Revolt Library : Revolutionary Materials from the Past

First letter Dear Freedom It seems to me that Tavis Reddick (Freedom 6th April) totally misses the point in his comments on class struggle. I will ignore the comments on “those who would divide ... may be seeking to rule” as the slanderous nonsense they are and concentrate on the key issue, namely the importance of class analysis and struggle. Travis simply does not understand the nature of the society he lives in. He argues that “capitalism can’t really be said to exist for the benefit of anyone, can it?” The fact that the capitalist class seems intent on maintaining both the system and its position in it suggests otherwise. Simply put, capitalism benefits capitalists. “Capitalists aren’t evil,” he asserts, “but mistaken. The desire for infinite acquisition of wealth is a symptom of mental illness.” So we have it, capitalists are just mad an... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

With a lot of rhetoric and propaganda the Chavez administration has advanced different examples of co-management which, they claim, demonstrate their desire to transform Venezuela’s relations of production. A compañero from Europe visited us recently and got to know two of the most celebrated cases: Alcasa and Invepal. Here is the report he prepared for El Libert@rio # 51 about the actual working conditions in the country’s most “important” co-managed businesses. Alcasa is an Aluminum factory located in Ciudad Guayana, some 800 km south-east of Caracas. According to official accounts it is an example “par-excellance” of co-management. In order to “change the relations of production” inside the factory the government placed it under the control of a “revolutionary” manager — an old-guard activist of the radical left whose ideological discourse is influenced by elements of the Frankfurt School and sprin... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Only necessity, and not the desire for entertainment, could bring us to discuss marxist anthropology and its advantages, drawbacks, causes, and effects. For, in spite of the fact that ethnomarxism is still a powerful current in the human sciences, marxist ethnology is of an absolute, or rather, radical nullity — null at the root. It is not necessary to go into a detailed treatment of its arguments, for the abundant production of ethnomarxists can be taken as a unit, a homogeneous unit equal to zero. Let us examine this nothingness that overflows with being — what being is involved shall be seen further on — this marriage of marxist critique with primitive society. The development of French anthropology over the past twenty years is due firstly to institutional backing of the social sciences, and secondly through creation of ethnology programs in universities and at the National Center for Scientific Research (C.N.R.S.). But, in addition, French an... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

A Warning
Source: “Ireland and Italy — A Warning” Commonweal, Vol I, No. 9, October 1885, pp. 86-87; Transcribed: by Ted Crawford. Mr Parnell has been celebrating his triumphs in the past Parliament, and it may be said also those that are to come in the future one; he and his supporters also fully believe in the complete organization of the party, which will be strong enough not only to return 85 members this autumn, but also to compel every accepted candidate to sign a solemn pledge to submit to party discipline. Doubtless Mr Parnell is strong, and he and his are quite justified in their cries of victory. The English Parties cannot conceal their terror: Tory is calling to Whig, Whig to Liberal, to stand firm at last, since now the enemy is really upon them; but all the time they are, like the troopers in ‘Old Mortality’, ‘looking over their shoulders as if they liked the road behind them better than the road before’. In all pr... (From : Marxists.org.)

VICTORIA PARK-The "Freedom" Group have made arrangements for open air meetings to be held here every Sunday afternoon during the remainder of the summer. To commence at 3.30. Anarchist Communists will. it is hoped, turn up strongly in support. Opposition invited. ISLINGTON.-At the Brittania Coffee House on August 16. a friendly discussion meeting was held between several Social Democratic comrades and some members of the "Freedom" group. On August 23, C. M. Wilson opened a debate, pointing out some of the evils of the exercise of authority. White (S. D.) opposed- Davis pointed out that White disregarded principle and believed in going along the line of least resistance. advocating 8-hour bills and such comparatively trifling measures. A Swedish comrade argued, that whilst men had improved immensely, governments had not improved; man had outgrown them. Pearson and Christie (S. D.) also spoke. A debate has been arranged to take place on Friday, Sept. 6, at 8.30,... (From : AnarchyArchives.)

(1885 - 1923) : Ōsugi Sakae (大杉 栄) was a radical Japanese anarchist. He published numerous anarchist periodicals, helped translate western anarchist essays into Japanese for the first time, and created Japan's first Esperanto school in 1906. He, Noe Itō, and his nephew were murdered in what became known as the Amakasu incident.

(1829 - 1893) ~ American Anarchist, Abolitionist, and Feminist : Ezra Heywood was born in 1829. He was an anarchist, slavery abolitionist, and feminist. He developed an individual anarchist philosophy that was fundamental in printing the Free Love magazine, The Word. (From : Anarchy Archives.)
• "Government is only a scaffolding to build man; a temporary convenience, to secure order and justice, to vanish as we ascend into unison with ideas; the garment society wears to be refitted for larger life, or left behind for the next arrival in the cradle. The elements of growth and original sovereignty forever inhere in the people, and no government can be perpetual, any more than a coat can be perpetual." (From : "The War Method of Peace," by Ezra Heywood, 1863.)
• "This savagery of materialism, the scent of blood rousing ferocious instincts, obtrudes the age of the brute into the age of man. Democratic freedom has not yet cuts its wisdom teeth..." (From : "The War Method of Peace," by Ezra Heywood, 1863.)
• "As yet, barbarism inspires the methods, and is the leading star of civilization. We have not ascended to the realm of ideas..." (From : "The War Method of Peace," by Ezra Heywood, 1863.)

Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944) is an American political activist, philosopher, academic, and author. She is a professor emerita at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Ideologically a Marxist, Davis was a member of the Communist Party USA until 1991, after which she joined the breakaway Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. She is the author of over ten books on class, feminism, and the U.S. prison system. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Michelle Ernée Matisons, Ph.D. holds a Women's Studies doctorate and is a Research Associate with the Los Alamos Study Group in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her work can be found at https://michellereneematisons.wordpress.com/... (From : http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/.)

Sabu Kohso is a political and social critic, translator, scholar, and a long-time activist in the global and anti-capitalist struggle. A native of Okayama, Japan, Sabu has lived in New York City since 1980. He has published several books on urban space and struggle in Japan and Korea, and has translated books by Kojin Karatani and David Graeber. (From : E-Flux.com.)

We boast of the age of advancement, of science, and progress. Is it not strange, then, that we still believe in fetish worship? True, our fetishes have different form and substance, yet in their power over the human mind they are still as disastrous as were those of old. Our modern fetish is universal suffrage. Those who have not yet achieved that goal fight bloody revolutions to obtain it, and those who have enjoyed its reign bring heavy sacrifice to the altar of this omnipotent deity. Woe to the heretic who dare question that divinity! Woman, even more than man, is a fetish worshiper, and though her idols may change, she is ever on her knees, ever holding up her hands, ever blind to the fact that her god has feet of clay. Thus woman has been the greatest supporter of all deities from time immemorial. Thus, too, she has had to pay the price that only gods can exact,--her freedom, her heart's blood, her very life. Nietzsche's memorable maxim, "When... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

Feminism Is For Everybody by Bell Hooks, South End Press, 2000
bell hooks is one of the most prominent and well respected feminist academics and authors in the United States. She is often the subject of study by college students and academics, as well as a frequent guest on talk shows and other mass media. Her work in feminist theory has been groundbreaking, yet it is often limited to academic, literary, and other elite circles. Feminism Is For Everybody is hooks’ attempt to create a quick, simple primer on feminist history, theory, and politics to the masses who receive a misinformed, misunderstood, and maligned version of feminist movement. To that end, she has written an easy to read, concise book which documents her experiences as a feminist activist and academic. As an anarchist with some exposure to hooks’ writings, I have a great deal of respect for her. This was once again reinforced by the content of Feminism Is For Everybody. Whether hooks identifies herself as an anarchist or not, much of what I found in the boo... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Under the above head will be continued for a few weeks brief sketches of the lives of women who have contributed their share in building the world’s history. While the editor will contribute a number of these sketches we also invite others, especially women, to send in brief sketches of famous women, if any such occur to their minds. Let these sketches be well stated, short and to the point. We hope if any are sent in that they will be far superior to those which we write ourselves. (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

How many are there of the countless millions who have entered this life, passed through its changing scenes and at last have laid down to rest, of whom it can be truly said, “Here rest they who have labored for the uplifting of the oppressed, who have devoted their energies unstintingly in the interest of the ‘common people?’” We fear there are few indeed. A life devoted to the interest of the working class; a life of self-abnegation, a life full of love, kindness, gentleness, tragedy, activity, sadness and kind-ness, are some of the characteristics which went to make up the varied life of our comrade, Louise Michel. In the elderly woman, clad in simple black garments, with gray hair curling upon rounded shoulders and kindest of blue eyes glancing from the strongly marked face, none but those who knew her personally would in the last few years have recognized Louise Michel. Listening to her quiet musical voice, with its slightly ris... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)

Her Evolutionary Development
In the earlier times of the world’s history when man was but little higher in the intellectual scale than the beast which he slew for food, and whose skins he used for raiment, muscular strength and physical endurance were the standards of excellence and the stamp of superiority which prevailed. As nature had not endowed woman with these requisites to the same extent she had man, he looked upon her as a being inferior to himself. Possibly this was the beginning of man’s domination and woman’s subjugation. But as man ascended in the social scale of development, he began to acquire property, which he wished to transmit along with his name to his offspring—then woman became his household drudge. She was regarded as a sort of necessary evil; as something to be used and abused; to be bought and sold—as a thing fit only to cater to his pleasures and his passions—this was woman’s lowly position. For countless centuries, t... (From : TheAnarchistLibrary.org.)