The Role of Assemblies in a United Front Against Fascism
A directly democratic assembly gives every person a real say. In a movement against fascism, it helps bring people together, lets them make their own choices, and builds the kind of freedom and equality we want. Through assemblies, the movement becomes stronger, more united, ready to defend itself and push for real change, starting from the ground up.
Typically, when someone refers to a “united front” they either mean some sort of generic unity or a coalition of non-profit organizations. This is because the actual history of a united front against the Nazis was beaten to death and buried by those who supposedly cared about stopping fascism. The united front against fascism was always supposed to be made up of directly democratic grassroots assemblies in neighborhoods and workplaces.
The is the role they should play:
1. Power to the People
Fascism is all about a small group controlling everyone else, using fear and violence. A directly democratic assembly does the opposite: it puts power into the hands of everyday people. Everyone becomes part of making the rules and planning actions together. The movement against fascism must embody the democracy we want to see in the world.
2. Avoiding Movement Capture
Putting democratic decision-making power into the hands of everyday people helps avoid our movements getting defeated from above by politicians, non-profit organizations, or groups claiming to act on behalf of the people. Often times, our movements get sold out by predators who just want to make money off of our effort and sacrifice.
3. Building Unity
In a united front against fascism, people from diverse backgrounds need to work together. If decisions are made by a handful of leaders, people tend to feel ignored or left out. Directly democratic assemblies make sure everyone’s voice matters, helping to keep the group united and strong.
4. Organizing for Action
Assemblies can organize real actions, like mutual aid, community defense, planning protests and blockades, even general strikes where everyone stops working. Because decisions come from the group, people are more likely to trust each other and commit to the plan.
5. Building the Alternative
Assemblies let people practice real democracy now. Rather than just a means to organize a social movement against fascism, assemblies can become a new way to run neighborhoods, workplaces, even whole cities and beyond.
The Role of Assemblies in a United Front for Revolution
The role of the assemblies is to establish dual power by acting as an alternative to the existing systems of capitalism and the representative “democracy” of the settler colony’s republic. The assemblies operate independently, making decisions as a community or workplace. Through organizing mutual aid, community defense, protests, blockades, and general strikes, they demonstrate the effectiveness of grassroots democracy over top-down control of all kinds.
By providing an alternative system that values directly democratic participation, the assemblies can challenge the legitimacy of systems that prioritize profit and oppression. They show that communities and workers can govern themselves.
Here’s how the movement can grow and organize a revolution against fascism:
1. Establish the Local Assemblies
The first step is to organize an assembly. This will depend on the local context, but typically a city-wide assembly comes first. It can later be used as a launching pad to create neighborhood and workplace-based assemblies thereafter.
2. Network the Assemblies into a Federation
The local assemblies network with similar assemblies and form a federation beyond the individual city. This federation allows for regional and national coordination, enabling collective decision-making on a larger scale.
3. Ensure Direct Democracy
To ensure continued democracy and equity, these assemblies could employ a system of delegates to higher-level assemblies. Delegates are subject to recall and direct oversight by the assembly. This would preserve democratic participation while enabling efficient decision-making at larger scales.
4. Organize Toward General Strikes
The federated network of assemblies would allow for the coordination of large-scale initiatives, including protests, blockades, and general strikes. By leveraging their collective power, they could bring economic activity to a halt, applying significant pressure on governments and corporations to meet their demands.
5. Take Over Governance and Production
With the assemblies as a growing system of dual power, general strikes are also meant to move beyond demands to reform a system. They are meant to directly contest for power. They are meant to shift control over local governance and economic production to the assemblies themselves.