Anarchist Dinner Wedding
Thursday 24.04.2025
19:30 hrs
Infoladen Scherer Str. 8, 13347 Berlin- Wedding
Food: Pasta al Forno + a gluten free option
Open discussion: “Affinity groups and Informal organization”
On this occasion we meet to talk about affinity groups and informal anarchist organisation, proposals that have marked a radical critique of hierarchical structures, both inside and outside the anti-authoritarian movement. We would like to talk not only about their history but also about their use and proliferation in processes of revolutionary struggle, as well as the successes and weaknesses that can be found within this proposal. Leaving aside self-complacency, we aim to be able to have truly critical discussions that help to enrich our everyday anarchist theory and practice.
Below are some ideas and/or questions that often come to mind when discussing affinity groups and informal organization:
- Autonomy and direct action as pillars of informal organization.
- The tension between projectuality and short-term activism.
- Does a lack of long-term perspective hinder development or evolution within affinity groups?
- The effectiveness and limitations of affinity groups in revolutionary practice.
- The debate between „organization“ vs. „anti-organization“: Is synthesis possible?
- How to maintain effectiveness without falling into isolation or sectarianism?
- The role of propaganda and clandestine communication.
Here are some reference notes and texts (reading them is not required to participate in the discussion). In anarchist spaces, we should promote learning and sharing knowledge horizontally and collectively, respecting each individual’s rhythm.
Projectuality in Anarchist Affinity Groups
Affinity groups, as autonomous cells of action and reflection, are not limited to mere reaction against established power. Instead, they embody a constant projectuality: a strategic horizon that combines radical critique with the construction of alternatives in the present. Unlike formal organizations—whose fixed structures often fall into bureaucratization or the separation of theory and practice—affinity groups operate through direct action linked to a deliberate process of transformation. This projectuality manifests in three key dimensions:
- Projectuality as an Organizational Method
Affinity groups reject rigid planning but not strategic coherence. Their strength lies in:
- Tactical flexibility: The ability to adapt to repressive contexts without losing direction (e.g., shifting from public propaganda to clandestine action as needed).
- Binding autonomy: Decisions made by consensus among trusted comrades, without delegation to external bodies.
- Revolutionary temporality: They act in the „here and now“ (as Bonanno advocated), while keeping an eye on systemic collapse and the construction of non-hierarchical relationships.
- The Ethical-Political Dimension of the Project
It’s not just about „doing things“ but about building complicities that prefigure the desired world:
- Anti-specialization: Rotation of roles to avoid tacit hierarchies (e.g., no one is permanently „the theorist“ or „the militant“).
- Mutual aid as praxis: From solidarity networks for prisoners to resistance funds, the project is sustained through interdependence.
- Permanent critique: Reviewing mistakes without falling into purism (e.g., adjusting tactics if they reproduce machismo or vanguardist dynamics).
- Projectuality vs. Short-Term Activism
While activism often prioritizes visibility or appeals to the state, affinity groups work in longer cycles:
- Insurrectionally meaningful actions: They are not ends in themselves but links in a process of delegitimizing power (e.g., sabotage targeting the infrastructure of capital, not just its symbols).
- Propaganda by deed and by word: Pamphlets, communiqués, or graffiti are not „mere dissemination“ but tools to awaken affinities and expand conflict.
- Informal networks: Projectuality transcends individual groups; it is woven through connections between cells that share objectives without centralization (as historically practiced by the FAI).
Risks and Challenges
- Isolation: If projectuality becomes self-referential, it loses its capacity to spread.
- Clandestinity fetishism: Rejecting all publicity can limit the growth of affinities.
- Inertia: Becoming a „friend group“ with no real impact on struggles.
Conclusion: Anarchist projectuality is not a detailed blueprint but an everyday art of war, combining the urgency of action with the patience of underground construction. As Luigi Galleani said, it demands „always being ready for the unforeseen“—while also sowing, in every gesture, the seeds of a world without masters.
Fire Cells Conspirancy
„The Sun still rises“
…„From the very beginning, we rejected the idea of a centralist model and chose to operate based on individual initiative that seeks to become collective. During organizational meetings, questions arose about coherence, consistency, collective and individual responsibility, and direct action that transforms our words into deeds. In the group’s assembly, each comrade had the opportunity to propose a battle plan, opening a debate on the topic—considering timing, political analysis, and operational challenges related to the target’s location.
There was no guarantee we would reach an agreement. Sometimes, intense dialectical clashes emerged, particularly around strategic priorities. Often, multiple proposals surfaced, forcing us to select some for immediate action while shelving others for future development. This process expanded our minds, broadened our perceptions, and allowed us to learn from each other’s experiences. We vigorously defended our opinions, acknowledged our mistakes, and grasped the concept of shaping something together. We understood the need for strategy, and most importantly, we built relationships that weren’t merely ‚professional‘ or forged in the name of revolution—but bonds of friendship, genuine comradeship, and authentic solidarity.
We love what we do because it embodies our entire essence. Thus, the Conspiracy is not just all of us together, but each of us individually. Even when collective agreement wasn’t reached on a particular action, we never resorted to the ‚begging‘ of democratic majority rule. Instead, the minority of comrades who insisted on carrying out an attack took autonomous initiative to execute their plan. This unfolded alongside the rest of the collective, which, when needed, offered support and naturally remained part of the organization…“
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…„Moreover, we believe the concept of the anarchist urban guerrilla isn’t a separate identity one dons only during armed attacks. On the contrary: it’s the unification of private and public life within the framework of total liberation. We aren’t anarchists only when throwing a Molotov at a riot police van, conducting expropriations, or planting an explosive device—we are anarchists in how we speak with our friends, care for our comrades, have fun, and fall in love…“
FULL TEXT:
Spanish https://www.lahaine.org/mundo.php/el-sol-seguira-amaneciendo
English https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/fire-cells-conspiracy-the-sun-still-rises
Alfredo Maria Bonanno
You Won’t Stop Us: „The Anarchist Revolutionary Struggle in Italy“
SPANISH: https://files.libcom.org/files/nopodreis.pdf
ENGLISH: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/alfredo-m-bonanno-for-an-anti-authoritarian-insurrectionalist-international#toc11
An Informal Organization
„The Anti-Authoritarian Insurrectionalist International proposes itself as an informal organization.
What do we mean by informal organization? A collection of individuals, groups, structures, movements, and any other more or less stable form of relationships between people who seek to establish mutual contact—that is, to deepen mutual understanding.
The first element of any informal organization is not, therefore, the creation of a defined structure with assigned roles and responsibilities, division of labor, or coordination positions. The first element of any informal organization is mutual knowledge…“
A Minimum Program
„For this reason, we do not propose a detailed platform or program, nor do we suggest membership procedures or organizational charts to divide labor and relationships among participants. We leave maximum freedom to everyone to find their own path, to construct their own journey toward seeking comrades with whom to forge deeper agreements and meaningful relationships—naturally, with the only plausible goal: the intensification and improvement of current struggle conditions.
For this same reason, lacking a detailed foundational program, no participant should feel obligated to join in the struggle of another participant with whom they have not been able—or have not wished—to deepen mutual understanding to establish affinity. In other words, we do not seek to form an international party, but rather a network of international relations, a grand opportunity for all who share the same interests to develop these connections to their fullest potential…“
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Alfredo Cospito
What International?
SPANISH: https://expandiendolarevuelta.noblogs.org/files/2020/10/QUE-INTERNACIONAL.pdf
ENGLISH: https://dokumen.pub/what-international-interview-and-dialogue-from-the-prison-with-anarchist-comrade-alfredo-cospito.html
Our Strength Lies in Informal Practice
„Our strength is that the anarchist practice of informality and affinity groups has never been closer to reality than it is today. Paradoxically, it wasn’t us who adapted to reality—it was reality that adapted to us. Reality has rushed toward us, making our practices extremely effective, practices that over time have become the ideal for dismantling a complex and chaotic system like the one we are forced to survive in today. Only a simple, highly reproducible, and equally chaotic, elusive, and adaptable practice—like informality and affinity groups—can achieve this. These forms of ‚organization‘ are not an adaptation to the capitalist ‚restructuring‘ of the 1980s: since the days of Cafiero and his ‚propaganda by the deed,‘ they have always been at the foundation of anarchist action, to the point of characterizing our synthesis organizations. Within every anarchist synthesis organization that positioned itself revolutionarily, there were in fact affinity groups that operated informally, often pointing the way forward and reigniting action…“
On Experimentation and Renewal
„You ask me whether we should experiment with or renew forms of struggle organization; it would be more than enough if everyone were to put their planning into practice with conviction, tenacity, and coherence. Whether from a social or anti-social perspective, through informal or specific synthesis organization, or individually, the only discriminating factor—from my point of view—to avoid becoming an instrument of reformists is insurrectional violence. We must start immediately, now, to practice it, each according to the intensity required by their own planning. A strategy that does not include direct, armed confrontation with power is destined for recuperation, failure, and defeat…“