The term "
Redskin" is an abbreviation of "
Red Skinhead", it is used by
anti-fascist skinheads to differentiate themselves from
racist boneheads and non-political
skinheads. Before being a movement associated to
skinheads, punks, and the alternative scene, the term
redskin referred to the British soul-rock group The
Redskins (1979-1986), several of whom belonged to the Socialist Workers Party.
Redskins are often associated with
communism, but many anarchists and anarcho-
communists identify themselves as
Redskins. The
Redskins are a branch of the
revolutionary left as well as an activist branch of the skinhead movement. This movement was born in
radical opposition to the violence of
racist… Read more boneheads whose scene and groups were developing during the same period. Marked on the left and on the far left, the
Redskin movement is politically oriented towards
radical and street anti-
fascism, anti-
imperialism, anti-
authoritarianism,
anti-sexism and
revolutionary anti-capitalism.
Its members are often actors of
different Marxist, anarchist, anarcho-
communist or
syndicalist-
revolutionary organizations and alternative scenes of which they use the tools, such as concerts, fanzines, radio broadcasts, sound-systems, etc. They are more broadly linked to the
SHARP (
Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) and above all RASH (Red and Anarchist
Skinheads) movements, which they are largely behind the establishment in
Europe. Even if the appearance of the first
redskins was roughly similar to that of
skinheads, it was differentiated - especially in
France - by the wearing of red laces and badges and/or patches relating to
communism,
anarchism and social struggles. One of the french
redskins bands of the 1980s made a name for themselves as the Red Warriors. The symbol of this band was the sickle and the
baseball bat, a diversion from the
communist symbol of the sickle and the hammer. This band, made up of a hard core of about fifteen people, attacked
racist boneheads around concert halls and in the streets of Paris, sometimes accompanied by other
bands or
anti-fascist groups.
The Red And Anarchist
Skinheads (RASH) is a global movement of
communist and/or anarchist
skinheads who
fight against
fascism,
racism, and capitalism. Far-left
skinheads value
anarchism, libertarian
communism, anti-
nationalism, anti-
patriotism, anti-
fascism,
anti-racism, and alter-mondialism, in many ways ranging from street action to
armed struggle and
direct action
Communism is a philosophical, social, political, and economic
ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of a
communist society, namely a socioeconomic order structured upon the ideas of common ownership of the means of production and the absence of
social classes,
money, and, in some cases, the state. As such,
communism is a specific form of
socialism.
Communism includes a variety of schools of thought which broadly include Marxism and
anarcho-communism as well as the political ideologies grouped around both, all of which share the analysis that the current order of
society stems from capitalism, its economic system, and mode of production, namely that in this system
… Read more there are two major
social classes, the relationship between these two classes is exploitative, and that this situation can only ultimately be resolved through a social
revolution. The two classes are the
proletariat (the
working class), who make up the majority of the population within
society and must work to survive; and the
bourgeoisie (the capitalist class), a small minority who derives profit from employing the
working class through private ownership of the means of production. According to this analysis,
revolution would put the
working class in power and in turn establish social ownership of the means of production which is the primary element in the transformation of
society towards
communism.
After 1917, a number of states were identified as
communist: these states espoused Marxism?Leninism or a variation of it. Along with social
democracy,
communism became the dominant political tendency within the international socialist movement by the 1920s. In practice, the model under which these nominally
communist states operated was, in fact, a form of state capitalism or a non-planned administrative-command system and not an actual
communist economic model in accordance with most accepted definitions of ?
communism? as an economic theory.
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