Society against the State Libertarian is synonymous of anarchist

Institute for Anarchist Theory and History, 2021

The objective of this article is to present a summary of research carried out for some years, which culminated in the publication of the book Bandeira Negra: rediscutindo o anarquismo [Black Flag: Rediscussing Anarchism].1 As part of a collective process of global research on anarchism, developed by researchers from different parts of the world within the Institute for Anarchist Theory and History (IATH), this book has a general objective: to answer the following question in depth, what is anarchism?

2017

This article by Brazilian anarchist Felipe Corrêa discusses the relationship of anarchism with power, class, and revolutionary social change. Starting from a definition of anarchism it proposes to conceptualize power in terms of asymmetric, or uneven, relationships between social forces. It also puts forward that anarchists have a conception of power based on the belief in the capacity of the dominated classes as a social force, the defense of a revolutionary process, and replacing the dominating power of capitalist society with a self-managed power. Translation by Servio G. Felipe Corrêa is a teacher and political militant in São Paulo, Brazil. He is a participant with the Institute of Theory and Anarchist History (ITHA) and Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira or Brazilian Anarchist Coordination. This article was originally published in Em Debate, no. 8, 2012. Translation from Spanish by Servio G., member of Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation.

The article reflects main discrepancies between basic coordinates of classic anarchist thought and coordinates of contemporary anarchism, as it developed within the “post-Seattle” alter-globalization movement. The article ascertains that the anarchist renaissance within the alter-globalization movement is not fostered only by classical anarchism, but also by ideational currents that in the past had represented its main counterpoint. The question that the author addresses is therefore: Is it possible to talk about a “new” anarchism? Following a thorough examination of the alter-globalization movement, its genealogy and the main ideational currents within the movement, the author concludes, that a “new” or “post-ideological” anarchism does not offer important innovations only on the level of political praxis, but also on the level of theoretical paradigms. In the last part of the article, the author affirms these findings with an outline of redefinition of violence, political power, nation state and democracy within (contemporary) anarchism.

Despite for much of the 20th Century being known as the “Switzerland of Latin America” for its peaceable democratic climate rooted in arguably one of the world’s first welfare states under the “radical liberal” anticlerical President José Batlle y Ordóñez from 1910, the small South American republic of Uruguay also produced the continent’s most combative armed anarchist movement. With remarkable political, strategic, and tactical sophistication and verve, the majority of the country’s anarchists waged war on the state as it declined into dictatorship in the period of continental mass-murdering fascist regression in the late 1960s through mid-1980s. But beyond taking up arms on a more ethically grounded basis than their better-remembered compatriots such as the Tupamaros who also engaged in armed struggle, the anarchists built one of the largest fighting mass working class movements of the post-Spanish Revolution era – against the servile reformism of the Uruguayan Communist Party, the continent’s fourth-largest – with an anarcho-syndicalist shaped national union centre some 400,000 strong by 1972, roundly refuting the notion that mass-formation anarchism had died on the barricades of Barcelona in 1939. The unique importance of the Uruguayan experience is necessary to stress: it demonstrated the validity of mass-line anarchism within modern industrial societies decades after World War II; it neatly updated Mikhail Bakunin by cleverly articulating between what it termed the “levels” (or “grades”) of the militants and the masses; and it developed an actively engaged political practice that anticipated what in Latin America today is called “social insertion.” That the very existence of this mass-ranked experiment in libertarian communist counter-power has been airbrushed out of history by anarchists as much as by the usual leftist suspects, the Marxists, is a testament to the troubling potency and pragmatism of its ideas. This paper is a partial extract from my forthcoming book In the Shadow of a Hurricane: Global Anarchist Ideological and Organisational Lineages, which took 20 years’ research in 15 languages.

This article introduces the themes of a special edition of the IJIS on Spanish anarchism and transnational studies, presenting the case that the history of Spanish anarchism needs to be situated within a broader, international history of the left. This view helps to disrupt the image of anarchism as ‘exceptional’, without losing sight of its specific manifestation in Spain. It proceeds to outline the five articles that make up the remainder of the edition.

2018

This thesis explores libertarian and anarchist communitiessuch as social centres, squats, and communesin the UK and Italy since 1968. It shows how they relate and contribute to wider Left and social movements, despite being often overlooked by historians. Such places functioned as gateways into activism for 'ordinary people' and as catalysts to action for existing activists. They have provided a space to experiment and implement radical social alternatives to the status quo. These communities also facilitated the transmission of intergenerational radical memories and traditions. Like Foucauldian heterotopias, such 'counter-sites' simultaneously 'represented, contested, and inverted' the expressions of the dominant cultures. To explore the effects of this simultaneous replication and inversion of the status quo, this dissertation draws on interviews I have conducted with libertarians involved in these communities. They enable a critical appraisal of the tension between theoretical and actual communities, and of the persistence of mainstream ideas and power relations within these spaces. In particular, this work investigates the variations in the attitude of libertarian activists towards key facets in the life of their communities. I focus especially on the influence space/place and activists have on each other; the perception of time and preservation of collective memory; and the construction of identities and emergence of power relations. Chapter One________________________________________________________________32 Post-1968 libertarian communities: Reservoirs for radicals or training centres for anarchists? Countercultures and the Left: Paving the way for the rebirth of libertarian communities Post-1968 urban communities Post-1968 rural communities in Britain and Italy Conclusion Chapter Two________________________________________________________________72 From local to global. The effects of 'space/place' on libertarian communities Local space/place and global anarchism Urban communities as places and spaces: Ex-Caserma Liberata Urban communities between places, spaces, and memory: Kebele The libertarian communityplace, people, spaces: Urupia Libertarian communities as processes? Conclusion Chapter Three______________________________________________________________99 The time and memory of libertarians A day in the life of libertarians No community for 'old' people A 'libertarian memory' Conclusion 6 Chapter Four______________________________________________________________126 An ordinary (counter)culture: Everyday negotiations in libertarian communities Old habits die hard: Libertarian communities and gender-based power relations Service providers or white leadership? Libertarian communities and ethnic minorities A class of their own: Libertarian communities and class-related issues Conclusion Chapter Five_______________________________________________________________156 Libertarians (de)constructing their political identity Anarchy in the … terminology: Deconstructing political self-identifications 'Natural' and political anarchists in the 1970s 'Anarchy, but unburdened by politics': Punks re-semanticise anarchy in the long 1980s Rediscovering and 'customising' the anarchist identity in the mid-1990s and early-2000s Multiple identity/ies: Deconstructing and reconstructing anarchism in the present day Conclusion Conclusions_______________________________________________________________183 Bibliography_______________________________________________________________187 Appendices________________________________________________________________202 Appendix 1-Interview consent form Appendix 2-Semi-structured interview schedule (first version) Appendix 3-Semi-structured interview schedule (final version)

European History Quarterly, 2016

Reviews: Social movements 593 countries have confronted these issues and consistently failed to offer effective remedies. Litigation may succeed in achieving a narrow victory but rarely has an impact on the underlying causes of inequality. In effect, movements commit immense resources to legal challenges that are inherently incapable of systemic social change. The way rights are used to encourage movements to focus on institutional forums or pursue minimalist objectives is another way that rights are used as weapons. In effect-to take the metaphor further-rights are weapons that, in this case, produce friendly fire. That some progressive movements also reject human rights is an essential perspective for countering claims that people who oppose framing grievances as human rights violations are all right-wing privileged individuals seeking to create hierarchies of rights. In fact, many scholars who are critical of human rights are people engaged with progressive movements who are concerned about the limited potential of this strategy for social change. Bob's study is propitious and timely. Sociologists have been slow to contribute to human rights studies because, in part, of a disciplinary opposition to the notion of a universal principle. But recent work by William Armaline, Davita Silfen Glasberg, Patricia Hynes, Mikael Rask Madsen and Gert Verschraegen, among others, has spurred renewed interest in this field of study. This book is essential reading for scholars interested in understanding the social implications of human rights.

Comparative Sociology, 2012

The anarchist movement utilizes non-statist and anti-statist strategies for radical social transformation, thus indicating the limits of political opportunity theory and its emphasis upon the state. Using historical narratives from present-day anarchist movement literature, we note various events and phenomena in the last two centuries and their relevance to the mobilization and demobilization of anarchist movements throughout the world (Bolivia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Greece, Japan, Venezuela). Labor movement allies, failing state socialism, and punk subculture have provided conditions conducive to anarchism, while state repression and Bolshevik success in the Soviet Union constrained success. This variation suggests that future work should attend more closely to the role of national context, and the interrelationship of political and non-political factors.

Social Movement Studies, 2017

Since the 15M movement appeared in 2011, there has been a high level of political participation and experimentation within anti-systematic Spanish activism. The political repertoire has constantly been re-evaluated, with methods constantly revised and evolving, from the occupation of public spaces to the recent creation of new political parties. One of the key aspects of these tactical revisions has been the involvement of anarchist actors in an experimental process of engagement in the constitutional process. Our study identifies the motivations and theoretical justifications that have led libertarian activists to recently take the institutional (electoral) path. This paper stands in the small but growing tradition of works that examine this recent phenomenon of anarchist-inspired constitutionalism, but uniquely concentrates on a detailed case study of the anarchist actors linked to the platform Castelló en Moviment (CsM). As a result it explores that complex and disputed relationships and motivations that operate within 15M. It thus describes the anarchist influence in recent electoral developments, and identifies proponents justification for engaging in these previously rejected methods and highlights some of the doubts raised against this electoral experiment.