Maia Ramnath - Decolonizing Anarchism.pdf - Libcom

2 I Ramnath
mind I set out to try to find my closest political counterparts
and get a sense of where I might someday fit in the
terrain of social movement activity. It quickly became
clear that there was no simple one-to-one correspondence
with the radical spectrum familiar to me in the United
States. The histories and contexts were too different; the
trajectories of the vocabulary too weighted with mutually
illegible baggage. Sub- and countercultures as well as
oppositional movements only have meaning when embedded
in and against their respective hegemonic mainstreams,
which are in turn deeply embedded in history,
geography, and global political economy. This renders
direct translation impossible.
Thus there was no group or formation that would be a
perfect match for my u.s. political profile. and in any case
it would be misguided-colonialist, you could say-to
expect one. So the question shifted from "Where/who are
my political counterparts?" to "What political niche makes
sense for me here (as the half-breed, rootless-cosmopolitan,
declasse-intelligentsia, self-described anarchist daughter
of a thoroughly acculturated. diasporic professionaIl?" My
relationship to this context was that of a peculiar traveling
cousin, neither an outsider nor a native, enjoying access
but not total belonging. Based on the questions being
asked and analysis made, issues raised and stances taken,
organizing principles espoused and critiques rendered of
the mainline Left party (or parties), I found some aspects
of affinity with some sectors, and other aspects with others.
These sectors would never see eye to eye with each
other, however, and indeed are often positioned as radical