Very accessible book but a bit too simple? A friend felt it verged into Young Adult. Very painful book, so be in a space to read about systemic violenVery accessible book but a bit too simple? A friend felt it verged into Young Adult. Very painful book, so be in a space to read about systemic violence and racism. Another reminder that it doesn't really metter if you follow the rules in a white supremacist society. ...more
Trying to read more music autobiographies and thought I would pick this up from the library since I was into her as a emo 20-something-pseudo-revolutiTrying to read more music autobiographies and thought I would pick this up from the library since I was into her as a emo 20-something-pseudo-revolutionary. Had to put it down a lot cause of the random musings of gender and the Earth and all that is existence. Thought her runnings in of famous people like Utah Philips was cool. But it felt like I was hanging out with a really weird drama kid friend who was always “on.� Anyways, I’m surprised I finished it. I skipped over all the poetry. ...more
Grabbed a graphic novel surprise bag from the library and this was in it. Appropriate to read with last weeks announcement of the US pulling out of AfGrabbed a graphic novel surprise bag from the library and this was in it. Appropriate to read with last weeks announcement of the US pulling out of Afghanistan. The guy is a very talented illustrator, but this book just instilled the cynicism of “expats� all engaging in the imperialism of Afghanistan - even jobs that prop up the US army. He makes no real relationships or connections to the hardship there - and rather complains about his hard, privileged life while partying and eating in fancy restaurants. I learned a few words in Dari though so I guess it wasn’t a complete waste of time. ...more
I've been wanting to read this book for a while and am auditing a class on revolution in Latin America where this was the first reading assigned. I haI've been wanting to read this book for a while and am auditing a class on revolution in Latin America where this was the first reading assigned. I have never read a detailed narrative about Zapata and the Mexican Revolution and while you read many details of people coming in and out, I feel this is an vital read for anyone interested in Mexican history, Zapatismo and revolution. It is not an easy read and I had to write down names of people and what happened to them (this guy dead. this guy left for US. this guy got into power and then got killed) - kind of like when i read 100 Years of Solitude. But it is written as an historical narrative that makes it engaging. I'm super curious how Womack got access to so much archival materials when writing this.
You not only get a sense of the dynamic leader that was Zapata, but how in 10 years he put the interests of the people of Morelos first and was known to live those politics as well as espouse them. People just knew he would never sell them out. Even in a position of power or as a "leader" - he did everything to raise up the people of Morelos - helping to create community based forms of leadership that were participatory and democratic. He obviously had a love for liberation rather than a drive for power. You also get a lot of details about the power struggles sparked between the absentee landowners and the people working the land (Womack refuses to call them peasants) during the rise of sugar cane production in Mexico. There are details about the experiments in the province of Morelos with the replacing of the military power with civilian bodies, role of local councils - the direct democracy as Zapata wanted political involvement from the bottom. And lots of great reads on Zapatistas burning down the haciendas, taking over private land and being generally bad ass revolutionaries.
The book also gives a glimpse to larger questions - is it possible to have revolution in a smaller area without fighting for revolution beyond? What is defeat and what is success in revolutionary struggle? Should you fight for state power or fight for autonomy and self-determination within an oppressive state structure? Do you engage in cross-class alliances (Liberals/Constitutionalists) for short term gain or when imperialist forces show up to undo the revolution? How does revolutionary consciousness emerge in working people/peasants to the point of risking so much for an armed uprising? How do you raise peoples consciousness to get them onside to defend the land?
i really appreciate complicating writing about revolution - there is no easy answer to the impact of Zapata and the Mexican revolution. It makes you reconsider what makes a revolution a failure or success? And how do experiments and struggles of liberation stay with people? and what disappears?
No real easy answers as Zapata aligned with many problematic people, made mistakes, but was also brilliant in strategy and the risks he took. This book is about him but also the building of a people's revolution which gives insight to the relationship between elected leaders and the masses on the ground - and what kind of balance and connection one needs to create a culture of resistance. It led to the lived improvements of lives for a period and to general Agrarian Reform in Mexico (which is being undone in the last few decades). And even after his assassination, there is a continuing legacy that inspires many movements. To think about the Land Back struggle right now in Canada or the enduring struggle of the Zapatistas in Chiapas, it was very cool to read this piece of history that you can still feel as activists identify with Zapatismo or when you see images of Zapata. ...more
SPOILER - Lenin thinks it's totally cool to participate in parliamentary elections if you think it will advance the working class struggle. So all thaSPOILER - Lenin thinks it's totally cool to participate in parliamentary elections if you think it will advance the working class struggle. So all that time I wasted with the NDP was ok. This was probably my biggest surprise with this piece.
He wrote this book in 1920 for a communist international meeting and gave it to all the participants, including people he was actively dissing. It was like a 1920s version of trolling. And he is harsh against many he considers social democrats, and those who are "ultra-left" in the communist and anarchist scene. Those who criticize communists running in elections and participating in trade unions (and those who are just criticize that whatever you are doing is not radical enough). He spends a lot of time calling them childish and infantile - but insults aside - also points out that their attitude lends to empowering the capitalist class to maintain power.
So this pamphlet/book is something I have wanted to read for a while and we finally got to read it for a reading group I am. And I'm one of those people that abstractly talk about Lenin as a problematic person who I probably wouldn't follow. But then I read his stuff and I'm nodding and agreeing profusely that after i'm like, "Sigh me up Vlad! Where do I go?" I think every anti-capitalist of every strain should read this book once. The main takeaway of it is - how did the Bolsheviks manage to win the revolution and what does it take? And beyond details about tactics and decisions, his piece points to a fundamental question with: how do revolutionaries respond to the time they are in and how do they convince working class people that this capitalist system is shit? And part of understanding the time we are in - instead of standing by the sidelines and criticizing everything - what are we doing to participate in the institutions we have and also making new organizations to push for revolution and building working class power?
So you might feel that Lenin is yelling at you. I had that feeling. But these questions and polemics are actually really relevant to right now as we try to respond to the millions being laid off/losing their work during the pandemic....more
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