why has the insurrectionary upsurge that started a few years ago turned so much toward marxism and identity politics?

Question

i hope it's sufficiently clear what i am talking about - had to edit down a bit to 120 chars. (anarcho-twitter?)

Comments

Can you give examples?

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maybe you should clarify a little better what you mean by "insurrectionary upsurge".

Answer 1

I'm tempted to offer an interpretation. "The insurrectionary upsurge" refers to the rising popularity of I@ ideas and practice in the US around the time of 2008 onward (to reduce this simply to publications, which is obviously problematic, think Fire to the Prisons, Politics is Not a Banana, various local I@ periodicals). The turn toward Marxism and identity politics is a little less clear but means the rising popularity of "insurrectionary communist" ideas and other anti-state communism that has been attractive to I@s influenced by the perceived "need to return to class analysis" (think Modesto Anarcho promoting I@ alongside of solidarity networks, IEF's translating & publishing Invisible Committee & Theorie Communiste). As for identity politics, I think it's a reference to projects like Petroleuse Press which styles itself as insurrectionary or markets itself to that niche even while their texts are statist communist.

I'd say the reason for the phenomenon is threefold. One is the reduction of insurrectionary anarchist ideas to pro-violence or militancy. The other is that identity politics--including class-based identity politics--have a very strong hold, especially in the US, and a tendency to sneak in through the window when they are kicked out the door. Third is the weakness of individuals who can be swayed by whichever trend is popular, or to put it another way, whichever has the most capital behind it.

[edit for clarity; then for italics]

Comments

yes, that's what i'm talking about. your last sentence came the closest to the kind of answer i was looking for, but then i have a strong preference for objective, dare-i-say historical-materialist, analysis. i don't really understand the sneak in the window comment, do you think identity politics were ever kicked out the door? i can't remember a time when they haven't had a large influence on the scene. there was just a brief moment when everything seemed to be moving away from that, but i guess maybe it just really didn't...

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This is a good answer but I think the Invisible Committee is not such a good example - they really don't argue for identity politics or a 'return to class analysis' at all.

Answer 2

Because the insurrectionary anarchist upsurge was already drowned in identity politics ("anyone who isn't an insurrectionist is a liberal!") and Marxism (Benjamin and Adorno). When anarchists were seen as not having their act together a lot people tried to fill in the gaps. To be fair, a lot of IAs I knew became outright capitalists.