Days of War, Nights of Love: Crimethink for beginners composed and published by the Crimethlnc Workers' Collective (Crimethlnc Headquarters, 2695 Rangewood Dr., Atlanta, GA 30345, USA, 2000) 279pp., $8.00 postpaid, paper.
When I first heard of this book, I hoped for a book of stories, a book, indeed, describing "days of war, nights of love." The ideas expressed in CrimethInc's Harbinger indicated the possibility of people exploring personal revolt and desire that could be a source for exciting tales, but I was to be disappointed. In fact, the book largely consists of reprints from issues of Harbinger, their occasional paper, and various flyers and one-shot pamphlets they have published. The "days of war, nights of love" remain largely abstract. The question that comes to my mind is whether this material needed to be brought together in a book.
The discovery of ideas that one has not encountered before can often seem like a revelation. Suddenly everything seems so clear, it all falls into place and you want the world to know. This sort of enthusiasm has always seemed to permeate the publications of the CrimethInc Workers' Collective (CWC), and so inevitably fills Days of War, Nights of Love. The sources of the ideas are also quite clear. The ideas of the situationists-particularly Vaneigem-are central, with some conceptions from Nietzsche and that part of the anti-civilization current that emphasizes the alienation of desire and passion in its critique. CWC popularizes these ideas in a way that is clearly aimed at youth. Their texts, extensively peppered with plagiarized passages from the various sources of their ideas, are generally well written and clear. This factor combined with their ability to make an attractive package (frequent illustrations and unusual layout throughout the book will draw in those who might be put off by huge blocks of text) may make this the first introduction to these ideas. This is not necessarily a good thing.
The apparent clarity new ideas offer and the enthusiasm they evoke can lead one to believe that they have found the answer rather than opening a new realm of questioning. And in so much of the writing of CWC has brought together, one definitely gets this feeling. Here are a group of zealots certain that they have found the way through which everyone can discover their own radical subjectivity and become free. Unfortunately, those who have the answer cease to apply critical thinking to their own ideas and these ideas stagnate and lose their connection to social reality. This is clearly manifested in this book, particularly in the ways CWC deal with history, mythology and class.
In "The Dead Hand of the Past", the author calls for a replacement of history with myth, claiming that myth belongs to everyone. The real purpose of mythology within a culture is ignored. Mythology, in fact, creates and reinforces cultural identity and adherence to cultural norms and mores. The problem with history as we encounter it is precisely that it is taught to us in a mythological form, emphasizing selective aspects that uphold the current culture and its values. In the struggle against the social order, we do not need mythology, but rather the demystification of history.
It becomes clear that, whatever claims they may make to the contrary, CWC is striving to create a counter- or sub-cultural identity. Thus, the vignettes scattered throughout the book as the "history of the CrimethInc Workers' Collective" are an obvious attempt to create a CWC mythology incorporating the Free Spirit heresy, piracy, the Paris Commune, Arthur Rimbaud, Isabelle Eberhardt, dada, etc. into their pantheon - all, of course, removed from their despised historical context which may actually reveal something about the different forms revolt has taken. The most flagrant departure from reality may be in their reiteration of Hakim Bey's version of D'Annunzio's takeover of Fiume in 1918. Without even considering how the people of Fiume may have felt about this invasion of their town, let us simply consider that, though D'Annunzio may have been involved in anarchist circles in the 1890's and early 1900's, by 1918 he was a quasi-fascist, hyper-nationalist (remember, his intent was to give Fiume to the Italian state). One doesn't become a war hero through refusal to obey the state's order. Bey's and Crimethlnc's mythological conflation of D'Annunzio's earlier anarchist sympathies with his later hyper-nationalist attempt at land grabbing is precisely the sort of ammunition scandalmongers like Stewart Home need. for their attempts to discredit anarchism by equating it with fascism. Mythologizing is always a dangerous game for insurgents since it has historically been the game of those seeking to maintain the status quo. The tendency of mythology is to make the present seem eternal.
CrimethInc's preference for mythology over demystified history may also explain their lack of class analysis (why Vaneigem's critique of daily life demands social revolution while theirs would only require a life of marginalized bohemianism). The "bourgeoisie" referred to on pages 46 through 54 is not a class, but a culture. In this, CWC follows in the footsteps of earlier aesthetic and bohemian rebels. And there is some truth in this, since in advanced capitalist countries, the values of the bourgeoisie do indeed tend to gradually permeate all of society, to re-create culture on the terms of the ruling class. Nonetheless, the reality that there is a class that dominates, that manipulates social reality to its own benefit must not be ignored by those who seek the end of this society. I do not know what level of ennui or disorientation those who rule us feel due to the "social forces and patterns at work between us", but I do know that they continue to choose to carry out their role in keeping these "forces and patterns" in place, and that they do so not due to the necessities of survival or even individual enjoyment, but in order to maintain their power over the rest of the world. So regardless of whatever ennui or anguish this world may cause them, they are nonetheless responsible for their choice, and this choice places them in conflict with any of us who wish to live without domination or exploitation- a conflict of which they are very aware as is evident from how much effort they put into arming themselves. Thus, "preferring strife to submission", I recognize these people as my enemies. They do, indeed, constitute a "them." It is interesting to note here that in laying aside class analysis, we also had to lay aside individual responsibility. Seeking to make the ruling class into fellow-sufferers of the current social order, they forget that this order is reproduced by the activities of individuals.
In fact, there are no simple answers to the question of how to get out of this mess. Reading the discussion about not working (pp. 245-256), it becomes evident that CWC also haven't found the answer. The descriptions of work avoidance often have an ascetic tone, and it became clear that all of those involved in the discussion remain dependent on the work system even if they manage to avoid jobs themselves. The point can't be simply to avoid work, it must be to struggle to destroy the society based on this social relationship called work. Shoplifting has been a part of my life for years and when it is truly necessary, it too takes on the feeling of a job. In that situation the distinction between corporate capitalists and small "ma-and-pa" capitalists loses any meaning- you do what you have to. There is nothing inherently revolutionary about it; it is simply another means for surviving.
The ideas expressed in Days of War, Nights of Love could certainly be an inspiration to individual revolt, and I am convinced that such revolt plays an essential part in the development of an anarchist revolutionary project, but in order for it to develop into such a project it needs a demystified understanding of history not its replacement by myth, and a clear understanding of class and other social relationships as well as of individual responsibility. It is true that Nadia C. warns people not to use this book like "normal" books, as something to buy into or reject. Nonetheless, in this format CWC's writings form a body of thought that is fairly unified. The tone of the writing leaves the feeling that the authors have found the answer to how to live, here and now, beyond the alienation of this society, and some will most likely use this book as a guide along these lines. I actually like many of the pieces that comprise this book when they are taken separately. The writings put out by CWC are often spirited and even incisive. But the project of revolution requires a constant contention with the world we oppose. Those who become too confident that they have the answer forget to ask the hard questions, and, however beautifully expressed their ideas may be, these ideas become the basis for a new identity, not tools for the destruction of the current social order.
from "Anarchy: A Journal Of Desire Armed" Issue #52 Fall-Winter 2001-2002