#affinity group

[jonasgoonface]

form affinity groups, be nimble and ruthless and attack in every direction. 

[one-time-i-dreamt]

I tried to join an affinity group at my school for an group I am not apart of and it was in the Backrooms, they made me fill out a really personal questionnaire and a mean gay Jon Hamm kept insulting my intelligence.

[dailyanarchistposts]

J.3.1 What are affinity groups?

Affinity groups are the basic organisation which anarchists create to spread the anarchist idea. The term “affinity group” comes from the Spanish F.A.I. (Iberian Anarchist Federation) and refers to the organisational form devised in their struggles for freedom (from “grupo de afinidad”). At its most basic, it is a (usually small) group of anarchists who work together to spread their ideas to the wider public, using propaganda, initiating or working with campaigns and spreading their ideas within popular organisations (such as unions) and communities. It aims not to be a “leadership” but to give a lead, to act as a catalyst within popular movements. Unsurprisingly it reflects basic anarchist ideas:

“Autonomous, communal and directly democratic, the group combines revolutionary theory with revolutionary lifestyle in its everyday behaviour. It creates a free space in which revolutionaries can remake themselves individually, and also as social beings.” [Murray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism, p. 144]

The reason for this is simple, for a “movement that sought to promote a liberatory revolution had to develop liberatory and revolutionary forms. This meant … that it had to mirror the free society it was trying to achieve, not the repressive one it was trying to overthrow. If a movement sought to achieve a world united by solidarity and mutual aid, it had to be guided by these precepts; if it sought to achieve a decentralised, stateless, non-authoritarian society, it had to be structured in accordance with these goals.” [Bookchin, The Spanish Anarchists, p. 180]

The aim of an anarchist organisation is to promote a sense of community, of confidence in ones own abilities, to enable all to be involved in the identification, initiation and management of group needs, decisions and activities. They must ensure that individuals are in a position (both physically, as part of a group, and mentally, as an individual) to manage their own lives and take direct action in the pursuit of individual and communal needs and desires. Anarchist organisation is about empowering all, to develop “integral” or whole individuals and a community that encourages individuality (not abstract “individualism”) and solidarity. It is about collective decision making from the bottom up, that empowers those at the “base” of the structure and only delegates the work of co-ordinating and implementing the members decisions (and not the power of making decisions for people). In this way the initiative and power of the few (government) is replaced by the initiative and empowerment of all (anarchy). Affinity groups exist to achieve these aims and are structured to encourage them.

The local affinity group is the means by which anarchists co-ordinate their activities in a community, workplace, social movement and so on. Within these groups, anarchists discuss their ideas, politics and hopes, what they plan to do, organise propaganda work, discuss how they are going to work within wider organisations like unions, how their strategies fit into their long term plans and goals and so on. It is the basic way that anarchists work out their ideas, pull their resources and get their message across to others. There can be affinity groups for different interests and activities (for example a workplace affinity group, a community affinity group, an anarcha-feminist affinity group, etc., could all exist within the same area, with overlapping members). Moreover, as well as these more “political” activities, the “affinity group” also stresses the “importance of education and the need to live by Anarchist precepts — the need … to create a counter-society that could provide the space for people to begin to remake themselves.” [Bookchin, Op. Cit., p. 180] In other words, “affinity groups” aim to be the “living germs” of the new society in all aspects, not purely in a structurally way.

So affinity groups are self-managed, autonomous groupings of anarchists who unite and work on specific activities and interests. This means that ”[i]n an anarchist organisation the individual members can express any opinion and use any tactic which is not in contradiction with accepted principles and which does not harm the activities of others.” [Errico Malatesta, The Anarchist Revolution, p. 102] Such groups are a key way for anarchists to co-ordinate their activity and spread their message of individual freedom and voluntary co-operation. However, the description of what an “affinity group” is does not explain why anarchists organise in that way. Essentially, these affinity groups are the means by which anarchists actually intervene in social movements and struggles in order to win people to the anarchist idea and so help transform them from struggles against injustice into struggles for a free society. We will discuss the role these groups play in anarchist theory in section J.3.6.

These basic affinity groups are not seen as being enough in themselves. Most anarchists see the need for local groups to work together with others in a confederation. Such co-operation aims to pull resources and expand the options for the individuals and groups who are part of the federation. As with the basic affinity group, the anarchist federation is a self-managed organisation:

“Full autonomy, full independence and therefore full responsibility of individuals and groups; free accord between those who believe it is useful to unite in co-operating for a common aim; moral duty to see through commitments undertaken and to do nothing that would contradict the accepted programme. It is on these bases that the practical structures, and the right tools to give life to the organisation should be built and designed. Then the groups, the federations of groups, the federations of federations, the meetings, the congresses, the correspondence committees and so forth. But all this must be done freely, in such a way that the thought and initiative of individuals is not obstructed, and with the sole view of giving greater effect to efforts which, in isolation, would be either impossible or ineffective.” [Malatesta, Op. Cit., p. 101]

To aid in this process of propaganda, agitation, political discussion and development, anarchists organise federations of affinity groups. These take three main forms,

“synthesis” federations (see section J.3.2), “Platformist” federations (see section J.3.3 while section J.3.4 has criticism of this tendency) and “class struggle” groups (see section J.3.5). All the various types of federation are based on groups of anarchists organising themselves in a libertarian fashion. This is because anarchists try to live by the values of the future to the extent that this is possible under capitalism and try to develop organisations based upon mutual aid, in which control would be exercised from below upward, not downward from above. We must also note here that these types of federation are not mutually exclusive. Synthesis type federations often have “class struggle” and “Platformist” groups within them (although, as will become clear, Platformist federations do not have synthesis groups within them) and most countries have different federations representing the different perspectives within the movement. Moreover, it should also be noted that no federation will be a totally “pure” expression of each tendency. “Synthesis” groups merge into “class struggle” ones, Platformist groups do not subscribe totally to the Platform and so on. We isolate each tendency to show its essential features. In real life few, if any, federations will exactly fit the types we highlight. It would be more precise to speak of organisations which are descended from a given tendency, for example the French Anarchist Federation is mostly influenced by the synthesis tradition but it is not, strictly speaking, 100% synthesis. Lastly, we must also note that the term “class struggle” anarchist group in no way implies that “synthesis” and “Platformist” groups do not support the class struggle or take part in it, they most definitely do — it is simply a technical term to differentiate between types of organisation!

It must be stressed anarchists do not reduce the complex issue of political organisation and ideas into one organisation but instead recognise that different threads within anarchism will express themselves in different political organisations (and even within the same organisation). A diversity of anarchist groups and federations is a good sign and expresses the diversity of political and individual thought to be expected in a movement aiming for a society based upon freedom. All we aim to do is to paint a broad picture of the similarities and differences between the various perspectives on organising in the movement and indicate the role these federations play in libertarian theory, namely of an aid in the struggle, not a new leadership seeking power.

[queersatanic]

Holy SHIT I had no idea TST did that kind of stuff, and used to think they were kinda cool. I'm sharing your posts and stuff to donate, but beyond that, what else can be done? Is there another "Satanist organization", as it were, that we should support and cheer on instead?

We do have a standard answer for your main question, which is, "Build your own non-hierarchical, satanic affinity group."

However, if you're looking to join a community, we so far have not had bad experiences with Global Order of Satan or Capital Area Satanists.

[pwi-culture-is]

Pwi culture is feeling empathy for the head of the latino affinity group when only four people show up to the first meeting but also being surprised that they seem shocked.

[wobblydev]

I've seen a lot of posts talking about the merits of joining a union even if you don't have a job, but I've never seen one that answers my main hang up, so I'm just going to ask, what if I absolutely could not pay dues? I can't work due to disability and I can only survive thanks to the support of family, as a result I rarely have any money at all. Is it possible to join a union if I can't afford to pay dues, and if not are there other ways I can support them?

a very good question, i'm so glad you asked. dues are a mechanism of democracy within the union structure, so to join a union there isn't much way around that. however, there are things you can do to support unions without spending a dime.

if you see unions trying to spread the word about an action, or a campaign, signal boost them where and how you can.

unions and adjacent groups, such as the Incarcerated Workers Organising Committee, will perform what's known as a phone or email "zap" where a mass of people will contact a target to make their voices heard about an issue. joining in on those actions is always an enormous help.

solidarity union organisations like the IWW are always looking for people to help with the myriad tasks it takes to keep things running. folks i know who were ineligible for membership still volunteered their time and efforts in research, or submitting FOIA requests, or maintaining spreadsheets. they didn't have voting power in union business, but if the branch is amenable, why turn away people who want to help the work along?

what do you enjoy doing? do you stream? do you write? do you draw? do you sing? how might you direct a portion of your creative energy to supporting emancipation work?

i may be an old union thug, but i admit there are also different ways to organise for change outside of a dues-based structure. others will know more about this than myself, but there are affinity groups all over the country who don't collect money from members.

what are you passionate about? disability rights and liberation? queer liberation? prison abolition? is there a group in your area or online that is doing the work to make real change in a sphere that is important to you? if so, reach out and see if you have the capacity to assist with that work.

this is all very vague, and i hope others will see this question and offer their own suggestions. anything you do to help will be wonderful, in whatever capacity you are able. we need all of us, and none of us need to solve these problems alone.

[lookslikeanarmadilloinkissmakeup]

Look! It’s… cred! 🥹🥹🥹

[mxjackparker]

To trans men and transmascs who make a constant point of saying they are not like cis men or don't relate to them:

You will not convince the people who view cis men as being fundamentally bad/evil that you are both a man and also not like those cis men. You will either have them not view you as a man, or have them think you are a bad person for 'choosing' to be viewed as one and leaving womanhood behind. Give up on trying to convince them.

Instead, you can have solidarity with the cis men who are a part of your community, particularly the queer ones whose experiences you may be surprised to find will mirror yours in a lot of important ways.

[gobblemonster300000]

Cred affinity group

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

Someone just reblogged something I posted with a phrase that basically amounts to "can't be too careful"- I don't want to call that reblog out specifically, but I do want to talk about this idea.

Sometimes in life you have to take risks- not everyone online is a cop out to get you. I've made some really valuable leftist connections online, which have pushed/enabled me to do some things I'm really proud of. If you don't reach out to people, and make connections, you can't achieve much- there's strength in numbers. And if you already have friends who are involved, there's still strength in inviting new people in. Yes, okay, there are risks, but we can't be so scared of human connection we won't even talk to people on an anonymous platform about our leftism.

Further to this, I was thinking about my attitude towards fundraisers- I'm always wary of being "scammed", but actually, I can afford to lose £5/£10, now and again, so I will try and donate more often. Obviously it's better if that goes to legitimate fundraisers BUT being scared of scams shouldn't stop me offering help to real people.

Anyway, the revolution is not going to be risk free, and sometimes you have to do things which are a little bit dangerous- but the things I've done which have scared me the most, are also the ones I'm most proud of.

[jomiddlemarch]

@amtrak-official Couldn't help immediately thinking of you!

[unproduciblesmackdown]

omgg lol [guy who won't stop going "more like scapeGOATED" voice] now hold! on!! lmao [same guy just saw encanto voice] Hold on!!!

[captnbas]

mini mooms say it’s time to organise & educate

feel free to use these as matching lock-screens comrades!!

[anarchotolkienist]

Jesus Christ, what people(s) first arrived in Scandinavia after the melting of the ice has absolutely no relevance to the colonisation of the Sámi. Who cares that, yes, technically Germanic-speaking groups probably arrived in (southern) Scandinavia before the Finno-Ugric ancestors of the Sámi. It's not a matter about blood relation to the actual literal first humans that arrived in some arbitrarily delineated physical space, it's about your concrete relationship to settler-colonialism - as settler or settled, something which is determined through actually existing legal, social and political structures. This is the kind of shit analysis you get as a result of the emphasis of noble savage wooery about being 'one with the land' and whatever being emphasised in left-wing spaces over any concrete material understanding of colonialism and the economic meaning of colonialism - the Sámi are an indigenous people because the Swedish and Danish empires decided to uproot their lifeways and force them away from their traditional lands to seize it in order to make use of the mineral and forest wealth there. Whatever happened between groups of people that no-one save the most crazed 19th century nationalist would describe as "Swedes" and the Sámi some four thousand years ago has zero relevance for this discussion.

[rose-lalondde]

naruto but it's my modern fantasy world au

[noneedtofearorhope]

image description: buzz lightyear and woodie from toy story flying in front of the words “To Affinity And Beyond”, with woodie’s clothing edited to be darker and more black, with sunglasses and a black bandana edited to cover his eyes and face. buzz lightyear’s suit is similarly edited to be less saturated and darker, with it edited to appear that he is wearing a balaclava. end image description.