Lessons From the Egyptian Insurrection: Communization, Strategy, and Solidarity « build the party
▻https://umfnyc.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/lessons-from-the-egyptian-insurrection-communization-strategy-and-
In the past week, Egypt has seen the rapid spread of insurrectional violence, beginning January 25th with the 2-year anniversary of Mubarak’s fall, intensifying with the death sentences handed down to 21 Al-Masry ultras from Port Said and the subsequent declaration of a state of emergency on January 27th in provinces along the Suez Canal. Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, Ismaili, and Cairo have seen extensive clashes and the defiance of all curfews, with Port Said effectively seceding and military leaders warning of a state collapse. Within this fold, an explicitly revolutionary force has announced itself, calling itself Black Blocairo, Black Block Egypt, or simply the Black Bloc, pointing beyond the use of the black mask and violence as a tactic and towards a more organized and explicitly insurrectional position in North Africa; learning from the years of revolt and refusing to let go, they are pushing things forward when others would choose to give up.
While security forces have lost control of the streets in some cities, their absence does not beget a revolution, and in parallel the state proper may not be in control, but this does not mean that government –as opposed to the government— does not function. A revolution has to abolish everything, as much through insurrection as through communization.