Views and Comments

Archive of Views and Comments, an anarcho-syndicalist leaning publication produced out of New York by the Libertarian League from 1955 until 1966.

Submitted by Juan Conatz on July 12, 2016

Coming out of the Libertarian Book Club in New York City, Sam Dolgoff, Esther Dolgoff and Russell Blackwell started the Libertarian League in 1954. They began producing Views and Comments, an anarcho-syndicalist leaning publication. Although rooted in what was left of the aging immigrant anarchist community in the United States, the League and the journal attracted a handful of educated, younger people and its small circulation included a large proportion of universities and colleges.

The Libertarian League as a formal organization never grew much beyond the already existing circle around the Dolgoffs and Blackwell in New York City, holding one national conference in Youngstown, Ohio during the spring of 1959. The League mostly concentrated on putting out Views and Comments, as well as holding talks and events in New York City on such topics as aiding Spanish anarchists facing execution and the American labor movement.

Views and Comments mainly focused on promoting anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism as political categories to transform the world, and included many articles on the international syndicalist movement, the early years of the American civil rights movement, critiques of 'business unionism' and polemics aimed at state socialism. One of the last notable publications primarily run by anarchists whose direct roots lie in the 'Old Left' of the Great Depression and Spanish civil war years, it continued publishing until 1966.

Sources

-Anarchist voices: an oral history of anarchism in America (Abridged) edited by Paul Avrich

-Unruly equality: U.S. anarchism in the 20th century by Andrew Cornell

Comments

syndicalist

8 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on July 12, 2016

Let me suggest that folks browse pages 74 - 78 ("The Libertarian League" Views and Comments")and 89 ("Conference of the Libertarian League" and "Demise of the Libertarian League")of Dolgoff's "Fragments".

Link: https://libcom.org/history/fragments-memoir-sam-dolgoff

syndicalist

8 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on July 14, 2016

Been a long time since I read a lot if these issues. I think it might be interesting to take a look at the numerous articles on the (then rising) civil rights movement

Juan Conatz

8 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on July 17, 2016

Ok, finished uploading 23 full issues of this. We have a few more, but not putting them online because they are poor scans, with some of the text and pages cut off.

syndicalist

8 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on July 17, 2016

^^^^. Which issues? Lemme see if I gots them in whole

Juan Conatz

8 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Juan Conatz on July 17, 2016

A couple comments on this publication...although I found V&C more politically appealing, compared to Resistance and the few issues of Retort I've read, it was a lot dryer. That makes sense, because the latter two involved probably more educated people who were writers and artists, while V&C was apparently mostly written by 1 person (Sam Dolgoff). Design wise, too, V&C was almost like a fanzine, while Resistance and Retort are borderline professional for their time. I suppose this was one of the effects of the split between the syndicalists and bohemians in American anarchism around WW2...

^^^^. Which issues? Lemme see if I gots them in whole

40, 41, 42, 43, and 47. The scans we have cut out the bottom of the pages or the sides to where it makes it hard to read because text isn't there. I told the person who scanned them about this. Hopefully they will be able to redo them. If not, and you have the issues, would you be able to do any scans?

syndicalist

8 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on July 17, 2016

I'll look and see if I have any or all of these "40, 41, 42, 43, and 47." I can proll scan and email to you as attachments if I do

Steven.

8 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Steven. on July 25, 2016

Juan Conatz

^^^^. Which issues? Lemme see if I gots them in whole

40, 41, 42, 43, and 47. The scans we have cut out the bottom of the pages or the sides to where it makes it hard to read because text isn't there. I told the person who scanned them about this. Hopefully they will be able to redo them. If not, and you have the issues, would you be able to do any scans?

yeah, hopefully the person at CIRA can redo them, so also please check if you have any of the other issues which aren't on here!

syndicalist

8 years 4 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by syndicalist on August 2, 2016

I'll email you 40 and 41 now. Others to follow another time