How WSM recruited new members

Date:

Anarchism will not be created in this country, or any other, by a tiny group of people. Even in Ireland a successful anarchist revolution would require tens of thousands of active anarchists. Anarchists living on every street and active in every workplace. We obviously have a long way to go!

[The WSM no longer exists as an organisation but this is how you would have got involved]

It's great your interested in getting involved with the WSM or helping with aspects of our work. We know everyone has different levels of interest, energy & spare time so we offer a range of ways you can work with us. All of them will be a significant help in our work


Become a Member
 Members of the WSM are people who have decided to play a constant active role in the organisation and contribute a percentage of their income on a regular basis. This won't be for everyone but if you agree with our points of unity below and are willing to commit to at least 8 hours work plus two meetings a month you should apply to become a member. Our members are what make the WSM and all the work we are involved in possible, members have an automatic right to attend all WSM meeting and have a vote on all decisions the WSM makes.

or
Become a Supporter
Some people won't be able to make the level of commitment above but would still like to be able to help out a bit with financing our work and give a hand from time to time in the areas they are most interested in. Supporters agree to make a regular monthly donation of 5, 20 or 50 euro and to help out when they have time in the areas they are interested in. They get access to internal WSM discussions online and are entitled to attend regular local supporters meetings if they wish and can apply to attend other WSM meetings (space permitting) like our National Conference. They are required to confirm will respect the confidentiality of internal WSM processes and other information they are given access to. They should broadly agree with our points of unity (see below).

or
Become a Contact
Contacts are people who would like to get our email newsletter and perhaps give a hand from time to time in areas of activity they are interested in including our external campaign work. To become a contact all you have to do is enter yourself into our Email Notification system at the link below and we will then let you know of activity near you in the areas you indicated an interest in. You'll be able to change or even remove your details at any point or  apply to become a WSM supporter or member

WSM points of Unity

We have detailed position papers on all the areas where we are active. These form the collectively agreed policy of the WSM. Disagreement and debate around these papers is continuous, these collective position are constantly being modified so obviously we do not expect members to agree with every detail. All members are however expected to broadly agree with points 1 to 8 below which outline the core of our anarchism.

  1. Anarchism will be created by the class struggle between the vast majority of society (the working class) and the tiny minority that currently rule. A successful revolution will require that anarchist ideas become the leading ideas within the working class. This will not happen spontaneously. Our role is to make anarchist ideas the leading ideas or, as it is sometimes expressed, to become a ''leadership of ideas''.
  2. We reject the idea that society can be changed through 'good people' gaining control of the power structures. This means we reject both the electoral strategy of the social democratic and green parties and the 'revolutionary' strategy of the various left groups.
  3. We identify ourselves as anarchists and with the "platformist", anarchist-communist or especifista tradition of anarchism. We broadly identify with the theoretical base of this tradition and the organisational practice it argues for, but not necessarily everything else it has done or said, so it is a starting point for our politics and not an end point.
  4. The core ideas of this tradition that we identify with are the need for anarchist political organisations that seek to develop:
    • Theoretical Unity
    • Tactical Unity
    • Collective Action and Discipline
    • Federalism
  5. A major focus of our activity is our work within the economic organisations of the working class (labour organisations, trade unions, syndicates) where this is a possibility. We therefore reject views that dismiss activity in the unions because as members of the working class it is only natural that we should also be members of these mass organisations. Within them we fight for the democratic structures typical of anarcho-syndicalist unions like the 1930's CNT. However, the unions no matter how revolutionary cannot replace the need for anarchist political organisation(s).
  6. We also see it as vital to work in struggles that happen outside the unions and the workplace. These include struggles against particular oppressions, imperialism and indeed the struggles of the working class for a decent place and environment in which to live. Our general approach to these, like our approach to the unions, is to involve ourselves with mass movements and within these movements, in order to promote anarchist methods of organisation involving direct democracy and direct action.
  7. We actively oppose all manifestations of prejudice within the workers' movement and society in general and we work alongside those struggling against racism, sexism, [religious] sectarianism and homophobia as a priority. We see the success of a revolution and the successful elimination of these oppressions after the revolution being determined by the building of such struggles in the pre-revolutionary period. The methods of struggle that we promote are a preparation for the running of society along anarchist and communist lines after the revolution.
  8. We oppose imperialism but put forward anarchism as an alternative goal to nationalism. We defend grassroots anti-imperialist movements while arguing for an anarchist rather than nationalist strategy.
  9. Revolution must aim to bring human society into harmony with the rest of nature, for our own basic quality of life and for the sake of other species. This aim is not fundamentally opposed to technological development or mass society, which are always expressions of the current social system. Rather, we strive for a libertarian, ecological, technology.