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reviewed Antifa heißt Anruf! by Christoph Muck

Christoph Muck, Dana Fuchs: Antifa heißt Anruf! (Paperback, German language, Unrast) 3 stars

»Es mag stimmen, dass die linke Bewegung – so vielfältig sie ist – sich teilweise …

Organizing as antifascist praxis. Start this book at chapter 3

3 stars

The first third is entirely skippable. It makes the argument that fascists shouldn't be given a platform (chapter 1) and that the Left has lost ground on social issues, which have been recuperated by fascists (chapter 2).

Chapter 3 is where the fun begins. The "organizing" concept is described as an alternative to "autonomous" leftist politics.

Chapter 4 is the heart of the book. Activists from six different organizations that embody some aspects of the organizing concept were interviewed by the author. These interviews get summarized and quoted extensively. The description by frontline activists of the work they do is enjoyable to read, and extremely valuable for my own activism. I gained many new insights into what leftist activism can be.

The book suffers from a lot of typos and other small mistakes. Its strength lies in the interviews of activists, its weakness is all the theorizing around them. The antifascism theme is little more than a framing device - ultimately, this is just a book about the concept of organizing and how six german groups implemented it. That imo is valuable enough on its own.