The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:
This issue includes articles on or by American anarchists Sam Dolgoff, Voltairine De Cleyre and Lucy Parsons, libertarian socialist Cornelius Castoriadis as well as an Anarchist Guide to the Communist Manifesto and a discussion of anarchist approaches to (political) elections.
Future issues this year will – hopefully – mark the birth of revolutionary anarchist at the St. Imier Congress of the First International in 1872, include articles on and by Camillo Berneri and Errico Malatesta as well as a special issue of Peter Kropotkin. We are looking for articles on the founding of the Syndicalist International Workers’ Association in 1922 as well as on Kropotkin and his legacy (whether for the good or for the bad). Contributions from libertarian socialists welcome on these and other subjects!
This issue’s editorial and contents are:
Editorial
Welcome to the first issue of Black Flag for 2022!
This is another bumper issue, including articles on and by such noted anarchists as Sam Dolgoff, Voltairine de Cleyre and Lucy Parsons. Dolgoff was a stalwart of the American anarchist movement from the 1920s until his death in 1990, active in numerous groups and papers including the Libertarian League and journal Libertarian Labour Review. A key activist in the previous generation, de Cleyre moved from Individualist Anarchism to Communist Anarchism. The writings of both have much to give to modern activists.
In terms of Parsons, we show that attempts to portray her as not understanding what anarchism was, that she and Emma Goldman had radically different ideas rest on an ignorance of anarchist ideas. In spite of disagreements on certain subjects (such as free love), both Parsons and Goldman were communist-anarchists who advocated syndicalism, direct action and the general strike. Sadly, Parsons refused to see through the Bolshevik Myth, so helping Leninists today to present a false picture of the American anarchist movement of the time to try and recruit anarchists today. As such, it is worthwhile putting the record straight.
We also mark the birth of libertarian socialist Cornelius Castoriadis whose ideas impacted on the anarchist movement via the British Solidarity group in the 1960s and 1970s. Originally a Trotskyist, he rejected its analysis of the Soviet Union before moving on to a critique and rejection of Marxism as such. In so doing, he came to many conclusions anarchists had reached long before. While influenced by the post-war period, many of his ideas remain relevant today.
Finally, we start and end our issue with two original contributions. The first is on anarchists and their views on elections, the second an analysis of the Communist Manifesto. Both we hope will be of interest.
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:
Contents
Those in Favour of Anarchist Electoralism Please Raise Your Hands
Sam Dolgoff: Ideas
• Anarchist Communism
• For an Anarchist Policy in the Trade Unions
• Reflections on the Steel Settlement
• On Woodcock’s Anarchism
• The New Anarchism
• Evolution of Anarcho-Syndicalism
• Carlo Tresca Remembered
Voltairine de Cleyre
• Sex Slavery
• November Eleventh
• Why I am an Anarchist
• On the 1910 Philadelphia Strike
• The Mexican Revolution
• The Commune is Risen
Cornelius Castoriadis: A Review
• What is Important?
• Socialism and Capitalism
• The Fate of Marxism
• The Crisis of Modern Society
• Wot? No Contradictions?
• Marx today: the tragicomical paradox
Lucy Parsons: American Anarchist
• An Interview with Lucy Parsons on the Prospects for Anarchism in America
• I am an anarchist
• Wild Talk of Anarchy
• Speeches at the I.W.W.’s founding Convention
• The Principles of Anarchism
• The Development of the American Labour Movement
• The Eleventh of November, 1887
An Anarchist Guide to The Communist Manifesto
Parish Notices
What Freedom Means
Just bumping some recent…
Just bumping some recent threads.
Nice to see some original…
Nice to see some original content in Black Flag this time :)
I have read the Benjamin Franks article and while I think it's good food for thought. He splits anarchist electoralism into four categories (after explaining why most anarchists oppose electoralism):
- lesser evilism (like voting for the less bad party)
- a genuine type of anarchist electoralism (i.e. forming a party to try and win seats I guess)
- the Sinn Fein method (standing for seats but refusing to take them, Guy Aldred did this. although he never won)
- guerrilla activism (like when Class War stood in elections for a platform and to mock the spectacle, even telling people not to vote for them)
Personally I am against electoralism in its entirety and I think anarchists should try to waste the least amount of time on it as possible (beyond using election time as a means to critique the political parties, representative democracies and advocate our alternative).
For Franks he felt the only kind of anarchist electoralism that was justified was the last example. I think in practice though this example has been an utter failure. It just makes us look stupid. And when anarchist figures win like 20 votes, the media uses it to suggest we are wildly unpopular (which we probably are, but many supporters won't be registered or know about it, or won't vote for them because they believe in lesser-evilism).
Personally I think the lesser-evil approach to voting (as harm mitigation) is a slippery slope and still harms the anarchist movement, but it's not the end of the world if some anarchists just choose to hold their nose and vote for that, so long as they don't starting publicly showing their support for political parties or joining them (or even canvassing for them). I also think often the "lesser-evil" isn't really any less dangerous, like in Britain I think the Labour Party can get away with stuff the Conservatives can't because lots of Labour supporters are involved in social movements and trade unions and may be reluctant to oppose a Labour government (or council).