The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:
This issue includes articles on or by Tom Mann and British syndicalism, Émile Pouget and his contribution to French syndicalism, libertarians at the 1896 London Congress of the Second International, fighting fascism in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, the anarcho-feminist Mujeres Libres group and more.
This issue’s editorial and contents are:
Editorial
Welcome to the third issue of the relaunched Black Flag!
Originally, we planned to be at least bi-annual but happily we have managed to exceed our hopes and produce three issues this year. This issue has taken on a syndicalist theme, marking as it does the anniversaries of the deaths of both Tom Mann and Émile Pouget. The former is inextricably linked to the Great Unrest of 1910 to 1914 and we take the opportunity to discuss Mann’s ideas as well as British Syndicalism. As well as an in-depth account of his syndicalist ideas, we include many of his pamphlets and articles along with articles from Freedom discussing industrial unionism. Hopefully there are lessons to be learnt from both for today’s activists. From a leading British Syndicalist, we turn to Pouget who was a leading French one. We reprint all but one of his most famous pamphlets, including a new, complete, translation of Le Syndicat (The Union) and his 1898 article on Sabotage. Again, we hope that these will be of use to current activists. We start and end with some passages by Bakunin indicating his syndicalist ideas.
This year also marks the 125th anniversary of the 1896 Congress of the Second International in London. Here we recall the attempt by anarchists to gain access to the new socialist International, which resulted in definitive expulsion of libertarians from the organisation. We also mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Arditi del Popolo with an article discussing the lessons to be gained from fighting fascism in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s.
Finally, we mark the founding in 1936 of the Spanish anarcha-feminist group, Mujeres Libres (“Free Women”). This important organisation fought not only against the sexism of capitalist society but also that of their male comrades, who all too often combined a theoretical opposition to all forms of hierarchy with a distinctly patriarchal practice. They are an important reminder that fighting economic and political hierarchy is not enough and that all social hierarchies need to be destroyed in order for a free society to exist.
If you want to contribute rather than moan at those who do, whether its writing new material or letting us know of on-line articles, reviews or translations, then contact us:
[email protected]
Contents
Full details can be found here
Protest of the Alliance (Michael Bakunin)
Émile Pouget: Proletarian Pamphleteer, Syndicalist Theorist and Organiser (Constance Bantman)
o Sabotage (Almanach du Père Peinard, 1898)
o The Basis of Trade Unionism (1903)
o The Union (1904)
o The Party of Labour (1905)
o Direct Action (1910)
Socialists and Workers: The 1896 London Congress (Davide Turcato)
o Should Anarchists Be Admitted to the Coming International Congress? (Errico Malatesta)
o The Forthcoming Congress (F. Domela Nieuwenhuis)
o On the Congress (Louise Michel)
o International Congresses and the Congress of London (Peter Kropotkin)
o The International Socialist Congress in London (Rudolf Rocker)
Tom Mann and British Syndicalism (Iain McKay)
o The Way to Win: industrial unionism (1909)
o From The Industrial Syndicalist
o From The Syndicalist
o From Mother Earth
o Miscellaneous
o Freedom on Industrial Unionism
Lessons from the Historic Fight Against Fascism (Wayne Price)
Lessons from Spain’s Mujeres Libres: Anarchism & the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women (Martha Ackelsberg)
o The Place of Women in Society (Emma Goldman)
o Controllers and Controlled (Lucía Sánchez Saornil)
o Women In The Revolution (Spain and the World, 25 August 1937)
Parish Notices
Review: Bob Holton’s British Syndicalism 1900-1914 (Albert Meltzer)
Open Letter to British Soldiers
"Finally, we mark the
"Finally, we mark the founding in 1936 of the Spanish anarcha-feminist group, Mujeres Libres (“Free Women”). This important organisation fought not only against the sexism of capitalist society but also that of their male comrades, who all too often combined a theoretical opposition to all forms of hierarchy with a distinctly patriarchal practice. They are an important reminder that fighting economic and political hierarchy is not enough and that all social hierarchies need to be destroyed in order for a free society to exist."
Peddling dangerous divisive bourgeois "identity politics" informed by irrational and interclassist notions of female identity has no place for revolutionaries. Also the Spanish CNT (anarcho-syndicalist union confederation) in its early days in the 20's and 30's was informed by other dangerous identity politics/notions eg 'Spanish identity" . At various international syndicalist conferences, CNT delegates often peddled the grossly simplistic line in regard to the urgent issue of assisting other syndicalist movements in other countries hard hit by the rise of mass Stalinism, Fascism, rightwing dictatorships, recession etc "just follow our example in Spain". When these movements needed much practical assistance. This outlook and together with these other factors on the international scale certainly contributed to the isolation and defeat of the Spanish Revolution 1936-39 and the disaster befalling the CNT.
Are Mujeres Libres bad now?
Are Mujeres Libres bad now? It is so hard to keep up.
And Emma Goldman too? Truly wild times we are living in.
Apparently. And identity
Apparently. And identity politics went back in time too!
Genuinely asn the above is a
Genuinely asn the above is a bit worrying, it reads like a descent into full-on self-destructive obsessiveness. You alright?
As part of the revolutionary
As part of the revolutionary project and process scientific processes have to be ensured - and aspects of identity politics can not be beyond debate and discussion - like the line of the communist parties in their heydays in the mid 20th Century. In those days , those in the workers movement who criticised the line at public meetings etc would be denounced as Trotskyites whether they had anything to do with Leon Trotsky's followers or not and so demonised. Their views would be ignored by many in the CP and allied groups and would often then be met by strong arm tactics by CP members incited by the party bosses. Today due to the legacy of mass Stalinism for the above period and subsequently Trot and other Marxist Leninist groups predominance on the left of the social democratic formations such as the Labour Parties in the Anglo World and elsewhere we are facing this problem of Stalinist legacy informed ways in many leftist groups . Rob's comments do seem informed by this legacy.
In regard to Emma Goldma,n this militant at least in her earlier days was certainly to my knowledge not promoting identity politics but heavily involved in supporting IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) and grass roots workers in various campaigns and class struggle in the USA. In her later years she was collaborating/associated with politicians and bourgeois liberals. In Albert Meltzer's book on British Anarchism from 1930's to 1950's she is criticised by him for her collaboration with these elements and her role in the campaign in Britian to support the CNT and Spanish Revolution 1936-39.