[P2P-F] an evaluation of the flok

[Michel Bauwens]

Thanks for the first spate of reactions: orsan, willi, Kevin

First thing, yes Orsan, the hard politics of p2p transition in the existing
context of capital-state-polity-policy-funding-culture.. that is the key
issue we have to deal with, and I hope to add my own efforts to this, as
soon as my homecoming fever is over ..

Willi and Kevin, you both pose the specific problem of the Partner State. I
think there are really big misunderstandings if the relative failure of
Ecuador is interpreted to mean that it means the failure of the Partner
State.

The Ecuadorian state is not a partner state, it's a market state, though
different from the neoliberal one. I interpret as a state that wants to
rebalance the market state towards local sovereignity and the local
bourgeoisie. It represented a different type of class alliance that wanted
to strengthen the local state to tame international capital for its own
ends. After a more radical phase after 2007, it is now slowly retreating
and seeking a new accomodation with Empire. The results are a mixed bag of
very strong social justice results, but a disempowering of civil society as
a collective force. It is remarkable that after meeting more than 70
different civic groups, I could not find a single one that supported the
government, and even the ones that one did, are now alienated from it. The
Ecuadorian state is technocratic, 'knows best' and dislikes participation.
They dislike indepedent civic groups as much as, if not more, than
neoliberal capital. So-called neosocialism is a statist approach to make
Ecuador fit for a socially better kind of capitalism. It's mostly better
than what existed before (though quite a few civic groups disagree and say
they have less freedom now), but it's neither socialism nor p2p nor
participatory.

The second important point is that while we can never idealize the state,
the big and central question remains:

1) is it possible to imagine a class society without a state ? My answer is
no, as who would stop the homeless of going into empty houses, or elite
paramilitaries to take away the land of the farmers ... While failed states
are possible, they are generally worse. I am not aware of big migrations to
Somalia, nor of colombian urban dwellers to the lands of the
paramilitaries, but am only aware of the opposite. People able to vote with
their feet, flee stateless regions

2) is it possible to imagine abolishing class society by fiat. My answer is
no. Therefore in any transition period, there will be a state to defend the
mass of the people and their democracy against attempts at restoration.

Thus the state is simply unavoidable.

So the question becomes, what kind of state. My answer is the partner
state, a state where the people themselves are the state, and the
historical precedents are of course the greek polis and the free medieval
city states described by the anarchist Kropotkin. If you agree, I don't
care what other name you use for it, that is the partner state we are
talking about, nothing else can be it.

The third question is: what do we do in the meantime. My answer is 1) build
autonomous social organisation 2) engage with the state to fight bad
legislation and promote good legislation 3) create prefigurative partner
state policies where the people's forces have majorities.

So back the question: does the relative failure of flok prove anything
about the failure of the partner state concept ? My answer is: the
opposite. Ecuador shows that anything but a partner state approach is
relatively doomed. It wasn't a partner state, we thought a prefigurative
experiment was possible, and it wasn't. But micro-experiments, like in
Sigchos, are still possible, and worth fighting for.

Michel

-- 
*Please note an intrusion wiped out my inbox on February 8; I have no
record of previous communication, proposals, etc ..*

P2P Foundation: http://p2pfoundation.net  - http://blog.p2pfoundation.net

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