Without wanting to return to what has already been said over the course of the last two meetings, regarding the four months of theoretical inactivity of the SI [Situationist International], I would like nevertheless to make this precise: as was justly noted by Rene [Riesel], we haven't been "an international group of theoreticians," but rather theoreticians without theory (in the sense of theoretical creativity). What we have been obliged to make has been absolutely necessary for us to make; it is in this sense that there has been situationist activity -- most lamentable, but, at this moment, indispensible for saving the SI from the likes of Bob Chasse and Claudio Pavan. [1] It is sad but true that it is necessary for us to say: "the SI was also that." Because, one more time, we have been able to make the truth appear among us, we will be able to accomplish whatever we have decided or will decide.

In my opinion, this poses, on a level completely different from that of the era of the "April Theses,"[2] the question of adhesion to the SI, because the question hasn't come up for such a long period of time (apart from the two Spanish comrades). Today, it's asking little for each situ to re-adhere to the SI. And the next adhesions -- if there are any -- must be made on an always-higher qualitative degree: they will be the product of our next theoretical productions. We will see.

For the moment, I prefer to concretely envision our future activity. I will propose that each set down on paper several theoretical or practical questions among those upon which we must decide, the most current, the most urgent, and the most passionate. Guy has already proposed, on 17 March [1970], the analysis of "two annexed failures": the debility of so-called autonomous groups and the success of police provocations in Milan. I think that these two points tie directly into the journal on which we will soon begin to work. It will be important to quickly envision a discussion of the elaboration of something along the lines of the Manifesto.[3] I don't have precise ideas on this point, but it already seems to me that this needs to be the most violent and most widely diffused situationist text. I'm [also] very interested in developing the theses of Rene-Donatien [Vienet] concerning the cinema.

May the propositions flow!

Note: written by Christian Sebastiani, 13 April 1970. Translated from the French by NOT BORED! August 2004.

[1] Admitted to the SI in 1967, Robert Chasse was a member of the American section until January 1970, when he was excluded. Admitted to the SI in 1969, Claudio Pavan was a member of the Italian section until Spring 1970, when he too was excluded.

[2] More commonly known as The Organization Question for the SI, it began the orientation debate.

[3] The situationists planned to write and publish a "Situationist Manifesto" modeled on Marx & Engel's "Communist Manifesto" (1848), but never did.