RAG principles and aims:
1. What is our group?
RAG (Revolutionary Anarchist Group) is an intersectional class-struggle-focused revolutionary anarchist-communist organisation. We believe that revolutionary organisation is essential to the emancipation of the working class, and follow a materialist approach to social and economic analysis. Our primary goal is dismantling capitalism and the state via revolution and the creation of a stateless and classless society.
2. Revolutionary.
RAG is a revolutionary organisation. We seek the overthrow of capitalism and the state, and the total transformation of society. We recognise that communism cannot be legislated into existence, nor can it be brought about incrementally through social-democratic reforms: the entire economic and political system must be abolished and a new society built from the ground up. We therefore recognise an irreconcilable opposition between us and the capitalist ruling class. Capitalism is defended by state violence, by the police and armed forces, and in a revolutionary situation these forces must be defeated. We understand that therefore no revolution can be achieved solely through peaceful means. However, we also reject the taking of state power as revolutionary strategy. The state exists to subjugate, pacify, and manage the oppressed and exploited classes; as a social technology, it has developed for that purpose. It cannot simply be repurposed to revolutionary ends: it must be dismantled. Similarly, we recognise that trade unions, which coexist with the managers and bosses without challenging their ownership of capital, lack revolutionary potential. While trade unions may sometimes play a progressive role in the class struggle, their primary role is to negotiate on behalf of privileged sectors of the working class for concessions from management. Therefore the continued existence of the unions, and of the privileges enjoyed by the upper tiers of the union bureaucracy, are dependent on the continuation of capitalist class relations. While we support strikes and other forms of industrial action as tactics 1 in the class struggle, we would favour autonomous action outside of the union apparatus where possible. This is all the more the case in workplaces (often those employing some of the most exploited sections of the working class) where the role of the union is to blunt the impact of class struggle and prevent the discontent of the workers from disturbing or even reaching the bosses.
3. Capitalism.
We believe that capitalism is an exploitative and unsustainable economic system. In constant competition, the capitalist class are driven to aggressively exploit common resources for short-term profit, destroying the environment. Nation states, protecting the interests of their local bourgeoisie, continually force workers into pointless wars in pursuit of imperialist control. Under capitalism, the workers are expected to produce the means to sustain not only themselves and their families but also the parasitic capitalist class. The contradictory interests of these two classes sow the seeds for capitalism’s destruction. In preparation for the upcoming capitalist crises, we must build class consciousness and create the structures of the new anarchist communist society.
4. Future Society.
As Anarchist-Communists we advocate for the formation of an international communist society which will organise itself along the lines of the slogan “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs” in the name of freedom, justice and solidarity. Rather than working long hours to enrich our already sufficiently wealthy bosses while we merely subsist, “work” would be done according to necessity, with the conditions democratically decided on by those who it concerns. How would the trains run? How the workers and users elect that they should run. What authority would impose this? The will of the collective people. At scale, anarchists traditionally propose that societies should be organised federally, with each “unit” collaborating with another for the betterment of all.
5. Internationalism.
The working class of all nations share a common interest in the destruction of global capitalism. We are resolutely opposed to nationalism in all of its guises, and we utterly reject the seductive lie of a shared ‘national interest’ between a country’s workers and its ruling class. We are opposed to all wars between nations. The ruling classes manoeuvre in pursuit of their own ends, but it’s the mass of the working class who are killed 2 and maimed and displaced. Therefore we do not choose sides: we eagerly seek the defeat of the bourgeoisie on all sides, and the victory of the working classes of the whole world. Imperial powers exploit the ‘underdeveloped’ nations of the global South, not only through direct military involvement or by backing coups d’état, but through debt, sanctions, and trade. It is clear that even the most oppressed in the global North enjoy a far higher standard of living than much of the working class and peasantry in the global South. Nevertheless we believe that if the international working class are able to achieve communism, we will all be better off than we are today. We oppose imperialism and our hope is that workers in the imperialised world are able to fight for more ambitious goals than national liberation: they are entitled to nothing less than communism. We want to see the defeat of imperialism and every national bourgeoisie, by the working class joining forces across borders and fighting for their interests as a class.
6. Revolutionary Organisation.
As anarchists we stand firmly against state and capitalism, as both are forms of oppression. Any solution which forms a coalition with or otherwise accommodates state or capital is an incomplete solution. We believe that radical change can only come from grassroots, bottom-up revolution. Institutions that exist within the capitalist framework are unsuitable for the radical changes we desire to see, only capable of minor reforms. These include, but are not limited to, political parties and trade unions. This is not to say that, in the immediate term, these institutions are useless but they are capable only of limited victories. To this end, the anarchist revolutionary organisation exists to prepare for and support the revolution through political education and agitation. The anarchist organisation must exist at the disposal of the working class, and with no designs to control or manipulate it. Our organisations must operate along the lines of the anarchist society we wish to see: directly democratically with no vertical hierarchy.
7. Identity & Class.
Anarchists advocate a society free from all forms of oppression, those emerging directly from the class system, or the variety of other oppressions that exist within it. While revolutions are times of accelerated social progress, oppressions not rooted in class may outlive class society, meaning the fight for truly universal emancipation must take place before, during and after the revolution. As participants within those struggles, we believe there is no legitimate identitarian divide — of race, gender, sexuality or any other constructed category 3 — besides that of class and we must fight for the eradication of these distractions to achieve total equality.
8. Other Movements.
As anarchists we oppose all forms of authority, and recognise the need for struggle against all forms of oppression. We stand in solidarity with all oppressed peoples everywhere, and wish to support all progressive movements. This naturally requires working alongside other socialist tendencies as well as non-socialist and non-revolutionary groups. We do not need to be in complete agreement on every topic in order to organise with other groups and individuals; where we can work together productively in particular struggles, we will. In these situations, however, we are still anarchists; we do not abandon our goals or strategy for the sake of ‘unity’ among the ‘left.’ Furthermore, as anarchists we can contribute insights and criticisms that no-one else will. Part of our role is to reveal the class basis of oppressive structures; to warn of the danger of collusion with the state, of cross-class alliances, and co-option by ‘professional activism’ and political parties; and to expose the limitations of approaches to social change that fall short of the liberatory potential of the social revolution.
RAG (Revolutionary Anarchist Group) is an intersectional class-struggle-focused revolutionary anarchist-communist organisation. We believe that revolutionary organisation is essential to the emancipation of the working class, and follow a materialist approach to social and economic analysis. Our primary goal is dismantling capitalism and the state via revolution and the creation of a stateless and classless society.
2. Revolutionary.
RAG is a revolutionary organisation. We seek the overthrow of capitalism and the state, and the total transformation of society. We recognise that communism cannot be legislated into existence, nor can it be brought about incrementally through social-democratic reforms: the entire economic and political system must be abolished and a new society built from the ground up. We therefore recognise an irreconcilable opposition between us and the capitalist ruling class. Capitalism is defended by state violence, by the police and armed forces, and in a revolutionary situation these forces must be defeated. We understand that therefore no revolution can be achieved solely through peaceful means. However, we also reject the taking of state power as revolutionary strategy. The state exists to subjugate, pacify, and manage the oppressed and exploited classes; as a social technology, it has developed for that purpose. It cannot simply be repurposed to revolutionary ends: it must be dismantled. Similarly, we recognise that trade unions, which coexist with the managers and bosses without challenging their ownership of capital, lack revolutionary potential. While trade unions may sometimes play a progressive role in the class struggle, their primary role is to negotiate on behalf of privileged sectors of the working class for concessions from management. Therefore the continued existence of the unions, and of the privileges enjoyed by the upper tiers of the union bureaucracy, are dependent on the continuation of capitalist class relations. While we support strikes and other forms of industrial action as tactics 1 in the class struggle, we would favour autonomous action outside of the union apparatus where possible. This is all the more the case in workplaces (often those employing some of the most exploited sections of the working class) where the role of the union is to blunt the impact of class struggle and prevent the discontent of the workers from disturbing or even reaching the bosses.
3. Capitalism.
We believe that capitalism is an exploitative and unsustainable economic system. In constant competition, the capitalist class are driven to aggressively exploit common resources for short-term profit, destroying the environment. Nation states, protecting the interests of their local bourgeoisie, continually force workers into pointless wars in pursuit of imperialist control. Under capitalism, the workers are expected to produce the means to sustain not only themselves and their families but also the parasitic capitalist class. The contradictory interests of these two classes sow the seeds for capitalism’s destruction. In preparation for the upcoming capitalist crises, we must build class consciousness and create the structures of the new anarchist communist society.
4. Future Society.
As Anarchist-Communists we advocate for the formation of an international communist society which will organise itself along the lines of the slogan “from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs” in the name of freedom, justice and solidarity. Rather than working long hours to enrich our already sufficiently wealthy bosses while we merely subsist, “work” would be done according to necessity, with the conditions democratically decided on by those who it concerns. How would the trains run? How the workers and users elect that they should run. What authority would impose this? The will of the collective people. At scale, anarchists traditionally propose that societies should be organised federally, with each “unit” collaborating with another for the betterment of all.
5. Internationalism.
The working class of all nations share a common interest in the destruction of global capitalism. We are resolutely opposed to nationalism in all of its guises, and we utterly reject the seductive lie of a shared ‘national interest’ between a country’s workers and its ruling class. We are opposed to all wars between nations. The ruling classes manoeuvre in pursuit of their own ends, but it’s the mass of the working class who are killed 2 and maimed and displaced. Therefore we do not choose sides: we eagerly seek the defeat of the bourgeoisie on all sides, and the victory of the working classes of the whole world. Imperial powers exploit the ‘underdeveloped’ nations of the global South, not only through direct military involvement or by backing coups d’état, but through debt, sanctions, and trade. It is clear that even the most oppressed in the global North enjoy a far higher standard of living than much of the working class and peasantry in the global South. Nevertheless we believe that if the international working class are able to achieve communism, we will all be better off than we are today. We oppose imperialism and our hope is that workers in the imperialised world are able to fight for more ambitious goals than national liberation: they are entitled to nothing less than communism. We want to see the defeat of imperialism and every national bourgeoisie, by the working class joining forces across borders and fighting for their interests as a class.
6. Revolutionary Organisation.
As anarchists we stand firmly against state and capitalism, as both are forms of oppression. Any solution which forms a coalition with or otherwise accommodates state or capital is an incomplete solution. We believe that radical change can only come from grassroots, bottom-up revolution. Institutions that exist within the capitalist framework are unsuitable for the radical changes we desire to see, only capable of minor reforms. These include, but are not limited to, political parties and trade unions. This is not to say that, in the immediate term, these institutions are useless but they are capable only of limited victories. To this end, the anarchist revolutionary organisation exists to prepare for and support the revolution through political education and agitation. The anarchist organisation must exist at the disposal of the working class, and with no designs to control or manipulate it. Our organisations must operate along the lines of the anarchist society we wish to see: directly democratically with no vertical hierarchy.
7. Identity & Class.
Anarchists advocate a society free from all forms of oppression, those emerging directly from the class system, or the variety of other oppressions that exist within it. While revolutions are times of accelerated social progress, oppressions not rooted in class may outlive class society, meaning the fight for truly universal emancipation must take place before, during and after the revolution. As participants within those struggles, we believe there is no legitimate identitarian divide — of race, gender, sexuality or any other constructed category 3 — besides that of class and we must fight for the eradication of these distractions to achieve total equality.
8. Other Movements.
As anarchists we oppose all forms of authority, and recognise the need for struggle against all forms of oppression. We stand in solidarity with all oppressed peoples everywhere, and wish to support all progressive movements. This naturally requires working alongside other socialist tendencies as well as non-socialist and non-revolutionary groups. We do not need to be in complete agreement on every topic in order to organise with other groups and individuals; where we can work together productively in particular struggles, we will. In these situations, however, we are still anarchists; we do not abandon our goals or strategy for the sake of ‘unity’ among the ‘left.’ Furthermore, as anarchists we can contribute insights and criticisms that no-one else will. Part of our role is to reveal the class basis of oppressive structures; to warn of the danger of collusion with the state, of cross-class alliances, and co-option by ‘professional activism’ and political parties; and to expose the limitations of approaches to social change that fall short of the liberatory potential of the social revolution.
