wanted: Contributions for Embryozine #5‏
http://anarkisterna.com/blog/2010/03/04/wanted-contributions-for-embryozine-5/

Now it’s time to start working on the fifth Embryo zine! And we want you to contribute texts, illustrations or anything else you see fit. This time we start from a different point than we’ve done previously. Taking on Embryo #5 begins with three themes we want to explore. These are questions we’ve pondered for some time and which we believe to be rather vital to answer. We hope you feel the same way.

Theme One: In it for life

The first theme deals with how to manage being active in a scene that –for as long as we’ve been part of it – rather than a movement resembles a phase you go through (like adolescence). Some have become disillusioned or abject during their time in the extra-parliamentary Left – the revolution might not happen in our lifetime after all. On the other hand, many have learnt new skills and enhanced self-confidence here – the habit of leading meetings, planning and organizing actions, writing pamphlets, speaking in front of a lot of people and organizing workshops.

But if we don’t want to leave this phase, even though we might not be considered young adults anymore, having children and permanent jobs? How can we create a scene that enables you to remain active even when your life and circumstances change? And how do we take care of each other and create a sustainable activism? An activism based not on individual enthusiasts carrying through until they burn out just to be superseded by the next generation of enthusiasts? How have you dealt with it? What are your experiences? What has worked for you? Theme Two: Structures for movement

The second theme takes up the thread where the first one left off. How can our structures (collective spaces, archives, resources, experiences) help to create a continuous movement or a sustainable activism? What significance does an autonomous space as Utkanten have for activists in Malmö? What traces has the burnt down Cyclops left in Kulturkampanjen?

In Sweden, during the last ten years, Solidaritetsgrupper (anti repression groups) and Aktivist Trauma Support have lined up with the Anarchist Black Cross. What functions do these solidarity structures fill? Or for that matter, our other infrastructure – permanent people’s kitchens, joint farming projects, infoshops and distros?

Previous years’ internal discussions took place in forums that are not available for many of those who are active today. How can we create a continuous exchange of experience? People should not have to reinvent the wheel but rather fall back on the experiences others have collected before them, while at the same time no truths may be too sacred to be questioned and discussed.

Theme Three: How to go about actual change

The third theme, finally, focuses on our perspectives. Why do we do what we do? We are anarchists (or autonomous activists) and strive for an entirely different society that we often have a clearer notion of than we have of the way to get there. With Embryo # 5 we want to strike a blow for the need of long term activism.

We could easily spend all waking time on urgent responses or actions only centered on the here and now – but to actually begin advancing our positions in the conflicts at hand, something more is needed. We must ask ourselves where we want to get and how our actions today take us towards that aim.

Like Timbro (a Swedish neoliberal think tank) in the early 80s copied the language and ways of the left, we can take over a mode of operation from the established organizations and businesses:

A target document.

We call for strategic thinking, evaluation and development of tactics. Your participation if you were not discouraged by the mass of text above, but rather inspired by the idea of contributing to #5, please contact us: You do not have to have a finished article – an opening idea is a good start. Similarly, if you have an article that you think does not bear all the way or that needs to be proof-read – send it to us, we’ll comment on it or suggest changes and send it back, you send it back again and so forth until everyone is content with it.

We are also happy for any photos, comics, or collages. All submitted material may not be included in the zine, though. The time frame is tight, we want the final versions of all contributions at the end of March, since our goal is to have Embryo #5 translated, designed and printed on time for the anarchist bookfair in Stockholm in June.

This zine will not be the end of these discussions, but it can be a part of an ongoing process, hopefully taking us further.

Love & struggle!/Embryo Collective