The Friends of Durruti (FoD) were the group of Anarchists on the Left of Spanish anarcho-syndicalism who organized against the machinations of the leadership of the CNT-FAI (Confederacion Nacional de Trabajo -the mass Anarcho-syndicalist union and Federacion Anarquista Iberica -the specific anarchist organization) and against the Stalinist provocations of May 1937.
This book is useful for the wealth of factual evidence, quotes from Friends of Durruti publications, identification of FoD members, that it provides. This is refreshing after all the nonsense that has been written in the past about this group. But on the other hand, it attempts to prove unsubstantiated theories, theories that members of the Friends of Durruti Group would reject ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
This thought-provoking pamphlet emanates from the Liverpool Discussion Group, appears since to have been disbanded. This group was made up of people from a left communist, Bordigist, and autonomist background. In a lot of ways they appear to have reached the same conclusions as us on key questions like the Left, nationalization, changes within the structure of capitalism, etc. (See our forthcoming Manifesto for the Millenium). Like us they see that, contrary to Mrs. Thatcher’s cry that: ”There Is No Alternative”, in fact there is! As they themselves say:
”Everyone today who is ‘oppositional’- from ‘new age’ travelers to anti-roads protesters, to those taking part in the miners strike and ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
These political autobiographies (recently released in paperback) by two long-serving activists in the ‘physical force’ tradition of modern Irish Republicanism offer revealing insights into the evolution of both Sinn Fein and Provisional IRA strategy in the critical decades since the eruption of ‘the Troubles’.
They are sharply different stories. Eamon Collins’ book, Killing Rage, is the graphic and lurid account of the breakdown of a committed IRA volunteer, who — after an intensive period of active service — becomes disenchanted with the Republican movement. Arrested by the Brits, Collins betrays his former comrades-in-arms to the security forces, renounces his former ideals and disowns his parami... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Welcome to the first edition of Mass Subversion. This magazine is very close to the politics of the ACF and contains articles on nationalism-on the new set-up in South Africa and the sovereignty issue in New Zealand (which we intend to reprint in Organize!) As Mass Subversion says: “The poison that is nationalism is cynically used not only by the established States but also by the national liberation movements. Just as the established State will use ‘love of one’s country’ as a powerful component to protect the interests of its’ boss clas afainst those of a foreign boss class, so also do the rising boss-class-to-be of the national liberation movements use ‘love of the people’ to clothe their power s... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
At last the comrades of Organize!, the Irish anarcho-syndicalist group, have reprinted this long out-of-print pamphlet. Jack White, founder of the Irish Citizen Army, was an enigmatic character on the Irish left who has tended to be marginalized in Irish Labor history. This slim pamphlet is unfortunately his only written work presently available and it dates from the period after he had embraced anarchism. His ‘conversion’ occurred during his time as a volunteer in the International Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. The essay contained in this pamphlet is divided between a defense of anarchism against its Marxist critics and a discussion of the events in Spain from a libertarian perspective. White makes some odd comments abo... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
This, their 5th album, is 40 minutes of bliss. Some of the band have more than a decade of experience going back to the Punk Subhumans of the early 80s before the festival ska of Culture Shock, then Citizen Fish from 1990. Dick has always been a talented lyricist, with the Subhumans he sounded fresher, swore a lot and worried about being locked up for subversion. The lyrics have improved tremendously and their music has not been left behind. The additional Bender trumpet loan works nicely on a few songs and the core instruments are made to perform well in classics like Phone In Sick, Faster and Next Big Thing. Over the years ska punk bands have come and gone but Citizen Fish have got something original and special. This album is being distr... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Offense is the fanzine-style magazine of the Libero! Football Supporters Network which appears to be a campaigning group opposing the increasing authoritarianism and ‘moral policing’ found in professional football. The politics appear libertarian and anti-state, albeit with a nod to ‘new laddism’. It contains several quite interesting articles, not least one which plays down the hard-line Loyalist and fascist tendencies which exist among Glasgow Rangers fans as “..the superficial appearance of religion and Ireland”. Yeah, right.
We say appear because a (not too) closer examination reveals that the glossy and expensive (20 pages) ‘zine’ is in fact a product of the terminally dodgy Revolutionar... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Both these books appeared in 1994, and are anthologies of a couple of intellectuals associated with the anarchist movement in this country from the late thirties until the fifties. Read declared anarchism in 1937 as a result of his observations of the Spanish Revolution and Civil War- quite an effort when you consider that many British intellectuals had rallied to the Soviet lie-machine ( an experience that was to be repeated with a passing adulation among some for the ‘achievements’ of Maoist China). Both he and Comfort were to provide articles and sometimes speak at public meetings, although neither involved themselves in day-to-day practical activity like the production of propaganda. Read saw the future society as anarchist ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
As Bookchin himself says “Stated bluntly: Between the socialist pedigree of anarcho-syndicalism and anarcho communism...and the basically liberal, individualistic pedigree of lifestyle anarchism... there exists a divide that cannot be bridged unless we completely disregard the profoundly different goals, methods, and underlying philosophy that distinguish them.” In this blistering attack on lifestylism, individualism and primitivism, this veteran of the libertarian movement pulls out all the stops. His constant affirmation of the revolutionary, social and collective core of Anarchism throughout this booklet warms the cockles of the heart of any Anarchist Communist worth their salt. Bookchin seems concerned that this revolutionar... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
“Organizational responsibility and discipline should not be controversial: they are the traveling companions of the practice of social anarchism”.
This collection of articles was mainly published in Dielo Trouda, the excellent anarchist communist review produced in exile in Paris by Makhno, Piotr Arshinov and Ida Mett. Many of the articles address themselves to the problems of the Russian Revolution, and above all, the insurrectionary movement in the Ukraine, the Makhnovschina, inspired by Makhno himself. Others address themselves to the false accusation that Makhno and the movement were anti-Semitic and carried out pogroms against Jews. The Dielo Trouda group correctly analyzed the role of the Bolsheviks and the nature of ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
This four sided newsheet draws inspiration from the ideas of Andy Anderson, who used to be in Solidarity many years ago and wrote some good articles at that time. Since then, he’s developed a theory of the middle class as the real enemy. As the paper says “The middle class as a whole.... run everything” and “This economic system was created by the middle class for their financial benefit...”
But surely the expression “middle class” means that it is between two other classes- the working class(the mass of the population) and the ruling class. Working Class Times(WCT) confuses the class structure of this society. Those who own the wealth and land, the bosses, royalty, aristocracy, big land lords, big... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
ORGANIZE! — How did you become involved in the Anti-Roads movement?
EA — I met some people in London and became friends with them. They were involved in the anti-roads protests and various other campaigns; they had been heavily involved in the ‘No M11’ campaign in East London since it started. I met some more people, and because I’ve got anarchist views anyway became more involved myself, because I saw that the motorway was just another way the authorities were taking liberties with people’s lives, making people who have lived in their houses for years move out (like Dolly, who was 93). Also the ecological side of it, pollution and how they are fucking up people’s health and the ozone layer.
ORG... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The Class Struggle
‘There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.’
– Warren Buffett, capitalist and the world’s wealthiest person in 2008
Before we start to look at the revolutionary organization itself, we first need to explain what we mean when talking about class.
The term class is commonly used to describe a cultural identity that comes from a mixture of elements including family background, education, workplace history and access to/denial of different opportunities throughout life. This complex web of factors gives rise to different social labels (e.g. working class, lower middle class, etc.)... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Almost eight months into their dispute, and the workers sacked by Magnet, manufacturers of kitchens, in Darlington continue to battle on for reinstatement. Outside of the north-east little has been heard of the dispute. Yet action has continued: one example being the angry demonstration which met shareholders on their way to a meeting of parent company Beresford in London last January. The events led a spokesman for the group to describe the battle as “the most vicious dispute in history”.
It all started last August when management turned down demands for a pay rise. Workers, some of them with over 30 years of experience, saw this as the last straw in a game of patience which had been going on since their last pay deal in 1992.... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Participatory Economics (parecon) was proposed in two books (The Political Economy of Participatory Economics, and Looking Forward: Participatory Economics for the Twenty First Century) and has some support among anarchists and autonomists. It is a system for managing the economy of (present and) future society based on a fairer relationship between producer and consumer. While it continues to make use of a (modified) market, it seeks to abolish the power of capitalists to dictate the value of our work and the cost of consumption (i.e. wages and prices) by establishing a democratic, participatory economy based on socialized production but individualized consumption. Now who could argue with that?
As social and organizational anarchists, me... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Arthur Scargill, President of the National Union of Mineworkers, is preparing to build a new Labor Party. He started the campaign to construct this party in the October issue of the Miner, the NUM’s journal, where he called for a break with the ‘new’ Party. He followed this up shortly after at a meeting in London where he gathered together in London various trade unionists who were members of the Labor Party, the Communist Party of Great Britain, and various Trotskyist groupings. Here he unveiled plans to launch a Socialist Labor Party on May 1st 1996, and the reasons he was doing so. He followed this up with a similar meeting in Glasgow.
Scargill’s strategy was summed up in a nine-page document, Future Strategy for... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The English Civil War (1641–1651) was a time unprecedented in English history. Although it ended with the victory of the bourgeoisie under Oliver Cromwell and the first moves towards the establishment of capitalist society, Parliament needed to mobilize lower-class support in order to defeat the Royal forces, and the challenge to authority and existing social order that this involved granted radicals a space to argue for their own ideas. For a brief period, anything seemed possible, and, for perhaps the first time in English history, it was possible for movements to arise based around ideals that anarchists and communists today can recognize as being not so far from our own.
1649 was a high point for revolutionary unrest during this ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
350 LIBRARY WORKERS went out on strike on 5 June for 8 weeks against their employer, the supposedly ‘radical’ City Council. Most of those involved were low-paid women workers. The Labor Council had threatened to cut higher rates of pay for weekend work, in effect cutting pay by 7%- £60 a month. An average full-time worker earns about £10,000 a year and as most of the workers are on part-time contracts, this would have meant a drastic pay cut.
This was followed by proposals to close 6 libraries which would result in redundancies. This second move clinched the walk-out. The closures would have meant that there would have been only 27 libraries open in a city with a population of 500,000. It should be noted that this w... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
What We’re Fighting: Capitalism and Hierarchy
Capitalism, in essence, is a system of exploitation. It is a class system where a majority, the working class, is exploited by a minority, the ruling class.
The ruling class own and control the places that we work & live, the land that produces our food, and everything that makes life possible. They make the decisions about what kinds of products the factories make or what kinds of services are provided, and they make the decisions about how this work is organized. The rest of us, the working class, must work in the fields and the factories, the call centers and the office blocks, or else get by on benefits or scrape together what we need to survive.
We, the workin... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The following statement addresses the situation in which Devrimci Anarşist Faaliyet (DAF), Revolutionary Anarchist Action, are involved on the Turkish/Syrian border in opposition to IS. This is a struggle which, if lost, will probably result in far greater repression and tyranny than workers in the region already face, in towns and on the land. It is also one in which class-consciousness and the class struggle must remain at the forefront of anarchist responses. Anarchists on the ground are fighting in a less-than-ideal situation, not least given that the state forces of Syria, Turkey, Iraq, Iran and the US, also claim to combat IS. We continue to offer practical solidarity through the International of Anarchist Federations (IFA/IAF). ... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Across Merseyside a mounting wave of industrial action and militancy may rekindle radical politics in the city after the long, post-Militant hibernation. Three growing strikes by dockworkers, social services residential workers and the firefighters threaten to develop into mass action as public services, autoworkers, manufacturing, health and education workers all threaten action over wage claims and cuts. Are we ready to meet the needs of workers? And why is there a new willingness to resist attacks on pay and conditions by the bosses?
The first reason must be that exploitation of workers is now intensifying and forcing its way into previously ‘safe’ areas like public services. Changes to the balance of power between workers a... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
THE FRENCH STATE’S decision to continue with its underground nuclear tests at the Mururoa atoll ignited a huge powder-keg throughout Oceania, the chains of small islands, many of which are sill ruled by France.
In New Zealand and Australia, the actions were met by large “mobilizations”. The establishment politicians were able to hi-jack these genuine expressions of anger for their own nationalist agendas, to strengthen their own regional interest in the Pacific against their rival France.
This was reflected in the nationalist rhetoric employed by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in Britain, who instead of seeing the culprit as the French State and militarists, launched a chauvinistic “anti-Frog” campaign.... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Major, Blair and Ashdown stand united in their place at the head of the new Moral Crusade. They have used a number of violent incidents-Dunblane, the murder of Philip Lawrence-as pretexts for a campaign of hysteria designed to strengthen the State and police powers and to bolster a climate of opinion which condones the scapegoating of the poor and further attacks on any little freedom in this society.
Social conditions are in sharp decline, and the decline of British capitalism is further aggravated by problems within capitalist society world-wide. This means that previous welfare reforms-themselves forced out of the boss class through the threat of a confident working class- are being dismantled. As welfarism collapses, the Labor Party is... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
By the Anarchist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland
History
The AF has its roots in a number of
small anarchist groupings active in the
1970s. In addition, the founding
members were inspired by the rich
anarchist tradition on the Continent,
especially in France. Taking what we
thought was best from the past and from
abroad, the goal was to create an
anarchist communist organization,
firmly based on the class struggle or
social anarchist tradition.
The project received crucial impetus
with the bringing on board of the
innovative magazine Virus. The
Anarchist Communist Discussion was
then launched at the Anarchist Bookfair
in October 1985. We received
remarkable interest in our project and
by April 1986,... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The following is an interview with a member of Edinburgh Claimants, Jim, about attempted police repression of the Three Strikes (anti-Job Seekers Allowance) campaign; on the 21st of January a claimant was found guilty of Breach of the Peace and sentenced to 150 hours of community service.[1] His offense (sic) had been to deliver a 3 strikes warning letter to a Benefits Office Official at High Riggs Unemployment benefit office in Edinburgh. The Sheriff (judge) called it ‘a sinister offense’ and said that he was considering a jail sentence; in his summing up he called the campaign a ‘premeditated and illegal attempt to undermine the welfare benefits system’.
ORGANIZE!: Can you tell us about the context of the Three St... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
The Three Strikes strategy was thought up as a way of exposing dole workers and management who are using the JSA to harass claimants. Unions like the CPSA, as well as the TUC and many on the Left, have condemned this initiative. Indeed the CPSA counterposed the demand of security screens to protect dole workers from angry claimants. Nationally, the doleworkers unions have done little to practically resist the JSA, and their members have been implementing both the JSA and Project Work. Locally, some union leaders were threatening and pointing out unemployed activists. Unemployed activists in Edinburgh reported to the Groundswell meeting that a ‘Third Strike’ was being issued against a claimant adviser. The whole questioning of th... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Twyford Down is a beautiful area of high ground lying SE of Winchester in Hampshire. It is rich in historical features such as the site of an Iron Age village, pre-Roman field systems, and ancient trackways known as the Dongas, which a group of protesters have named themselves after. They have been camped on the site to defend it since at least last summer and constant actions have been going on with locals, Friends of the Earth supporters (who soon dropped out) and above all Earth Firsters who have been consistently in action against the proposed M3 eight-lane motorway beside the already existing four-lane bypass near Winchester College. Their tactics include sabotage against the main construction company slowing down work and a national D... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)
Part 1 – Origins
The ACF has never, despite what some of our critics may have suggested, made our criticisms of syndicalism, including its anarcho variety, a “distinguishing characteristic” (see Black Flag Issue 211) of our politics. In a world-wide ‘labor movement’ dominated by social democratic ideas and practice and thoroughly integrated into capitalism, our focus of attack has not been on the relatively tiny syndicalist and ‘alternative’ union structures which exist. Rather, our arguments have been against trade unionism and forworking class self-organized struggle.
However, anarcho-syndicalism remains the majority current within class struggle anarchism and is, despite various spl... (From: TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)