anarchism
Articles about anarchism, a political ideology based on mutual aid, solidarity and the abolition of the state.
2006 in focus
2006 was a year for the state to forget there was ever a public sector. Rob Ray looks into the archives of the Freedom anarchist newspaper.
January
A second strike in two weeks sees the RMT shut down tube stations across London as workers demand private companies running the system provide enough cover to meet fire and safety regulations, after they try to impose cuts just a few months after the attacks on 7/7.
A father and an anarchist
An obituary for Father Gresham Kirkby, the anarchist priest.
Fr. Gresham Kirkby, (1916-2006)
It can’t be often, unfortunately, that the bishop of a major country’s capital city having visited an elderly priest, feared to be dying, and then phones a past archbishop’s former chaplain, a sometime mentor of the present archbishop, to say ‘he spoke of the kingdom of God and proclaimed his undying belief in Anarchy’.
Obituary: John Taylor Caldwell 1911-2007
The Kate Sharpley Library are sad to report the death of John Taylor Caldwell, veteran Glasgow anarchist and comrade and biographer of Guy Aldred.
John Taylor Caldwell 1911-2007
1880-1945: Yiddish-speaking libertarians in France
Short article tracing the development of the Jewish Yiddish language anarchist and syndicalists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in France.
In the pletzl (Marais) and in Montmartre in Paris (pictured, above), Jewish anarchists had a real influence. In 1907, police reports indicated the presence of about 450 anarcho-communists, an enormous figure if one realises that the immigrant Jewish population living in Paris at the time was about 20,000.
Anarchism vs. Primitivism
This important pamphlet looks closely at the fundamental conflicts between anarchism and primitivism.
[b]It traces primitivism's basic precepts back to their authoritarian roots, reveals primitivist misconceptions about anarchism, capitalism and technology, shows how the corporate media have used primitivism to discredit anarchism, and also shows how ideology-driven primitivists, much like fundamentalist Christians opposed to evolution, have picked through anthropological evidence to support their
Whose streets? Our streets! An introduction to anarchism - AYN leaflet
An introductory leaflet to anarchism, capitalism and direct action by the Anarchist Youth Network in 2002. The authors no longer think the leaflet is good, but it is reproduced here for reference.
A Critique of the German Social Democratic Program - Bakunin
Bakunin makes an early and powerful critique of the statist, reformist, class-collaborationist and counter-revolutionary tendencies of emerging social democracy.
Bakunin's essay refutes the claims made by some Marxists, then and now, that early social democracy played a largely progressive role within the working class movement. In this particular case, Bakunin's comments are also far more radical than anything Marx and Engels were willing to say publicly at the time on the subject.
Principles of Syndicalism - Tom Brown
Written by the well known activist and propagandist Tom Brown, the article explains clearly the principles according to which syndicalist unions organise, and the new society they aim to create "within the shell of the old".
This simple introduction to syndicalism, workers control and libertarian communism originally appeared as a series of articles in War Commentary for Anarchism in 1943.
Contents
1. Not Centralism - But Federalism
2. Economic Federalism
3. Abolition Of The Wages System
4. The End Of The Money Trick
5. To Each According To His[/Her] Needs
6. Workers' Control of Distribution
London's anarchist bookfair: the aftermath
The London anarchist bookfair is the biggest annual event for libertarians in the UK. This year was the first since one of the major organisers and founding member left, so Rob Ray interviewed one of the collective to see how they thought it went...
October 21st saw the London anarchist Bookfair take over Holloway Road for the first time since the resignation of one of its most experienced organisers.
Freedom interviewed Alex, one of the bookfair collective’s new members, who is cautiously optimistic about how it went, with decent turnouts and enough funds raised to cover costs:
Anarchist communism in Britain, 1870-1991
The AF outlines the history of anarchist communism in the UK from the Socialist League in the 1800s through the Anti-Parliamentary Communist Federation up to the demise of the groups of the 1970s and 80s.
