We have received a few emails recently asking about our connection to Red Action (hello officer). We feel that we must clarify this to avoid confusion and misunderstanding.
Red Antifa was not set up by Red Action or its former members and supporters. We do however have the benefit of contact with former members and associates of Red Action and we would like to build on this in one way or another.
Red Action unfortunately no longer exists as a formal political organisation (it now exists as an informal network of former members and supporters). With time and experience, the politics of that organisation have ended up creating a political tradition all its own. This means that whilst Red Action no longer formally exists, the politics survive and are gaining increasing interest from a new generation. This is something that should be nurtured.
Where Red Antifa as an organisation is concerned, we believe that our politics fall within that tradition. We also believe that we are one of a couple of embodiments of those politics today. The politics which make up that tradition are as relevant today as they were when they were first developed.
Still slated by the left, the politics of Red Action are usable whereas the politics of the left are completely redundant. Red Action of course had faults (albeit not many), which organisation in history has not? But when held up against the politics and practice of the left, both in the past and the present, there really is no comparison. It is obvious which side’s politics we have chosen to align ourselves to, as well as adapt to the current conditions and events (and it ain’t the politics of the left). A misconception about former Red Action members and supporters is that they have largely gone into “retirement”. This is not the case, they are not in “retirement”. They have simply seen the merit in a change of focus and direction, something which others would do well to take heed of.
We have no intention of becoming a Red Action fan club for a new generation of working class activists disgruntled with the left. We have an identity of our own but one which was cast in the mould of Red Action‘s politics. In short, we see a proven model in the politics, strategy and legacy of Red Action. It would be foolish to ignore this.
The left certainly is not speaking to or for a new generation of working class anti-fascists, or indeed a new generation of working class socialists generally let alone working class people on the whole.
Sometimes we need to look back at what was and what worked in order to see a good framework on how to plan, organise and succeed for the present and future.
We do not engage in sycophantic hero worship but we do show a great deal of respect when it is due.
It is one of the objectives of Red Antifa to promote the politics and methods of Red Action as they always have been and also to adapt them if and when needed to current conditions and events.
We expect that our promotion of Red Action politics and analysis will bring us into contention and maybe even confrontation with the left. This is to be expected because Red Action continuously exposed the left for what it was and also because working class politics are at the centre of Red Action praxis and politics. Especially today the latter is a particular thorn in the side of the left because it has ditched working class politics in favour of neo-liberalism, particularly identity politics, to an irreparable extent.
We hope that this clarifies the points raised.