Yomango

1990-2010, 2011-Present, Capitalism, Date, Defining the Enemy, Disruptive Spaces, Institutions, Occupation, Sabotage/Ecotage, Tactics of Disruption

Yomango literally means to steal, or to shoplift. This cultural jamming movement emerged from the Mango brand, a popular clothing company. They were vehemently anti – consumerism, utilizing a tactic of shoplifting and distributing those goods. In a sense, it worked to normalized shoplifting as a form of disobedience and disruption against the normalized consumer behavior of society. One notable example of their work was a Yomango fashion show, where people would shoplift and then wear those clothing items in populated areas like shopping centers. Their comical movements and large gathering size drew attention to their cause. Eventually, their movement took off into different directions and chapters, such as Yomango – Tango. A group of Argentinian dancers took hundreds and hundreds of bottles of champagne from a grocery store and drank them in a branch of Santander Bank. This was an action of direct protest again the bank and the grocery store, who both greatly benefited from the Argentinian economic disaster. Below is an image of a “fashion show” in Barcelona.

The Catastrophe of Liberation by Herbert Marcuse (1964)

1946-1989, Capitalism, Date, Defining the Enemy, History/Theory, Theory

This is an excerpt from Marcuse’s 1964 book, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society. Marcuse critiques both capitalism and Soviet communism for social repression. This chapter is dedicated to theorizing the uprooting of this social repression.

To the Peoples of the World – Zapatistas (2021)

2011-Present, Capitalism, Consciousness Raising, Date, Defining the Enemy, Indigenous, Subjectives of Refusal, Tactics of Disruption

This letter – written on January 1, 2021 – includes a description of what unites the people of the Zapatista movement and agreements to keep the struggle active.

Only very few things unite us:…
The understanding that a system is responsible for these pains. The executioner is an exploitative, patriarchal, pyramidal, racist, thievish and criminal system: capitalism…
The commitment to fight, everywhere and at all times – each and everyone on their own terrain – against this system until we destroy it completely. The survival of humanity depends on the destruction of capitalism. We do not surrender, we do not sell out, and we do not give up.

SDS Fire (1969)

1946-1989, Consciousness Raising, Date, Subjectives of Refusal, Tactics of Disruption, Workers

On December 6, 1969, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) published these writings. They cover a variety of topics including revolution, military conquest, and justice. It is a deep critique of the United States in which it sentences the United States government “to death.” Additionally, it identifies other enemies such as capitalism and imperialism. Overall, they aim to destroy bourgeois consciousness and create new revolutionary ways of living.

During the 1960’s the Amerikan government was on trial for crimes against the people of the world. We now find the government guilty and sentence it to death in the streets.

Hunger and Revolt – Cartoons (1935)

1840-1945, Capitalism, Date, Defining the Enemy, Subjectives of Refusal, Workers

This book is a collection of cartoons by Jacob Burck that comment on a vide range of political and economic struggles, such as fascism, imperialism, and black liberation, but has an underlying focus capitalism and the worker.

“It is necessary that you penetrate to this reality, that you see the truthful core of these presentations, until, with more and more ardent partisanship and more and more anger, you unite together.”

Henri Barbusse, Introduction