On Thu, Oct 8, 2026 at 10:37 PM, Anthony Teso wrote: > > Marv’s post is the one I keep coming back to...What his post doesn’t say > is who would do the correcting.
I fully share your diagnosis of the problem and unfortunately also don't have a satisfying answer, Tony. Today’s movements are much less structured and accountable than during the 60’s and 70’s when, however imperfect, there was much more trade union participation and the influence of the Marxist left was not negligible. Activists could also come together between demonstrations at regular meetings. Today, such sustained political activity as there is between rallies and demonstrations is mainly the exchange of information through social media by individuals with little opportunity for collective deliberation and decision-making. Leadership is informal and self-selected and generally falls to those with the time and inclination but not necessarily the ability or experience or commitment to united action to exercise it effectively. It's perhaps not the case elsewhere or as acutely but where I live identity politics has also contributed to the sectarian character of the local offshoot of the Palestine solidarity movement. Leadership rests by default with less than a half dozen activists who have themselves or their immediate relatives recently emigrated from the the Middle East. They have not been shy about proclaiming that only they “can speak on behalf of Palestine” and have kept other activists and groups like Independent Jewish Voices and Labour for Palestine at arm's length. To be fair, those excluded from decision-making are complicit in their own exclusion since they also buy into identity politics and with varying degrees of enthusiasm willingly defer to an informal leadership defined by ethnicity. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#43674): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/43674 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/121651941/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
