The meaning of anarchism: theory illustrated by recent practice in Spain - Jack White
Short pamphlet looking at anarchist and socialist views of the state against the background of the conflict between Stalinists and anarchists in the Spanish revolution.
The Bagaudae: history's first revolutionaries? - Pablo Romero Gabella
Submitted by Alias Recluse on Dec 6 2013 01:52
A brief introduction to the Bagaudae, the social and historical context of the late Roman Empire, and the modern debates over the meaning of the revolts generally included under this rubric.
A critical look at the Spanish revolution - Ricardo Fuego
Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 19:15
A 2010 essay in which the author attributes the defeat of the Spanish Revolution not to its betrayal at the hands of a naïve and incompetent leadership, but to the fact that “If the Spanish proletariat valued acronyms and leaders more than their own interests this was because objective and subjective difficulties stood in the way of their potential to attain a level of class autonomy sufficient to do without such mediations”.
Response to Agustín Guillamón’s critique of "Critical notes on the text, 'Spain 1936. The exorcism of the ghost of the revolution' by A. Devesa" - Roi Ferreiro
Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 15:35
Ferreiro’s reply to Guillamón’s critique of his essay on Spain, in which he accuses Guillamón of being prejudiced and incapable of understanding Ferreiro’s perspective, reiterates his position on the subjective deficiencies of the Spanish proletariat in the context of a culturally and economically backward capitalist regime, and maintains that “It is not the defeats of the past that will lead us … to victory in the future. It will be the historical development of the subjectivity of the masses of individuals … determined by the class struggle and the conditions of life, both in its dimension as a socio-political process as well as in its psycho-mental dimension”.
The theorization of historical experiences - Agustín Guillamón
Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 15:22
A critique of Roi Ferreiro’s critique of Andrés Devesa’s essay on the Spanish civil war and revolution, in which Guillamon derides Ferreiro for idealism and the use of elitist jargon, and for his failure to “perceive that the battle for revolutionary history is not just a bookish, theoretical and abstract question, but another battlefield in the class war between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat”.
Critical notes on the text, "Spain, 1936. The exorcism of the ghost of the revolution", by Andrés Devesa - Roi Ferreiro
Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 15:00
A critique of Andrés Devesa’s essay on the “domestication of memory” with respect to the events of the Spanish civil war and revolution, which is faulted for having placed too much emphasis on the failure of leadership of the CNT-FAI as the reason for the failure of the revolution, which Ferreiro traces to the subjective disposition of the rank and file of anarchosyndicalism, who were too dependent on “their organization”, with which they strongly identified, to break free of its tutelage and their “conformist and passive attitude” towards its collaboration.
The exorcism of the ghost of the revolution - Andrés Devesa
Submitted by Alias Recluse on Nov 28 2013 14:37
A brief 2006 essay on the topic of the “domestication of memory” perpetrated by the mainstream Spanish historians with regard to the Spanish Civil War, with particular emphasis on the whitewashing of the role of the Stalinists in the counterrevolution.
Por el Triunfo de la Confederación: 80th anniversary of the newspaper CNT
Submitted by OliverTwister on Nov 20 2013 17:24
This article from the November issue of the CNT newspaper memorializes 80 years of a militant workers newspaper in Spain. It also focuses on the present and future of the CNT, and provides a decent overview of how the anarcho-syndicalist union has been organizing since the beginning of the crisis in 2008.
Theses on the Spanish Civil War and the revolutionary situation created on July 19, 1936 - BALANCE (Agustín Guillamón)
A 2001 text summarizing the results of the research carried out by Agustín Guillamón for the Spanish journal, BALANCE, concerning the lessons of the Spanish Civil War in Catalonia, denying the existence of “dual power” in Catalonia in 1936, discussing the struggles of the CNT rank and file against militarization and in favor of socialization, emphasizing the revolutionary potential of the ubiquitous committees and their neutralization and eventual destruction due to a lack of coordination and centralization, and claiming that the proletarian revolution requires the destruction of the capitalist state and the creation of a centralized workers power based on workers councils.
IWW members who fought in the Spanish Civil War
Submitted by Juan Conatz on Nov 8 2013 06:22
Originally appearing in the Industrial Worker, a short piece by Matt White on some of the IWW members who died during the Spanish Civil War.
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