Friendship and loneliness

I wrote this article in 2005 for a personal zine which I never published. However it got published in Letters journal, original site of which has disappeared a long time ago. 

After Greek movement of 2008, insurrectional and anti-organisational anarchism has gained a hegemony in anarchist movement worldwide. With it, the idea of "organic" affinities and friendships as an alternative to other means of human connections. This point of view is abundant, just one example is Inhabit: Instructions for autonomy  In this old text, I offer a point of view that there is nothing inherently "anti-capitalist" in affinities and friendships, but matter of mutuality and exploitation is a more subtle one. Whereas I am currently not the rather disappointed and depressed person who wrote this text 13 years ago, I feel that the general criticism still holds. 

Friendship and loneliness

Much has been said about fetishization of closed loving relationships with the opposite sex in our society, relations which should last forever but which rarely do, at least without sacrifices not worth of it. But I think there is pretty much idealization of the friendship around as well. 

The End of Antifa?

Despite the bleakness of the situation in Ukraine, at least I was amused by the fact that Nazis were fighting on both sides of the front, killing each other.

read more

On racism in the Russian antifa and hardcore subculture

In February, a critique of Moscow-based bands What We Feel(WWF) and Moscow Death Brigade(MDB) written by "Antifascist Subculture Worldwide"-collective appeared on the German website, Linksunten (in English).

read more

Anarchism in the context of civil war

On Friday, the 2nd of May, the House of Trade Unions in Odessa caught on fire.

read more

Moscow anti-fascists amnestied

On Friday 10th of January Basmanniy district court of Moscow ceased criminal case against Alexey Olesinov, Alexey Sutuga, Alyon Volikov and Babken Guskasyan. All four were accused of "hooliganism", a criminal offense which is included in the amnesty bill, approved as a PR stunt on initiative of Vladimir Putin himself in advent of the Sochi Winter Olympics – most known amnestied political prisoners being 30 detainees of the Arctic Sunrise ship of Greenpeace, and two imprisoned members of Pussy Riot. Four anti-fascists had also other, less severe charges which fall under statutes of limitations.

read more

My article “On anarchism and violence” is now banned in Russia

28th of November Lenin district court of the city of Tyumen uphold a request of the prosecutor of the Lenin district on recognition a text I wrote two years ago as "extremist".

My article "on anarchism and violence" was published in issue 33 of Avtonom journal in autumn of 2011, and also in 5th issue of Finnish anarchist journal Väärinajattelija. I published both of these texts with a pseudonyme, as I did not want Russian authorities to pay unsoliticed attention to my person. Now I have translated this text to English, as I would like as many people as possible to make conclusion on justification of the decision of the Lenin district court of Tyumen.

read more

On anarchism and violence

Some claim, that anarchism opposes violence, as for anarchists means and ends meet. But only second statement is correct, wherease first is not. This because in anarchism violence is not only means, but in a certain sense a goal in itself.

read more