We are entering a new year of the anarchist revue Existence which has shown itself among other ways in the new design of this magazine. We hope that with this we bring some fresh air after years in which the design of Existence has changed only slightly.
The main theme of this edition is “the myth of work“. In it we discuss the meaning and consequences of the present system and the ideology of work, which are neccessary parts of the capitalist regime. We primarily point to the fact that work has become an involuntary requirement for survival and the lives of unprivileged people have been subordinated by the system of work. This takes place through economic coercion and the ethics of work, that makes slavery into a virtue. As anarchists we therefore also look at the end of work as we know it. It doesn’t mean we are afraid of work but that we want to work freely, we want to creaate things and values according to our own discretion and in our own way, for the benefit of ourselves and our environment.
In the theme of the magazine you will find a description of the ten dogmas of labour in the neoliberal era from the Spanish trade union CNT, a description of the evolution of labour in the last quarter of the 20th century by Ludwig Unruh. You will be introduced to the consequences of neoliberal politics in the academic sphere where the term ‚prekarization‘ has found another of its meaning. We will talk about what hides behind the term ‚uberization‘, we will have a look at new work from the anarchist collective CrimethInc and the practice of slave labour in the American prison complex. In the text by Michal Trčka we will look at labour throughout history. And at the end we give space to the classics: George Woodcock ponders the commodification of time as an instrument of the subjugation of people and Bertrand Russell explains in an essay from 1935, why it is neccessary to refuse the drudgery and morality of work.
In the column concerned with the history of anarchism we will travel to post-war eastern Germany in an article by Vadim Damier and Stanley Maron will introduce us to the history of jewish commune-kibutzes in Palestine. In the ABC column you can find a translated article about how to help imprisoned comrades by Alexej Gaskarov, who has personally experienced imprisonment in Russia. We will also be introduced to the case of Azerbaijani anarchists sentenced to high sentences for painting on the memorial of a dictator. From reviews we recommend two books about the occupation of Palestine and of course there are texts of the last three street newspaper A3 concerning elections, protection of the environment and unemployment.