“…but in the end, we will win.”
In 1992, following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, the ruling class declared the end of history and the triumph of capitalism. Less than two years later, the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas galvanized a worldwide movement against capitalist globalization. All around the world, history began to crack and move again, like a frozen river thawing in the spring.
This momentum culminated in July 2001 with the protests against the G8 summit, in what became known as the battle of Genoa. For days, tens of thousands of aspiring revolutionaries clashed with an army of police in a city on fire.
From Riot to Insurrection offers a vivid account of this pivotal moment. In electrifying prose, Tomas Rothaus escorts the reader through those explosive days, recounting the chaotic street battles, the exhilarating sense of possibility, the heart-wrenching moments of triumph and loss. This is an ode to audacity, to what we become capable of when we believe in our collective power.
The real lesson of the end of the Cold War is not that capitalism is inevitable—it is that empires always fall. While “socialism without freedom” had crumbled by 1992, “freedom without socialism” has yet to expire. That revolution remains possible—even today—provided that we fight for it the way people did in Genoa.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Foreword by Mark Bray
1. Intro: The Genoa Commune
2. The International Genova Offensive
3. Interlude: Heat, Helmets, and Relationship Troubles
4. "The Assembly to End All Assemblies.” Every Night. July 17–19. 8:00pm, CSOA Pinelli
5. “We Are the Birds of the Coming Storm.” Night of July 19, 2001, Albaro Campground
6. The Golden Horde. July 20 of 2001. Approximately 11:00am
7. Things Initially Do Not Go Well
8. Towards the Red Zone
9. A View from a Hill
10. Random Adventures in a City on Fire
11. When the Spectacle Meets the Real World: The White Overalls and Their Discontents
12. A Letter to Carlo, July of 2023
13. “It was a Bullet that Did This.” The Death of Carlo Giuliani. Piazza Alimonda, July 20, 2001. 5:27pm
14. “The Magical Mystery Tour of the Black Bloc” Of Conspiracy Theories, Cops, Fascists, White Hand Zombies, and Divorce. July 21.
15. “If I Had Died Today …”
16. “Don’t Clean up the Blood.” July 21, 2001. Shortly Before Midnight. Armando Diaz School
17. The Lessons of Genoa: Beyond the Anti-Globalization Movement, From Riot to Insurrection
18. Outro: The Landscape of Defeat, the Scenery of Victory
