    [The following appeared in Insurrection, an anarchist magazine
     from Britain of the late 80's. This is one kind of discussion 
     which we do not find so often in North America. In the next
     week Autonomedia hopes to make several of these articles 
     available electronically.]
    
    
           INTERNATIONALISM
    
     A restricted view of the struggle is doomed to failure. 
    If not in terms of immediate results (improved conditions, 
    growth of revolutionary consciousness, development of 
    the movement, etc) at least in the long term modifying of 
    power relations.
    
     The revolutionary struggle is "total". It involves the 
    possibility of life for the exploited in all the diffeent 
    parts of the world, hence the need for the "total" 
    intervention of the revolutionary even when operating in 
    a circumscribed and therefore "immediate" struggle.
    
     But this interest cannot limit itself to simply reading 
    the newspapers and keeping oneself informed on what is 
    happening in the world. It must go a little (or a lot) 
    further than that.
    
     Proletarian internationalism is an active intervention,
    a participation in the struggles of the exploited that 
    extends everywhere.
    
     But there is a mistaken way of considering this basic 
    revolutionary perspective. It was applied by the 
    authoritarian parts of the movement in the seventies 
    with disastrous results. This mistake has mechanical
    characteristics and consists of taking what one 
    considers to be the highest point of the clash 
    (ie the situation of the peoples in the third world) 
    where social and economic conflicts are more obvious, 
    and carrying them-as a strategic and methodological 
    propsal-to within the situation of the more advanced 
    countries (the so-called metropolitan situations). In 
    the past one heard of bringing Vietnam to Berlin or 
    London or Milan. The mistake was in sanctifying the 
    open armed clash unreservedly and in transferring these 
    aspects to situations which had, and still have very 
    different characteristics.
    
     But in practice it was not a question of real 
    proletarian internationalism. The far-off situation was 
    seen as an occasion for pushing the local situation. 
    The transferral en bloc was done with a view of obtaining 
    sympathy and propaganda on the wave of results that the
    struggles of those far-off peoples were achieving.
    
     We feel that today more than ever real proletarian 
    internationalism can go towards one of two solutions. 
    Firstly, the classical one which is spoken about less and 
    less now and has come to be seen only through the
    distorting lense of a now out-dated romanticism, is that 
    of direct participation through internationalist groups or 
    brigades. A lot could be said about the subject which we 
    shall put off until some future date where it can be gone 
    into in more detail among comrades.  
    
     Alternatively there is the other aspect, that of real 
    "support" to the internationalist struggle.
    
     It should be said that this support cannot be reduced 
    to a simple subscription. Even if very useful, it is 
    certainly not the first thing that the exploited engaged 
    in a struggle expect. There is also the so-called 
    "political" support, ie counter-information, demonstrations,
    picketing of consulates and embassies, letters of protest. 
    All very useful things.
    
     And then there is the attack against those responsible 
    for exploitation. Both internally and externally. Without 
    wanting to give this aspect priveledge over all the 
    others, we must say-very clearly-that to do only the first 
    renders such activity ineffective. It means reducing the
    manifestation of thought and and opinion to a banal 
    exercise of democratic dissent. It means the transformation 
    of financial support into an act of charity which is mainly 
    an alibi for oneself. To do the two things together has a 
    more serious signifigance and corresponds to what we
    consider to be true proletarian internationalism.
    
                                                  a.m.b.
