Making of Global Working Class? Transnational networks of radical labour research and (h)activism - the dots in Collective Worker’s

Global Brain

Capitalist restructuring > neoliberal globalisation > proletarianisation > organic crisis

TNCsIMF World BankOECDUN agc.GATSWTOEU US ...

world marketinformationalisationtransnationalisationurbanisationprivatizationderegulationliberalisationfree trade zonesflexibilisationsubcontractingfinancialisation

expanding proletariatcrisis of unionsend of class comprimise ( deg. social rights) environmental degradationnew enclosure / global apartheidcrisis of representation

Objective conditions of transnational working class formation

Global Organic Crisis

Transnationalisation of capitalism

Mass labour and societal control-surveillance (socialisation), increasing volume of transnational exchange between societies, rising alternative economies (both capitalist and non-capitalist) > popular uprisings > radicalisation and converging transnational solidarity

Subjective conditions for transnational working class formation

Capitalist-state restructuring, technological development, changes in the capitalist mode of production and societies, expanding and deepening commodification

Transnationalsiation of production & informationalisation, new international labour division, TCC, race to the bottom, fiercing intra-class struggle, transnationalisation of the state, convergence of crises into organic crisis of global capitalism

Informationalisation of capitalism

• nano-technology, micro-chips, Internet, satellites, GSPR, cell technologies and computer programming technology as the material base of world market:

• financial (stock exchanges, banks, private investment and insurance firms, large funds), military and energy networks, transnational reorganization of production-commodity chains and int. trade (paving way to the rise of Collective Worker at global scale) all built on ITC infrastructure

• Silicon Valley / Californian ideology (Rand) + neoliberalism: GATS, Web 2.0, Dot.com bubble, the second enclosure, meta-data storage and analysis leading to massive surveillance capacity for certain capital fractions

• Network society, informational or cognitive capitalism, bio- politics: objectification of entire living labor -intellectuality, affect, creativity- in to the machine

Class wars going global• Increasingly authoritarian and fascist tendency since 9/11, under

the pressure of fierce global intra-class struggle and converging crises and made the class war and its wide spread destruction visible in every domain. Warren Buffet: “there is a class war going on and it is my class the one winning…”

• Global class war has a complex configuration in terms of geographies, social structures and agency. Innovative theoretical innovations came about to understand this complexity

• New Imperialism, Empire, Global Capitalism debate, Global Political Economy, Cul. Pol. Eco., governmentality, TCC, transnational state, (transnational and systemic rivalries, fa-bourgeoisie, internal bourgeoisie), BRICS, state capitalism, cognitive capitalism,…

Organic Crisis of global (transnational, informational, bio-cognitive): Corrective war, fascism, or global

emancipation?

Restructuring process brought about many crises since the late 60s. Finally 2007 systemic, or with reference to Gramsci (Gill) organic crisis of global capitalism has occurred

Neoliberal-capitalist state stacked in a deep legitimacy crisis. The restructuring was increasing the risk of accessibility to livelihoods. After the crisis the risk climbed up to the highest level, for billions of people and ecosystem.

While this situation increased the chance for wide spread social emancipation, it also brought about war and fascism threat (revival of far right, neo-nazizm -Greece, Ukraine most visible).

Expansion of proletariat and the return of labor movement globally Crisis of trade unions and increasing number of

unemployed/landless proletariat The crisis got worsen the life of the majority of

workers. Large segments of once well paid white collar, educated service and knowledge workers and self-employed in the global north became fraction of global proletariat

Mass urbanisation and proletarianisation of the periphery

Re-emergence of labour internationalism

• Google search for: • ‘World working class’ 289.000, ‘global labor’ 242.000, ‘global

working class’ 150.000, ‘transnational working class’ 43.700• Research or debates on global sociology, global labour history, global

political economy, • Material base

• TNCs and transnational production networks, • Immigration – immigrant networks, • Convergence spaces like social forums built (utilizing development

funding and funding from progressive governments)• cheaper transportation and communication expanded networking

space• to speak for the Global North, fractional divisions among

theoretical/academic and political/activist camps of Marxism(s) and Anarchism(s) become milder

• Radicalisation and marginalisation in the campus and the city

Radicalisation and expansion of, and interlocking between labour research, advocacy and social justice activism

- Tradítional political (socialist, communist, anarchist..) activism networks: youth camps and int. communication channels as isolated networks

- ‘Development solidarity’ based labour activism - unions – NGO sector – labour research networks (TIE - transnational information exchange) network, Clean Clothes Camapign, WIEGO, SOMO,..)

- Linked to academia: CLS, GWC project- In the periphery like Sacom, China Labour Bulletin, Tarem, sigtur- In the centre: labor notes, labournets, labourstart, global labour

strategies, war on want, street.net - Campaigns like anti-sweatshop, asian floor-wage, basic income…- Similar networks working on other ‘issues’ like environment,

women, youth, gender, trade, tax, social rights (most of the time varierty of actors): our world in not for sale, seattle to brussels, attac,

1. These efforst established a network infrastructure and international community of ‘interlockers’ who bridge varying stuggles of labour (and global justice)2. Decreasing state and other funding, increasing un-emplyment and flexibility brought about marginalisation and precarity for ‘professional activists’ and activist researchers

Radicalisation and expansion of, and interlocking between free information-, knowledge- and

alternative (shaing, solidarity economy communities

Designers, Artists (digital artists): working for NGOs fincancing independant and collective projects – Euro MayDay, processed world

Journalists: Indymedia, wikileasks Software programmers, network (system) developers and

administrators: FLOSS projects, GNU/Linux, Free Software Foundation, Kein.org, Net-time

Wikipedia, Pirate BayAlternative farming, collaborative production – sharing

economy communities: deGrowth, now-topia, global willages

1. Becoming knowledge proletariat in the global north

marginalisation and radical politicisation: 2. Politcal manifestation of FLOSS movement,

Hackers’ Ethic, Telekommunist manifesto, 3. Anonymous, LulzSec, Wikileaks, Pirate Bay

Convergence spacesSocial Forums (WSF-regional and national)Joint Social Conference:Alter-Summit:

Firenze 10+10:LabourTech, LaborComm

Free Culture, DeGrowth, Oekanox

2011: North Africa, 15M, Occupy, Gezi (trans. Assemblies)

Hub Meetings: Blockupy:

Agora 99: CCC

(piratebay, wikileaks, TOR, EFF…)

hacktivism: anonymous, lulzsec

digital artivists,…)

New international labour comm. and organising

• Creative and interlocking projets: Unionbook, New Unionism Network, Labour and Globalisation Network, Networked Leabour

• Collaborative action and mobilisation: MayFirst, #14N, student strikes,

• Linking factory and public space-service occupations: Spain, Italy, Greece

• Global solidarity conferencs , Global unionism debate• Union Solidarity International, MOOCs

Global Justice and Solidarity Movement

Struggle against neoliberal offensive against the public services/ creating alternatives popular democratic institutions and solidarity economy

transnational water movement

Solidarity experience of unions, ngos and communities in the water struggle

Experiences with premature networking amongst forces before the crisis – moment of war of maneuver (working class in itself)

From Chipas, Seattle, Cochabamba, Porto Alegre, Genoa to Pirate Bay, Wikileaks, Anonymous, Greece,

Tunisa, Tahrir, 15M, Occupy, Blockupy, Gezi...

Starting in Chipas (Zapatista), Seattle (against MAI) and in Cochabamba (against TNCs) we have observed that the counter-hegemonic movements entered in a new era.

Since then social movement were learning and

building layers of networks , existing ones strengthened and spread, there has been are concrete results in divers fields against neoliberalism.

Within this context national (i.e. water) struggles got connected within a transnational space and became a global movement in which trade unions, informal labour organisations, communities, social movements took place.

watershed for dispossessed, workers, unemployed and landless

Question is: in what way the access to drinking water will be improved and expanded?

It has been experienced long enough to see clearly that the capitalist state does not and will not have any motivation to answer this critical question

With its welfare, developmentalist or neoliberal forms capitalist state institutions and strategies work with a logic that excludes majority interest

solidarity, resistance, and building alternatives

It is observed that left political groups, trade unions, other forms of labour organizations, lower segments of urban middle classes, landless peasants, environmentalists, women groups, etc. came together to resist (in Bolivia, Italy, Turkey, Mexico..) neoliberalism

Labour, especially informal labour and unemployed has played important actor resisting privatisation

Within several years the movement moves from local to global level and from resistance to alternative norm and institution building

cracking the state and capital, reclaiming the commons

Reaction to the offensive [of a transnational historic bloc] towards the state has given important results

Water movement has developed successful case

for public water and a strong discourse against the PPPs

Private property in the means of production and natural resources started to be examined more consciously by wider society

Idea and sense of common/public property is promoted successfully and direct participation of agency of water movement to water delivery is put in practice

innovative, constructive, and p2p networked struggle against war and facism, for rights,

democracy and transition is necessary It is necessary to harmonize struggles against the global

offensive of state-capital partnerships towards labour, social rights and the poor

Reconstruction of public sphere and organisation of informal labour needs to be innovatively combined, some social movements would play key role

The struggle needs to organised in a way that it addresses the core institutions of capitalism as private property, competition, profit, etc.

It is important to be innovative, constructive and solution focused and striving to keep middle classes at the progressive side

Buttom-up and networked transnational solidarity

Obstacles before transnational solidarity interest and identity differentiation, nationalism, divide

and rule, wars, military occupations and civil interventions, co-optation, sectarial- hierarchical left and trade union politics,

• Actively working on overcoming the obstacles

Resistance

Alternative culture, norm, idea, and institutions

Joining alternatives

Local National RegionalInternational TransnationalGlobal

Complex Equation of Transnational Solidarity

Labor, social movements, unions, progressive parties, governments, alternative- communities (hackers, makers,

StateCulture

Economics Ethics

Governing Polity Policy

Politics

Complex matrix of transnational solidarity (forging war of movement)