#title Dossier on Contemporary Anarchism
#subtitle Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Whole World (1990–2019)
#author Felipe Corrêa
#SORTauthors Felipe Corrêa
#date October 2020
#source Retrieved on 2021-06-23 from [[https://ithanarquista.wordpress.com/contemporary-anarchism/][Instituto de Teoria e História Anarquista]]
#lang en
#pubdate 2021-06-24T02:07:04
#notes Last update: October 2020
** PRESENTATION
This dossier was carried out from a nearly two-year survey, which aimed
to analyze the resurgence of anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism and
revolutionary syndicalism, which occurred worldwide between 1990 and
2019.
The research started thanks to an invitation from Marcel van der Linden
— member of the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam
(IISG) — who asked me to write a chapter on the topic for his
book *Global History of Socialism*, which will be published in some time
in two volumes by Cambridge University Press.
I then dedicated myself to this issue, facing enormous challenges: to
understand an immense subject and condensing the results of the research
in a restricted space (and, therefore, prioritizing very well what would
or would not enter the text); to analyze a recent phenomenon, which does
not count on previous studies (with this recent and global approach with
which I worked), large data surveys, and not even texts or books about
it; to search for widely dispersed information in several languages.
Facing this challenge would not have been possible without the studies
and militancy developed over more than two decades, as well as the help
of several men and women, to whom I would like to express my deepest
thanks. I highlight, in particular: the members of the Institute for
Anarchist Theory and History (IATH), both the coordinators and the
associates; volunteers from the “Contemporary Global Anarchism /
Syndicalism” group created on Facebook, who significantly assisted in
data collection; the countless people from Brazil and abroad who
indicated material and / or who answered the dozens of interviews I
conducted. I also thank José Antonio Gutiérrez Danton and Jonathan Payn
for their help with translations and critical comments of my manuscript
and this dossier.
With this research, I came up with quite interesting results. A summary
of them will be published in the referred to book. The chapter will come
under the title “The Global Revival of Anarchism and Syndicalism
(1990–2019)” and, soon, I will conduct a video course (in Portuguese…)
with the referred results. Obviously, these are limited results, with
enormous possibilities for further study.
In this dossier, I provide some sources of my research, including books,
texts, websites, videos and interviews, in different languages. I also
make some comments to guide the reading. This is not a complete list of
everything that exists, but a set of sources through which I believe it
is possible to understand contemporary anarchism. This will allow not
only a more in-depth knowledge of the topic, but also that other
researchers can use this material for further investigations.
For any corrections or suggestions of important materials on the
subjects discussed, I ask that you write to me
at [[mailto:felipecorreapedro@gmail.com][felipecorreapedro@gmail.com]].
Good reading!
**Felipe Corrêa, 2020**
** 1. STUDIES ON “CONTEMPORARY ANARCHISM”
The subject “contemporary anarchism” does not have major studies,
especially when taking into account the historical and global approach
that I believe is the most suitable for research of this type. Most
studies on this topic have been produced by authors from / influenced by
the Global Justice Movement (or “Anti-Globalization Movement”) and some
of its subsequent developments. If, undoubtedly, these studies have
qualities, they do also have countless limits. Among them, mainly the
extremely broad and a-historical definitions of anarchism with which
they work and the (Eurocentric) generalizations made on an extremely
restricted database. Below I highlight some of these studies.
- David Graeber, “The New Anarchists”, *New Left Review*, 13 (2002).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/david-graeber-the-new-anarchists.pdf][Download]]]
- Andrej Grubacic, “Towards Another Anarchism”, *ZNet* (2003).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/david-graeber-the-new-anarchists.pdf][Download]]]
- Andrej Grubacic and David Graeber, “Anarchism, Or The Revolutionary
Movement Of The Twenty-first Century”, *ZNet* (2004).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/david-graeber-the-new-anarchists.pdf][Download]]]
- Uri Gordon, *Anarchy Alive! Anti-authoritarian Politics from Practice
to Theory* (London, 2008).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/david-graeber-the-new-anarchists.pdf][Download]]]
- Uri Gordon, “Anarchism Reloaded”, *Journal of Political Ideologies*,
12 (2007).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/david-graeber-the-new-anarchists.pdf][Download]]]
- Tomás Ibáñez, Anarquismo en Movimiento: anarquismo, neoanarquismo
y postanarquismo (Buenos Aires, 2014).
Other texts on the subject, which work with different approaches, are:
- Leonard Williams, “Anarchism Revived”, *New Political Science*, 29
(2007).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/leonard-williams-anarchism-revived.pdf][Download]]]
- Dana M. Williams, “Contemporary Anarchist and Anarchistic
Movements”, *Sociology Compass*, 12 (2018).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/contemporary_anarchist_and_anarchistic_m.pdf][Download]]]
From a historical and global perspective, which I understand to be the
most suitable for the study of contemporary anarchism, I indicate some
texts that, in my view, are more interesting on the subject:
- Lucien van der Walt, “Back to the future: revival, relevance and
route
of an anarchist/syndicalist approach for twenty-first-century left,
labour and national liberation movements”, Journal of
Contemporary African Studies (2016).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/lucien-back-to-the-future.pdf][Download]]]
- Steven Hirsch and Lucien van der Walt, “Final Reflections: the
vicisitudes of anarchist and syndicalist trajectories, 1940 to the
present”, *Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Colonial and Postcolonial
World*, 1870–1940 (Leiden/Boston, 2010).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/hirsch-van-der-walt-final-relections-the-vicissitudes-of-anarchist-and-syndicalist-trajectories-1940.pdf][Download]]]
- Felipe Corrêa, “Surgimento e Breve Perspectiva Histórica do
Anarquismo”, Instituto de Teoria e História
Anarquista (2013).
[[[https://ithanarquista.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/surgperspectlivro/][Read]] (in
Portuguese)]
** 2. THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL REFERENCES
In order to understand contemporary anarchism, as stated, it seems to me
fundamental, first, to adopt a historical and global approach, to break
with the historical studies (subsidized in theoretical / practical
approaches, self-definitions, etymologies etc.) and with the
Eurocentrism (extrapolating the Western Europe and the United States and
significantly expanding the territorial analytical scope). And, second,
working with a precise conceptual definition of anarchism, based on a
global analysis of its 150 years of history. Here are some references to
this approach.
- Felipe Corrêa, *Bandeira Negra: rediscutindo o anarquismo* (Curitiba,
2015).
[[[https://ithanarquista.wordpress.com/2018/10/31/felipe-correa-bandeira-negra-rediscutindo-o-anarquismo-pdf-do-livro/][Download]] (in
Portuguese)] Volunteers to do translation, please get in touch!
- This content is also presented on video:
- History on Tape – Interview with Felipe Corrêa (on “Bandeira
Negra”)
[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-MBoQUr4m4][View]] (in
English)]
- There are also other videos in Portuguese (Volunteers to do
subtitles, please get in touch!):
- Apresentação de “Bandeira Negra”
[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuTvGu_QDCs&t=3s][View]]]
- “Anarquismo Redefinido”
[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTbxRyJl0VA&t=7s][View]]]
- “Surgimento do Anarquismo, Grandes Debates e Suas Correntes
[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRtCg1j3STA&t=49s][View]]]
- Lucien van der Walt, “Global Anarchism and Syndicalism: theory,
history, resistance”, *Anarchist Studies*, 24 (2016).
[[[https://ithanarquista.wordpress.com/2016/06/29/lucien-van-der-walt-global-anarchism-and-syndicalism-theory-history-resistance/][Read]]]
- For other references that we have developed along the same lines, see
IATH’s Thematic Axis: “Global Theory and History of Anarchism”.
[[[https://ithanarquista.wordpress.com/teoria-e-historia-global-do-anarquismo/][Read]]]
** 3. TO UNDERSTAND THE CONTEXT IN QUESTION
In my view, there are three most relevant contextual elements for
understanding the period in question:
1. The crisis of “progressive statism” and the left in general
(Keynesian welfare state and social democracy, “socialist” and
Marxism-Leninism bloc; import substitution industrialization and
anti-imperialist nationalism).
2. The global expansion of neoliberalism, which, increasingly
financialized, led to the resumption of profits by the dominant classes,
dramatically increasing the power of international banks and
multinationals.
3. The emergence and strengthening of movements of resistance to
neoliberalism that, in many cases, even keeping to the left of the
political spectrum, have adopted a critical vision on statism. Among
them, the Zapatista Movement, the Global Justice Movement and innovative
forms of unionism.
To understand these elements, I indicate below some references that I
believe are important.
- Peter Taylor, “The Crisis of the Movements: the enabling state as
quisling”, *Antipode*, 23 (1991).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/taylor1991-the-crisis-of-the-movements.pdf][Download]]]
- Lucien van der Walt, “Self-Managed Class-Struggle Alternatives to
Neo-liberalism, Nationalisation, Elections”, *Global Labour Column*,
213 (2015).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/van_der_walt-self-managed-class-struggle-alternatives-to-neo-liberalism-nationalisation.pdf][Download]]]
- Lucien van der Walt, “Back to the Future: revival, relevance and
route of an anarchist/syndicalist approach for twenty-first century
left, labour and national liberation movements”, *Journal of
Contemporary African Studies*, 34 (2016).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/lucien-back-to-the-future.pdf][Download]]]
- Noam Chomsky, *Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global
Order* (New York, 1999).
[[[http://goodtimesweb.org/analysis/2015/Noam-Chomsky-1999-Profit-Over-People.pdf][Read]]]
- Michel Chossudovsky, *Globalization of Poverty and the New World
Order* (Montreal/Quebec, 2003).
[[[https://pt.scribd.com/document/249011280/The-Globalization-of-Poverty-and-the-New-World-Order-Chossudovsky][Read]]]
- David Harvey, *A Brief History of Neoliberalism* (Oxford, 2005).
- Ladislau Dowbor, The Age of Unproductive Capital: New
architectures of power (Newcastle, 2019).
- José Arbex Jr., *Revolução em Três Tempos: URSS, Alemanha,
China* (São Paulo, 1999).
- Mark Bray, *ANTIFA: The anti-fascist handbook* (New York/London,
2017).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/antifa-the-anti-fascist-handbook-1.pdf][Download]]]
- Charles Tilly and Lesley Wood, *Social Movements,
1768–2008* (Boulder/London, 2009).
- Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), *Ya Basta! Ten
years of the Zapatista Uprising* (Oakland, 2004).
- Uri Gordon, *Anarchy Alive! Anti-authoritarian Politics from Practice
to Theory* (London, 2008).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/uri-gordon-anarchy_alive.pdf][Download]]]
- Immanuel Ness (ed), *New Forms of Worker Organization: The
syndicalist and autonomist restoration of class-struggle
unionism* (Oakland, 2014).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/immanuel-ness-new-forms-of-worker-organization.pdf][Download]]]
It is worth mentioning that, in order to properly understand the
contemporary resurgence of anarchism, it is necessary to unite the
structural and conjunctural elements with the action of anarchists,
anarcho-syndicalists and revolutionary syndicalists, who played a
central role in this resurgence. In the following lines, many of these
initiatives will be mentioned.
** 4. GEOGRAPHIC PRESENCE
After analyzing the presence and influence of anarchism,
anarcho-syndicalism and revolutionary unionism in the different
countries of the world between 1990 and 2019, I arrived at the results
that I incorporated in the map below.
[[f-c-felipe-correa-dossier-on-contemporary-anarchis-1.jpg f][Map: “Global Anarchist/Syndicalist Presence and Impact (1990–2019)”.]]
On this map you can see all the countries in which I found the presence
of anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary syndicalist
expressions. They are, by region: **North America:** United States and
Canada. **Central America and the Caribbean:** Mexico, Cuba and Costa
Rica. **South America:** Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia,
Peru, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and French Guiana. **Nordic
Europe:** Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. **Western
Europe:** France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Ireland, United Kingdom,
Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and
Iceland. **Eastern Europe:** Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Bulgaria,
Czech Republic, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia and
Slovakia. **Middle East and Central Asia:** Syria, Israel and Palestine,
Turkey, Lebanon, Iran and Iraq. **Far East:** Japan, South Korea and
China. **Southeast and South Asia:** Indonesia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan,
India, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and East Timor. **North
Africa:** Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria. **Sub-Saharan Africa:** South
Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia and
Uganda. **Oceania:** Australia and New Zealand.
I was also able to notice the impact of these expressions, which was
measured from a set of variables: size, constancy, political and social
influence, level of national diffusion, theoretical elaborations and
practical achievements.
However, it is important to keep in mind that, even in the places of
greatest presence and influence, in general terms, anarchism,
anarcho-syndicalism and revolutionary syndicalism were, in comparison to
other sectors of the left, and even with other revolutionary sectors, a
minority force. A growing, relevant force, which has become better
known, respected and significantly intervenes in the global reality; but
still, a minority force.
** 5. SIGNIFICANT CURRENTS AND EXPRESSIONS
During the period in question, the way of acting of anarchists,
anarcho-syndicalists and revolutionary syndicalists, as well as the
positions they adopted in the face of the great debates carried out,
allow us to speak of six major currents and expressions, which are
listed below: 1.) Syndicalist mass organizations; 2.) Flexible anarchist
organizations (“synthesists”); 3.) Program-based anarchist organizations
(“platformists” / “especifistas”); 4.) Insurrectionary groups and
individuals; 5.) Diverse collectives; 6.) Anti-authoritarians and
libertarians in general.
I present here some characteristics of these currents and expressions,
their main networks and international organizations, and I indicate some
documents produced within these currents and expressions for a deepening
of their conceptions.
(It is worth noting that it is not possible to
compare the absolute number of members of the currents (the result of
surveys that I made during the research) without taking into account the
type of organization in question and their criteria for entry and
participation. For example, a syndicalist organization and a “specific”
anarchist organization, each with 300 members, can have very different
impacts in reality. In addition, it is also very important to note that
most anarchists in the world are not organized, so that the total number
of anarchists in the world far exceeds the numbers mentioned below.)
*** 5.1 SYNDICALIST MASS ORGANIZATIONS
**Characterization:** Anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary syndicalist
organizations that intend to be mass organizations. They are mainly
linked to the field of work, intending to articulate workers on an
economic basis to conduct struggles for immediate gains as well as the
revolutionary struggle. Their members do not necessarily have to
identify with anarchism, which, depending on the case, can be more or
less promoted by the organization itself. They use consensus and voting
(in different modalities) to make decisions and articulate themselves in
multi-trade unions, as industrial unions or as groups within bigger
unions.
**Historical references:** Mainly the International Workers’ Association
of 1922/3 (or “Syndicalist International”).
**International representations:**
- **International Workers’ Association (IWA-AIT).** Historically, it is
the most important organization in this camp; founded in 1922/3 and
going through a crisis with World War II, it has grown again since
the 1970s. However, with a huge split in 2016 (which meant the loss
of 80% or 90% of its membership base), it decreased its strength a
lot. In 2019 it had around 1,000 members, divided into 13 national
organizations and 6 “friends” organizations, mainly in Europe and
Oceania, and with more modest articulations in the Americas and Asia.
[[[https://iwa-ait.org/]]]
- Some members (2019): Solidarity Federation (SF, England)
[[[http://www.solfed.org.uk/]]], Zwiazek Syndykalistów Polski
[Union of Polish Syndicalists] (ZSP, Poland)
[[[http://zsp.net.pl/][http://zsp.net.pl]]] and Anarcho-Syndicalist
Federation (ASF, Australia) [[[http://asf-iwa.org.au/]]].
- **Red and Black Coordination (RBC)**. It was articulated in the years
2010, bringing together dissident and / or non-IWA-AIT organizations.
In 2019, it brought together seven trade union organizations from
Europe, with about 100,000 members (most of them from the Spanish
CGT). [[[http://www.redblack.org/]]]
- Some members (2019): Confederación General de Trabajadores (CGT,
Spain) [[[https://cgt.org.es/]]], National Confederation of Labor
(CNT-F, France) [[[http://www.cnt-f.org/]]] and Eleftheriaki
Sindikalistiki Enosi [Union of Libertarian Syndicalists] (ESE,
Greece) [[[https://ese.espiv.net/]]].
- **International Confederation of Labour (ICL-CIT)**. Founded in 2018
by organizations that split with IWA-AIT and articulated with others
from RBC. In 2019, it had around 10,000 members, divided into seven
organizations, mainly from Europe, North America and, to a lesser
extent, South America. [[[https://www.icl-cit.org/]]]
- Some members (2019): National Confederation of Labor (CNT, Spain)
[[[http://www.cnt.es/][http://www.cnt.es]]], Italian Syndicalist
Union (USI, Italy)
[[[http://www.usi-cit.org/][http://www.usi-cit.org]]] and The Free
Workers’ Union (FAU, Germany)
[[[http://www.fau.org/][http://www.fau.org]]].
- **International Labour Network of Solidarity and Struggles (ILNSS)**.
It was founded in 2013, as a broader articulation proposal. It brings
together both revolutionary and anarcho-syndicalist organizations,
while others, which, even in the camp of class struggle and combative
unionism, do not work with self-management and federalist practices,
nor independence from political parties.
[[[http://www.laboursolidarity.org/]]]
- Some members (2019): National Confederation of Labor — Solidarité
Ouvrière (CNT-SO, France) [[[http://www.cnt-so.org/]]], Union
Syndicale Solidaires (Solidaires, França)
[[[https://solidaires.org/]]] and Intercategorial Union COBAS (SI
COBAS, Italy) [[[http://www.sicobas.org/][www.sicobas.org]]].
**To better understand its conceptions:**
- International Workers’ Association (IWA-AIT), “The Statutes of
Revolutionary Unionism (IWA)” (2020).
[[[https://iwa-ait.org/content/iwa-statutes-updated-2020][Read]]]
- International Confederation of Labour (ICL-CIT), “Statutes of the
International Confederation of Labour” (2018).
[[[https://www.icl-cit.org/statutes][Read]]]
*** 5.2 FLEXIBLE SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONS (“SYNTHESISTS”)
**Characterization:** Specific anarchist organizations (that is, their
members identify themselves as anarchists) dedicated to different types
of work, in particular propaganda, but also participating in social
struggles. They are heterogeneous and allow a plurality of ideas and
trends, as well as a diversity of conceptions of anarchism, theories,
strategies and tactics, so that its groups and members have full
autonomy (including whether or not to accept congressional and other
instances’ deliberations).
**Historical references:** In addition to the classics in general
(Mikhail Bakunin, Piotr Kropotkin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon), initiatives
such as the Anti-Authoritarian International of 1872, the Bologna
Congress of 1920, and the contributions of Errico Malatesta, Sébastien
Faure and Volin.
**International representations:**
- **International of Anarchist Federations (IAF).** Founded in 1968, it
has a relevant role from the 1990s onwards, arriving in 2019 with
nine national organizations possibly adding 2,000 members. It focuses
almost exclusively on Europe and has a modest presence in Latin
America. [[[http://i-f-a.org/][http://i-f-a.org]]]
- Some members (2019): Italian Anarchist Federation (FAI, Italy)
[[[http://www.federazioneanarchica.org/]]], Anarchist Federation
(FAF, France) [[[https://federation-anarchiste.org/]]], Iberian
Anarchist Federation (FAI, Spain)
[[[https://federacionanarquistaiberica.wordpress.com/]]] and
Argentinian Libertarian Federation (FLA, Argentina)
[[[http://www.federacionlibertariaargentina.org/]]].
**To better understand its conceptions:**
- Fédération Anarchiste [Francophone] (FAF), “Principes de Base / Pacte
Associatif de la Fédération Anarchiste” (2016).
[[[https://federation-anarchiste.org/?g=FA_Principes_de_Base][Read]]]
- Federazione Anarchica Italiana (FAI), “Patto Associativo della
Federazione Anarchica Italiana – F.A.I.” (s/d).
[[[http://federazioneanarchica.org/archivio/patto.html][Read]]]
*** 5.3 PROGRAM-BASED SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONS (“PLATFORMISTS” /
“ESPECIFISTAS”)
Characterization: Specific anarchist organizations
dedicated to building and participating in mass movements (union,
community, student, etc.) and propaganda. They are homogenous and work
with the organization on two levels (anarchist and mass) and, at the
anarchist level, defend theoretical unity, tactical, strategic,
programmatic unity and collective responsibility. They have common
lines, mandatory for their groups, nuclei and members. They seek
consensus, but, if impossible, they work with different forms of voting.
Historical references: Bakunin and the Alliance, the
first anarchist political organization in history; Dielo Trouda and the
1926 “Organizational Platform”, classics like Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri,
Kropotkin and others.
**International representations:**
- **Anarkismo.net Network.** Multilingual internet portal created in
2005, which brought together organizations mainly from Europe and
South America (with more modest presence in Southern Africa and
Oceania). In 2019, it brought together 14 organizations adding up to
possibly 1,000 members.
- Some members (2019): Alternative Libertaire (AL), today Union
Communiste Libertaire (UCL, France)
[[[https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/]]]; Federation of
Anarchist Communists (FdCA), today Alternativa Libertária (AL,
Italy) [[[http://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/wpAL/]]]; Workers’
Solidarity Movement (WSM, Ireland) [[[http://www.wsm.ie/]]];
Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU, Uruguay)
[[[http://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/]]]; Brazilian Anarchist
Coordination (CAB, Brazil) [[[http://cabanarquista.org/]]] and
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF, South Africa)
[[[https://zabalaza.net/]]].
**To better understand its conceptions:**
- Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU), “Declaración de Principios de
FAU” (1993).
[[[https://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/declaracion-de-principios-de-fau/][Read]]]
- Zabalaza Communist Anarchist Front (ZACF), “Constitution of the ZACF”
(2013).
[[[https://zabalaza.net/organise/constitution-of-the-zacf/][Read]]]
- Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici (FdCA), “The Political
Organization” (1985).
[[[http://www.fdca.it/fdcaen/organization/sdf/sdf_po.htm][Read]]]
*** 5.4 INSURRECTIONARY GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS
**Characterization:** Individuals, affinity groups and informal
associations critical of mass and specific structured organizations, and
who see violent actions (based on the notion of constant, permanent
attack, and the refusal of any waiting, mediation or commitment) as
possible triggers to generate immediate insurrections and revolutionary
movements. They have no formal decision-making bodies and often talk
without knowing each other; they have complete autonomy to promote their
goals.
**Historical references:** More fluid than the others, they are linked
to the classic contributions of anarchists like Luigi Galleani,
Ravachol, Severino Di Giovanni and others — generally associated with
the notion of “propaganda by the deed”, anarchist illegalism and the
Black International of 1881 –, and also to most recent contributions
(Alfredo Bonanno, for example).
**International representations:**
- **Informal Anarchist Federation / International Revolutionary Front
(IAF/IRF).** Informal network focused on the Mediterranean region
(mainly Greece and Italy) that has developed since 2002/3. In 2011,
it brought together several groups, not only in the region in
question, but also in other European and Latin American countries. As
they often operate clandestinely, it is more difficult to estimate
their dimensions, but it is possible to say that those with some
articulation are probably less numerous than flexible and
program-based organizations.
- Some members (2011): Conspiracy of Cells of Fire (CCF, Greece),
Cooperativa Artigiana… (Italy), Brigada 20 de julho (Italy).
**To better understand its conceptions:**
- Federazione Anarchica Informale (FAI), “Premier Communiqué de la
FAI”, *Agence de Presse Associative, APA* (2004).
[[[http://apa.online.free.fr/imprimersans.php3?id_article=237&nom_site=Agence%20Presse%20Associative%20(APA)&url_site=http://apa.online.free.fr][Read]]]
- Killing King Abacus (KKA), *Some Notes on Insurrectionary
Anarchism* (Santa Cruz, 2006).
[[[https://ia801307.us.archive.org/26/items/SomeNotesOnInsurrectionaryAnarchism/some_notes_insurrectionary_anarchism-IMPOSED.pdf][Read]]]
- Do or Die, “Insurrectionary Anarchy!”, *Do or Die*, 10 (2003).
[[[http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no10/anarchy.htm][Read]]]
*** 5.5 DIVERSE COLLECTIVES
Characterization: Groups (political collectives,
propaganda groups, urban squats, social centers, infoshops, publishers,
newspapers, libraries, research groups, cooperatives, communities etc.)
that, in some cases, are composed exclusively of anarchists and, in
others, also bring together militants from other anti-authoritarian
currents. They are present in all regions that have an anarchist
presence; depending on the case, they are local, regional or even
national references. There are many hundreds, probably thousands around
the world.
Historical references: Varied, ranging from classic and
contemporary anarchism, to the theoretical and practical contributions
of other libertarian currents.
*** 5.6 ANTI-AUTHORITARIANS AND LIBERTARIANS IN GENERAL
**Characterization:** Movements, groups and individuals that can be
called anti-authoritarian or libertarian in the broad sense. As with the
collectives, they may be more or less close to anarchism, may or may not
have participation by anarchists and be linked to the conceptions of
libertarian Marxism, autonomism, certain indigenisms, religious
expressions etc.
** 6. SIGNIFICANT DEBATES
These currents and expressions have to do with the responses to various
questions at the heart of the anarchist/syndicalist debates. Some of
these questions will be presented in the following paragraphs.
- Do you believe it necessary to organize with others? If yes, do you
agree to organize with non-anarchists? If this is the case, how is
this relationship?
- In the case of organization, how to organize? Mass or specific
organizations? Or informal “organizations”? When it comes to mass
organizations, how do labor and community relate?
- Do you accept the national labor legislation? Do you participate in
the election of union committees or representatives, in those
countries where these forms of representation exist? Do you accept
resources from the state directly or indirectly? Do you agree with
participating in reformist or non-anarchist unions or social
movements?
- In the case of specific organizations, do you adopt a flexible
(heterogeneous) or program-based (homogeneous) model? Which is the
level of autonomy and unity allowed or expected from militants and
groups?
- Which is the main area of activity? To build and participate in mass
movements, propaganda and education, armed attacks, etc.?
- What is the understanding of struggle? Permanent attack or an
understanding of the conditions to go forward or to back up as
determined by historical conditions?
- How does decision-making work? Do you accept voting?
- Do the militants and groups know each other?
- Do you accept to delegate? If you do, on what grounds?
- Do you accept to struggle for short-term reforms? If you do, in what
cases? Do you articulate a minimum program to the maximum program? Do
you accept negotiations, conciliation or mediation in struggles? Do
you care about public opinion?
- How do you understand the relationship between revolutionary violence
and mass movements and struggles?
- How do you gravitate towards principlism (complete political
rigidity, because “reality is imperfect”) or pragmatism (everything
goes in order to intervene in reality, even to betray one’s own
principles)? What initiatives are you participating in and what type
of alliances are you looking for?
** 7. IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS AND RELEVANT EPISODES
Below is a list of important achievements and relevant episodes in which
anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists and revolutionary syndicalists were
involved, with more or less presence / impact, depending on the case.
Achievements are exposed by continents and themes; I indicate throughout
the text bibliography and sources for further study.
*** 7.1 TRANSNATIONAL EFFORTS
**** 7.1.1 SYNDICALIST NETWORKS, ORGANIZATIONS AND GATHERINGS
Here, it is worth mentioning the important experiences already
mentioned: **International Workers’ Association (IWA-AIT), Red and Black
Coordination (RBC), International Confederation of Labour (ICL-CIT) and
International Labour Network of Solidarity and Struggles (ILNSS)**. Some
sources to deepen the knowledge of these networks and organizations — as
well as the split of IWA-AIT, the formation of RBC and ICL-CIT — are, in
addition to the websites already mentioned:
- Vadim Damier, Anarcho-Syndicalism in the 20th Century
(Edmonton, 2009).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/vadim-damier-anarcho-syndicalism-in-the-20th-century.pdf][Download]]]
- Laure Akai, “Why do We Need a Third International?”, *The Anarchist
Library* (2016).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/laure-akai-why-do-we-need-a-third-international.pdf][Download]]]
- Confederación Nacional del Trabajo – Secretaria de Exteriores
(CNT-SE), “Beyond the IWA: an interview with the CNT’s International
Secretary (2 parts)” (2017).
[[[https://revolutionary-iww.org/beyond-iwa-interview-cnts-international-secretary][Read]]]
- Rabioso, “The CNT and the IWA (2 parts)” (2016).
[[[https://lifelongwobbly.com/2016/12/17/the-cnt-and-the-iwa-part-1-the-cnt-since-franco/][Read
Part I]]]
[[[https://lifelongwobbly.com/2016/12/17/the-cnt-and-the-iwa-part-2-the-crisis-in-the-iwa-as-seen-from-the-cnt/][Read
Part II]]]
- Website: Lifelong Wobbly. [[[https://lifelongwobbly.com/][Read]]]
In addition, there is the prominent case of **Industrial Workers of the
World (IWW)** which, at least before joining ICL-CIT, developed during
the period in question as an international network. Between 1990 and
2019, in addition to its most prominent presence in the United States
and Canada, it had a less significant existence in: Great Britain,
Germany, Finland, Iceland, Russia, Poland, Sierra Leone, Uganda,
Australia and New Zealand. [[[https://iww.org/]]] The most
interesting historiographic framework that addresses the period studied
is as follows.
- Fred Thompson and Jon Bekken, *The Industrial Workers of the World:
It’s First 100 Years* (Cincinnati, 2006).
In addition, from an international perspective, another highlight was
the **International Syndicalist Gatherings**, with the participation of
several organizations of this current to discuss the international
situation and encourage internationalism. Such meetings were held in the
United States in 1999 (i99), in Germany in 2002 (i02) and in France in
2007 (i07). This last meeting, convened by CNT-F (Vignoles), brought
together dozens of centrals and unions from around the world; African
unions were those which participated in the largest number. About the
i07, there are some interesting references on the internet.
- Confédération Nationale du Travail – France (CNT-F), “Conférences
Internationales Syndicales – i07 (different materials)” (2007).
[[[http://www.cnt-f.org/-i07-.html][Read]]]
**** 7.1.2 ANARCHIST NETWORKS, ORGANIZATIONS AND GATHERINGS
It is also worth emphasizing the outstanding experiences
mentioned: **International of Anarchist Federations
(IAF)**, Anarkismo.net Network and **Informal Anarchist
Federation / International Revolutionary Front (IAF/IRF)**. Below, I
indicate some sources to deepen the knowledge of these networks and
organizations.
IAF AND FLEXIBLE ORGANIZATIONS (SYNTHESISTS)
- IFA, *Histoire de l’Internationale des Fédérations
Anarchistes* (IFA), 3 vol. (no date).
- IFA, *IFA: The Magazine of the International of Anarchist
Federations*, 1 (2018?).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ifa-international-of-anarchist-federations-journal-2019.pdf][Download]]]
- IFA, Anarkiista Debato: Magazine of IAF (2006?).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/anarkiista_debato.pdf][Download]]]
- Fédération Anarchiste [Francophone] (FAF), “Pour un Anarchisme du
XXIe Siècle” (no date).
[[[https://federation-anarchiste.org/?g=FA_anarchisme][Read]]]
ANARKISMO.NET AND PROGRAM-BASED ORGANIZATIONS
(“PLATFORMISTS”/”ESPECIFISTAS”)
- Felipe Corrêa, “Sobre Anarkismo.net: entrevista a Jose Antonio
Gutierrez Danton, uno de los fundadores” (2020).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/jose-antonio-anarkismo.pdf][Download]]]
- Anarchism and the Platformist Tradition, “Recent Writtings”.
[[[https://anarchistplatform.wordpress.com/70-2/][Read]]]
- Anarchism and the Platformist Tradition, “The Global Influence of
Platformism Today: Interviews”.
[[[https://anarchistplatform.wordpress.com/70-2/the-global-influence-of-platformism-today-interviews/][Read]]]
- Anarchism and the Platformist Tradition, “Especifismo Anarquista”.
[[[https://anarchistplatform.wordpress.com/70-2/especifismo-anarquista/][Read]]]
INFORMAL ANARCHIST FEDERATION / INTERNATIONAL REVOLUTIONARY FRONT AND
INSURRECTIONALIST INITIATIVES
- Act for Freedom Now, “Our Lives of Burning Vision” (2011).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ccf-insu.pdf][Download]]]
- Conspiracy of Cells of Fire (CCF), “Mapping the Fire: International
Words of Solidarity with the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire” (2012).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/mapping-the-fire_black-international-insu.pdf][Download]]]
- Alfredo Cospito (Conspiracy of Cells of Fire), “‘A Few Words of
“Freedom’: Interview by CCF – Imprisoned Members Cell with Alfredo
Cospito’, *The Anarchist Library* (2014).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/a-few-words-of-freedom.pdf][Download]]]
- Federazione Anarchica Informale (FAI), “Quattro Anni… Documento
Incontro FAI a 4 Anni dalla Nascita”, *Sebben che siamo
donne* (2006).
[[[http://www.sebbenchesiamodonne.it/quattro-anni-dicembre-2006-documento-incontro-federazione-anarchica-informale-a-4-anni-dalla-nascita/][Read]]]
- Federazione Anarchica Informale / Fronte Rivoluzionario
Internazionale (FAI/FRI), “Non Dite che Siamo
Pochi”, *Informa-Azione* (2011).
[[[http://www.sebbenchesiamodonne.it/non-dite-che-siamo-pochi/][Read]]]
- Anarcopedia, “Federazione Anarchica Informale”.
[[[https://www.anarcopedia.org/index.php/Federazione_Anarchica_Informale][Read]]]
- Act for Freedom Now, “Revolutionary Struggle: a Collection of
Letters, Texts and Communiques from an Armed Groupe in Greece and
Their Accused” (2011?).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/revolutionary-struggle-zine.pdf][Download]]]
In addition to meetings and congresses of the networks and organizations
in question, on different occasions there were other **International
Anarchist Gatherings**, more or less global depending on the context,
with theoretical and practical purposes. Examples are the International
Libertarian Gathering in Spain (1995), or the gathering of the
Anti-Authoritarian Insurrectionary International (Italy, 2000), the
Anarchists Encounters (Brazil, 2002), the International
Anarcha-Femminist Conference (England, 2014), and the Mediterranean
Anarchist Gathering (Tunis, 2015). In 2012, the International Anarchist
Gathering in Switzerland, which took place in St Imier, brought together
thousands of people from all over the world for five days of activities.
- “Internationale Antiautoritaire Insurrectionaliste – Première
rencontre” (2000).
[[[http://www.ainfos.ca/00/nov/ainfos00537.html][Read]]]
- Federación Anarquista Uruguaya, “Declaración final de las Jornadas
Anarquistas de Porto Alegre en el 2002” (2002).
[[[http://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/declaracion-final-de-las-jornadas-anarquistas-de-porto-alegre-en-el-2002/][Read]]]
- Anarcha-Feminist Conference (AFem2014).
[[[https://afem2014.wordpress.com/][Read]]]
- Romina Akemi and Bree Busk, “Breaking the Waves: Challenging the
Liberal Tendency within Anarchist Feminism”, *Institute for
Anarchist Studies* (2016).
[[[https://anarchiststudies.org/breaking-the-waves-challenging-the-liberal-tendency-within-anarchist-feminism-by-romina-akemi-and-bree-busk/][Read]]]
- Le Commun Libertaire, Internacional de Federações Anarquistas e
Federação Anarquista Francesa, “Tunisie, Appel à une Première
Rencontre Anarchiste Méditerranéenne! Mars 2015” (2014).
[[[http://www.ainfos.ca/14/dec/ainfos00432.html][Read]]]
- Le Monde Libertaire (ed), *Saint Imier 1872–2012: Rencontres
Internationales Anarchistes….* Le Monde Libertaire Hors-série n° 46
(2012).
- Some Videos (*Rencontres Internationales Anarchistes*, 2012).
[[[https://cras31.info/spip.php?article15][View]]]
**** 7.1.3 ZAPATISMO, GLOBAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT AND INDYMEDIA
As I mentioned, major anti-authoritarian and libertarian movements were
formed between 1990 and 2019. The most influential of them is the armed
indigenous movement of Mexico — the Zapatista Movement –, led by the
Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). This movement became public
in 1994 in the fight against neoliberalism and was raised to the status
of a world reference in this fight. At the same time, it developed a
very interesting practice in the collective administration of 55
municipalities in the Chiapas region, where 300,000 people live. Even
though it was not an anarchist movement, Zapatismo had a great influence
on anarchists. There were, very marginally, contributions by anarchists,
anarcho-syndicalists and revolutionary syndicalists, both from Mexico
(Self-Managing Libertarian Unity and the Love and Rage Revolutionary
Anarchist Federation) and other countries (Spanish General Confederation
of Labor, for instance) to their experience. Here are some references to
the Zapatista movement below. Regarding the participation of anarchists,
all I got was in interviews that will not be published.
- Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN), Ya Basta! Ten
years of the Zapatista Uprising (Oakland, 2004).
- Enlace Zapatista. [[[https://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/][Read]]]
- Emilio Gennari, “EZLN: passos de uma rebeldia”, *Pegada*, 5 (2004).
[[[https://revista.fct.unesp.br/index.php/pegada/article/download/1277/1271][Read]]]
Zapatistas were among the signatories who, in 1998, founded Peoples’
Global Action (PGA), a network of social movements that spearheaded
the **Global Justice Movement** and coordinated the Global Action Days
against neoliberalism. Another influential movement of this wave,
proposed to be a global instrument for communication and coordination of
those who fight against the destruction of humanity and the environment
by capitalist globalization, and who build local alternatives and
popular powers. Massive global mobilizations took place from 1999
onwards, the one in Seattle, in November that year, giving global
visibility to the movement, which kept its momentum until 2002.
Notwithstanding the fact that the bulk of the mobilizations took place
in the US and Europe, there were considerable actions on other
continents, and anarchists were very influential.
- Peoples’ Global Action (PGA), “PGA Bulletin, num. 0”, *Archive of
Global Protests* (1997).
[[[https://www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/en/pgainfos/bulletin0.htm][Read]]]
- Bruno Fiuza e Márcio Bustamante, “Uma História Oral da Ação Global
dos Povos: pesquisa ativista a serviço das lutas sociais”, *Anais do
XIV Encontro Nacional de História Oral* (2018).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/fiuzabustamante-uma-historia-oral-da-acao-global-dos-povos.pdf][Download]]]
- Ned Ludd, *Urgência das Ruas: Black Bloc, Reclaim the Streets e os
Dias de Ação Global* (São Paulo, 2002).
[[[https://we.riseup.net/assets/70965/Urgencia-Das-Ruas-Coletivo-Baderna.pdf][Read]]]
- Barbara Epstein, “Anarchism and the Anti-Globalization
Movement”, *Montly Review*, 53 (2001).
[[[https://monthlyreview.org/2001/09/01/anarchism-and-the-anti-globalization-movement/][Read]]]
- Uri Gordon, *Anarchy Alive! Anti-authoritarian Politics from Practice
to Theory* (London, 2008).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/uri-gordon-anarchy_alive.pdf][Download]]]
- Ross Wolfe, “The movement as an end-in-itself? An interview with
David Graeber”, *Platypus Review,* 43 (2012).
[[[https://platypus1917.org/2012/01/31/interview-with-david-graeber/][Read]]]
As a global communication network linked to the “Anti-Globalization
Movement”, and also with an important contribution from anarchists, in
1999 the **Independent Media Center (Indymedia)** appeared. Among other
projects, it managed sites worldwide (in 2002, there were 90; in 2006,
there were 150); its open access policy, the possibility of leaving
comments by readers and the various technological tools developed before
social media, not only broke with the hegemonic discourse of the
mainstream media, giving voice to peoples’ movements, but it was also
innovative, leading the way for the developments of later years
technology-wise.
- Eva Giraud, “Has Radical Participatory Online Media Really ‘Failed’?
Indymedia and its legacies”, *Convergence: The International Journal
of Research into New Media Technologies*, 20 (2014).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/giraud-eva-indymedia.pdf][Download]]]
- Dorothy Kidd, “Indimedia.org: a New Communication Commons”, M.
McCaughey and M. Ayers, *Cyberactivism: Online Activism in Theory and
Practice* (New York / London, 2003).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/kidd-indymedia.pdf][Download]]]
- Adilson Cabral, “As Comunidades de Compartilhamento Social no Centro
de Mídia Independente”, *Intercom*, 31 (2008).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/adilson-cmi.pdf][Download]]]
**** 7.1.4 ANTIFA, ANARCHIST BLACK CROSS AND BLACK BLOC
During this period, hundreds (perhaps a few thousand) of collectives
were also formed, which often built transnational articulations, forming
networks or even maintaining contact and influencing each other.
Among the most expressive cases are the various **Antifa** collectives
around the world, some specifically anarchists, others of a broader
composition. The growing internationalization of the Antifa militant
model was central in the years in question, with the determining role of
anarchists.
- M. Testa, *Militant Antifascism: a hundred years
of resistance* (Oakland, 2015).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/testa-militant-antifascism.pdf][Download]]]
- Mark Bray, *ANTIFA: The anti-fascist handbook* (New York/London,
2017).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/antifa-the-anti-fascist-handbook.pdf][Download]]]
There are also the numerous groups of the **Anarchist Black Cross
(ABC)**, whose focus was directed at the work of supporting political
prisoners. With an abolitionist perspective, they communicated with
prisoners, visited them, provided political literature, raised funds and
organized solidarity events.
- Matthew Hart, “Yalensky’s Fable: A History of the Anarchist Black
Cross”, *The Anarchist Library* (2003).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/matthew-hart-yalensky-s-fable-a-history-of-the-anarchist-black-cross.pdf][Download]]]
- Anarchist Black Cross (ABC), “Starting an Anarchist Black Cross
Group: A guide”, *The Anarchist Library* (2018).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/abc.pdf][Download]]]
- A Las Barricadas, “’No debemos limitar JAMÁS nuestra lucha a las
cuestiones legales’: Entrevista sobre la Cruz Negra Anarquista
Latinoamerica”, *A Las Barricadas* (2008).
[[[https://www.alasbarricadas.org/noticias/?q=node/8117][Read]]]
It is also worth mentioning the so-called **Black Bloc**, an action
tactic used in street demonstrations, which has as its core the use of a
common visual identity (masks and black clothes) and combative forms of
protest, which include destruction of properties and fighting against
police. It originated in Europe in the 1980s, spread transnationally in
the wake of the global justice movement throughout the 1990s and 2000s,
and could be noticed in locations as diverse as Brazil and Egypt in
2013. Anarchists were not the only ones to participate, but they were
certainly central to this whole process.
- Francis Dupuis-Déri. Who’s Afraid of the Black Blocs?: Anarchy in
Action around the World (Oakland, 2014).
- David Van Deusen and Xavier Massot (eds), The Black Bloc Papers:
An Anthology of Primary Texts From The North American Anarchist Black
Bloc, 1988–2005 (Shawnee Mission, 2010).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/the-black-bloc-papers.pdf][Download]]]
- Francis Dupuis-Déri, “Black Blocs: abaixo às máscaras!”, *Verve*, 30
(2016).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/bb-port.pdf][Download]]]
**** 7.1.5 RESEARCH AND URBAN SUBCULTURES
At the same time, there were transnational initiatives in the academic
and research fields, through the establishment of networks and
institutes such as **North American Anarchist Studies
Network (NAASN)** [[[http://naasn.org/]]], **Anarchist Studies
Network (ASN)** [[[https://anarchiststudiesnetwork.org/]]] and
the **Institute for Anarchist Theory and History
(ITHA-IATH)** [[[https://ithanarquista.wordpress.com/]]].
There were also **subcultural experiences**, linked to punk
(anarcho-punk mostly) that, in different countries, were critical to
anarchism’s growth and, to a lesser degree, others linked to alternative
rock, hardcore, straight edge, skinhead, hip-hop and organized ultras.
- CrimethInc, “Music as a Weapon: The Contentious Symbiosis of Punk
Rock and Anarchism”, *CrimethInc* (2018).
[[[https://pt.crimethinc.com/2018/10/22/music-as-a-weapon-the-contentious-symbiosis-of-punk-rock-and-anarchism][Read]]]
- Jim Donaghey, “Bakunin Brand Vodka: An Exploration into
Anarchist-punk and Punk-anarchism”, *Anarchist Developments in
Cultural Studies*, 1 (2013).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/bakunin-vodka.pdf][Download]]]
- Jim Donaghey, Punk and Anarchism: UK, Poland,
Indonesia (Loughborough, 2016).
[[[https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/147121418/Jim_Donaghey_Punk_and_Anarchism_UK_Polan.pdf][Read]]]
- Eduardo Ribeiro, *Uma História Oral do Movimento Anarcopunk em São
Paulo*, 1988–2001 (Rio de Janeiro, 2019). [For an overview available
online, see: “Anarcopunk SP — uma jornada de criatividade,
resistência e luta” (2019).]
[[[https://medium.com/@streetsinger/anarcopunk-sp-uma-jornada-de-criatividade-resist%C3%AAncia-e-luta-a933ed02b115][Read]]]
*** 7.2 WESTERN AND NORDIC EUROPE
**** 7.2.1 THE FORCE OF SYNDICALIST ORGANIZATIONS IN SPAIN AND SWEDEN
In Western and Nordic Europe, there are two other cases that stand out
for their national dimensions. First, the **General Confederation of
Labor (CGT)** in Spain. It is the largest revolutionary syndicalist
organization in the world and the third largest central in Spain. In
2004, it had 60,000 members, more than 5,000 union delegates and
represented more than 2 million Spanish workers. In the private sector,
its greatest representation was found in bank workers, metallurgists,
telecommunications and cleaning workers; in the public sector, it was on
the railroad workers, postal workers, territorial collectives and
regional televisions. After that, it continued to grow, reaching an
impressive 100,000 members today; in addition to the sectors in
question, it expanded its presence among telemarketing workers and
precarious immigrants. In 2001, CGT articulated the Libertarian
International Solidarity (SIL), with European and Latin American
anarchist and syndicalist organizations.
- Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), *25 Aniversario del Congreso
de Unificación, 1984–2009* (2009).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/cgt-25-aniversario-congreso-de-unificacion-1984-2009.pdf][Download]]]
- C.J., “Espagne: La CGT s’affirme comme la troisième organization
syndicale”, *Alternative Libertaire*, 134 (2004).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/al-_-la-cgt-saffirme-comme-la-troisieme-organisation-syndicale.pdf][Download]]]
- José Manuel Muñoz Póliz (CGT), “Entrevista: ‘La clase trabajadora es
la que está haciendo los esfuerzos una vez
más’”, *Cuartopoder.es* (2020).
[[[https://cgt.org.es/la-clase-trabajadora-es-la-que-esta-haciendo-los-esfuerzos-una-vez-mas/][Read]]]
- Wikiwand, “Confederación General del Trabajo”
(España)[[[https://www.wikiwand.com/es/Confederaci%C3%B3n_General_del_Trabajo_(Espa%C3%B1a)][Read]]]
- Lucha Libertaria, “Jornadas Libertarias [y SIL]” (2001).
[[[http://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/jornadas-libertarias/][Read]]]
- CGT Website: [[https://cgt.org.es/][https://cgt.org.es/.]]
Second, the **Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation (SAC)**, which,
despite decreasing in terms of members (from around 7,000 in 2001 to
3,000 in 2016), in proportion to the population of Sweden, is still the
second largest European revolutionary syndicalist organization. In
addition to the more traditional union struggles and campaigns, they
articulated undocumented workers, fair trade campaigns, clandestine
railroad organization, youth mobilization.
- Gabriel Kuhn, “Syndicalism in Sweden: A hundred years of the
SAC”, Immanuel Ness (ed), *New Forms of Worker Organization: The
syndicalist and autonomist restoration of class-struggle
unionism* (Oakland, 2014).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/immanuel-ness-new-forms-of-worker-organization.pdf][Download]]]
- SAC Website: [[https://www.sac.se/][https://www.sac.se/.]]
It is also worth remembering that individuals and groups with an
anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary syndicalist perspective
also participated in broader unions: an interesting case is that of the
Italians, who contributed to the construction of COBAS (Confederation of
Base Committees), born in 1999 and organized in four federations,
representing hundreds of thousands of workers.
- Donato Romito, “Anarchist Communists and the Italian Base Union
Movement”, Libcom (2008).
[[[https://libcom.org/history/anarchist-communists-italian-base-union-movement][Read]]]
- COBAS Website: [[http://www.cobas.it/][http://www.cobas.it/.]]
**** 7.2.2 MOBILIZATIONS AND STRIKES AGAINST IMPERIALISM, NEOLIBERALISM AND
WOMEN’S OPPRESSION IN THE SPAIN-FRANCE-ITALY TRIANGLE
In the years analyzed, important mobilizations took place in the
Spain-France-Italy triangle, with the presence of organizations from
these countries. In addition to those linked to the “Anti-Globalization”
Movement, there were major processes of struggle and strikes. Noteworthy
are those that opposed American imperialism: in Italy, the numerous
protests in the 1990s and 2000s against the installation of US military
bases on their own soil, and the 1991 strike against the Gulf War; in
Spain, a general strike in 2003 against participation in the Iraq War.
Also those that aimed to combat the effects of neoliberal austerity
measures, with their effects of loss of rights, precarious work,
increased living costs. In Spain, worth mentioning are: a strike in 1994
against precariousness, the Movimiento de los Indignados (15M), in 2011,
which summarized the dissatisfaction of Spanish society with this
socioeconomic context and contemporary forms of political
representation; the mobilizations and women’s strike in 2018 (8M) put
feminism and the gender issue on the agenda.
In France, it is worth pointing out mobilizations and strikes: in 1995,
against pension reforms; 2006 and 2009–2010, against labor easing
measures, precariousness and loss of rights — with protests with a few
million people on the streets; in 2018–2019, against the increase in
fuel, cost of living and austerity measures (Yellow Vests) and also
against the loss of social security rights.
Anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary syndicalist organizations
participated in these episodes, and were more or less influential
depending on the context. Anti-authoritarians / libertarians, countless
collectives, insurrectionist individuals and groups and specific
anarchist organizations also participated.
Italy:
- Alice Poma and Tommaso Gravante, “Beyond the State and Capitalism:
The Current Anarchist Movement in Italy”, *Journal for the Study of
Radicalism*, 11 (2017).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/poma-e-gravante-the-current-anarchist-movement-in-italy.pdf][Download]]]
- Kollettivo Antimilitarista Anarchico – Pordenone, “27 Giugno 98:
Giornata Nazionale contro le Basi Militari”, *Umanità Nova*, 23
(1998).
[[[http://www.ecn.org/uenne/archivio/archivio1998/un23/art044.html][Read]]]
- Federazione Anarchica Italiana, “Manifestazione contro la guerra e
contro il militarismo” (2001).
[[[http://federazioneanarchica.org/archivio/archivio_2001/20011222cdc.html][Read]]]
Spain:
- Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT), *25 Aniversario del Congreso
de Unificación, 1984–2009* (2009).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/cgt-25-aniversario-congreso-de-unificacion-1984-2009.pdf][Download]]]
- Joselito, “Movimiento 15M”, Anarquismo, anarcosindicalismo y
otros temas sobre el movimiento libertario (2018).
[[[https://anarquismoanarcosindicalismoyotrostemas.wordpress.com/2018/08/01/movimiento-15-m/][Download]]]
- Pablo Elorduy y Héctor Rojo Letón, “Reportaje sobre el Movimiento
15-M” (2011).
[[[https://www.cnt.es/noticias/reportaje-sobre-el-movimiento-15-m/][Read]]]
- Agência de Notícias Anarquistas (ANA), “José Luis García Rúa: ‘Acabar
com o sistema é a solução’” (2011).
[[[https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2011/10/28/espanha-jose-luis-garcia-rua-%E2%80%9Cacabar-com-o-sistema-e-a-solucao%E2%80%9D/][Read]]]
- Alfredo Pascual, “Del 8M a Amazon: CNT y CGT resucitan a costa de los
dinosaurios sindicales”, El
Confidencial (2018). [[[https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/2018-03-25/cnt-cgt-sindicatos-ugt-ccoo-huelga-amazon-feminismo_1540327/][Read]]]
France:
- Guillaume Davranche, “Ce que Décembre 95 a changé”, *Alterative
Libertaire* (2005).
[[[https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Ce-que-Decembre-95-a-change][Read]]]
- Le Monde Libertaire, “Le CPE Contrat de Précarité et d’Esclavage”
(2006).
[[[https://www.monde-libertaire.fr/?page=archives&numarchive=12345][Read]]]
- Daniel Pinos, “Jours de Grève à la Sorbonne Nouvelle”, *Le Monde
Libertaire* (2006).
[[[https://www.monde-libertaire.fr/?page=archives&numarchive=12365][Read]]]
- Confédération Nationale du Travail – France (CNT-F), “Après le 19
mars, soyons responsables : construisons la grève reconductible!”
(2009).
[[[http://www.cnt-f.org/apres-le-19-mars-soyons-responsables-construisons-la-greve-reconductible.html][Read]]]
- Alterative Libertaire, “Mouvement social de 2010” (2010).
[[[https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Mouvement-social-de-2010][Read]]]
- “Recueil de Textes Anarchistes à Propos du Mouvement des Gilets
Jaunes” (2019).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/gilets-jaunes.pdf][Download]]]
- Alternative Libertaire, “Communistes libertaires et gilets jaunes”
(2018).
[[[https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/Communistes-libertaires-et-gilets-jaunes-8011-8011-8011][Read]]]
**** 7.2.3 ANARCHIST PROPAGANDA IN FRANCE AND ITALY AND OTHER EUROPEAN
EXPERIENCES
Among the flexible organizations, it is worth highlighting the role
played by the French and Italian Anarchist Federations (FAF and FAI) in
the field of anarchist propaganda. Between 1990 and 2019, the FAF,
articulating around a hundred federated groups, published more than a
thousand editions of its newspaper *Le Monde
Libertaire* [[[https://www.monde-libertaire.fr/]]], maintained daily
radio programs (FM and online) Radio Libertaire
[[[https://br.radio.net/s/radiolibertaire]]], in addition to the Publico
bookstore with a public space, in Paris
[[[https://www.librairie-publico.com/]]], and the publisher Les Éditions
du Monde Libertaire [[[http://editionsmondelibertaire.org/]]]. During
that same period, FAI published its weekly newspaper *Umanità
Nova* [[[http://www.umanitanova.org/]]] and several books by Edizioni
Zero in Condotta [[[https://www.zeroincondotta.org/]]].
Other notable experiences in Europe were: the newspaper and the
anarchist federation Class War in England (1983–2011); the Bonaventure
school in France, which educated children between 1993 and 2001 under
the principles of libertarian pedagogy; the work of archiving and
disseminating the libertarian culture of the Anselmo Lorenzo Foundation
in Spain; anarchist or anarchist-influenced communities, such as
Spezzano Albanese in Italy and squats in Barcelona.
- Benjamin Franks and Ruth Kinna, “Contemporary British Anarchism:
L’anarchisme britannique contemporain”, *Lisa* (2014).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/contemporary-british-anarchism.pdf][Download]]]
- Libcom (ed), “Class War newspaper”.
[[[https://libcom.org/library/class-war-newspaper][Read]]]
- Fédération Anarchiste [Francophone] (FAF), *Bonaventure, une école
libertaire: Premiers pas d’une république éducative* (Paris, 1995).
- Agência de Notícias Anarquistas (ANA), “Bonaventure, uma escola
libertária: entrevista com Thyde Rosel” (2002).
[[[http://www.ainfos.ca/02/jun/ainfos00595.html][Read]]]
- Anselmo Lorenzo Foundation
Website: [[https://fal.cnt.es/][https://fal.cnt.es/.]]
- Libertarian Socialism Wiki, “Spezzano Albanese”.
[[[https://libsoc-wiki.fandom.com/wiki/Spezzano_Albanese][Read]]]
- David Rappe e Guillaume Burnod, *Spezzano A.* — Documentary (2002).
[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCZzyYGKiqY&t=166s][View]]]
- Natalia López e Carlos Garcia, “Anarquismo y Okupación” — reportagem
(sem data). [[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06yFP6TEYjg][View]]]
- Televisión Nacional de Chile, “Documental Okupacion en Barcelona y
Alrededores” (1990s).
[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ2d1oBc3R4][View]]]
*** 7.3 EASTERN EUROPE
**** 7.3.1 ANARCHO-SYNDICALISM IN RUSSIA AND FINAL CONFLICTS OF THE SOVIET
UNION
In Russia, the anarcho-syndicalists of the Confederation of
Anarcho-syndicalists (KAS), formed in 1989, played an important role in
the conflicts that involved the end of the Soviet Union. They quickly
reached hundreds of members, conforming themselves as the largest
national organization of the non-communist left, but soon went into
crisis, breaking up. From this process, the Siberian Confederation of
Labour (SKT) emerged in Siberia, which in the mid-1990s reached a few
thousand members and had an impact on social struggles in the region.
- Alex Chis, “Interview: ‘Beginning of the KAS in Russia’ / ‘Russian
Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists’”, *Independent Politics*, 5/6
(1994). [[[http://struggle.ws/eastern/kas_begin.html][Read]]]
- Laure Akai and Mikhail Tsovma, “Russian Anarchism: After the
Fall”, *Anarkismo.net* (2005).
[[[https://www.anarkismo.net/article/35][Read]]]
- Andrew Flood, “The Syndicalist SKT Union in Siberia”, *Anarchist
Writters* (2008).
[[[https://anarchism.pageabode.com/andrewnflood/the-syndicalist-skt-union-in-siberia][Read]]]
**** 7.3.2 THE 2008 RIOTS AND THE MOVEMENT AGAINST AUSTERITY (2010–2012) IN
GREECE
It was in Greece that the most important achievements and episodes in
this region took place. Not only in the intense period from 1989 to
1995, and in initiatives such as the 2003 Anti-Authoritarian Movement
(AK) and its newspaper *Babylonia*, the countless squats and the
tradition in Exarcheia (considered an anarchist neighborhood), but
mainly for the episodes of 2008 and 2010–2012.
The murder of a young anarchist by the police in December 2008 ended up
acting as a catalyst for a large-scale uprising, which for two weeks had
daily demonstrations and went on for almost a month in Athens and other
cities. In the 2008 Uprising, whose main political force was anarchism,
shops and other properties were destroyed or set on fire. Hundreds of
schools and universities were occupied and bomb attacks on banks,
government buildings and several police departments took place. This
revolt opened a wave of protests against the huge economic, political
and social crisis, which peaked between 2010 and 2012, with immense
mobilizations that also had an important participation by anarchists.
- Nicholas Apoifis, “Fuck May 68, Fight Now!”. *Athenian Anarchists &
Anti-authoritarians: Militant Ethnography & Collective Identity
Formation* (2014).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/athenian-anarchists-anti-authoritarians-greeks.pdf][Download]]]
- A.G. Schwarz, Tasos Sagris and Void Network (eds), We Are an
Image from the Future: The Greek Revolt of December
2008 (Oakland, 2010).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/we-are-an-image-from-the-future-the-greek-revolt-of-dec.-2008-edited-by-a.g.-schwartz-tasos-sagris-and-void-network.pdf][Download]]]
- Antonis Vradis and Dimitris Dalakoglou, Revolt and Crisis in
Greece: Between a Present Yet to Pass and a Future Still to
Come (Oakland, 2011).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/revolt_and_crisis_in_greece.pdf][Download]]]
- Kostis Kornetis, “No More Heroes? Rejection and Reverberation of the
Past in the 2008 Events in Greece”, *Journal of Modern Greek
Studies*, 28 (2010).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/no_more_heroes_rejection_and_reverberati-2008-events-in-greece.pdf][Download]]]
- Rosa Vasilaki, “‘We Are an Image From the Future’: Reading back the
Athens 2008 Riots”, *Acta Scientiarum, Education*, 39 (2017).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/vasilaki-we-are-an-image-from-the-future-reading-back-the-athens-2008-riots.pdf][Download]]]
- Acácio Augusto, *Política e Antipolítica: anarquia contemporânea,
revolta e cultura libertária* (2013).
[[[https://tede2.pucsp.br/bitstream/handle/3528/1/Acacio%20Augusto%20Sebastiao%20Junior.pdf][Read]]]
- Wikipedia, “Anti-Austerity Movement in Greece”.
[[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-austerity_movement_in_Greece][Read]]]
- Alex King and Ioanna Manoussaki-Adamopoulou, “Inside Exarcheia: the
self-governing community Athens police want rid of”, *The
Guardian* (2019).
[[[https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/aug/26/athens-police-poised-to-evict-refugees-from-squatted-housing-projects][Read]]]
*** 7.4 NORTH AMERICA
**** 7.4.1 “SOLIDARITY UNIONISM” AND ANARCHIST PROPAGANDA IN UNITED
STATES AND CANADA
When we move to North America, we have the outstanding case of the
United States, a country that in the years in question had some broader
organizational experiences. Organizations such as Love and Rage (also
present in Mexico, “Amor y Rabia”), Workers’ Solidarity Alliance (WSA),
North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists (NEFAC, also present in
Canada), Black Rose Anarchist Federation (BRAF ), and hundreds of Food
Not Bombs collectives with an anarchist presence.
- Roy San Filippo (ed) A New World in Our Hearts: Eight Years of
Writtings from the Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist
Federation (Oakland, 2003).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/a-new-world-in-our-hearts-love-and-rage-anarchist-federation.pdf][Download]]]
- Love and Rage Revolutionary Anarchist Federation (LRRAF), “Member
Handbook” (1997).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/eua-mex-love-and-rage-historia.pdf][Download]]]
- Workers Solidarity Alliance
Website: [[https://workersolidarity.org/]].
- Anonymous, “The History of NEFAC in Quebec City, 2001–2008” (2009).
[[[https://www.anarkismo.net/article/14256][Read]]]
- Penny Howard and Josh Brown, “Interview with Roundhouse Collective of
NEFAC”, *Left Turn* (2002).
[[[http://www.leftturn.org/interview-roundhouse-collective-nefac][Read]]]
- Black Rose Anarchist Federation (BRAF)
Website: [[https://blackrosefed.org/]].
- Chris Crass, “Towards a Non-Violent Society: a position paper on
anarchism, social change and Food Not Bombs”, The Anarchist
Library (1995).
[[[https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/chris-crass-towards-a-non-violent-society-a-position-paper-on-anarchism-social-change-and-food][Read]]]
A very interesting case was that of the Industrial Workers of the World
(IWW), which was dedicated to organizing sectors of workers with little
interest from the major union actors in the country. With a few thousand
members in the country, and insertion in several places of work,
especially in the sectors of commerce and services (recycling, social
assistance, technology, food etc.) and some broader sectors (education
and construction, for example), the IWW has been promoting what it calls
“solidarity unionism”. This is characterized by the construction, by the
workers, of a vibrant and permanently active union; in the midst of
campaigns and demands and direct negotiations with bosses, often in
small stores, they usually seek formal representation, through elections
conducted by the governmental agency National Labor Relations Board
(NLRC). Probably the most interesting experiences of the period are in
restaurants and fast food stores.
- Fred Thompson and Jon Bekken, *The Industrial Workers of the World:
It’s First 100 Years* (Cincinnati: 2006)
- Erik Forman, “Revolt in Fast Food Nation: The Wobblies Take on Jimmy
John’s”, Immanuel Ness (ed), *New Forms of Worker Organization: The
syndicalist and autonomist restoration of class-struggle
unionism* (Oakland, 2014).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/immanuel-ness-new-forms-of-worker-organization.pdf][Download]]]
In the field of propaganda, the initiative that seems to have stood out
the most in these years was that of the collective CrimethInc, which is
over 20 years old and has spread to other countries. It defines itself
as a think tank that produces inciting ideas and actions, which poses
fatal issues for today’s dominations. It has a very complete work in the
production of books, newspapers, posters, videos, podcasts and presence
on social networks — with a lot of material that can be reproduced by
other people. [[[https://crimethinc.com/]]] In addition to this
initiative are publishers AK Press [[[https://www.akpress.org/]]] and PM
Press [[[https://www.pmpress.org/]]] which, in the period in question,
published hundreds of books, as well as the magazines *Fifth
Estate* [[[https://www.fifthestate.org/]]] — which, in the three decades
analyzed, published 62 issues — and *Anarchy: A Journal of Desire
Armed* [[[https://anarchymag.org/]]].
In the academic field, we highlight the Institute for Anarchist Studies
(IAS), founded in 1996, which publishes the journal *Perspectives on
Anarchist Theory* and, since its inception, has financed more than 100
researchers from various parts of the world.
[[[https://anarchiststudies.org/]]] In the technological field, the
collective Riseup, with anarchist participation, has offered secure
tools for data storage and communication among militants.
[[[https://riseup.net/pl/about-us]]]
About North America and Canada in general, some references can be
mentioned:
- David Graeber, “The Rebirth of Anarchism in North America
(1957–2007)”, *HAOL*, 21 (2010).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/graeber-therebirthofanarchisminnorthamerica19572007-3193831.pdf][Download]]]
- CrimethInc., “Scene Report: Anarchism in Canada” (2012).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/crimethinc-scene-report-anarchism-in-canada.pdf][Download]]]
- Émilie Breton, Sandra Jeppesen, Anna Kruzynski and Rachel Sarrasin,
“Les féminismes au coeur de l’anarchisme contemporain au Québec: des
pratiques intersectionnelles sur le terrain”, *Intersectionnalités*,
28 (2015).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/les-feminismes-au-coeur-de-lanarchisme-contemporain-au-quebec.pdf][Download]]]
- Francis Dupuis-Déri, “Pistes pour une histoire de l’anarchisme au
Québec”, *Bulletin d’histoire politique*, 16 (2008).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/pistes_pour_une_histoire_de_l_anarchisme.pdf][Download]]]
**** 7.4.2 OCTOBER REBELLION (2007) AND OCCUPY WALL STREET (2011) IN
UNITED STATES
However, it should be noted that the anarchist presence in the USA is
quite significant, and is largely outside these organizations. It showed
itself very evidently in struggles that, to some extent, continued the
“anti-globalization” movement, such as the October Rebellion in 2007,
against the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- October Rebellion Website: [[http://www.octoberrebellion.org/]].
- CrimethInc, “Notes on the October Rebellion” (2007).
[[[https://pt.crimethinc.com/2007/10/25/notes-on-the-october-rebellion][Read]]]
And also in the so-called Occupy Wall Street, of 2011, which, influenced
by European mobilizations, concentrated in New York — where hundreds,
sometimes thousands, of people protested in proposed marches and a group
remained camped in Zuccotti Park — and spread out across the country,
and even to others. Under the slogan “We are the 99%”, the movement
directly questioned social inequality, the deregulation of the financial
world and the control of capitalist multinationals. Anarchism was the
movement’s greatest ideological inspiration, as nearly 39% of the
movement’s organizers defined themselves as anarchists and another 33%
had essentially anarchist political views, even though they did not call
themselves such, which means that 72% of the organizers had explicitly
anarchist or libertarian positions.
- Mark Bray, Translating Anarchy: The Anarchism of Occupy Wall
Street (Winchester/Washington, 2013).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/mark-bray-translating-anarchy-occupy-wall-street.pdf][Download]]]
- David Bates, Matthew Ogilvie and Emma Pole, “Occupy: In Theory and
Practice”, *Critical Discourse Studies* (2016).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/bates-at-alli-occupy-roots.pdf][Download]]]
- David Graeber, “Occupy’s Anarchist Roots”, *Al Jazeera* (2011).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/occupy-wall-streets-anarchist-roots-_-us-canada-_-al-jazeera.pdf][Download]]]
- John L. Hammond, “The Anarchism of Occupy Wall Street”, *Science &
Society*, 79 (2015).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/the-anarchism-of-occupy-wall-st.pdf][Download]]]
- Agência de Notícias Anarquistas (ANA), “Erica Lagalisse: Participação
e influências anarquistas no Movimento ‘Occupy Wall Street’” (2011).
[[[https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2011/10/24/eua-participacao-e-influencias-anarquistas-no-movimento-%E2%80%9Coccupy-wall-street%E2%80%9D/][Read]]]
*** 7.5 LATIN AMERICA
**** 7.5.1 ESPECIFISMO AND ITS DEVELOPMENTS IN URUGUAY, BRAZIL AND
ARGENTINA
When discussing Latin America, a case of great prominence is
so-called *especifismo*, promoted by the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation
(FAU). In the years in question, the FAU, which has its own headquarters
and publisher, developed important works in the fields: union
(publication, education, teachers, taxi drivers, transport, post office,
railways and others), community (among which stand out experiences of
the community centers, such as the historic Ateneu del Cerro, which, in
addition to fostering organization and territorial struggles, had
community radio activities), student activities (participating in
significant struggles, such as school occupations in 1992 and 1996).
- Anarchism and the Platformist Tradition, “Especifismo Anarquista”.
[[[https://anarchistplatform.wordpress.com/70-2/especifismo-anarquista/][Read]]]
- Adam Weaver, “Especifismo: The Anarchist Praxis of Building Popular
Movements and Revolutionary Organization in South
America”, *Anarchism and the Platformist Tradition* (2010).
[[[https://anarchistplatform.wordpress.com/70-2/especifismo-anarquista/][Read]]]
- Uruguayan Anarchist Federation Website
(FAU): [[http://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/]].
- FAU publications with part of its contemporary history: Lucha
Libertaria [[[https://www.nodo50.org/fau/revista/lucha_libertaria.htm][Read]]]
e Solidaridad: Periódico Obrero
Popular [[[https://www.nodo50.org/fau/revista/solidaridad_lista.htm][Read]]].
Since the 1990s, the FAU has exercized considerable influence in almost
all South American countries, with an emphasis on Brazil and Argentina.
In the political field, during this period, it stimulated the emergence
of different anarchist organizations and their articulation in a Latin
American Anarchist Coordination (CALA). In Brazil is where the fruits of
this work developed the most: the foundation of the Gaucha Anarchist
Federation (FAG), in 1995 — which, during the first half of the 2000s,
played a relevant role in the National Movement of Waste Pickers (MNCR),
an initiative that, at the time, organized hundreds of cooperatives and
tens of thousands of collectors –, and the Brazilian Anarchist
Coordination (CAB), in 2012, are central milestones. An even less
significant dissidence of especificismo was formed: the Popular
Anarchist Union (UNIPA). Argentina was also central to this process,
through expressions such as Libertarian Socialist Organization (OSL),
AUCA and Rosario Anarchist Federation (FAR). Other South American
countries were also influenced, including: Chile, Bolivia, Peru,
Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.
Brazil
- Organização Anarquista Socialismo Libertário (OASL) e Federação
Anarquista do Rio de Janeiro (FARJ) / Coordenação Anarquista
Brasileira (CAB), “Elementos Para uma Reconstituição Histórica de
Nossa Corrente”, *Anarkismo.net* (2012).
[[[https://www.anarkismo.net/article/23068][Read]]]
- Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU), “Reportaje a un militante de la
Federación Anarquista Gaúcha (FAG)”, *Lucha Libertaria* (2004).
[[[http://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/reportaje-a-un-militante-de-la-federacion-anarquista-gaucha-fag/][Read]]]
- Brazilian Anarchist Coordination (CAB)
Website: [[http://cabanarquista.org/]].
Argentina
- En la Calle. *En la Calle: una lectura anarquista de la crisis
neoliberal en Argentina (1997–2007)*. Buenos Aires: Madreselva, 2012.
- Organización Socialista Libertaria (OSL), “Proyecto OSL Argentina –
Nueva Casa Para los y las Libertarias en
Argentina”, *A-Infos* (2005).
[[[http://www.ainfos.ca/05/aug/ainfos00062.html][Read]]]
- AUCA, “Que es AUCA, nuestra práctica y documientos”.
[[[https://www.nodo50.org/auca/menu%20que%20es%20auca.html][Read]]]
- Rosario Anarchist Federation (FAR)
Website: [[http://federacionanarquistaderosario.blogspot.com/]].
CALA
- Coordenação Anarquista Latino-Americana, “Comunicado de relançamento
da CALA” (2020).
[[[https://federacaoanarquistagaucha.wordpress.com/cala/][Read]]]
In the social field, *especifistas* from different countries contributed
directly, from 2003, with the construction of the Latin American
Encounter of Popular Autonomous Organizations (ELAOPA). As a
counterpoint to the emergence of progressive governments in Latin
America and the World Social Forum, ELAOPA articulated, in 13 gatherings
that took place in different countries, a combative and independent camp
of social and union movements.
- Combate Audiovisual, “Documentário VI ELAOPA” (2008).
[View: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgW4_ZsgRVM][Part
I]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmU0sYUbe-k][Part
II]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3EyhW8L6n8][Part III]]]
- Combate Audiovisual, “Documentário VII ELAOPA” (2013).
[[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK9uqqSnE4Y][View]]]
- Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU), “I Encuentro Latinoamericano de
Organizaciones Populares Autónomas”, *Lucha Libertaria* (2003).
[[[http://federacionanarquistauruguaya.uy/i-encuentro-latinoamericano-de-organizaciones-populares-autonomas/][Read]]]
**** 7.5.2 ARGENTINAZZO (2001) AND PIQUETEROS IN ARGENTINA,
PENGUINS REVOLUTION (2006), DEVELOPMENTS (2011–2012) AND 2019
MOBILIZATIONS IN CHILE
Anarchists from this and other currents played a prominent role in some
central episodes of popular Latin American struggles. At the end of
2001, they participated in the Argentinazo, a series of massive
protests in Argentina that demonstrated popular dissatisfaction in the
face of the huge recession that had been raging in the country since
1998, and the attempt to establish a state of emergency in the country,
when conflicts intensified. Under the motto “Que se vayan todos!” [Out
with all of them!], the movement took tens of thousands of people to the
streets (39 were killed by the repression) and established popular
assemblies in the neighborhoods, overthrew the president of the republic
and highlighted the institutional and representation crisis that was
slaughtering the country. The anarchist newspaper *En la Calle* covered
the process and exerted some influence on it.
In this uprising, the *piqueteros* — unemployed workers movement that
grew stronger in the second half of the 1990s, in many cases assuming
quite libertarian forms — were prominent players. At that time, and in
the years to come, a group of anarchist militants played a central role
in the formation and development of some of these movements. Both
organized militants, as in the cases of AUCA and the Libertarian
Socialist Organization (OSL), and also others with no specific
organization. Among the most important, all in the greater Buenos Aires
region with several hundred or a few thousand members, are: the MTD
(Movement of Unemployed Workers) Oscar Barrios; the MTD 1º de Maio and
the Popular Unity Movement (MUP).
The 2001 uprising also motivated the rearticulation of the Argentine
Regional Workers’ Federation (FORA). As of 2006, anarchists also had a
prominent influence in the Federation of Grassroots Organizations (FOB)
— several of these militants later joined the Argentine
Anarcho-Communist Federation (FACA).
- En la Calle. *En la Calle: una lectura anarquista de la crisis
neoliberal en Argentina (1997–2007)*. Buenos Aires: Madreselva, 2012.
- José Antonio Gutiérrez Danton, “Voces Anarco-Comunistas del
Argentinazo” (5 partes), Anarkismo.net (2011–2012).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/jose-a-gutierrez-d.-voces-anarco-comunistas-del-argentinazo.pdf][Download]]]
- Natalia Diaz, *Anarquismo en el Movimiento Piquetero* (Neuquén:
2019).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/natalia-diaz-anarquismo-en-el-movimiento-piquetero.pdf][Download]]]
- Federación Anarquista de Rosário (FAR) (ed), “Impulso de Nucleos
Anarquistas en los Movimientos de Trabajadores Desocupados en
Argentina (años 90-actualidad) (2012).
[[[http://federacionanarquistaderosario.blogspot.com/2012/06/impulso-anarquista-en-los-movimientos.html][Read]]]
- Federación Obrera Regional Argentina (FORA), Consejo Federal,
“Historia Reciente y Actualidad Sindical de la FORA
Argentina”, *CNT*, 423 (2020).
[[[https://www.cnt.es/noticias/historia-reciente-y-actualidad-sindical-de-la-fora-argentina/][Read]]]
In Chile, the student movement stood out on two occasions in the fight
against the effects of privatization, which started during the Pinochet
dictatorship, and disputed the country’s education project with the
Bachelet government. In 2006, in the so-called “Penguins (School
Students) Revolution”, students put hundreds of thousands (perhaps 1
million) on the streets and occupied 400 schools. Under pressure, the
government promised answers, but these proved to be harmless, so that,
in 2011, the movement resurfaced, involving all sectors of Chilean
education and worker support. 600 schools were occupied and
demonstrations once again took hundreds of thousands to the streets of
the country. The movement continued in 2012 and had further
developments. In some way, all anarchist currents participated in this
process, but they achieved a relevant influence through the Libertarian
Students Front (FEL) — which, during this process and later, saw its
influence translate into the election for important posts in the Chilean
student movement.
All currents also participated in the huge and radicalized mobilization
that began in October 2019 and was interrupted in 2020 by the Covid-19
pandemic. This movement, although initiated in a struggle against the
increase in transport, embodied popular dissatisfaction with numerous
effects of neoliberalism, all related to the precariousness of life. Not
only did it take more than a million people to the streets, but it
adopted combative tactics of democratic violence, the antecedent of
which is the 2018 Feminist General Strike, taking the struggle to
another level. State repression and terror were enormous.
- Beatriz S. Pinochet, “La ‘Revolución Pingüina’ y el Cambio Cultural
en Chile”, CLACSO (2007).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/pinochet-pinguinos-chile.pdf][Download]]]
- Dagmar M. L. Zibas, “A ‘Revolta dos Pinguins’ e o novo pacto
educacional chileno”, *Revista Brasileira de Educação,* 13 (2008).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/revolta-dos-pinguins-chile.pdf][Download]]]
- Scott Nappalos, “Entrevista con Felipe Ramírez, del FEL de
Chile”, *Anarkismo.net* (2012).
[[[https://www.anarkismo.net/article/24145][Read]]]
- Bree Busk, “The Popular Assemblies at the Heart of the Chilean
Uprising”, ROAR Magazine (2019).
[[[https://roarmag.org/essays/the-popular-assemblies-at-the-heart-of-the-chilean-uprising/][Read]]]
- Pablo Abufom, “Los Seis Meses que Transformaron
Chile”, *Anarkismo.net* (2020).
[[[http://www.anarkismo.net/article/31771][Read]]]
- Anarkismo.net (ed), “Chile: El Oasis del Caos (y otros textos)”
(2019). [[[https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31642][Read]]]
**** 7.5.3 OAXACA COMMUNE (2006) IN MEXICO AND JUNE PROTESTS (2013) IN
BRAZIL
In Mexico, still in 2006, the Commune of Oaxaca was formed, a huge
mobilization that, for five months, occupied the city, having as a main
organizing instrument the Popular Assembly of the Peoples of Oaxaca
(APPO). Unleashed by teachers’ wage demands, the movement grew
enormously, with the solidarity of countless popular sectors, after
government repression. It came to control part of the city, permanently
occupying its central square and demanding the resignation of the
governor. It promoted large demonstrations, with hundreds of thousands
of people and, in at least one case, a million; it erected barricades
and fought the forces of order in the streets; blocked roads, set fire
to government buildings, occupied 13 radios – broadcasting their own
programming; it created the Oaxaca Women’s Coordination (COMO) to work
on their specific demands. It was severely repressed, ending with 20
dead and hundreds arrested and wounded. Anarchists were present
throughout the process, both in APPO and outside. They had considerable
influence, through initiatives such as the Popular Indigenous Council of
Oaxaca — Ricardo Flores Magón (CIPO-RFM), the Magonista Zapatista
Alliance (AMZ) and the La Okupa space. In that country, anarchist
participation in the Authentic Front of Work (FAT) in the 1990s, the
most recent conformation of the Anarchist Federation of Mexico (FAM),
and the oldest social library, Reconstruir, also stood out in the
period.
- Marco Estrada Saavedra, “La Anarquía Organizada: las barricadas como
el subsistema de seguridad de la Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de
Oaxaca”, *Estudios Sociológicos*, 28 (2010).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/marcos-saavedra-oaxaca-e-appo.pdf][Download]]]
- Sérgio Sánchez, “Anarquía y Corrientes Libertarias en el Movimiento
Insurreccional Oaxaqueño”, *Rojo y Negro* (2007).
[[[https://kaosenlared.net/anarqu-a-y-corrientes-libertarias-en-el-movimiento-insurreccional-oaxaque-o/][Read]]]
- Gilson Dantas. *México Rebelde: Oaxaca, uma comuna do século
XXI* (São Paulo / Brasília, 2009).
In Mexico, anarchist participation in the construction of “Jornadas
Magonistas” was also important, in different parts of the country in
1994, 1999, and practically every year after 2000. Among several other
actors, the Magonist Autonomous Collective (CAMA) was part of this
construction.
- “Ciudad de México: Jornadas Magonistas en octubre”, *A-Infos* (2004).
[[[http://www.ainfos.ca/04/oct/ainfos00015.html][Read]]]
- “Jornada de Difusión del Pensamiento Magonista” (2014).
[[[https://oaxacamagonista2014.wordpress.com/][Read]]]
- Thierry Libertad, “Entrevista com o “Centro Social Libertario —
Ricardo Flores Magón [e Colectivo Autónomo
Magonista]”, *Divergences* (2008).
[[[http://divergences.be/spip.php?article877][Read]]]
In Brazil, anarchists also played an important role in the so-called
“Jornadas de Junho”, in 2013, a movement started by the fight against
the price increase in public transport, victorious in several regions,
but which ended up expanding their agendas. Continuing in different
locations for practically a year, this widespread revolt, reinforced by
savage strikes and mobilizations by women and LGBTs demanding sexual
freedom, harshly criticized spending on the World Cup, media
oligopolies, multinationals, police violence and others atrocities. It
put the country’s political representation in check, and demanded the
improvement of public services such as health and education. The
movement, which took over one million to the streets across the country,
and which received massive support from the population, had an important
participation from all anarchist currents, which were present at the
Block of Struggles in Porto Alegre, in the Free Pass Movement (MPL) in
different locations, as well as in the Black Blocs and many other
initiatives.
- Wallace de Moraes, *2013: Revolta dos Governados ou, para quem esteve
presente, Revolta do Vinagre* (Rio de Janeiro, 2018).
- Pablo Ortellado et alli. *Vinte Centavos: a luta contra o
aumento* (São Paulo, 2013). [Read
a [[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/dialnet-judensnaiderelenalimalucianaortelladopablopomarmar-5890822-1.pdf][review]]]
- Federação Anarquista Gaúcha (FAG), *Pela Força das Ruas: seleção das
cartas de opinião da FAG/CAB durante as jornadas de luta de 2013*.
(Porto Alegre, 2014).
- Wallace dos Santos de Moraes, Camila Rodrigues Jourdan e Andrey
Cordeiro Ferreira, “A Insurreição Invisível: uma interpretação
anti-governista da rebelião de 2013/14 no Brasil”, *OTAL* (2015).
[[[http://www.otal.ifcs.ufrj.br/a-insurreicao-invisivel-uma-interpretacao-anti-governista-da-rebeliao-de-201314-no-brasil/][Read]]]
- Federación Anarquista de Rosário (FAR) (ed), “Movimento Passe Livre y
Movilizaciones Populares en Brasil” (2013).
[[[http://federacionanarquistaderosario.blogspot.com/2013/06/movimento-passe-livre-y-movilizacion.html][Read]]]
*** 7.6 SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
**** 7.6.1 SYNDICALISM IN NIGERIA AND SIERRA LEONE
In Sub-Saharan Africa, three achievements stand out. Two of them linked
to the camp of anarcho-syndicalism and revolutionary syndicalism. In
Nigeria, the Awareness League (AL), which had started as a study group
in the mid-1980s, from 1990 to 1991 became an anarcho-syndicalist
organization. It came to have 1,000 members with a presence in 15 states
in the south of the country, and made anti-militarism at the heart of
its struggle. It was a member of the IWA-AIT from 1996 onwards and ended
in 1999, with the end of the military regime. In Sierra Leone, between
1988 and the early 1990s, an IWW section was formed. This first
experience of revolutionary unionism in the country — which, in 1997,
even in the midst of the civil war, added more than 3,000 diamond miners
— was destroyed with the military coup that year, and, under repression,
its leaders had to go into exile in Guinea.
- Sam Mbah e I.E. Igariwey, *African Anarchism: an exploration of the
theory and practice of anarchism on the African continent* (Tucson,
1997).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/african-anarchism-mbah-and-igariwey.pdf][Download]]]
- Sam Mbah, “Interview”, *Libcom* (2012).
[[[https://libcom.org/forums/africa/nigeria-march-2012-interview-sam-mbah-03092012][Read]]]
- Industrial Workers of the World – Sierra Leone, “Letters” (1997).
[[[http://www.struggle.ws/africa/west.html][Read]]]
**** 7.6.2 PLATFORMISM IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ITS SURROUNDINGS
The third belongs to the camp of platformism, carried out in South
Africa and other countries. This tradition goes back to the oldest
Workers’ Solidarity Federation (WSF, 1995–1999) and to a set of
subsequent groups that, in 2003/2007, will found the ZACF. Forming up in
the rise of the struggles that defeated apartheid and combating the
emergent nationalism, increasingly integrated into neoliberal policies,
these platformists, at various times with a majority of black members in
their organizations, were based in South Africa, but managed to expand
to other regions (Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe). With a presence in
student work (at Witwatersrand University, participating in the protests
of 1993, 1995, 2001), trade unions (in COSATU, participating in strikes
in 1996 and 2008) and in different peripheral communities, these
anarchists were also part of the Workers Library, since 1998, and the
Anti-Privatization Forum, since its founding in 2000. They built an
Anarchist Political School, a popular education project rooted in poor
and majority black neighborhoods. Despite being modest in numbers, they
stood out for their permanence and the influence they exercised in the
theoretical field.
- Southern African Anarchist & Syndicalist History Archive (SAASHA)
Website: [[https://saasha.net/]].
- SAACHA, “Some Notes on the Chronology and History of ARM and WSF,
1993–1997”. (2017).
[[[https://saasha.net/2017/05/11/some-notes-on-the-chronology-and-history-of-arm-and-wsf-1993-1997/][Read]]]
- Leroy Maisiri, Phillip Nyalungu and Lucien van der Walt,
“Anarchist/Syndicalist and Independent Marxist Intersections in
Post-Apartheid Struggles, South Africa: the WSF/ZACF current in
Gauteng, 1990s–2010s”, *Globalizations* (2020).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/historia-da-zacf-lucien-maisiri-e-nyalungu.pdf][Download]]]
- Dale McKinley, “Interview with Lucien van der Walt on the Anti
Privatisation Fórum”, *SAHA* (2010)
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/entrevista-forum-antiprivatizacao-lucien.pdf][Download]]]
- Phillip Nyalungu, “Experiences of an Activist and ZACF
Anarchist-Communist in Soweto, South Africa, 2002–2012”, *Anarchist
Studies*, 27 (2019).
[[[https://saasha.net/2019/12/07/phillip-nyalungu-2019-experiences-of-an-activist-and-zacf-anarchist-communist-in-soweto-2002-2012/][Read]]]
*** 7.7 NORTH AFRICA
**** 7.7.1 ARAB SPRING AND IMPACTS IN TUNISIA AND EGYPT
In North Africa, the Arab Spring, which in its different manifestations
expressed a libertarian methodology of action, stimulated a resumption
of anarchism in the region, which was marked by feminist positions.
Egypt stands out, where the Libertarian Socialist Movement was founded
in 2011, and where, in 2013, black blocs were already present in
protests in Cairo; and Tunisia, whose Common Libertarian group, in 2015,
hosted a meeting of Mediterranean anarchists, articulated with the
Francophone Anarchist Federation (FAF) and the International Anarchist
Federation (IFA).
- Laura Galián, “Squares, Occupy Movements and Arab Revolutions”, Carl
Levy and Matthew Adams (eds), *The Palgrave Handbook of
Anarchism* (London, 2019).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/laura-galian-squares-occupy-movements-and-the-arab-revolutions.pdf][Download]]]
- Yeghig Tashjian, “The Fruits of ‘Arab Spring’; Islamism, Anarchism &
Feminism”, *Strategic Outlook* (2013).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/the_fruits_of_arab_spring_islamism_anarchism_feminism.pdf][Download]]]
- North Eastern Federation of Anarchist Communists (NEFAC), “Egypt
Unrest: Interview with an Egyptian anarchist”, *Libcom* (2011).
[[[https://libcom.org/library/egypt-unrest-interview-egyptian-anarchist][Read]]]
- Mohammed Bamyeh, “Anarchist Method, Liberal Intention, Authoritarian
Lesson: The Arab Spring between three enlightenments”, Barry Maxwell
and Raymond Craib (eds), *No Gods, No Masters, No Peripheries: global
anarchisms* (Oakland, 2015).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/anarchist_method_liberal_intention_autho.pdf][Download]]]
- Le Commun Libertaire, Internationale des Fédérations Anarchistes
(IFA), Fédération Anarchiste [Francophone] (FAF), “Tunisie, Appel à
une Première Rencontre Anarchiste Méditerranéenne! Mars 2015” (2014).
[[[http://www.ainfos.ca/14/dec/ainfos00432.html][Read]]]
*** 7.8 MIDDLE EAST
**** 7.8.1 ROJAVA REVOLUTION (FROM 2012 ON) IN NORTHERN SYRIA
But it was in the Middle East that the Arab Spring bore its most
promising fruits. In a context of national oppression and damaging
effects of neoliberalism, the Kurdish people started, in 2012, in
northern Syria, what has been called the Rojava Revolution. As a result
of a long previous organization — in which the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(PKK) had a prominent role –, this revolution was established at the
moment when the civil war broke out, and that region, refusing to
support the government and the opposition, declared its autonomy. Thanks
to an ideological turn of the PKK, which took place between 1995 and
2005, greatly influenced by its leader Abdullah Öcallan, the
revolutionary process was directed towards democratic confederalism.
Against capitalism, the state and patriarchy, this revolution has been
trying to establish an ecological and multi-ethnic society, with a
self-managed economy, grassroots democracy (without a state, based on
communes and councils), and the liberation of women. In addition, there
are libertarian solutions to issues such as health, education, conflict
resolution and defense. It is undoubtedly the largest anti-authoritarian
revolutionary movement of the period in question, and the influence of
anarchism — minority, but existing — can be understood from the
influence that the works of anarchist Murray Bookchin had on Abdulla
Öcallan, as well as in the presence of anarchist groupings in the
region, as in the case of the International and Revolutionary People’s
Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF), which operated between 2017 and 2018, and had
an LGBT unit, the Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army (TQILA).
- Editorial Descontrol (ed), *La Revolución Ignorada: liberación de la
mujer, democracia directa, y pluralismo radical en Oriente
Medio* (Barcelona, 2016).
- CrimethInc, “’The Struggle Is not for Martyrdom but for Life’: A
Critical Discussion about Armed Struggle with Anarchist Guerrillas in
Rojava” (2017).
[[[https://pt.crimethinc.com/2017/04/18/the-struggle-is-not-for-martyrdom-but-for-life][Read]]]
- Clare Maxwell, “Anarchy in the YPG: Foreign volunteers vow Turkish
‘revolution’”, *Middle East Eye* (2017).
[[[https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/anarchy-ypg-foreign-volunteers-vow-turkish-revolution][Read]]]
- Kurdish Question, “Interview with the International Revolutionary
People’s Guerrilla Forces”, The Anarchist Library (2017).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/kurdish-question-interview-with-the-international-revolutionary-people-s-guerrilla-forces.pdf][Download]]]
- Anonymous, “Not One Step Back: TQILA-IRPGF Speaks From
Rojava”, It’s Going Down (2017).
[[[https://itsgoingdown.org/not-one-step-back-tqila-irpgf-speaks-from-rojava/][Read]]]
**** 7.8.2 OTHER INITIATIVES IN ISRAEL, PALESTINE, TURKEY, LEBANON,
AFGHANISTAN AND IRAN
Still in the Middle East, some initiatives stand out, also from this new
millennium. In Israel, between 2003 and 2008, Anarchists Against the
Wall (AAW) performed in hundreds of demonstrations in favor of the
Palestinian cause and opposed the 2006 Lebanon and Gaza wars in 2008. In
Turkey, since the beginning of the 2000s, anarchism has been greatly
strengthened. Among other achievements, mention should be made of the
founding of Revolutionary Anarchist Action (DAF), in 2007 — federating
five collectives and encompassing, in addition to class guidelines and
solidarity with the Kurds of Rojava, the fight against patriarchy,
gender-based violence and the destruction of the environment — as well
as some contribution to the 2013 Turkish Uprising. Finally, Lebanon’s
initiatives — such as the Libertarian Communist Alternative, linked to
the French Alternative Libertaire, and the new Kafeh movement — and the
recent appearance of the Anarchist Union of Iran and Afghanistan (AUIF).
- Uri Gordon and Ohal Grietzer (eds), *Anarchists Against the Wall:
direct action and solidarity with the Palestinian popular
struggle* (Oakland, 2013).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/oriente-medio-anarchists_against_the_wall.pdf][Download]]]
- Corporate Watch, “Building Autonomy in Turkey and Kurdistan: an
interview with Revolucionary Anarchist Action”, Corporate
Watch (2015).
[[[https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/north-africa-west-asia/building-autonomy-in-turkey-and-kurdistan-interview-with-revolutionar/][Read]]]
- CrimethInc, “Turkish Anarchists on the Fight for Kobanê” (2015).
[[[https://pt.crimethinc.com/2015/02/04/feature-turkish-anarchists-on-the-fight-for-kobane][Read]]]
- “Anarchism in Turkey”, *Libcom* (2004).
[[[https://libcom.org/library/anarchism-turkey][Read]]]
- Bruno L. Rocha, “An Interview to a DAF Militant About the Solidarity
for Rojava Social Process”, *Anarkismo.net* (2015).
[[[https://www.anarkismo.net/article/27779][Read]]]
- Robert Graham, “Lessons From the Turkish Uprising” (2013).
[[[https://robertgraham.wordpress.com/2013/07/13/lessons-from-the-turkish-uprising-2013/][Read]]]
- Enough is Enough 14, “Interview with #Kafeh,
Anarchist Movement in Lebanon” (2020).
[[[https://enoughisenough14.org/2020/02/07/interview-with-kafeh-anarchist-movement-in-lebanon/][Read]]]
- A Las Barricadas, “Interview with the Anarchist Union of Afghanistan
& Iran”, Enough is Enough
14 (2018). [[[https://enoughisenough14.org/2018/06/15/a-las-barricadas-interview-with-the-anarchist-union-of-afghanistan-iran/][Read]]]
*** 7.9 OCEANIA
**** 7.9.1 TRAM DISPUTE (1990) IN AUSTRALIA AND THE INFLUENCE IN SOUTH
AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
In Oceania, there were striking episodes with anarchist participation,
such as the Tram Dispute, in 1990, in Australia (Melbourne). At that
time, the railway workers occupied stations and took control of
operations, circulating without charging passengers, in a protest
against the government, which wanted to extinguish the role of drivers.
The Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation (ASF), despite its numerical
limitations, had an important impact on this conflict and also on the
debate on public transport in the region. The work of the IWA-AIT was
also very relevant, which, through the Australian ASF, decided, from
2013 onwards, to support the strengthening of anarcho-syndicalism in
South and Southeast Asia. Such experiences are discussed a little later.
- Dick Curlewis, *Anarcho-Syndicalism in Practice: Melbourne Tram
Dispute & Lockout* (Sydney, 1997).
[[[https://libcom.org/library/melbourne-tram-dispute-lockout][Read]]]
Other interesting experiences on this continent are the Melbourne
Anarchist Communist Group, from Australia
[[[https://melbacg.wordpress.com/]]], and the Aotearoa Workers’
Solidarity Movement, from New Zealand [[[https://awsm.nz/]]].
*** 7.10 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
**** 7.10.1 SYNDICALISM IN BANGLADESH AND INDONESIA AND OTHER ASIAN
EXPERIENCES
In this region, although anarchism emerged in a dispersed way between
the 1980s and 2000s, it was in the decade of 2010 that two outstanding
cases were consolidated, both linked to the IWA-AIT. In Bangladesh, an
anarcho-syndicalist current emerged from a critique of Marxism, founding
the Bangladesh Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation (BASF) which, in 2014, had
60 federated groups and 1500 members; of these, almost half were women,
several of whom are members of the Bangladesh
Anarcho-Syndicalist *Women’s* Union (BAWU). In Indonesia, there were
also important fruits, such as the Regional Workers’ Fraternity (PPR), a
network of nuclei in seven regions of the country, and the most recent
Anarcho-Syndical Workers’ Fraternity (PPAS). Other, less expressive
initiatives have also been developed in the region, in countries such as
India, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and East Timor.
Finally, in the Far East, there is a case highlighted in Japan, which is
the formation, in 2004, of Freeter Zenpan Roso, a revolutionary unionist
influence group that has been organizing precarious workers in the
country.
- Bangladesh Anarcho-Syndicalist Federation (BASF), “Question & Answers
with BASF”
(2018). [[[https://bangladeshasf.com/question-answers-with-basf/][Read]]]
- Vadim Damier and Kirill Limanov, “Anarchism in Indonesia”, *The
Anarchist Library* (2017).
[[[https://libcom.org/library/short-essay-about-history-anarchism-indonesia][Read]]]
- Vadim Damier and Kirill Limanov, “History of Anarchism in Malaya /
Singapore / Malaysia”, The Anarchist Library (2017).
[[[https://libcom.org/library/history-anarchism-malaya-singapore-malaysia][Read]]]
- John Crump, “The Anarchist Movement in Japan, 1906–1996”, *The
Anarchist Library* (1996).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/john-crump-the-anarchist-movement-in-japan-1906-1996.pdf][Download]]]
- Sabu Kohso, “Freeter Zenpan Roso – Prekäre in Japan”, *Direkte
Aktion* (2008).
[[[https://direkteaktion.org/187-freeter-zenpan-roso-prekaere-in-japan/][Read]]]
** 8. HISTORY AND THEORY: CLASS, ECOLOGY, RACE/ETHNICITY, NATIONALITY, GENDER AND SEXUALITY
*** 8.1 RECOVERY ON HISTORIOGRAPHY AND ACADEMIC PRESENCE AT
UNIVERSITIES
In all regions of the globe there has been a keen interest in recovering
the history of anarchism, anarcho-syndicalism and revolutionary
syndicalism, as well as in translating old and recent writings, and
discussing numerous theoretical issues. On this topic in general, some
texts can be mentioned.
- Randall Amster, Abraham DeLeon, Luis A. Fernandez, Anthony J.
Nocella, II, and Deric Shannon (eds), Contemporary Anarchist
Studies An introductory anthology of anarchy in the
academy (London / New York, 2009).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/contemporary_anarchist_studies-anarchism-in-the-academy.pdf][Download]]]
- Nildo Avelino, “Apresentação: Acerca dos Estudos Anarquistas
Contemporâneos”, *Política e Trabalho*, 36 (2012).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/nildo-a.-anarquismo-contemporeneo.pdf][Download]]]
*** 8.2 DATABASES, RESEARCH INSTITUTES AND NETWORKS, JOURNALS, ACADEMIC
GROUPS AND CONFERENCES
Certain initiatives have been very important. **Physical
databases,** such as the Kate Sharpley Library, England
[[[https://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/]]]; the International Centre for
Anarchist Research (CIRA), Switzerland [[[https://www.cira.ch/home]]];
the International Institute of Social History (IIHS), the Netherlands
[[[https://iisg.amsterdam/en]]]; and **virtual databases**, such as the
internet portals Libcom [[[https://libcom.org/]]], The Anarchist Library
[[[https://theanarchistlibrary.org/special/index]]] and Zabalaza Books
[[[https://zabalazabooks.net/]]]. **Research institutes and networks,
magazines and journals, academic groups and conferences.** Examples of
initiatives in this field are the Anarchist Studies Network (ASN)
[[[https://anarchiststudiesnetwork.org/]]], its international
conferences, as well as the journal *Anarchist
Studies* [[[https://anarchiststudies.org/]]].
**Physical and virtual propaganda and dissemination
instruments.** Examples are: Anarchist Fairs (Bay Area, in the United
States [[[https://bayareaanarchistbookfair.com/]]]; São Paulo, in
Brazil [[[https://feiranarquistasp.wordpress.com/historico/]]]; Hong
Kong
[[[https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/400-spring-2018/hong-kongs-black-book-fair/][https:
//www.fifthestate.org/archive/400-spring-2018/hong-kongs-black-book-fair/]]]
etc.); book publishers such as Jura Books (Australia)
[[[https://jura.org.au/]]], Freedom Press (England)
[[[https://freedompress.org.uk/]]] and Anarres (Argentina)
[[[http://%20/www.librosdeanarres.com.ar/][http: /
/www.librosdeanarres.com.ar/]]]; magazines, *Rivista Anarchica* (Italy)
[[[http://www.arivista.org/]]] and *Ekintza Zuzena* (Spain)
[[[https://www.nodo50.org/ekintza/]]]; newspapers like *El
Libertario* (Venezuela) [*[[https://www.nodo50.org/ellibertario/]]*];
online news services, such as A-Infos [[[http://www.ainfos.ca/]]].
Theoretical productions around themes such as social classes, ecology,
race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, nationality have been developed, many
of which have been based on the resumption of classic anarchist
contributions. In this broad movement, we have sought to resume aspects
that, to a large extent, were neglected, be it anarchism itself and the
revolutionary forms of unionism, the colonial and post-colonial world,
or even the oppressed classes, blacks, indigenous people, women and
LGBTs.
The following is a list of some interesting examples of studies in these
fields, which, however, are far from representing the complete
production of this period. But they serve to illustrate a little of what
has been done.
*** 8.3 THEORETICAL PRODUCTIONS: SOCIAL CLASSES
Different productions have developed a concept of social classes deeply
linked to a conception of power, which goes beyond the economic sphere,
relating the ownership of the means of production (and the exploitation
of labor) with the ownership of the means of administration, control and
coercion (and political-bureaucratic domination and physical coercion),
and with ownership of the means of production and diffusion of knowledge
(and cultural-ideological domination). They explain, thus, not only the
phenomenon of power itself, but the relationship that exists between the
different forms of domination within the social classes that are formed
in the capitalist and statist system.
- Alfredo Errandonea, *Sociologia de la Dominación*, (Montevideu/Buenos
Aires, 1989).
- Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira (CAB), “Nossa Concepção de Poder
Popular”, *Socialismo Libertário*, 1 (2012).
[[[https://anarquismorj.wordpress.com/textos-e-documentos/teoria-e-debate/nossa-concepcao-de-poder-popular-coordenacao-anarquista-brasileira/][Read]]]
- Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira (CAB). “Capitalismo, Estado, Luta
de Classes e Violência”, *Socialismo Libertário*, 4 (2020).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/cab-capitalsimo-estado....pdf][Read]]]
*** 8.4 THEORETICAL PRODUCTIONS: ECOLOGY
Others have been working on themes related to ecology, differentiating
themselves from capitalist environmentalism, offering critical
explanations to the planetary environmental crisis, and pointing out
possible ways out. In the case of deep ecology, anthropocentrism is
broken with and it is understood that all animals and plants have the
right to coexist with humanity, in a form of practically untouched
nature. In the case of social ecology, it is understood that most
ecological problems have their roots in society, and that the
environmental crisis will not be solved without a major transformation
of contemporary capitalism and the establishment of ethical limits for
human intervention in the environment. In both cases, the notion of
human struggle against the environment is broken with and the human
being is understood as part of nature.
- Murray Bookchin et al., *Deep Ecology and Anarchism: a
polemic* (London, 1997).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/various-authors-deep-ecology-anarchism.pdf][Download]]]
- Murray Bookchin, “What is Social Ecology”, The Anarchist
Library (1993).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/murray-bookchin-what-is-social-ecology-1.pdf][Download]]]
- Graham Purchase, *Anarchism and Environmental Survival* (Edmonton,
2011).
[[[https://crabgrass.riseup.net/assets/394290/graham-purchase-anarchism-and-environmental-survival.pdf][Read]]]
- Graham Purchase, Anarchism and Ecology (Petersham, 1993).
[[[https://libcom.org/files/Purchase%20G.%20Anarchism%20and%20Ecology.pdf][Read]]]
*** 8.5 THEORETICAL PRODUCTIONS: RACE/ETHNICITY AND NATIONALITY
Different authors have worked with issues related to race, ethnicity and
nationality. Some have even maintained the notion of “black anarchism”
and others have considered an “anarcho-indigenous alliance” to be
fundamental. Others have been proposing ways to decolonize anarchism. In
addition to rescuing anarchist/syndicalist contributions in this field,
others have pointed out how racism is linked to the emergence of
capitalism and the modern state and has historically been used to split
the working class. And that imperialism must be understood as the work
of the ruling classes of the oppressing country over all classes of the
oppressed country. In this way, they understand that the fight against
racism, imperialism and neocolonialism must take place on class,
anti-statist and anti-capitalist bases, that is, contrary to
nationalism.
- Black Rose Anarchist Federation, *Black Anarchism: A
Reader.* [[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/braf-black-anarchism-a-reader.pdf][Download]]]
- Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, “Anarchism and Black Revolution”, *The
Anarchist Library* (1993).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/lorenzo-kom-boa-ervin-anarchism-and-the-black-revolution.pdf][Download]]]
- Alas de Xue, “Aliança Anarco-Indígena: contra o poder e o capital,
fortalecer a aliança anarco-indígena”, *Protesta!*, 3 (2006).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/alasdexue.pdf][Download]]]
- Maia Ramnath. *Decolonizing Anarchism* (Oakland, 2011).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/maia-ramnath-decolonizing-anarchism.pdf][Baixar]]]
- Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF), “Fighting and Defeating
Racism” (2010).
[[[https://zabalaza.net/2010/11/28/fighting-and-defeating-racism-zacf/][Read]]]
- Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF), “Anti-Imperialism and
National Liberation” (2010).
[[[https://zabalaza.net/2010/11/28/anti-imperialism-and-national-liberation-zacf/][Read]]]
*** 8.6 THEORETICAL PRODUCTIONS: GENDER AND SEXUALITY
Others, especially women and LGBT people, have worked on gender and
sexuality, in a critical dialogue with existing intellectual productions
(intersectional, classist, radical feminism, queer theory, etc.). They
establish not only a critique of the anarchist/syndicalist camp itself —
which, despite their conception contrary to all forms of domination,
were often unable to overcome oppressive practices in their own
structures — but also transformative projects with a centrality on
gender and sexuality issues. They have sought to explain the
relationship between such issues and the capitalist and statist system,
in addition to their relationship with classes and identities.
- Dark Star (ed), *Quiet Rumors: an Anarcha-Feminist Reader* (Oakland,
2002).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/quiet-rumours-an-anarcha-feminist-reader-new-edition-the-dark-star-collective.pdf][Download]]]
- Ruth Kinna, “Anarchism and Feminism”, Nathan Jun (ed), *Brill’s
Companion to Anarchism and Philosophy* (Leiden/Boston, 2018).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ruth_kinna_the_continuum_companion_to_anarchism.pdf][Download]]]
- C.B. Darring et al., *Queering Anarchism: addressing and undressing
power and desire* (Oakland, 2012).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/queering_anarchism_addressing_and_undre_-_volcano_.pdf][Download]]]
*** 8.7 PRACTICES LINKED TO THESE THEORETICAL ISSUES
Alongside these theoretical discussions, there have been, in many
countries, numerous initiatives linked to these same issues. The most
interesting case seems to be that of the Rojava Revolution, which, in a
sense, has taken on all these issues. But there are many other cases.
Classist struggles have been carried out by the majority of
revolutionary syndicalist, anarcho-syndicalist and anarchist
organizations, mobilizing formal and informal workers, waged workers and
precarious workers. Many of these same organizations also have work
linked to ecological, anti-racist, anti-imperialist, feminist struggles,
etc. At the same time, other organizations, collectives and affinity
groups — some of which have already been mentioned — have been working
more specifically on these issues.
For example, in the United States, initiatives like Earth First
[[[http://www.earthfirst.org/]]], Earth Liberation Front
[[[http://www.originalelf.com/earthlib.htm]]] and animal rights groups
have taken over ecological struggles and are promoting veganism, as well
as the Institute for Social Ecology
[[[https://social-ecology.org/wp/]]]; movements such as Anarchist People
of Color (APOC)
[[[http://www.coloursofresistance.org/tag/anarchist-people-of-color/]]],
bringing together anarchist ex-members of the Black Panthers, have
dedicated themselves to the anti-racist struggle, as well as the
WSF-ZACF current, in South Africa. In Colombia, the Alas de Xue
collective, and in Mexico, the Popular Indigenous Council of
Oaxaca-Ricardo Flores Magón (CIPO-RFM) collectives
[[[https://www.nodo50.org/cipo/]]] and the Magonista Zapatista Alliance
(AMZ) have been emphasizing the fight against oppression of traditional
and indigenous populations. In several countries,
anarchists/syndicalists mobilized against US imperialism in the Gulf,
Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. In Israel, the AAW contributed to the
struggle for national liberation from Palestine. In different countries
in the Middle East and North Africa — something that also happens, to a
greater or lesser extent, on all continents — there has been a major
engagement in feminist struggles. Such are the cases of BAWU, Bagladesh,
Mujeres Creando, Bolivia [[[http://mujerescreando.org/]]], and the
Revolutionary Anarcho-Feminist Group (RAG), Ireland
[[[http://ragdublin.blogspot.com/]]] . The latter two — and others, such
as Sweden’s Fag Army — are also taking on struggles against homophobia
and transphobia.
** 9. OTHER RELEVANT SOURCES
**“Anarchism: A Documentary” Project**
Ten years ago, a South African and an Austrian passed through different
parts of the world doing interviews with anarchists and, recently
(2020), started making them available on the Internet.
[[[https://kolektiva.media/video-channels/anarchism_documentary_channel/videos?a-state=42][View
the videos]]]
They also did an online survey in 2010 with anarchists from different
countries, checking profile, ideas, conceptions etc. Taking into account
the appropriate methodological concerns raised by the researchers
(spontaneous responses, almost all respondents from the United States
and English-speaking Western Europe, etc.), it is an interesting source.
It allows one to deepen the knowledge of this anarchist universe of the
North Atlantic Axis (especially of the English-speaking countries):
[[[http://anarchismdocumentary.net/survey/default.html][Read the
survey]]]
**Some other books:**
- Robert Graham, Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian
Ideas. Vol. 3: The New Anarchism (1974–2012) (Montreal, 2013)
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/anarchism-a-documentary-history-of-libertarian-ideas-volume-three-the-new-anarchism-1974-2012-robert-graham.pdf][Download]]]
- Ruth Kinna (ed), *The Continuum Companion to Anarchism* (London / New
York, 2012).
[[[https://ithanarquista.files.wordpress.com/2020/08/ruth_kinna_the_continuum_companion_to_anarchism.pdf][Download]]]
- Nathan Jun (ed), Brill’s Companion to Anarchism and
Philosophy (Leiden/Boston, 2018).