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First Measures of the Coming Insurrection
We have witnessed a beginning, the birth of a new age of revolt and upheaval. In North Africa and the Middle East it took the people a matter of days to topple what were supposedly entrenched regimes. Now, to the west, multiple crises are etching away at a 'democratic consensus' that has, since the 1970s, plagued and suppressed any sparks of revolutionary potential. It is time to prepare for the coming insurrection.
In this bold and beautifully written book, Eric Hazan and Kamo provide a short account of what is to be done in the aftermath of a regime's how to prevent any power from restoring itself and how to reorganize society without a central authority and according to the people's needs. They argue that neither a leadership reshuffle, in the guise of constitutional progress, nor a transition period between a capitalist social order and a communist horizon will do.
First Measures of the Coming Insurrection is more than the voice of a new generation of revolutionaries; it is the manual for the coming global revolution.
In this bold and beautifully written book, Eric Hazan and Kamo provide a short account of what is to be done in the aftermath of a regime's how to prevent any power from restoring itself and how to reorganize society without a central authority and according to the people's needs. They argue that neither a leadership reshuffle, in the guise of constitutional progress, nor a transition period between a capitalist social order and a communist horizon will do.
First Measures of the Coming Insurrection is more than the voice of a new generation of revolutionaries; it is the manual for the coming global revolution.
144 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2013
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About the author
Eric Hazan
44 books30 followersEric Hazan is a writer, historian and founder of the independent publishing house La Fabrique. His most recent books in English include The Invention of Paris (2012) and A People's History of the French Revolution (2014).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 24, 2013
Eric Hazan wants to make a bold suggestion: that not only is revolution still tempting, it is as pertinent and necessary as it ever was, and the thing to do now is not just to conceive of how to start one, but how to do it in a fashion that will be irreversible. Hazan wants us to take actions that cannot be undone.
Many of Hazan's preliminary remarks are fitting. He notes the inability for global capitalism to protect the environment, guard against corporate abuse, reduce the gap between rich and poor, educate our children, and so forth. He puts this in the context of a world population that is increasingly on edge, from Tahir Square to University of California campuses. His argument "now more than ever" does not sound foolhardy. And when he suggests the revolution, this time, must make irreversible changes, so that we can never go back to the abusive power system, it seems like the one sensible stance a radical can take.
What that actually will look like, though, is something that this book lacks, and not because Hazan doesn't try. He tries to present what revolution can be, and how we can move forward. He does his best to undermine the clichés that are used against any radical discourse in a post-Bolshevik society, and he tries to get down to some concrete suggestions about how we should organize ourselves in the future. Unfortunately, these "practical" bits are where the book falls short. I don't mean to say that what he suggests is in any way useless. But his arguments about local organization, about what "work" can mean for the future, about how we transition away from a money-based society...these all seem to me to be areas where the sheer power of the established system(s) would run over the attempts Hazan suggests. There are some current counter-examples, which he is smart to cite, but which don't give me the feeling that the widespread implication of these communities' autonomy can be put into practice.
Which is to say what? Not that I disagree with Hazan, particularly on the idea that revolution needs to be made irreversible. I might go so far as to say that today's radicals need to replace the word revolution, which still carries its sense of turning in a circle, where whatever happens, the same sorts of powers are in control when the dust settles; yes, radicals should find a new word for the advent of irreversible change. But to have that, there are steps and actions that must be undertaken that would bridge the gap between Hazan's ideas and the world we live in today. His ideas are not in themselves wrong, but there is the distinct sense that they are missing some crucial support, the kinds of efforts that might make what he proposes possible. What those may be, well I'm thinking about that in private. But suffice to say, I personally have not figured out a way to go beyond what we have and what revolution has offered us until now. In that sense, my critiques of Premières mesures révolutionnaires are minor ones.
Many of Hazan's preliminary remarks are fitting. He notes the inability for global capitalism to protect the environment, guard against corporate abuse, reduce the gap between rich and poor, educate our children, and so forth. He puts this in the context of a world population that is increasingly on edge, from Tahir Square to University of California campuses. His argument "now more than ever" does not sound foolhardy. And when he suggests the revolution, this time, must make irreversible changes, so that we can never go back to the abusive power system, it seems like the one sensible stance a radical can take.
What that actually will look like, though, is something that this book lacks, and not because Hazan doesn't try. He tries to present what revolution can be, and how we can move forward. He does his best to undermine the clichés that are used against any radical discourse in a post-Bolshevik society, and he tries to get down to some concrete suggestions about how we should organize ourselves in the future. Unfortunately, these "practical" bits are where the book falls short. I don't mean to say that what he suggests is in any way useless. But his arguments about local organization, about what "work" can mean for the future, about how we transition away from a money-based society...these all seem to me to be areas where the sheer power of the established system(s) would run over the attempts Hazan suggests. There are some current counter-examples, which he is smart to cite, but which don't give me the feeling that the widespread implication of these communities' autonomy can be put into practice.
Which is to say what? Not that I disagree with Hazan, particularly on the idea that revolution needs to be made irreversible. I might go so far as to say that today's radicals need to replace the word revolution, which still carries its sense of turning in a circle, where whatever happens, the same sorts of powers are in control when the dust settles; yes, radicals should find a new word for the advent of irreversible change. But to have that, there are steps and actions that must be undertaken that would bridge the gap between Hazan's ideas and the world we live in today. His ideas are not in themselves wrong, but there is the distinct sense that they are missing some crucial support, the kinds of efforts that might make what he proposes possible. What those may be, well I'm thinking about that in private. But suffice to say, I personally have not figured out a way to go beyond what we have and what revolution has offered us until now. In that sense, my critiques of Premières mesures révolutionnaires are minor ones.
May 18, 2015
The title for this should have been "First Revolutionary Measures" as it is with the French version. It's in a clear dialog with the ideas of the coming insurrection, but it's attempting to be a leap beyond the insurrection, to the stage that lies past the insurrection - the revolutionary stage. This book isn't especially profound in its analysis and I think a number of things are wrong, but what is important about it is that it's attempting to open up a space for thinking how to make the insurrection become a revolution and how to make the revolution stay. In this it's also a leap beyond where many are still at, having only seen a brief glimpse of the insurrections still to come. The phase in between is still very much contested territory. In a number of ways this book can correspond with a less French and more playful version of this, written many years before, but also coming out of an autonomist tendency, the book called Bolo Bolo. Where I also thought the book was very wrong was its in optimism about the usefulness and the appropriatability of modern technology in communist social experiments. The reflections on and critique of democracy were very useful.
May 14, 2015
Well-meaning but misguided to a rather silly degree. I was most interested in reading about the social and racial issues persisting in modern Europe, covered in the latter section of the book. The vast majority of the space, however, was given over to an argument about the need to "eliminate economics" or some such, which gave away the authors' lack of fundamental understanding of the subject. I'm not saying there aren't some decent arguments to be made from the "revolutionary" position, but what was contained in this book were not those arguments. Trying to wish away "economics" in a broad sense is like trying to wish away mathematics -- you can stop using the term, but 2 plus 2 will still make 4, and a constrained optimization problem will still be a constrained optimization problem, and incentives will still be incentives. Interesting to hear new viewpoints, but probably a good idea to do at least some basic learning on a topic before trying to dismantle it.
August 25, 2015
I can appreciate this book trying to open up space for conversation around "the revolution," but I'm frustrated both by the optimism and the normalization of particular apparatuses (ie. the practice of "medicine" without advanced imaging instruments but still with industrialized implements that still need to be made.
March 12, 2016
Sans être son meilleur texte, ce livre a une certaine valeur opératoire par son articulation d'une déconstruction concrète du monde sociale contemporain français et d'une forme d'appel au mouvement. À faire suivre par les temps qui courent.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews