Anarchists in the UK today stand at a historical crossroads. Whether we identify as students, workers, unemployed, as members of a network/organization or not, we are called upon to answer this fundamental question: what is our political relevance to the larger world in the context of the struggle against austerity and beyond?

It has always been very important to me to strive for social equality, and capitalism simply does not provide that. I could wax lyrical all day about the oppressive and unjust nature of the capitalist society, in which we are told that the only value of a human being lies in their ability to make profits for a CEO, but this is a feminist website, and I have a 700-word limit. So I will merely outline why I believe that capitalism is inherently anti-feminist and that the solution to smashing patriarchy will necessarily involve smashing capitalism.

Just before Christmas over 50 mechanical and electrical workers occupied the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Glasgow. It was part of an ongoing campaign of co-ordinated protests by electricians and other skilled workers, over the decision by the big eight construction companies to withdraw from the 40 year old Joint Industry Board (JIB) national agreements.

<p>The state and capitalism are the greatest purveyors of violence, i.e. killing people and using force rather than discussion to obtain goals. To the contrary, anarchists are working to build a world based on consent and voluntary cooperation, rather than coercion, arbitrary authority and violence. It is therefore ironic that when a handful of people broke a few windows early on November 3 after the 10,000-strong November 2 general strike in Oakland, mainstream discussion concentrated on blaming anarchists for violence and sought to make the term "anarchist" synonymous with "violent."

All across the country masses of people are becoming radicalized through their exposure to the violent and dehumanizing tactics of the police, yet many people of color expect to be stopped, frisked, beaten or arrested on any given day. The occupy movement seeks to be all-inclusive, but can we simply re-appropriate without acknowledging the pre-existing meaning of the word "occupy"? We are used to a world in which the military occupies communities of color overseas and the police occupy communities of color inside the US and people of color occupy a hugely disproportionate number of prison cells.

The welfare of the working class cannot and should not be decided by the machinations that take place in a board of directors meeting or in a session of some so-called “legislative body.”

It has always seemed that Mexico has a special spot in the Empire.  Some many things that seem representative of globalization and Empire seem to converge there...as does the autonomous resistance.  The Zapatistas are probably the best known example of the new forms of resistance, but they aren't alone.  In Mexico, campesinos fight the Mexican state, the multinationals and all the rest...for their land.  In Mexico, communities rise up against huge mining companies and the local police, acting as the company cops, shoot them dead.  In Mexico, poverty, Empire, neo-liberalism, globalization, repression and narco cartels combine into a swirling mass of subjective history and objective chaos.

CrimethInc are probably one of the world’s best-known anarchist collectives. They’re controversial, but they get a lot of attention: certainly, the airport security staff who recently detained a passenger for having CrimethInc posters in his bag thought they’re worth taking seriously. And, while some of their earlier material has contained really embarrassing stuff, such as attempting to pass off the proto-Fascist state of Fiume as an anarchist utopia, a lot of what they’ve written lately has been really good: for instance, their “Dear Occupiers” letter was a serious attempt to engage with the politics of a mass movement and move it in an anti-capitalist direction. I didn’t entirely agree with all of the tone and emphasis, but the basic content was totally sound.

On the weekend of Oct. 21-23, the IWW brought together members organizing in Industrial Unions (IUs) 460, 640 and 660 in Portland, Ore. These IUs embody foodstuff workers, general retail distribution workers and restaurant/hotel/building service workers. By and large, the highest concentration of the workers in attendance represented campaigns within restaurants and grocery stores ranging from public drives, such as the Starbucks Workers Union and the Jimmy John’s Workers Union, to non-public campaigns at other big box stores as well as small individual shops across North America.

At the writing of this article, the ruling class is continuing to search for the “right” person who as “transitional” prime minister can guarantee implementation of the unpopular measures to be taken against the people of Greece, squeezing them once again and ensuring continuation of the most savage exploitation in recent history.

The Israeli state does massive demolitions to balance symbolic destruction of illegal colonialist settler outposts. To vent their anger, to embarrass the Israeli state, and to expand their land grab, the settler colonialist militants respond to any excuse - whether from Palestinians or the state of Israel, by increased harassment on the Palestinians. To sweeten the symbolic destruction of illegal colonialist settler outposts Israeli state have to do to pretend being a law biding Israeli state "balance it by destruction of "unlawful" Palestinian houses, and roads. The joint struggle try to curb both the settlers and the Israeli state increased harassment. The struggle focuses on Arkib (Israeli Bedouins), Beit Ommar, Bil'in, A-Dic, Kufr Qaddum, East Jerusalem-AlKuds (A-Tur, Issawiya, Sheikh Jarrakh), Al-Ma’sara, Nabi Saleh, Ni'lin, Wallage.

The proposal to the General Assembly calling for the Oakland general strike stated "All banks and corporations should close down for the day or we will march on them." However, except for shutting down the Port in the evening, only a handful of banks were blockaded and shut down during the strike. Most of the thousands of people in downtown that day stayed close to the occupation except for a few short marches. As a result, while a few blocks were closed to traffic and totally disrupted, it generally seemed like a normal day only a few blocks from the occupation on November 2.

In March, Hungary introduced a new regulation that states seeds must be checked for GMO before they are introduced to the market. However, some GMO seeds made it to the farmers without their being aware of it.

Over the last year, from Tahrir Square in Cairo to New York, a new movement sprung from the discontent of millions. It brought down a dictatorship in Egypt, re-awakened the libertarian spirit in Spain and affected a sea change in American politics. The Occupy movement, as it has become popularly known in English speaking countries, shook the world in 2011.

Like so many Web sites, we participated in Wednesday's strike to protest Stop Online Piracy Act, proposed anti-piracy legislation that would dramatically restrict the free flow of information online. Big-name participants in the strike included Wikipedia, Craigslist and Reddit. A sponsor said the bill would be redrafted because of the protests. 

Anarchism and Political Modernity by Nathan Jun is the first offering in the new book series "Contemporary Anarchist Studies" from Continuum Books. Over the coming years, the series will be publishing the best new scholarship on anarchist politics and history, bridging theory and practice, academic rigor and the insights of modern activism.

We’ve just completed a documentary film about Occupy Oakland as part of our ongoing series about global responses to the economic crisis. It was completed with interviews that we shot at Oscar Grant Plaza along with archival footage from David Martinez, Caitlin Manning, John Hamilton, and other historical material that tells how the Oakland Commune came into existence.