theory

Format

• We're reading 2-3 chapters a week (some are very short). I'm going to be shooting for 50-60 pages a week, give or take. I'm going to be getting page counts from the libgen ebook, so that's why readings will be done by chapter.
• Hopefully we'll be done in 7 or 8 weeks
• Feel free to get whatever copy you wish, I'll also post onto Perusall for your convenience and highlighting.
• I'll plan to post on Wednesday each week (or thereabouts) with the readings we're discussing and our future schedule as I work it out. I'll also @ mention anyone who posts in this thread in future weeks.

Resources

• Libgen link to an ebook here
• Here's Bevins' appearance on Trueanon, which is part of why I wanted to do this book club
• Perusall – if you want to flag passages for discussion, I'll do my best to check this before I post my weekly post. If people would prefer, I can also make weekly assignments here, but I've opened up the book for access in an assignment or whatever.

Finally, please feel free to drop in at any point. We're well along, but the old discussions remain open and I'd still love to have anyone who wishes to join.

Previous Posts

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Chapter 12

• Artem's position feels very familiar. Is the over-educated/under-employed combo one worth cultivating in our organizing?
  • Of course, getting fired for trying to unionize is perhaps the most typical outcome here. How can we ensure potential comrades find useful/strategic material (so they aren't fired after 2 months...)?
• I think the class character of "protest" (and, as it were, the more bourgeois character they've begun to take on) really starts to rear its head here. However, this also feels particularly esoteric – trade agreements with the EU – and thus lib catnip. With the crackdown though, is there the potential to transform this protest? We'll see, I think…
• Good history of Soviet Ukraine – another great explainer from Bevins about the Banderites.
• Bevins on the sham democracy of the post-soviet era – good? This broadly tracks with my own understanding, but any critiques/concerns with how he presents this?
• Earlier I suggested maybe Bevins was missing the state department role in this stuff, but clearly here he's in the know, making the connections pretty explicit w/r/t the color revolution. Of course, in this case, I'm not particularly sure either of these politicians were "good" (and Bevins seems to suggest as much), but anyone think otherwise?
• 181: "the Orange Revolution did nothing to change the oligarchical structure of the Ukrainian economy." Seems like this is the common theme, and feels like a L for protest (even if perhaps the Orange Revolution got what they wanted)
• "But culture war is free." Bevins here tracks why I think we should always be suspicious of nationalism as leftists. We all know MAGA Communism is a sham, but I think broadly, we need to reaffirm internationalist commitments because nationalism gets so easily turned to culture war.
• This protest feels so weird. Like, should we suspect this journalist is a state department asset? Or are these people just very committed to trade with Europe?
  • Also, it feels like the asks/goals of these protests are getting dumber/shittier each time. We've gone from free bus fares, issues around justice/economic security, and now.… EU trade regulations.
• I'm trying not to be too cynical, but it feels like Bevins is setting us up for it, noting all the ways in which this is a rather different push than Brazil or even Egypt (185 and the various media narratives, for instance).
• Police cracking heads again leads to mass support. I wonder though – is this kind of move being so overplayed that it's losing it force? Especially in the imperial core?
• How do we keep liberals in check? Can they be useful?
• 187 – got the right wing sickos – Bevins very good about making these stakes clear, t oo bad that the western journalists are so suceptible to just promoting these people.
  • I like how Bevins argues there's specific factors that allow right wingers to punch above their weight – thoughts on how to manage these contingencies? Is the swoletariat the future (since one issue is these assholes are hooligans basically)?
• Alternatively, if we're trying to co-opt a liberal movement, how do we align both other leftists and liberals to our goals? Is organizational structure the only way? Can we retain some horizontalism (especially between leftist tendehncies in the movement) but have some kind of authority/org structure?
• 188 Artem and crew trying to do this very thing.
  • This is just pretty sad, poor kids get their shit wrecked.
  • Alternatives – should the group have come prepared to fight? Or would that have ended badly? Or do you come nonviolently then return? Feels like there's a tactical L here.
• Turns out having unions/organizational structure is a key way to avoid this kind of militarization (190).
• Bevins with some great media critique here – Why did this protest get the imprimateur of "The people" is a real question here!
• 192 - seems like this story is one of liberals getting dragged the wrong way (adopting violence… but for the wrong cause). The reverse could be good, broadlly, but how do you get the libs to pick up the fireworks for the left causes?
• Staying in the movement even after it's been coopted by the right feels like a big L here for Artem. Obviously there's an argument not even to work with libs, but I've always felt that until things have gone to the right, there's an argument for engagement/persuasion/cooption. However, I think what this chapter shows is that there's definitely a line where you cut losses/ties – thoughts?
• Was Maidan a coup? Thoughts? I think Bevins's analysis here is compelling, but what do y'all think?
• 195 - the "pattern" of protest. "Infinite possibilities present themselves." How do we sieze these hinge points folks?
• "We were very far from the digital world that Western leaders had envisaged just a few years prior. Bad things were happening all around, and raising awareness was very far from sufficient to stop them." (197) – is the reason for this a change in the technology? Or rather just people getting used to this stuff (and a few real dogshit awareness campaigns --looking at you Kony 2012)?

Chapter 13

• OK, back to Brazil. Things continue to get worse, and the anti-World Cup movement trying to grab hold of an opportunity to improve the safety net.
• I wonder if there's a way to use obscene "get in" prices to organize?
• Anti-terrorism laws being used against leftists – this shit just sucks, and also why liberal howling about Jan 6th has always felt a bit sus. Be friendly with your co-workers folks, since while it was a false alarm, Mayara seems to have had a good crew.
• Smashing car dealerships – this seems insanely cool, but I also see how it's frustrating when you've got specific goals. Granted, this protest they have planned feels a little half baked, so how do you keep people from splintering like that? Maybe having a cooler/stronger protest plan?
• Brazil takes psychic damage from losing to Germany.
• This election is just profoundly weird, and there's definite resonances. The fact is, the right winning is always pretty terrifying, and there's a real argument that sometimes we need to do electoralism. At least Brazil had Dilma though, not Biden… God that's a depressing thought.
• Betraying the left here, though, I think is the bigger crime, and something to consider: how to exert force after the left gets betrayed by a harm reduction candidate?
• The stolen election playbook, we love to see it folks!
• Yeah, meanwhile the MPL is just slowly disintegrating. I like Vegetable's take here – that the right takes elements from the left and inverts them, which we see time and time again.

Chapter 14

• And now we're in Hong Kong. Bevins with another great summary of the history after a little introduction.
• I do like how Bevins connects the "repressive repertoire" (212) to colonial strategies.
• "It was only after Margaret Thatcher and Deng Xiaoping hammered out the terms of the final 1997 handover that British authorities began to introduce democratization measures" – I feel like the take on this "undermining the transition" is probably right. After all, why do this shit now? Could have been done decades before.
• Real question for the Deng-thinkers out there: Was "One Country, Two Systems" good policy? I honestly don't know, because I don't know if the alternative of just fully incorporating HK could have been done without massive violence. I'm not really knowledgeable on this history though, so I'm really interested in what y'all think on this.
• I do think the longterm strategy of China has been pretty vindicated though – Bevins seems to think so too, with the comparison with Russia/former Soviet states.
• Actually losing my mind at how blatant the HK system was – businesses have seats at the table, amazing work Anglos! Of course, does the mask-off nature of this make it easier to critique? Or is it actually harder since they're just doihng it in the open?
• 216 - I love John Woo's crazy cop movies as much as the next movie mindset fan, but I do think Bevins' gentle reminder about copaganda is helpful here.
• Conflict here between top-down movement and horizontalism (217) is interesting. Of course, there's some real irony here – the "pro Bejing" faction is pro cop as well. I feel like there's just muddled ideology here (though perhaps a comrade can clarify). Feels like Americans though, where protesting "my body my choice" with the vax falls apart w/ abortion. Maybe I'm wrong, but I wonder if the capitalism of HK leads to the ideological mish-mash vibes?
  • Of course, "pro-democracy" doesn't have to be pro-West, but I think Bevins recognizes it as well.
• There seems to be a "copy of a copy of a copy" going on here with Umbrella (218). In particular, it feels like each subsequent protest movement loses more of the things that are key to success. Say what you will about Tahrir and Tunisia, there was real change. Occupy already loses that fire, and now it's really becoming kind of hollow. Question though – is it governments adapting to these movements or the movements failing to recognize what made the previous iterations successful?
• The role of memes here seems to be rising - pop culture as a touchstone for these movements. Cringe or potentially useful?
• The coalition always fractures, but it's interesting how the right wing co-opts horizontalism here. I don't want to be suspicious of horizontalism as such, but it feels like a strong cudgel that opens up space for reactionaries here. Thoughts?

Next Reading (2/29) -- Chapters 15, 16, 17

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I can't tag material_delinquent and WithoutFurtherBelay who participated in the last thread, so not sure what's up with that.