An interesting thread on alasbarricadas on the CNT from the 5th congress in 1979 to the 1989 court case over the use of the initials. This is actually quite a constructive discussion from people involved, on both sides of the split, about what happened and the reasons things turned out as they did.
http://www.alasbarricadas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=61614&start=15
Este es un hilo para opinar sobre el V congreso de la CNT, para hablar ( mal), de las Organizaciones que surgieron a partir del mismo, y del Juicio de las Siglas que dio el nombre de CNT a una , y la otra decidio desde entonces llamarse CGT.
Aqui no se puede hablar de nada posterior a 1989. Terminantemente prohibido. Todos los cotilleos, comentarios e insultos deben tener como referencia una fecha anterior.
Se valora especialmente que a poder ser sean movidas desde el 79 al 84.
A split from the above thread
A split from the above thread on how the CNT actually functioned from 1910 to 1939:
http://www.alasbarricadas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=61632
Sounds interesting, but
Sounds interesting, but unfortunately I don't speak Spanish. Any chance you could write up a short something, maybe we could put it in history section?
tbh I'd find it very hard to
tbh I'd find it very hard to write anything on this. It's all involved and complicated, and the history is disputed. Apologies to non-Spanish speakers - I just thought that there are enough people on here who read Spanish to make it worthwhile posting the links. Generally I think there's a lack of worthwhile material in English on the CNT during and after the transition.
I do find it positive that there's some reasonable discussion going on on alasbarricadas without people taking intransigent positions and denouncing each other. One factor in this is that the disputes of the 70s and 80s are now a long time in the past, before most current CNT and CGT members became involved and I suppose before many of them were born.
Are those engaged in the
Are those engaged in the conversation the same who want to "refound" the IWA?
I think only one person has
I think only one person has posted from the pro-IWA side. It's mainly people from the majority side in the CNT. That doesn't mean they were all in favour of "refounding" the IWA. I think there are people with different views. In any case I'd say the thread is worth reading for it's own sake. There's a serious attempt to get to grips with the history. You don't have to agree or see yourself on the same side for it to be interesting.
That's what it looked like
That's what it looked like from a very, very fast glance.
If you do read through it I'd
If you do read through it I'd be interested in your thoughts.
I think I'd like to see what
I think I'd like to see what sort of tactical shifts some current non-IWA CNT people may indicate in the current context. that might give me a better sense of some of the shifts in tone and discussion as it relates to the splits of the past.
syndicalist wrote: I think
syndicalist
The thread is not about the impacts on the current situation.It is strictly limited to the «transicion» and people try to respect this. It's really worth reading it for the historical context, because it gives (us outsiders) a new facts and interpretations concerning few myth from the past. Just to give you example - there is a very good (and AFAIK correct) interpretation of the rise and fall of the Puerto Real shipyard CNT union in the thread.
I am curious to know how you
I am curious to know how you see it from outside Spain. And since it seems that you find this topic interesting here. I'm talking about "Transición" 79-84.
Particularly I find it much more interesting post "the CNT actually functioned from 1910 to 1939"
Yes, I realize it's not about
Yes, I realize it's not about the present. But tactical discussion,even of a historical nature inform about peoples general thoughts and thinking. Sometimes current perspectives are reflections of past positives and past errors. Or building or learning from those positives or negatives.
Anyway, I will eventually work my way through it.
Ragnar - The transition is
Ragnar - The transition is roughly the period when I had some involvement, on and off, with the IWA, and I guess that's why it's of interest to me personally. I'm not sure how much it should matter to anyone who wasn't around at the time. I was in Barcelona in October or November 1979 - the original idea had been to be there for the fifth congress which ended up being postponed and held in Madrid in December. It's probably just as well we missed it, and as none of us spoke any Spanish I'm not sure what being there would have achieved. As it is we had no idea about the crisis the CNT was going though. A Spanish speaking Canadian academic we met tried to explain it to us but I don't think we paid much attention. When the news of the split came a couple of months later it was quite unexpected. I'd say the language barrier remained an issue in the years that followed, and that I only ever got a partial and distorted idea of what was happening in Spain - and hence the unanswered questions I was left with.
syndicalist wrote: I think
syndicalist
There's now another thread split off which is more about this:
http://www.alasbarricadas.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=61639&start=0
Dissertation (in Spanish) on
Dissertation (in Spanish) on the CNT split in Asturias and the construction of collective memory, based on interviews with people involved:
http://transicionyruptura.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/TFM_GonzalezPerezHector_cnt_asturias.pdf
Radio interview with the writer of this, Héctor González. The interview is linked to and discussed on the alasbarricadas thread. I'd recommend it but found it a bit of a test of my listening skills:
http://anabasis.radioqk.org/21-ruptura-en-cnt/
BTW, this is a very
BTW, this is a very interesting contemporary (1977) english translation interview with CNT-AIT Sec. Luis Edo: https://libcom.org/library/black-flag-vol-iv-no15-0
English speaking comrades might want to look at "Black Flag" from this time period as it carried a lot of stuff (in english) on the Spanish situation: https://libcom.org/library/black-flag
A Canadian comrade of ours
A Canadian comrade of ours was that the 5th Congress. His report appears in the February/March 1980 issue of The North American Anarchist I will try and cut and past his article, which dealt with certain internal issues relative to the social movements, the exiles and classical CNT-AIT unionism. Additional 5th Congress reporting appears in the April/May 1980 issue The North American Anarchist as well.
Apparently we were hearing stuff about workplace elections , mainly coming from CNT-Victoria (Michelin tire workers) and Madrid Metro (subway workers) prior to the V Congress, knew there
were high tensions brewing and some of us figured (well, read the incoming press) that the shit was about ready to hit the fan. Which, it obviously did.
Even with the split, both segments pursued their own unionist paths.
The North American Anarchist was the newspaper of the Anarchist-Communist Federation of North America.
Yes, I'd be interested to see
Yes, I'd be interested to see that report on the 5th Congress.
Mark. wrote: Yes, I'd be
Mark.
I second
Yeah thanks, syndicalist. And
Yeah thanks, syndicalist. And no worries about an article, Mark just thought I would ask!
A translation of the Héctor
A translation of the Héctor González dissertation might be the ideal thing on this, but that would be a major undertaking.
Mark. wrote: A translation of
Mark.
What's the title?
I'm assuming this is the same author: "La escisión de la CNT en Asturias y la construcción de la memoria colectiva." Por Héctor González. http://transicionyruptura.info/?p=315
Yes, that's the one. It's the
Yes, that's the one. It's the pdf link there.
Posted "CNT Debates Future"
Posted "CNT Debates Future" (NAA article) on libcom
Thanks.
Thanks.
Mark. wrote: Thanks. Another
Mark.
Another one posted on libcom.... "CNT 5th Congress" and "interview with FAI Militant"
from The North American Anarchist