Red and Anarchist Action Network - Definition and Overview

The Red & Anarchist Action Network is a loose organization of autonomous individuals and collectives who subscribe to revolutionary anarchist and libertarian (that is, anti-state, anti-leninist) communist ideals. The network was born out of a desire to bridge the artificial gaps between segments of what might be described as the "anti-political left" and dismantle the elitist "sceneism" that has governed portions of the revolutionary movement. It is their hope that a strong association based on shared revolutionary beliefs and a variety of tactics, driven by a serious practice of mutual aid, will be able to make a serious and lasting contribution both to our world and the people who are working to better it.

RAAN first appeared in early 2002 as a more ambitious version of a "Red & Anarchist News Network" that had been proposed between a collaborating group of anarchist and ultra-left communist websites. Originally functioning only as a forum of discussion between a range of Left ideologies, participants in RAAN soon decided to unite more concretely under a set of shared principles, and began organizing as a tendency that could supersede many of the contradictions and failures of the past anti-authoritarian movement. The group has strived to build cultures of action, fluidity of organization, and humor that will define it as a unique grouping within (and sometimes outside of!) the revolutionary movement.