Looking at this big picture, we see genocide against societies in its various forms as a constant of the system. We are obviously in a deadly phase of the structural crisis of global capitalism.

All kinds of genocide – physical, social, cultural, linguistic – have become a political instrument of capitalist modernity against societies and resistant popular movements worldwide. The last century just started with the genocide of the Herero and Nama by German colonialists from 1904 to 1908 in what is today Namibia. This was followed by the Ottoman genocide of Armenians and Syriac Christians in 1915 and 1916, the Holocaust of 1939-1945, and the Rwandan genocide of 1994. For two years from 2020, war raged in Tigray in northern Ethiopia. Over 500,000 people were massacred. International politicians are still debating whether it was a genocide or a “simple civil war”. This “sovereignty” of international politics is in the service of capitalist modernity, fuelling conflicts and then taking the right to decide whether it was genocide or war, a second assault on the dignity of the victims. In Kurdistan, Kurdish society has been confronted with a regime of (cultural) genocide for more than 100 years. In Tamil Eelam, the struggle of the Tamil people and their liberation movement for freedom was answered with an internationally covered genocide. It is therefore no coincidence that Turkish state representatives refer to their war policy as the “Tamil solution”. On all continents, from Latin America to Africa, we see similar practices of nation-state systems based on assimilation, annihilation and homogenisation.

It seems to be a consequence of the existence of the capitalist world system – which is organised around (nation) states – to permanently produce genocides. This is not just limited to the immediate destruction of a nation, but means the destruction of essential livelihoods of groups. To limit our understanding of genocides to their most explicit phase, namely mass murder and physical extermination, would be incomplete and would prevent us from understanding and resisting against the process, construction and implementation of these policies. Because areas such as law, media, economy, science and the intellectual sector are also important areas of this policy. Today, genocides are not only directed against societies, but also against nature in the form of ecocide, against women in the form of femicides and against social knowledge structures in the form of epistemicides.

Even if there is a strong awareness of international solidarity in the democratic forces and militants of progressive, revolutionary and system-critical movements in Europe, this force is not enough to effectively stop genocides or effectively support resistance against the mechanisms through which states of the capitalist world system (many of which also come from Europe) organise their profit through arms supplies and political calculations.

Against this background we discussed and the summary of the workshop is the following:

As the world watches in horror over the mounting death toll of oppressed people around the world especially civilians in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and in Asia, the carnage in Palestine and Kurdistan gives us a ghastly window into the rapidly escalating crisis of global capitalism. Connecting the dots from the merciless Israeli destruction of Gaza and Turkish occupation in Kurdistan to the global crisis requires us to step back, to bring into focus the bigger picture. Looking at this big picture, we see genocide against societies in its various forms as a constant of the system. It is obvious that we are in an especially deadly phase of the structural crisis of global
capitalism.

The participants of this workshops included representatives from several Palestine solidarity collectives, members of the Kurdish community, Armenian and Baloch organisations, members of a Jewish anti-Zionist organisation, of a women’s movement and of anarchist organisations. Participants shared the history of genocidal politics that have been carried out against their people, exposing the different ways through which people’s existence is being attacked. This led to a broader analysis of genocidal politics, not as a spontaneous event, but rather an intended continuing process that contains various stages, and as a central element of capitalist modernity.

Workshop time was used for group discussions to deepen the analysis developed in the preparatory phase.

The global spread of capitalism, historically linked with imperialism and colonialism, is based on processes of dispossession, where indigenous peoples are systematically stripped of land, resources and political power. The wealth accumulated in Europe creates an illusion of enjoying a good standard of living in this continent – at the expense of exploited populations. Genocidal politics signify the most brutal forms of physical violence: structural racism, ethnic cleansing, forced migration and displacement, forced labour, mass detention, pogroms, systemic rape, torture and extermination. Yet, one must think of genocide beyond physical violence, to grasp its complexity. By attacking the social fabric and social cohesion, genocidal politics target the very existence of a people’s identity and its attachment to their land and culture. This is why a complete analysis of genocidal politics must include ethnocide, linguicide, destruction of culture, ecocide, feminicide, the attacks on religion and on the self-rule and social organisation of an ethnic group.

Survivors often face trauma, fear, oppression, and victimisation, which leads to the fragmentation of communities. In response, those targeted by genocidal politics need to organise, analyse their situation, and build international solidarity. In this context, nation-states and international law should not be seen as tools able to prevent genocide, but nation-states themselves justify genocidal politics according to their own laws. Mass mobilisation and internationalist organisation over the past decade have shown that a network beyond states is possible.

The most important conclusion of the workshop was that, since genocidal politics become effective through the disorganisation and fragmentation of society, a successful opposition to it requires first of all organisation of militants, of society, of the community. For organisation we need education to unmask the monopolies of power, knowledge and resources, which are at the root of these genocides. To oppose genocide, one should not expect anything from states, which are themselves profiting from these politics. We can only rely on our own strength and insist on the mutual recognition of peoples in struggle.