In Militant Kindergarten, the Center for Especifismo Studies invites radicalized and radicalizing people to participate in an educational project together. For the success of this seminar year after year, our ideas have to be dynamic and capable of communicating to the actual participants. To this end, we have proposed three practical ways to understand especifismo during our group study.
First, especifismo is a model for revolutionary anarchist organization. Following from this model, anarchists struggle amongst themselves to form ideological, theoretical, and strategic unity. This kind of work is done on the political level and can be called “political work”. This political-level unity is a tool for successfully carrying out the social-level activities of anarchists, what can be called “social work”. By engaging with mass movements as a unified force, the political organization of anarchist militants unburdens the social level of endless sectarian disputes that are not related to the most immediate needs of the popular organization.
Second, with its conceptualization of two levels of organization, especifismo gives us a sociological theory for understanding how groups are formed and sustained, either in a unified way toward the political level or in a popular way toward the social level. An intermediary level is sometimes practical, allowing various political tendencies to join forces in a practical effort on the social level. But we have also learned through experience, that groupings of tendency and united fronts can become stagnant if they do not have a clear direction for their own movement.
And third, especifismo is a method of political analysis, allowing for the evaluation of political unity in multiple, seemingly unrelated contexts. It gives us the necessary tools to determine how cohesive a given force really is. With this orientation, we are able to evaluate our own projects as well as those of others.
(See the September Document from Militant Kindergarten)
CES 