Political tracts and publications which show the entanglements of capitalism, class society, and the oppression of humans and animals are rare within the social struggles like the one for the liberation of animals. Even more it is a great rarity that the emancipatory struggles become aware of their interconnectedness and develop a common strategy for a revolutionary socio-political practice. We are experiencing a time of acute crisis for capitalism which tries to secure the profitability of the capital through a policy of austerity, impoverishment and precarity, through dismantling democracy, supporting government repression as well as right-winged forces, and through attacking both human rights and freedoms and also animal and environmental protection. Furthermore, capitalism is preserved through promoting social exclusions, displacements and deportations, wars and new forms of imperialism, and through an even more oppressive exploitation of the animals, workers, and nature.

This crisis also offers, though, opportunities to bring together the different emancipatory movements and to bring them as well new people who join the struggles on the streets. In 2012, a left-winged, transnational movement of resistance in and through Europe and beyond started under the name of Blockupy with actions of massive protest and civil mass disobedience in many countries. Animal liberationists have been part of this process from the start, which focuses this year on the keywords of Commons, Democracy from Below and Solidarity to frame the perspective of the protest.

This presentation will address the importance of common political concepts of solidarity and powerful new alliances between progressive struggles like Blockupy. I aim to demonstrate that animal liberation can`t be achieved without a radical social and political transformation and that means eliminating the existing material causes of exploitation and oppression by overthrowing capitalism and class society.