The commission appointed by government to inquire into the
sanitary condition of the weaving sheds where the delicious compound of filth
called heavily sized cotton is worked up into cloth (?), says among other
things: "The amount of size used to a given weight of cotton warp could no
longer be actually described as being from 50 to 90 per cent.; 100, 120, 150
per cent. of size is now not unfrequently used. We conversed with one
manufacturer, who admitted that to every 100 lb. of warp he put 200 lb. of
size; another had gone as far as 230. In one factory visited by us the
manufacturer weighed in our presence a piece of cotton cloth weighing 8 3/4 lb.
and another weighing 4 1/2 lb. and remarked that the latter contained by far the
... (From: Marxists.org.)
Source: Kurasje Archive; Published: as Chapter V of Anti-Bolshevik Communism, Merlin Press 1978; originally published as "Groups of Council Communists" in The Social Frontier, vol. 5, no. 45, May 1939, pp. 248-253; Transcribed: by Andy Blunden, for marxists.org 2003; Proofed: and corrected by Geoff Traugh, July 2005.
There can be no doubt that those social forces generally known
as the ‘labor movement’ which rose during the last hundred years
and, quantitatively, reached their widest expansion shortly before and after
the world war, are now definitely on the decline. Though this situation is
either happily or reluctantly acknowledged by people concerned with labor
questions, realistic explanations of this phenomenon are... (From: Marxists.org.)
Until recently it was held that the Great French Revolution of 1789–93 gave us a classical example of revolution and counter-revolution. Even now many are of the opinion that the period of the Jacobin rule was a revolutionary period, notwithstanding the series of counter- revolutionary measures adopted by the Convent, and that the fall of the Jacobins signified the beginning of the counter- revolution. Hence, it is inferred that there can be no counter-revolution as long as the party brought forward by the revolution is still in power. counter-revolution sets in, we are told, with the downfall of the party and the class leading the revolution, with the triumph of a more moderate party, with the liquidation of the revolutionary conques... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The uprising that has spread across the United States since the police murder of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis has, like any rebellious movement, met with police strategies for counterinsurgency. It is well documented how modern police forces systematically use counterinsurgency strategies against their own populations.
The most visible counterinsurgency measure so far has been the campaign of straightforward, brutal repression: the thousands of people arrested and injured by police and National Guard across the country, as well as the handful of Black people who have been murdered since May 25, shot to death by cops or white vigilantes.
Nonetheless, people have courageously held their own, staying in the streets, redi... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
This article responds to criticisms of the broad anarchist tradition in International Socialism, an International Socialist Tendency (IST) journal.[1] I will discuss topics such as the use of sources, defending revolutions and freedom, the Spanish anarchists, anarchism and democracy, the historical role of Marxism, and the Russian Revolution.
The articles I am engaging with are marked by commendable goodwill; I strive for the same. Paul Blackledge’s article rejects “caricatured non-debate”.[2] Ian Birchall stresses that “lines between anarchism and Marxism are often blurred”.[3] Leo Zeilig praises Michael Schmidt’s and my book, Black Flame: the Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndical... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Source: “Counting Noses” Commonweal, Vol 4, No. 128, 23 June 1888, p.196; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. Mr Chamberlain ...believed that the experience of the United States and their own, so far as it had gone, went to show that when people were constantly being called on to vote, the whole matter fell into the hands of caucuses and machine politicians.
Thus the reporters of the House of Commons give us the present view of the once semi-Socialist agitator, the advocate of the ransoming of the upper-classes; and no one can wonder at the ‘ironical cheers and laughter’ of the opposition that followed this expression of opinion from the once darling of the caucuses, the once supreme lender of the midland-county machine p... (From: Marxists.org.)
Dear friend and brother,
Circumstances beyond my control prevent me from coming to take part in your great Assembly of March 13. But I would not want to let it pass without expressing my thoughts and wishes to my brothers in France.
If I could attend that impressive gathering, here is what I would say to the French workers, with all the barbaric frankness that characterizes the Russian socialist democrats.
Workers, no longer count on anyone but yourselves. Do not demoralize and paralyze your rising power in foolish alliances with bourgeois radicalism. The bourgeoisie no longer has anything to give you. Politically and morally, it is dead, and of all its historical magnificence, it has only preserved a single power, that... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU) is an all-volunteer organization committed to organizing for housing justice from below and to the left. As an independent collective based in Chicago, we strategize together to defend and enforce our right to dignified housing. We believe that housing is a human right not a commodity! We fight for an end to all evictions, and for community control of housing through the building of popular power.
I. Where we are
We are in the middle of a public health catastrophe, during which everyone’s sole focus should be protecting themselves and their communities. But instead, many are worrying about rent. Chicagoans face layoffs and loss of income as workplaces around the country shutter to limit COV... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The message went out to a thousand phones on Monday morning, the 3rd of October: the first of the arrests from the Parliament blockade had taken place. Four undercovers snatched him up as he left his house. A protest was called for the same day, at 7 o’clock in the evening, Plaça Catalunya. Two more arrests soon followed. The news quickly spread via telephone, internet, and word of mouth. Several meetings are called to share information and organize the response. By the time people started gathering in the hundreds for the protest, a fourth arrest had occurred.
Back in June, the popular rage that has been growing in Barcelona, in tandem with other parts of the world, coalesced once again as 200,000 people blockaded the C... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
This piece by Brazilian anarchist Felipe Corrêa offers important commentary on the concepts of popular power, the state and power more broadly speaking.
“Strong people don’t need leaders”
Emiliano Zapata
The Strategy of Social Transformation
To begin the discussion on popular power it is important to reclaim the idea of social transformation strategy, since our political practice – as anarchists – is what could point toward this transformation. The program of the Anarchist Federation of Rio de Janeiro (FARJ) raises the following about the strategy of social transformation:
“To propose our strategy of social transformation is what we are trying to achieve in this text.... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
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