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Organise! Scotland/Alba castle Upon Tyne, NE99 1TA Th e magazine of the [email protected] [email protected] Anarchist Federation h p://scotlandaf.wordpress.com/ No ngham AF (including No s) Issue 77 - Winter 2011 Edinburgh & the Lothians Box AF c/o The Sumac Centre [email protected] 245 Gladstone Street Organise! is the magazine of the Anarchist No ngham Federa on (AF). It is published in order to Glasgow NG7 6HX develop anarchist communist ideas. It aims [email protected] no [email protected] to provide a clear anarchist viewpoint on mansfi [email protected] contemporary issues and to ini ate debate Striling h p://www.afed.org.uk/no ngham/ on ideas not normally covered in agita onal papers. s [email protected] We aim to produce Organise! twice a year. Organise! editors To meet this target, we posi vely solicit con- Wales/Cymru Organise!, BM ANARFED, London, tribu ons from our readers. We aim to print cardiff @afed.org.uk WC1N 3XX any ar cle that furthers the objec ves of [email protected] [email protected] anarchist . If you’d like to write something for us, but are unsure whether England (and all other areas) Resistance editors to do so, why not get in touch fi rst? Even BM ANARFED, London, WC1N 3XX, Resistance, BM ANARFED, London, ar cles that are 100% in agreement with our England, UK WC1N 3XX aims and principles can leave much open to debate. [email protected] [email protected] As always, the ar cles in this issue do not necessarily represent the collec ve view- Brighton AF (including Lewes) Sheffi eld AF point of the AF. We hope that their publica- [email protected] sheffi [email protected] on will produce responses from our readers h p://yorks-afed.org and spur debate on. Bristol AF The deadline for the next issue of Organise! [email protected] Surrey and Hants AF will be 1st March 2012. Please send all con- h p://bristolaf.wordpress.com/ [email protected] tribu ons to the address on the right. It would help if all ar cles could be either typed or on disc. Alterna vely, ar cles can East Kent AF Worcester AF be emailed to the editors directly at [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] • Lancashire AF York AF [email protected] [email protected] What goes in Organise!

Organise! hopes to open up debate in many Leicester AF areas of life. As we have stated before, un- [email protected] less signed by the Anarchist Federa on as a whole or by a local AF group, ar cles in Or- Leeds AF ganise! refl ect the views of the person who [email protected] has wri en the ar cle and nobody else. h p://yorks-afed.org Special alternative If the contents of one of the ar cles in this cover edition. issue provokes thought, makes you angry, Lincoln AF compels a response then let us know. [email protected] Revolu onary ideas develop from debate, they do not merely drop out of the air! Liverpool AF (including Merseyside) c/o News From Nowhere Bookshop 96 Bold Street Liverpool L1. [email protected]

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Organise! Issue 76 - Spring 2011

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Ask about discounted bulk or- ders: distribu [email protected] 4 es ‘violence’ against property and Welcome to the 77th issue of also people in the ‘August riots’ Organise! In it we focus on some of this Summer. Even socialist of the several anniversaries that organisa ons supposedly in touch fall this year, including the 25th with the bluntly birthday of the Anarchist (Com- dismissed rioters as misguided munist) Federa on itself. and as invi ng the repression of As such we give you ar cles on the whole class. Perhaps because the Paris Commune of 1871 and there were fewer a acks on the on one of its heroes, Eugene Var- police than in the riots of the early lin, on the Mexican Revolu on 1980s, for example, the upsurge that started in 1911, on industri- in proletarian anger was inter- al struggles in Britain in the same preted as individualis c and/or year, and on the Haymarket mar- materialis c by everyone from the tyrs 125 years on. We look at the Daily Mail to the . past history of our movement Anarchists do not sit in judgement in celebra on but also cri cally. on the working class, however. It We also look at present struggles does not sit comfortably with us through refl ec on on the recent that people were killed and that Editorial What’s in the latest Organise!

ac vity of the AF itself in the the lives of others, including fi re wider anarchist and an -author- fi ghters, were put in danger by itarian movement over the past other working class people. But fi ve or six years, and an interview how can this explosion of fury, with a local an -cuts ac vist. sparked by yet another police In addi on, we bring you the killing of a young black man, not reviews of recent literature and be seen as poli cal? The social look at the life and work of the and economic rela ons that allow sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. some to revel in luxury whilst the majority are supposed to look In Organise! #76 we very much on passively from the sidelines focussed on the issue of what underpin everything that took cons tutes ‘legi mate’ violence place. Anarchists were involved in and the necessity of wrestling helping our communi es interpret the right to defi ne this from even what took place and to turn the the more liberal le . This was in spotlight on a state and media the context of rio ng by students that, since the Blair government, and the ‘’ in response has undertaken a systema c policy to the cuts. We know that we in demonising and criminalising echoed the views and values of the young. Anarchists have been many anarchists in this. The mat- part of amazing street mee ngs ter con nues to be important for and community ini a ves that did our movement as it also address- not seek to iden fy and margin- 5 alise rioters as ‘feral’, inherently Hundreds of thousands have taken to bring libertarians of the Euro- ‘criminal’ or as some terrifying to the streets as the European pean and African Mediterranean ‘underclass’ opera ng in the economy collapses in the face of and Middle East together for the shadows. Anarchists are also sup- that not only exploita ve but illog- fi rst me. por ng those hundreds of young ical system they call ‘’. people now being vic mised in Anarchists are ac ve in all of the We have delved deeply into the courts and threatened with coun es in the EU and its immedi- some historical events in this loss of benefi ts and of the evic on ate neighbours, encouraging the issue at the expense of bringing of their en re family from social emergence of mass-movements you anniversary ar cles on The housing. within them that are decentralised Ba le of Cable Street (1936), and also inclusive of migrant la- Kronstadt (1921) or Luddism (the Faced with a hos le and igno- bour, such as the recent No Border fi rst communiqué of ‘Ned Ludd’ rant mass media, such grass roots camp in Bulgaria: h p://nobor- was issued in November 1811). ini a ves are le to tell their own derbulgaria.org There is plenty to be read about story, with UK anarchist bulle ns Kronstadt from an informed anar- and newspapers being an impor- What has taken place and is s ll chist perspec ve, although Lud- tant medium for this. The oldest unfolding in North Africa and the dism s ll lacks a good anarchist and most historically independent Middle East also makes us op - analysis - one not sen mentalis- and respected of these, Freedom, mis c. Issues of social class and ing the ‘pre-factory’ exploita on has been forced by produc on economic inequality are emerging of tex le workers, or making costs to change from being a fort- clearly within what are in any case anachronis c links between nightly to a monthly publica on, rela vely progressive movements issues raised by modern and pre- although it s ll aims ‘to become against unaccountable power and modern technologies. The major- an essen al voice of the anarchist tyranny. Even though bourgeois ity of Luddite ac vity followed movement, promo ng UK anar- values are what drive the new the Winter of 1812, and so we chism, broadening out the range ‘pro-’ leaderships, the hope to remedy this omission in of topics to connect with a grow- working class in these countries Organise! #78. ing readership (addi onal sec ons appears not to be undermin- will include sport, art, interviews, ing its own interests in favour of Also in the next issue we will lifestyle) and repor ng on the patrio c, na onalis c, clan or bring you more informa on important issues of the day from tribal-based values. We sense that about the massive anarchist a radical perspec ve’. To support western-backed representa ve de- gathering taking place from the the paper and get involved, or to mocracy will triumph in the short 9th to 12th August 2012, mark- submit ar cles, contact the editor term, but that like the regimes ing another anniversary: one at [email protected]. it replaces it will soon be tested hundred and forty years since the Whilst the anarchist press more and found wan ng. This is where founding of the fi rst anarchist in- generally evaluates its future in libertarian values must come to terna onal (see advert on p. 47). a world where on-line publica- the fore and in turn be evaluated. ons and new social media are an Through various channels, includ- Finally, with our great sorrow but increasingly important and more ing through the Interna onal of in memory of his amazing life and immediate way of ge ng an an- Anarchist Federa ons, we hear of great contribu on to Anarchist archist perspec ve on the world, anarchist organising in the south- Communism, this issue of Or- it is vital that we support our ern Mediterranean and Middle ganise! is dedicated to our much printed media too. The AF prints East, hopefully boos ng groups loved comrade Bob Miller, who and distributes thousands of cop- such as Anarchists Against the we and his family lost to cancer ies of the only na onal anarchist Wall, who have been struggling quite suddenly over the Summer. free sheet, Resistance, but has had heroically against the Israeli state We miss him and will always miss to downsize this because of costs. for years without succumbing to him, in so many ways. You will As such we direct you to our own anyone’s na onalism. A mee ng fi nd our obituary for him inside. press appeal too (p. XX). to be convened by our own inter- na onal, the Interna onal of An- Interna onally the levels of archist Federa ons at Saint-Imier struggle have rarely been higher. in August 2012 (see below) aims 6 AAnniversarynniversary IIssuessue 25 years of the Afed

As we celebrate 25 years of the Anarchist Federa on we look at the developments in our organisa- on over the last 5 to 6 years. Our fi rst two decades were covered in some detail in Organise! issues 67 and 42 which can be found on our website, so we won’t repeat them here.

Summit protests

Our latest chapter begins at the end of 2005, as we were mov- ing on from the an -G8 summit mobilisa on at Gleneagles which resulted in the largest explicitly an -capitalist event we have ever had in Britain. A erwards, many par cipants were discussing the future of the Dissent network that had been responsible for the fund- who set up the camp were not waves outside of single issues, raising and convergence space of the poli cal persuasion which notwithstanding the threat of organisa on that had supported would form a permanent or ecological collapse being seen the an -summit ac vi es. Mem- even a semi-permanent network by many as the main threat from bers of the AF were involved in a based on a set of principles. capitalism and as an overarching working group that was looking Although some AF members rather than a single issue. Fur- at the possibility of a holding a engaged with CCA early on - un l thermore, as the US/UK led war re-convergence of those involved the lack of explicit principles on terror con nued, the London following a couple of post-summit meant that it was impossible Bombings having dominated the gatherings. We proposed that a to address the infl ux of liberals, end of the Gleneagles summit, it good basis for proceeding would celebri es and trots - others had was clear that there was no seri- be an agreement that favoured thrown ourselves into an -ID ous movement against the wars the adop on of principles some- card campaigning and No Bor- in Iraq and Afghanistan outside of thing like the People’s Global Ac- ders (including ac on at deten- the Stop the War Coali on which on (PGA) hallmarks. on centres and local refugee was dominated by the Socialist support) whilst con nuing to Workers’ Party. The stranglehold In the end though, the Dissent organise as far as possible in of the SWP on StWC eventually network did not con nue and community campaigns and an - resulted in a split, with some of its ac vists went their separate ways, fascist ac vity against the BNP. prominent leaders leaving to form and in hindsight it is possible to At the same me the anarchist Counterfi re, and the war machine understand the reasons. Some social centres movement really has con nued regardless. decided to concentrate on envi- took off and more AF members ronmental ac on and went on to got involved with local centres. Out of the Shadows establish the Camp for Climate However, there was a percep on Ac on near Drax power sta on. It that the an -capitalist move- For the AF a general lack of is probably true to say that those ment was not really making coherence in the an -capitalist 7 movement and a seemingly to act locally and whose ac vism ing our membership from 90 to impregnable neo- in was directed at mainly single issue 150, confi rming us as the biggest wider society (plus an overbear- campaigning. The overall eff ect anarchist organisa on in Britain. ing an -immigrant rhetoric and was the pu ng forward of a more It was quite a shock to not only generally unpleasant right-wing centralist programme for the AF. have a lot more members, but rallying from the popular press) that we were for the fi rst me resulted, over the next 3 years, The AF took the challenge seri- experiencing a turn-over in our in some soul-searching about our ously and discussed the document membership. Our membership role in the movement. From this in detail and this was to be a major was also becoming more mobile an internal document Out Of The input to our next conference. But and more interna onal. As a re- Shadows was wri en by a small for some members progress was sult we have had to contend with number of members. The main too slow and so some (although groups forming (and disappear- points were that the AF needed to not all) of the signatories le to ing) as members have moved act more coherently as an or- form, along with others, & town or country. On the other ganisa on and agree on the main Solidarity. L&S aligned itself to the hand we have benefi ted greatly projects that groups would ideally Anarkismo interna onal project from having more members be involved in (although without and also advocated a more ‘prag- origina ng from overseas and a compulsion) based on reaching ma c’ approach to anarchist poli- greater geographical spread in majority agreement at na onal cs especially in terms of anarchist general, such that we have seen conferences. OOTS stressed that involvement in the mainstream sustained growth in Scotland for we should come up with a set of movement. Possibly example. posi ons on everyday issues such this had always been the goal of as housing and crime that might some of those involved, uncer- The OOTS experience resulted appeal to more people outside tainty about which was the cause in some internal changes, fi rstly of ac vist ghe os, and to try to of some acrimony, since forma- to our cons tu on where we become more media friendly. A on of a fac on with an agenda is iden fi ed a need to more clearly widening of involvement in our allowed in AF but must be openly describe our commitment to fed- ac vi es was to be encouraged announced. Members of L&S also eralism and consensus decision- by the forma on of an AF sup- joined the Industrial Workers of making and to explain what we porters group that would include the World (IWW). meant by it. We also reduced the people more on the fringe of the power of our occasional vo ng at AF proper. The document also Although we lost some members conferences by changing the ma- challenged the looser basis of the in the forma on of L&S, the next jority from half to two-thirds, the AF as a collec on of essen ally few years nonetheless resulted in upshot of this being that we now autonomous groups that tended a rapid growth in the AF, increas- vote even less than we used to.

Anarchist Federa on members protest the implementa on of iden ty cards for foreign na onals outside the EU. November 2008. 8

Secondly, whilst we did not agree thanks to the Labour government’s overall with the idea of very widening of par cipa on in further specifi c posi on papers, which we felt might cause stagna on in our and higher educa on, and no thanks to thinking, we realised that some of our theory would be be er the introduc on of loans and fees that grounded by referring to prac ce more o en. Over the next few mean you have to work whilst studying years we produced pamphlets unless you have a rich family, we found Against Na onalism in the context of the Gaza occupa ons and On more and more students iden fying the Frontline, on workplace strat- egy, where we explained in some with anarchist communism. detail our posi on with respect to and the trade unions. These texts were widely appreci- side real an -war, workplace and the idea for a large outward-facing ated by other anarchists, crea ng community struggles. conference was on the minds a level of mutual understand- of many within the movement. ing that no doubt contributed to A third outcome of OOTS was At the 2008 improved joint work with other that we reasserted an ac ve in London, we announced our organisa ons, notably the Solidar- commitment to our founding inten on to hold an ity Federa on. We also produced principle of recognising the 2009 conference in a northern leafl ets and longer ar cles on a vital importance of struggles town; whilst it became immedi- number of contemporary issues for sexual equality within and ately apparent that the Bookfair including environmental poli cs, without our movement. Uncon- organisers and others were think- such as Welcome to the Green sciously, or perhaps though lack ing along the same lines with an Boss, part of an interven on at of consciousness, this was miss- idea of ‘Bradford revisited’, echo- the Climate Camp mounted in the ing from OOTS in its striving to ing an important mee ng of class fi nancial district during the Lon- make us more relevant to work- struggle anarchists that we had all don G20; and also against a acks ing class struggles (a percep on been involved with in 1998. We on Roma people by the neo-fascist that might, wrongly, give sexual eventually decided to abandon right in Italy which was produced poli cs less priority). In part due our own conference and sup- for a joint AF/No Borders dem- to our growth in membership ported the Anarchist Movement onstra on outside the Italian that made it meaningful to have Conference that subsequently consulate in Manchester (a acks these groups, both a Women’s took place in London in June 2009. that can also be linked to evic on and a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, It is probably fair to say that this a empts at Dale Farm in Essex). A Transgender & Queer (LGBTQ) conference was most useful in paper, Private versus ‘Socialised’ caucus were formed as part of ge ng class struggle anarchists healthcare, about Obama’s health AF which now meet separately in London talking seriously about reforms in the USA that was also at least once a year. In par cu- the future, and that it also gave a relevant to how anarchists view lar, the AF has become a focus boost to anarchist-feminist organ- the NHS, quickly became the of radical an -capitalist LGBTQ ising though the interven on of second most read ar cle on our ac vism with a growth in LGBTQ ‘No Pretence’, both good things in website, the most read ar cle members, two issues of a bul- themselves, but also, for AF mem- being Smash the English Defence le n What’s Wrong with Angry? bers outside London, it did not League, wri en in the context of and interven ons at several have the impact it might have had EDL demonstra ons that we have Pride events. in crea ng a countrywide buzz opposed alongside other an -rac- about anarchism, and so ended ists in many towns in England. Our Anarchist Conference up being rather more inward than newest pamphlet, Introduc on to outward looking – a bit too much Anarchist Communism, was writ- Considering the growth of inter- like Bradford ’98 perhaps? ten to put our worldview along- est in anarchism being experi- enced since the summit protests, 9

Students and workers

Over the last few years the AF has a racted a lot of students and this had been a key element of our rapid growth in recent years. In the 1980s especially, university students were a bit of a pariah in the organised class struggle anarchist movement as a mainly privileged and self-interested group outside the experience of most working class people. But thanks to the Labour govern- ment’s widening of par cipa on in further and higher educa on, and no thanks to the introduc- on of loans and fees that mean you have to work whilst studying unless you have a rich family, we found more and more students iden fying with anarchist commu- nism. A major eff ect of the most recent increases in university fees and the cu ng of the Educa- on Maintenance Allowance for younger students has radicalised educa on massively. During the university occupa ons such as the Free Hetherington, and when Poster for “March for the Alterna ve” 26th March 2011 protest erupted into direct ac on at Millbank Conserva ve HQ, the The economic crisis, and state about the state of our society, input of libertarian poli cs was response to it, is of course a major at least they can see that unrest impossible to miss and we, having turning point in general. While the cannot so easily be a ributed to many members who are students Trotskyist and Labour Le see it as this or that poli cal group. To ex- and/or educa on workers, were a chance to regroup around a le - plain our poli cs in regard to the well placed to play our part. The wing agenda, the old poli cs cuts, we produced thousands of AF and SolFed organised a Radi- of tradi onal trade unionism have copies of a poster/bulle n, Eve- cal Workers’ and Students’ Bloc had very li le to off er in prevent- rything we’ve won: they want it in November 2010 as a direct ing the eff ects of the cuts, even on back, that was handed out on the contribu on to the struggle, and their members’ jobs. Prior to this March For The Alterna ve. These the fi rst issue of Anarchist Stu- a glimmer of hope was evident in included contribu ons from AF dent was published just prior to the Visteon and Vestas factory oc- members working in health and this. We also par cipated in the cupa ons. Now with the rise of UK social care and students. We also January 2011 Network X confer- UnCut, direct ac on has become produced a statement on the ence in Manchester and a joint everyday and anarchism is being June 30th coordinated strike day Radical Workers Bloc was called openly discussed in the mainstream calling for more sustained and to take place on the 26th March media, even if commentators coordinated strike ac on. The TUC demonstra on against the mainly concentrate on sustaining Trot par es’ amnesia and down- cuts, the so-called ‘March for the a myth around the idea of a Black right opportunism con nues in Alterna ve’. Block. Now, with the August Riots their lobbying the Labour Party so fresh, and recrimina ons fl ying or TUC, or seeking to infl uence 10 rank and fi le trade unionists within archive, The Sparrows’ Nest, ed local publishing eff orts notably them, whilst the non-unionised and this now contains a wealth in Manchester and London with unemployed who will be facing of material; no small thanks to Peterloo Press and Stormy Petrel. the coali on’s Work Programme generous dona ons and loans In 2008 we celebrated 100 issues and those whose disability allow- from individuals, organisa ons of our monthly free paper Resist- ances are being taken away are and publishers as well as ongo- ance and we are now close to 140. being all but ignored, as are the ing cataloguing eff orts by non- majority of service users who are AF members. Signifi cantly, it is As well as joint work with the not within easy reach of the le as about to become home to the Solidarity Federa on, AF members they are not workers in the public Solidarity Federa on’s historical con nue to be involved in the sector. archive. In addi on we have writ- IWW, seeing in it a vehicle for co- ten more than ever for other pa- opera on with other militants in Other Contribu ons pers of the movement, including workplace agita on and organisa- a regular piece for Black Flag and on whilst seeking to develop its One thing we have developed individual member contribu ons poten al as a unionist over the last few years is a widen- to Freedom and Shi , and we body. ing of our involvement in pro- have contributed ar cles and in- mo ng anarchism outside of our terviews to overseas papers and We have not yet said much about own ac vi es and publica ons. magazines. Some of our mem- interna onal ac vi es. Our in- This has included ge ng regional bers are involved in libcom.org volvement in the Interna onal of bookfairs off the ground in Shef- which has become an increas- Anarchist Federa ons (IAF-IFA) fi eld, Manchester and Bristol and ingly important online resource has con nued and we have been suppor ng others like in Belfast for anarchist communica on and especially pleased to have had the and Dublin. In 2008, our No ng- publica ons. AF groups are also chance to strengthen links with ham group founded an anarchist running their own blogs, publish- other IAF-IFA members by par- cultural centre with library and ing local papers, and have ini at- cipa ng in regular interna onal

Protest at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference, Sheffi eld 2011. 11 delegate mee ngs and bookfairs Whilst Labour is in opposi on, we won’t and hos ng overseas comrades in England. We have also formed hear the end of ‘Tories Out’ from the meaningful rela onships with non-IAF-IFA groups including the trots, but thankfully there have been recently formed Federa on of An- some inspiring developments in the form archist Organising in Slovenia and groupings in Holland, Greece and of UK UnCut and a radicalised student Macedonia; whilst AF members have also conducted two of movement. This will hopefully be some- Central and South America where thing to build upon. And we are growing they met with many groups across the region. The last few years has in number as anarchist communists, so we also seen great need for inter- na onal solidarity and we have can poten ally do more in more places. engaged in prac cal and moral support for comrades in Serbia, Oaxaca (Mexico), Belarus and Greece, Philippines, Indonesia, as lie that we are all in this together very li le income. Some of us well as Anarchists Against the Wall without completely wri ng off have lost jobs recently. But we in Israel/Pales ne. people as feral or scum, egged on will support each other and keep We cannot leave 2011 without by the populist press. The present going! men oning the great loss we have government con nues erosion felt from the death through can- of the right to a ‘social wage’ by The outcomes for the wider an- cer of our AF comrade Bob Miller changing legisla on to make ben- archist movement are currently in June. Bob was instrumental in efi ts or council housing even more a bit unclear. Organised revolu- ge ng our publica ons for sale condi onal and short term, whilst onary class struggle anarchism online in addi on to his invalu- threatening removal of access to in Britain is less sectarian than able poli cal contribu ons (see these as a punishment for unrest. ever and its groups are working elsewhere in Organise! for a full and wri ng well on joint projects. obituary). This said, we have yet to see less- Bookfairs are ge ng bigger and marginalised parts of the working more numerous and the amount Conclusions class involved in poli cal ac vity of new anarchist material being even though there have been a lot wri en and published is phe- It feels like the next few years will of job losses and welfare is under nomenal. Part of this represents be dominated by the economic a ack on many fronts, including an accelera ng literacy in our climate. As surprised as the state pensions, benefi ts and healthcare. movement as a whole, and also has appeared to be about the Whilst Labour is in opposi on, the legacy of access to higher riots and a acks on police in our we won’t hear the end of ‘Tories educa on that so many more major and not so major ci es and Out’ from the trots, but thankfully people have taken advantage of towns, it has perhaps also been there have been some inspiring over the life me of the AF. a surprise to see how quickly the developments in the form of UK gloves have come off , with threats UnCut and a radicalised student This picture of harmony and of water cannon, denial of Face- movement. This will hopefully be growth is not, unfortunately, book and the rest as well as the something to build upon. And we the case more broadly, if we extremely heavy sentencing. The are growing in number as anar- include those who defi ne them- state has, in its rhetoric, moved chist communists, so we can po- selves as anarchists but are not on from the war on terror and its ten ally do more in more places. in organisa ons. At the Bradford polarising suspicion of ‘other’ cul- But in the AF we are certainly ’98 conference, the fi rst ma- tures, and now sees a much larger no cing the economic climate. It jor mee ng of minds in recent part of the popula on as a threat costs us a lot to publish Organise! memory, one of its most exci ng to stability and business as usual. and our other papers, pamphlets aspects was the coming together It is hard for them to maintain the and leafl ets. At the same me a of class struggle anarchists and good many of our members have eco-ac vists who were calling 12 themselves anarchists. However, over the last 5 to 6 years there has been a divergence of the same. Some of this can perhaps be put down to the diff erent lifestyles that allow people to put on events like Climate Camp which require bouts of very intense ac vity. Eco- ac vism has also taken a hit from police infi ltra on and mass ar- rests and this has no doubt taken its toll in terms of involvement in major new ac vi es in the last couple of years. A mee ng that took place in February decided to wind up camping as a strategy to allow “new tac cs, organising methods and processes to emerge in this me of whirlwind change.” In addi on to a closing statement ‘Metamorphosis’ produced at the Radical Workers’ Bloc, “March for the Alterna ve”, 26th March 2011 mee ng, an ar cle ‘Climate camp is dead! Long live climate camp!’ our stressing the need for open and accountable appeared in the April 2011 edi on of Peace News (which, inciden- anarchist organisa onal structures without which tally, celebrated 75 years of radical unspoken leaderships inevitably develop. publishing this year). It indicated unresolved tensions between li le enthusiasm amongst anar- libertarian society. Thirdly there is the need for security in camp chists who are not in organisa- an ideological opposi on to mass organisa on and inclusiveness ons to engage with an -auster- movements which some mes of decision-making, invoking Jo ity poli cs, or indeed any kind of manifests itself in small and secre- Freeman’s seminal text from the mass movement building, with ve group organising that does 1970s, The Tyranny of Structure- the excep on of community ori- not seek to explain its ac ons to a lessness that we in AF have o en entated local organisa ons like wider movement (a nihilist ten- cited in our stressing the need for those in London and Edinburgh dency is even gaining credence in open and accountable anarchist who con nue to do good work some areas). For such people, or- organisa onal structures with- around housing, green spaces ganisa ons like the AF may seem out which unspoken leaderships and benefi ts. Reasons for this are li le removed from those of the inevitably develop. The ar cle not hard to fi nd. Firstly the eco- Trots, and ‘post-le ’ theory only fi nished by asking “Is it impossible nomic basis for the cuts is some- adds weight to this separa on. to organise in large groups over thing that many non-organised the long term in a par cipatory, anarchists have disengaged with Internally, the AF will con nue to democra c way? How can we already; in some cases having adjust to growth and work on scal- build a movement which not only dropped out of even claiming ing up our ac vi es to ensure effi - inspires with its poli cal ac ons, benefi ts, so the idea of defend- ciency of organising whilst main- but inspires day-to-day with the ing pensions is a million miles taining maximum self-organisa on way it organises?” and asked for away. Secondly there is an un- in a non-hierarchical structure. We help to achieve this. Hopefully this derstandable gut reac on against hope to a ract more members will encourage eco-ac vists to en- defence of ‘state’ services that, and grow further. We will engage gage with anarchist organisa ons without an analysis that sees with eff orts to create a united once again. welfare provision as something anarchist movement in Britain and won out of class confl ict, seems across borders. All in all, we are in At the same me there has been like the complete opposite of a for some interes ng mes ahead 13 TThehe ParisParis CommuneCommune ooff 11871871 aandnd iitsts ImpactImpact The Paris Commune: A Contested Legacy

Here Organise! presents two diff erent Anarchist approaches to the Paris Commune, which fl owered briefl y one hundred and forty years ago, in the Spring of 1871. The fi rst, whilst acknowledging that the Commune was an important lesson in early , warns us not to fall into the trap of fe shising historical events and evaluates what was achieved in the light of subsequent anarchist thinking. The second takes the Commune on its own terms and on those of anarchists who were its contemporaries, celebra ng what was achieved by libertarians in this, ul mately fl awed, early a empt at social revolu on. 14 Lessons of the Commune

The Paris Commune of 1871 was experience of the workers during elec on in February 1871 brought an exci ng me for the workers’ the Commune and gain under- to power unpopular monarchists movement and provided valuable standing for our own future and conserva ves who signed lessons for the class struggle a er struggles. It does us no good to for peace with Prussia. From this its fall. However, whilst the event overstate the importance of any period the Na onal Guard, the or- was spectacular and many social revolu onary event. ganised mili a formerly under the reforms occurred and were adopt- command of the French Republic, ed by the Third Republic that The backdrop to the insurrec- gained in strength and infl uence followed it, a lot of it has been on was the Franco-Prussian war and held onto the arms provided exaggerated for lazy historical and the German siege of Paris, to it for the defence of Paris dur- propaganda purposes to suppos- 1870-1, during which period ing its siege. By the 3rd March, edly prove that socialism is possi- underwent a Republican the proletarian ba alions of the ble through these means. As social coup deposing Emperor Napole- Guard, angered by the a empted anarchists we should analyse it on III in September 1870, ending triumphal entry into their city by without fantas cal generalisa ons the Second Empire which had the Prussians defected from the so that we may draw upon the lasted since 1852. A hushed up government of to 15 form its own Central Commi ee , the archbishop of organisa ons. Mass member- with elected commanders. Paris. As the soldiers retook Paris, ship of poli cal organisa ons This dual military power would known and suspected commu- was merely representa ve of the not do for the government. Thiers nards were arrested, whilst others already-exis ng desire for social, sent in ba alions of regular troops swept through the city se ng fi re economic and poli cal transfor- to disarm the Guard on 18th to important buildings to hinder ma on of society. In the case of March. Parisian workers famously the re-occupa on of the city by Paris 1871, a report to the Inter- resisted at in the the state. Those that survived na onal Workingmen’s Associa- north of the city, where an at- Bloody Week were put on trial. on (IWA) by the Corresponding tempt to seize the cannon of the Many were executed whilst others Secretary for France on the Gen- Guard was halted a er the regular were imprisoned or exiled to New eral Council, Auguste Serraillier, army, fraternising with the Guard Caledonia. It is unclear how many stated that the Interna onal was and local residents, arrested their were murdered and in disarray, its organisa on weak generals, Clement-Thomas and executed; the fi gures range from and unwilling to act as an asso- Lecomte, and had them shot. 5,000 to 50,000. Many ex-commu- cia on in some cases. It should Upon hearing of the insurrec- nards escaped and sought asylum be noted that the IWA in France on, the order was given for the in countries like the USA, Britain was largely of the Proudhonist evacua on of the city, although and Belgium and con nued their tradi on, being mutualists who some regular ba alions chose to poli cal struggle there. Amnesty believed they could make capital- remain. was not granted un l 1880. ism irrelevant through suppos- edly ignoring, undermining and The Guard was not united in its fi nally supplan ng the state and support for the insurrec on, how- The infl uence of exis ng poli cal business. The French sec on was ever. As a commander from one forms not in a posi on to exert much of the thirty bourgeois ba alions poli cal infl uence anyway. The had put it to the old commanding The 18th March is hailed as the Interna onal cons tuted less offi cer on the eve of the insurrec- date of the insurrec on and has than one-third of the poli cal on, ‘The Na onal Guard will not many similari es to the begin- Commune; bourgeois fi ght against the Na onal Guard’. nings of subsequent revolu ons republicans, conserva ve and Thus, the Central Commi ee took such as that of Russia 1917, Spain opposi onist held the rest of the provisional control of the city and 1936 and Hungary 1956, in that seats. Anarchist communists hold made plans to organise elec ons they were spontaneous proletar- that you cannot escape capital- to the Commune, which were ian events reac ng to the condi- ism: it must be abolished. But the held on 26th March. ons capitalists in power had Commune overlooked the neces- imposed upon them. They were sity for the seizure of poli cal In the few weeks before the neither planned, nor sparked by power from the bourgeoisie. Commune was put down, in what the propagandising of poli cal came to be known as the ‘Bloody Week’ (21 - 28 May), progressive transforma ons took place in social, economic and poli cal rela- onships. But the insurrec on was In the few weeks before the Commune fragile, not least in military terms. A er an agreement was made was put down, in what came to be with the Prussians to release French prisoners of war to aid in known as the ‘Bloody Week’ (21 - 28 the re-capture of Paris, the entered from the west of May), progressive transforma ons took the city taking each district one by place in social, economic and poli cal one. Workers erected barricades to defend themselves and the rela onships. But the insurrec on was Commune executed a few of its in despera on including fragile, not least in military terms. 16 Achievements and limita ons of pa ble with capitalist economics. onal Guard, as were many of the the Commune. Worker/producers’ coopera ves other coopera ves founded dur- exist to this day and are not ing this me. Even though the iron This is not to say that the so- exempt from being exploiters founders received a requisi on cial revolu on occurring in 1871 themselves. order for a factory, they chose not would have inevitably failed to expropriate it from its former simply because the IWA were a L’Ouvrier de l’Avenir, a newspa- master but to rent it from him. minority fac on in the poli cal per of the me, reported fi y The chief organiser, Pierre Marc, Commune. A strong desire for so- workers’ coopera ves, mainly was a business owner of eight cio-economic change was held by within the skilled trades, exis ng years standing and was selected to the popula on as a whole. It must in Paris in the weeks before the the role because he knew how to be kept in mind that the Com- March insurrec on. Indeed, the run a business. The average wage mune was a living, and therefore Government of Na onal De- in the factory was half of what it con nually developing, example fence, which took over authority was before the Commune and half of class struggle and important from III when he was that of the workers in the associa- social ques ons were being raised deposed, encouraged the set- on at the . Even there, the in the proletarian quarters of the ng up of workers’ coopera ves metalworkers’ demand for a wage city as well as by their ‘representa- during the Siege of Paris, through increase for dangerous work in the ves’ in the poli cal Commune. the handing out of large con- front line was rejected; the coop- It was because of the tracts to tex le workers to make era ves could not compete with desire for change that the poli - uniforms for the French army. private fi rms for contracts unless cal Commune enacted its decrees During the Commune, a empts they became exploita ve them- around social reform. were made to seek out the pri- selves. vate owners in order to compen- But the poli cal Commune was sate them for the loss of their The fact that coopera ves were ul mately built on the legality factory a er its expropria on, s ll employing the wage system of the old regime and on the old and in some cases, the private as a means of distribu on shows republican tradi ons which had owners worked hand-in-hand their limita on in socialising the dominated French revolu onary with the coopera ves, receiv- means of produc on, distribu on thought. It was itself a bourgeois ing rent, lending equipment and and exchange. When on the 19th republic, albeit more decentral- off ering business advice to the May the Labour and Exchange ised. For instance, the Central management of these coopera- Delega on called for a mee ng of Commi ee of the Na onal Guard, ves. representa ves of the coopera- originally intending to hold elec- Although the forma on of forty- ves, only twenty-seven coop- ons to the Commune on 22nd three worker coopera ves is era ves were represented out March, had to delay un l the 26th some mes quoted, there were of ninety-three eligible. For the a er nego a ons with the old only two of signifi cant size: the Commune to have been a success, mayors of Paris who ran the vo ng Société Coopera ve des Fon- the workers would have had to lists and had the authority to call deurs en Fer (Coopera ve So- remove their own poli cal ‘repre- elec ons. ciety of Iron Founders) and the senta ves’ and business owners Associa on des Ouvriers de la and managers. In a revolu on, Métallurgie (Associa on of Met- capitalists and their supporters Workers’ coopera ves and eco- alworkers). The la er had its mu- must not be allowed to re-take nomic life ni ons factory in the Louvre. The any ground. Workers must con- former had already been set up trol and direct the movement of One of the major reforms that the day before the 16th April de- produc on and distribu on within le ists and revolu onaries point cree at a public mee ng of iron the economy of the new society as towards was the April 16th de- founders, and so was not the a priority and destroy wage slav- cree requiring that abandoned result of the poli cal Commune ery and private ownership of the factories were to be handed to itself. The society was in fact set means of produc on, distribu on the ‘coopera ve associa on of the up with the support of the War and exchange. workers who were employed in Delega on for the purpose of them.’ But in reality, this was com- producing armaments for the Na- Kropotkin also cri cised the Com- 17 mune for failing to expropriate Kropotkin cri cised the poli cal organisa on of private property, especially facto- ries and the gold that was stored the commune for maintaining a governmental in banks within the Paris city system of representa ves, which then became walls, due to ‘prejudices about property and authority’. Many separated from the day-to-day reali es of the communards seem to have seen wider Commune, becoming conserva ve and economic changes as secondary paralysed by endless discussion, confi rma on of to poli cal revolu on. However we must learn from the lessons of the Anarchist cri que of representa ve systems. struggles in the past and see the two as inseparable. The Paris- ian workers failed to seize their and paralysed by endless discus- workplaces, control the economy sion, confi rma on of the Anarchist Women and the Commune themselves and make irrelevant cri que of representa ve systems. the power of capital. However, if representa on is the Women were involved within only form of poli cal organisa- the struggle, famously ini ally on experienced or witnessed by confron ng the soldiers who Poli cal organisa on the wider class, there is a danger had been sent to take back the that this is what will be defaulted cannon on the fi rst day. However While those elected to the Com- to during insurrec onary mes. they faced discrimina on both mune were, in theory, recallable, It is therefore vital that we are within the Commune and from they s ll had the power to make arguing for, and prac cing liber- the victorious Government. decisions and were rela vely tarian forms of organising during centralized and cut off from the these pre-revolu onary periods Some progressive policies were people. They were representa ves when we are ac ve in community adopted by the Commune, rather than mandated delegates. groups, workplaces, student strug- notably establishing day nurser- The former is familiar to us now; gles and tenants’ and residents’ ies, raising the salary of women we elect people on the basis of associa ons, both because they teachers to be equal to that of what they say or their declared are the best way to organise dem- male teachers and improving poli cal allegiance and they then ocra cally, and also because this availability and accessibility of make decisions for us. Through- gives confi dence and competence educa on for girls and women. out history this form of organisa- in libertarian prac ces necessary However the commune was too on has led to abuse, corrup on to maintain revolu on. short lived for these ini a ves to and inequality. The la er system, be brought to frui on and wom- of mandated, recallable delegates In the end, perhaps the biggest en’s inequality was only par ally is a libertarian form of poli cal problem with the Commune’s addressed. While men gained organisa on. Rather than giv- poli cal system of representa on their suff rage, this wasn’t the ing power to make and enforce was its ineffi ciency. Only a small case for women. Some women decisions to a minority, we retain number of people were trying had an ac ve part in the defence power at a local or workplace to cope with the huge volume of of the commune, for example in level and mandate delegates with issues, resul ng in the representa- Place Blanch where one hundred the decisions we have made. The ves being inundated and not and twenty women erected and delegates are recallable if they go able to cope. On the one hand defended a barricade. However, beyond their mandate. they showed how well ordinary the role of women was largely working people can take over the one of domes city and care, Kropotkin cri cised the poli - running of things, without needing many working as nurses, such as cal organisa on of the commune specialized bureaucrats, but they within the Women’s Union for for maintaining a governmental needed to go further and have the Defence of Paris and Care of system of representa ves, which autonomous sec ons of the city the Injured. Most women were then became separated from the run things. Federalism would have kept away from the barricades day-to-day reali es of the wider been more effi cient! and front lines, but others acted Commune, becoming conserva ve as can nières, whose offi cial role 18 was to cook, feed and nurse the gave it some libertarian fl avour. that they could draw upon, just as male troops, although some also However events moved so fast, in Russia the experiences of 1905 fought alongside the men. and decisions and structures de- meant that the concept of forming veloped by necessity so quickly, soviets within workplaces was fa- A er the fall of the commune, that there was li le me for miliar to the Russian working class misogynis c a tudes within Paris theore cal arguments. Without in 1917 and forced the and France were exploited in or- the previous discussions, and the to adopt the Anarchist slogan of der to discredit the communards libertarian and socialist organis- ‘All Power to the Soviets’ (although with descrip ons of ‘petroleusses’ ing that had been taking place obviously this was soon betrayed - women se ng fi re to buildings, within the working class of Paris, by authoritarian centralism). to argue why order needed to be which meant that much radical restored and to jus fy the horror thought was already understood, Finally, it is signifi cant that a fes ve of the slaughter that followed. the Commune may have looked atmosphere apparently fl ourished Such imagery of ‘unfeminine’ even less progressive. However within the city during the period women, which is rooted in sexist there were s ll many mistakes of the Commune. This joy, en- a tudes to what female behav- made, notably allowing a rep- ergy, crea vity and high-spirits can iour should be like, has been used resenta ve poli cal system to be felt in many liberated spaces. at other mes to demonise radical emerge and to fail to carry out argues that cul- movements o en with some suc- an economic revolu on within ture, fes vity, music and of course cess even amongst those who are the city walls. Both of these dancing are an essen al part of progressive on other issues. This errors are easy to spot if you un- revolu on. When we are in a space is just one reason why Anarchists derstand Anarchism, but during that feels freed from the shackles must tackle sexism within our an insurrec on it is too late! It is of capitalism and authority - even wider class. Radical movements vital that libertarian thought and just temporarily such as during o en remain macho and male ways of organising are under- an occupa on – this fl owering of dominated. stood and familiar to the wider crea vity contrasts with everyday working class in pre-revolu on- life and nourishes the feelings of ary mes, so that these same solidarity, aff ec on and comrade- Conclusions and lessons mistakes are not repeated. ship that is both the natural prod- uct of struggling together, and it is Although much was spontane- Memories of assemblies from that which keeps us going during ous and unplanned, the infl uence previous revolu ons gave the the dark mes. of Proudhon on the communards Parisians inspira on and models “Vive !”

This ar cle is dedicated to all those who will turn their guns on their offi cers.

‘We revolu onaries aren’t just chasing a scarlet fl ag. What we pursue is an awakening of lib- erty, old or new. It is the ancient of France, it is 1703; it is June 1848; it is 1871. Most especially it is the next revolu- on which is advancing under this dawn.’

‘The Commune was the biggest fes val of the nineteenth century. Underlying the events of that spring of 1871 one can see the insurgents’ feeling that they had become the masters of their own history, not so much on the level of “governmental” poli cs as on the level of their everyday life.’ Situa onist Interna onal

This year marks the 140th an- niversary of the Paris Commune. Barricade, Paris 1871. This momentous event marked the spectacular and agonising be- ing honourably and nobly towards advanced to the outskirts of ginning of the period in which the each other. They are an inspira on Paris. The Na onal Guard, a sort working class has made consist- to all those who wish to clearly of home army/mili a supported ent a empts, through revolu ons break with this society of corrup- by public subscrip on refused around the world, to break with on, brutality, and of the most to countenance the surrender of the system of exploita on and in- despicable and venal apologies for ar llery to the Prussians, as con- equality and to usher in a new so- human beings running the show. nived at by the new republican ciety and a new civilisa on based As Louise Michel one of the fi nest government that had replaced on equality and freedom. The and most magnifi cent revolu on- the old imperial regime. This gov- forms of organisa on developed aries who ever drew breath was to ernment sent in troops to regain by the Parisian masses, be they remember of those communards the ar llery. They were con- ar sans, workers, unemployed, she had survived: ‘To those who in fronted by a crowd that refused ar sts and writers, youth and falling, have opened so wide the to relinquish the guns situated children, women and men, are gates of the future, through which on the heights of Montmartre. demonstrated again and again in the revolu on will pass!’ The offi cers barked out orders to the revolu ons that were to break fi re on the crowd but the soldiers out throughout the twen eth A er the disastrous Franco- refused and turned their guns century and into this one. They Prussian War and the adventures on their offi cers on March 18th are the heralds of a new way of of Napoleon III, France was de- 1871. This was the birth of the organising socially and of behav- feated by Prussia. The Prussians Paris Commune. 20 Free elec ons called by the Na onal Guard followed. They elected a council made up of a majority of old style Jacobin revo- lu onaries (harking back to the 1789 Revolu on) and a minority of working class socialists, mostly le -wing , infl uenced by Auguste Blanqui and those under the sway of Proudhon, who had envisaged a more libertarian and federalist form of organisa on. The Commune of Paris proclaimed Paris to be autonomous and called for the crea on of a confedera on of communes throughout France. The Commune itself was, in theo- ry, recallable, and paid an average workers’ wage. It had a mandate to report back to those who had elected it. At the same me, a whole host of clubs and associa- ons in the Paris neighbourhoods began to develop, concerned both with the administra on of the lo- cal areas and with visions of how a new society should operate.

The anarchist movement, which was developing at this point in history, was enthused by this, as its thinkers had predicted just such a development. The Russian anarchist Bakunin commented at the me, ‘Revolu onary socialism Similarly Marx and his followers with the tradi on of the State, of has just a empted its fi rst striking hailed the coming of the Paris representa ve government, and it and prac cal demonstra on in the Commune. Marx was to write did not a empt to achieve within Paris Commune’. that the Council of the Commune the Commune that organisa on ‘was formed of the municipal from the simple to the complex The Commune called for the councillors, chosen by universal it inaugurated by proclaiming the re-opening of workplaces run suff rage in the various wards independence and free federa on in a coopera ve fashion and by of the town.’ This majority in of the Communes …if no central May 1871, forty-three workplaces the fi nal days of the Commune government was needed to rule were opera ng in this way. The voted to establish a Commi ee the independent Communes, Engineers Union voted at a meet- of Public Safety which would if the na onal Government is ing on 23rd of April that since act to defend Paris against the thrown overboard and na onal the aim of the Commune should advancing counter-revolu on. unity is obtained by free federa- be ‘economic emancipa on’ it Those of a more libertarian bent on, then a central municipal Gov- should ‘organise labour through within the Commune opposed ernment becomes equally useless associa ons in which there would this arguing against the dictator- and noxious. The same federa ve be joint responsibility’ in order ‘to ship of this ‘majority’. As the principle would do within the suppress the exploita on of man anarchist Kropotkin noted, the Commune’. by man.’ Paris Commune did not ‘break 21 The Paris Commune faced two The Paris Commune faced two ways: back- ways: backwards towards the old ways of func oning of the 1789 wards towards the old ways of func oning of Revolu on, with its centralisa- the 1789 Revolu on, with its centralisa on, on, authoritarianism and terror; and forwards to a libertarian, authoritarianism and terror; and forwards to decentralist and humane way of a libertarian, decentralist and humane way of func oning. The old ways as rep- resented by the central adminis- func oning. tra on of the Commune hindered and crippled the new ways as represented in the clubs and as- socia ons that had developed at become more and more isolated women, men and children. At the grassroots level. The State was from the people who elected it, least 30,000 people were killed in not abolished and representa ve and thus more and more irrel- the street fi gh ng, many execut- government remained in place. As evant. And as its irrelevance grew, ed a er they had surrendered. Kropotkin was to note, ‘instead of so did its authoritarian tendencies, Their bodies were thrown into ac ng for themselves . . . the peo- with the Jacobin majority creat- mass graves, some of them s ll ple, confi ding in their governors, ing a ‘Commi ee of Public Safety’ alive. Many fl ed into exile, whilst entrusted them the charge of to ‘defend’ the ‘revolu on’. The many others were imprisoned for taking the ini a ve. This was the Commi ee proved to be inept and long periods of me. The appall- fi rst consequence of the inevitable ineff ectual and in prac ce was ing massacre of the a ermath result of elec ons’ with the cen- ignored by the Parisian masses of the Paris Commune le deep tral council ac ng as ‘the greatest as they fought to defend their scars in French society which s ll obstacle to the revolu on’. He gains against the armed forces exist today. went on to note that, ‘immobi- of the French government which lised there by fe ers of red tape, had advanced on Paris. On May The Paris Commune was the forced to discuss when ac on was 21st, government troops entered preface to whole chapters of needed, and losing the sensi vity the city, and seven days of fi erce revolu on. Let the fi nal words that comes from con nual contact street fi gh ng followed. The army soon be wri en and let the gates with the masses, they saw them- and armed units of the upper swing wide for the birth of a new, selves reduced to impotence. classes roamed the streets, shoot- free and fair society! Paralysed by their distancing from ing down batches of Communards, the revolu onary centre - the people - they themselves para- The Communards’ Wall (Mur des Fédérés) at the Père-Lachaise cemetry, Paris. lysed the popular ini a ve’.

In addi on, again according to Kropotkin, the central council, ‘treated the economic ques on as a secondary one, which would be a ended to later on, a er the triumph of the Commune . . . But the crushing defeat which soon followed, and the blood-thirsty revenge taken by the middle class, proved once more that the tri- umph of a popular Commune was materially impossible without a parallel triumph of the people in the economic fi eld’.

The council of the Commune 22 The Anti-Cuts Movement and the Left: A local activist’s perspective

being poten ally ruined, once again, by the authoritarian Le ! As usual, it is the Trotskyists who, having won infl uence within the struggle because of their numbers and resources, are now set to de- rail it. As the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty say on their website: ‘Our priority is to work in the work- places and trade unions, support- ing workers’ struggles, produc- ing workplace bulle ns, helping organise rank-and-fi le groups’. But that’s not where this struggle will be won. Workers’ organisa ons of any sort are only part of the pic- ture, and trade unions are legally castrated and eff ec vely self- interested at that. We can’t aff ord to let the Le divert the eff orts of grass-roots ac vists into help- The way to defeat the cuts, or wins temporary gains that can ing them win infl uence within the to get close enough to ra le the be taken away again. Common trade unions, which seems to be State, is clear to the Anarchist Fed- cause and mutual solidarity, if the latest turn in this experiment era on. It maps neatly on to our structured on a mass level, take with working with the Le . strategy for encouraging a ‘culture us one step closer to a soci- of resistance’ in everything we ety that recognises that social are involved in. This means strug- revolu on – the collec ve aboli- The Le gle in many types of arena, and at on of property and hierarchical diff erent scales: neighbourhoods, social rela ons - will eliminate We say ‘experiment’, because it ci es, communi es of iden ty, as the need to have to struggle ever has been just that. The vast major- recipients of welfare, in the work- again. ity of anarchist ac vists wouldn’t place, and service user groups, for The an -cuts movement is an touch the authoritarian Le with example. It means people fi gh ng obvious example of a culture of a bargepole. Many Le par es to defend their own interests but resistance; it is where pockets of openly admit that on the eve of a through this ac vity, realising that resistance meet, all the be er ‘successful’ revolu on, they would the state cannot provide for us; because it is happening sponta- have to eliminate anarchists! But and if the State does make conces- neously. Once again the class is that’s not the real reason we don’t sions, it does not do so because ahead of the propagandists! An- enjoy working with most of them. they are in our interests. Through archists have to point out to the It’s because of their manipula- struggle and through analy cal everyday heroes of the struggle ve and decei ul a tude to the refl ec on on the fu le process of that they are ac ng like anar- working class (it’s diffi cult to come beseeching the state, it becomes chists, free from the constraints up with a be er defi ni on of the clear that we have to link up in a of and representa ve ‘Transi onal Demand’ than that). mass movement of generalised democracy, prac cing direct ac- Also, it’s because they fe shise resistance. Resis ng in the inter- on and . the state to the extent that they ests of our own cause alone only Except that mass resistance is willingly collaborate with it at the 23 same me as ‘Figh ng the Tories’, or the EDL and BNP.

Lots of them fe shise the Labour party too, being in it or hoping to get back in, to infl uence it from within (Alliance for Workers’ Liberty) or building in parallel to it (Socialist Party) and much of their ac vity is in response to Labour rather than in response to class interests. O en there is naked sectarianism, for example in the acrimony between the ‘Right to Work’ campaign (Socialist Workers Party) and Na onal Shop Stew- ards Network (eff ec vely Socialist No ngham students protest against cuts to Educa on Maintenance Allowance. Party). Other problems include their propensity to duck in and out of struggles in ways that make it clear that they subordinate local cultural background (a generalisa- If we can’t reverse the cuts, the struggles to na onal ini a ves. on, but there’s truth in it), and working class is screwed. Even This is alien to an anarchist way of don’t have the recent track record. though we know that at some thinking, in which na onal move- We state our poli cs up front and point things will probably turn ments and ini a ves are built some mes that scares people. On sour with the Le , we know that from the base up. the face of it, we aren’t as a rac- it won’t be us who proves impos- ve. sible to work with; it will be the And, at the end of the day, they Trots. And the people who came run terrible mee ngs that exclude Second, because loads of mem- to the campaign to be grass-roots people not trained (o en for- bers of Trotskyist organisa ons are ac vists will remain as non- mally) to dominate the content of hard-working, reliable, straight- sectarian as they can, and will re- the discourse (reformism, sub- forward and personable. You can main ac vists long a er the Trots s tu onism, obsession with the actually look forward to going for realise that they can’t take the workplace, etc.) and the nature of a drink with them a er the meet- group by sheer force of numbers, that discourse (mo ons, amend- ing. They off er to help you with a belligerence, deceit and manipu- ments, formal hierarchy, informal task you’ve just taken on because, la on. Instead the Trots will leave deference shown to leaders, pack- as usual, no one else off ered at the broad-based campaign in fa- ing mee ngs and block votes, wil- the me. They are en rely genu- vour of struggle for power in the fully misrepresen ng what other ine about the struggle and are unions. We have to play a part people say, and so on). the hardest working in their party in not le ng them take over, as and union. They have a sense of we did in the Poll Tax struggle (v. So why the experiment, when humour, skills to share, and get on Militant, now Socialist Party), but we can reliably predict the result? with similarly non-sectarian mem- failed in Stop the War (v. Socialist Firstly, because, except in major bers of other groups. They’ve Worker Party), for example. ci es, it is very diffi cult to launch never heard of Kronstadt; so you There follows an interview with an an -Cuts campaign that will tell them, they look horrifi ed, go an Anarchist Federa on mem- a ract ordinary people to poli cal away and read up on it, come back ber in No ngham about the ac vism unless it is at once big, and say sorry (it’s actually hap- an -cuts struggle there and the dynamic, socially and culturally di- pened a few mes!). AF’s experience of working in a verse, resourceful and welcoming. genuinely broad-based campaign Anarchists cannot provide this. Most importantly, this struggle is with the Le in it: No s Save Our Let’s face it, we don’t have the simply too important to miss the Services. numbers, come from a narrower opportunity of building a genu- inely large, broad-based campaign. 24 Se ng up a structure with a Chair – people who will make statements and decisions for you – doesn’t ever seem to have been considered by these groups, whereas ten years ago that was the norm. It’s not non-hierarchical in quite the way anarchists mean it - some mes it’s more like a refl ec on of the structures of social media - but it’s non-centralised and directly demo- cra c, in that people don’t speak or make decisions on other people’s be- half without their permission.

How did No s SOS start, why demo in November 2010, peo- were you involved, and why was So, when the Trades Council set ple joined SOS who have worked it so immediately successful? up a public mee ng, we went consistently hard and gone on to along to see if there were ‘real’ form No s Uncut and a couple of In October 2010 the Anarchist people there who we could ini a ves around the NHS. Those Federa on na onally had decided work with. They were there in people also worked for threatened against trying to set up either a droves. We also went to slag off projects, e.g. housing support, and na onal campaign or specifi cally the Labour MPs they’d invited to were teachers, re red people, job- anarchist-based campaigns in our speak. That went down very well centre workers, ac vists on disa- towns. Anarchism then didn’t indeed! In fact no one has ever bility issues etc. Lots of them have have the interest and respect spoken on behalf of the Labour since lost their jobs but are s ll that it has since gained. So No s Party at a No s SOS mee ng ac ve protec ng what remains. AF had been trying to get local since, and it hasn’t necessarily Along with these sorts of people, people interested in a campaign been us blocking it. So, loads of we fought hard for a non-hierar- against the cuts. We were doing people we’d never met before chical structure for SOS, which it our own thing, as were other an- were wan ng to get something has retained very eff ec vely. archists in No ngham, and o en going, and some of the people we were doing them together. But on the Trades Council who are The spin off campaigns also it wasn’t ge ng anywhere. Loads nice as people and genuinely organise non-hierarchically. This of people we spoke to thought it hard-working were there. Al- is really important. Se ng up a was great that someone was mak- though we planned never to structure with a Chair – people ing a stand, but they didn’t help work formally in alliance with who will make statements and us make an impact. I think people the Le again a er the Poll Tax, decisions for you – doesn’t ever were too overwhelmed at the we had done an -BNP and EDL seem to have been considered by scale of what we faced. We almost work with some of the Alliance these groups, whereas ten years managed to play a part in ge ng a for Workers Liberty and Socialist ago that was the norm. It’s not claimants group set up, but I think Party and that had gone sort of non-hierarchical in quite the way we peaked too soon! OK. And the Trades Council were anarchists mean it - some mes going to kick start it with some it’s more like a refl ec on of the It was bad ming for us too, in cash for mee ng rooms and leaf- structures of social media - but that we had just set up the Spar- lets. So, we got on board. it’s non-centralised and directly rows’ Nest and wanted to estab- democra c, in that people don’t lish a focus for the serious study speak or make decisions on other of Anarchism. We weren’t going to Mee ngs people’s behalf without their per- neglect that. It just meant that we mission. were working ourselves into the Within a few weeks, two-thirds ground. But it would be worth it if of people at mee ngs - o en of we could help establish a broad- 40+ people, which is amazing for Sherwood Forest based campaign against the cuts No ngham - were people we’d locally. never met before. From our fi rst Anyway, we’ve done some great 25 stuff . There would have been no then it was incredible: sixteen- slightest problem with what hap- presence at the Labour-controlled year-olds chasing Collins all over pened. City Council mee ng that set the the town centre, even though cuts budget in April if not for SOS. We to EMA weren’t actually his fault. What went wrong? managed to stop the mee ng and They were so up for it! They made gave the council leader Jon Col- the connec ons: actually, he could Well it hasn’t gone wrong yet as lins a really hard me. We’ve also have spoken up for students, but such. It’s just star ng to, and we helped more local an -cuts groups he didn’t. Also, we ran a confer- know the signs. We managed to set up, and campaigns around li- ence a ended by over 70 people, ride out the fi rst thing that nearly braries and to save Sherwood For- out of which grew groups working wrecked the campaign. It was est. We set up the best an -cuts on the NHS, benefi ts, educa on a case of ‘what doesn’t kill you website ever: h p://no ssos.org. cuts and others that s ll exist. SOS makes you stronger’. It was when uk. OK, I’m biased ‘cos someone in supported fi re sta ons, libraries, we got into trouble with the the AF set it up and maintains it. the list goes on. SO much work! Communica on Workers’ Union. We use it to support and publicise I was really proud to go on the No s SOS were running a modest campaigns such as ones to keep London March 26th demo as a stall every Saturday in the town schools open and to preserve member of my profession along- centre. One Saturday, down the ESOL provision. We also helped side No s SOS and workplace road there was going to be a big link up the students in No ng- colleagues. Colleagues helped na onal CWU demo in support ham Students Against Fees and us carry our brilliant SOS banner, of their dispute. On the e-mail Cuts with ac vists in the city. Staff made by teachers in SOS. I chose list someone pointed out that and students at both universi es a ending the demo with these this would mean that we might work together all the me now. people over mee ng up with the be short on volunteers for the The students inspired so much AF. And a erwards, SOS people stall. The main guy in the CWU further ac vity. We helped them defended the ‘black block’ ac on went ballis c that we weren’t with a demo in support of EMA, just as they had the Millbank stu- going to cancel our stall for their and this brought even school and dents. I thought we might have to rally! This was even though the college students into the struggle. argue the toss over those events, implica on of the e-mail was that In fact that feels normal now, but but no one in No s SOS had the most people who usually volun-

Members of No s “Save Our Services” protest the Health and Social Care Bill, 6th September 2011. 26 teer would be at the rally instead. One of the best local victories was anarchist- The CWU guy took his complaint to the Trades Council. He was inspired. It prevented the cu ng of outpa ent basically saying that SOS was be- services at Hayward House, a hospice. The cam- ing an -union. The TC passed a mo on supposedly unanimously paign sprung up overnight and mobilised termi- (although we know that isn’t true) nally ill people, which scared the shit out of the making it clear that we had to tow Primary Care Trust. It went for the jugular on fi - the TC line or they’d stop bank- rolling us. nancial, ethical and legal grounds, and forced the trust to back off and even admit they had made a This implied that they think social struggles should be subordinated mistake. It took a massive amount of work over a to TU-controlled workplace strug- very short me and won by being a full-on, un- gles. We see the two as equally compromising onslaught of common sense! valuable in theory, and certainly the Le don’t deny that the two are connected. But there is a whole world of diff erence be- tween the ‘workplace struggle’ how serious things were. Some overnight and mobilised termi- and ‘the trade unions’. We have anarchists in SOS wanted a nally ill people, which scared the to be realis c; the days when the specifi cally anarchist campaign, shit out of the Primary Care Trust. trades unions could make or break and others wouldn’t touch SOS It went for the jugular on fi nancial, a government are gone. They with a bargepole anyway. The ethical and legal grounds, and don’t control the Labour Party result – Anarchists Against the forced the trust to back off and anymore. Capitalism has been far Cuts – is small but has done crea- even admit that it had made a cleverer than the unions. Eff ec ve ve stuff , made an interven on mistake. It took a massive amount industrial ac on is now almost ille- with propaganda, and brought of work over a very short me gal, but the unions won’t defy the some people out of the wood- and won by being a full-on, un- law. So why should they be able to work. We’ve been involved since compromising onslaught of com- tell people engaged in direct ac- the beginning, even though its mon sense! But victory had not a on in social struggles what to do? strategy doesn’t make as much li le to do with the fact that the But SOS was on a roll by then and sense to us as being in an organi- people ini a ng the campaign – the campaign so broad-based that sa on that people can actually volunteers and fundraisers for the even though the AWL championed meet, work with and join if they hospice – were also long-standing the TC mo on and made sure it agree with it. We some mes do anarchist ac vists who know how got accepted, everyone else de- the same theore cal ground- to win. This all happened before cided to eff ec vely ignore it. We work twice, in AF and then in SOS had even undertaken any sup- all thought it was a bit silly really. AATC, and feel a bit constrained port work! So there is evidence What was the worst that they by synthesis groups anyway. But that anarchists don’t necessarily could do in prac ce? The people there are spin-off campaigns fi ght the cuts best as part of SOS. who ran the stalls carried on doing where AATC, AF, SOS and UnCut stalls and suppor ng workers. We etc. overlap, and Le and non- Is that why you are despondent also started making collec ons for aligned people know that the an- about the broad-based cam- rooms and the NUT and NUM re- archist movement in No ngham paign? red chapter started prin ng leaf- isn’t just AF (which it certainly lets for us! So it wasn’t the case isn’t). In part. But it’s also because that trade unionists as a whole we’ve entered another phase in felt threatened by our increasingly One of the best local victories which the Trotskyists have re- autonomous campaign. was anarchist-inspired. It pre- grouped and decided they haven’t vented the cu ng of outpa ent been focussing on the workplace Meanwhile other ini a ves were services at Hayward House, a enough. I was on a sort of ad-hoc springing up. Everyone knew hospice. The campaign sprung up commi ee that was organising 27 the No ngham events on June 30th. Representa ves of the three striking unions were part of it: NUT, UCU and PCS, and other people suppor ng us, notably No ngham Students Against Fees and Cuts (although they quickly realised that they were being patronised and could support the strike be er in other ways).

At the end of the day, when it comes to the crunch, trade un- ion ac vists have to be more concerned with their members’ sec onal interests than in wider struggle. NUT members weren’t very interested on the whole in anything other than their pen- sions (I’m not saying that’s not im- portant; we are rightly suppor ve of workers with good terms and condi ons maintaining them as a way to encourage less privileged workers to make a stand for their own rights). Their offi cers include AWL members, who are poli - cally miles ahead of those narrow sec onal interests. The offi cers agreed to a demo that would march past places like the home- less shelter, NHS direct, ATOS, Offi ce Angels and the banks.

Then the NUT offi cers started messing us around and changing the arrangements, because when they’d gone back to their mem- bers they’d had a right telling off ! They’d made decisions for their members – see what I mean? They had to come back and tell us were furious. One mee ng got so rally an ‘in-your-face-Cameron’ that no, they were going to have acrimonious that the chair had to protest about the Cuts generally. the usual A-B march and then intervene at one point and tell a Given that it was on a weekday have an indoor rally. The biggest par cularly belligerent person to too, so places were open, this demo No ngham had seen for “take it outside!” could actually have terrifi ed ATOS years, and they wanted to take it out of business! I really think so. indoors to discuss NUT pensions! The offi cial and unoffi cial repre- We had some good stuff planned. The NUT also started making up senta ves of both UCU and PCS Instead, the only aspect of social stuff about the police and council crossed over massively with SOS, struggles that got a look in at the being obstruc ve about logis cs No s. Uncut, NSAFC, and were rally was SOS and the NHS cam- for an outdoor rally, which wasn’t completely in agreement with paign. We were allowed to speak true. The UCU and PCS ac vists the idea of making the march and on the pla orm, but last, when 28 almost everyone had gone home nothing at all to the rest of the anything public without informing working class, who either can’t the police and Labour City Council We haven’t really recovered from unionise or don’t see the point. at some point. That’s because the that demo. We worked so hard as I would say to any of them, you Le s ll have this split personal- SOS to support the striking unions, should join a union to protect ity where they both cri que and but I don’t think either we or the your interests, and if there’s fe shise the LP at the same me, PCS and UCU will work with the anyone in your workplace up for insis ng that its membership is NUT again. And the AWL came a fi ght, that’s where you’ll meet be er than its leadership. That’s out of it looking like opportunists. them. But if they asked where only a meaningful analysis if the To be honest, I think we also lost the poten al for class struggle membership can control the lead- credibility as anarchists. I wasn’t really is now, I’d point them in ership, which it can’t. That’s what able to argue our corner, and I was other direc ons. happens when you elect people there informally represen ng our to make decisions on your behalf! workplace campaign group. To be Some of the le ac vists actually honest, I felt too in midated to So is that it for No s SOS, as far stood as Labour councillors and say anything much. as you are concerned? got in, and we haven’t seen them since at SOS; inevitably, because Straight a er, it was the Bom- Not at all. There’s s ll loads of they are now representa ves of a bardier stuff . All the Le groups poten al. There is a tendency party that is pro-cuts! wanted us to drop everything and at the moment for non-aligned pile over to Derby, there even people or people in poli cal At the end of the day, when you before we’d established that this minori es to be despondent, look at the website – which you wasn’t going to be some na onal- and several have eff ec vely and should - we haven’t actually done is c German-bashing thing (which even offi cially le the campaign. our most impressive work as SOS. it wasn’t). We actually had a really But I don’t think there’s been a Rather, it’s been the groups SOS good discussion and I was im- me when anarchist ideas have has spawned, fostered and cham- pressed by the unforced interna- had more infl uence. It no longer pioned. We bring these together onalism of all three Le groups. feels utopian to call for occupa- in one place in a way that no other But again, they wanted infl uence ons, mass assemblies, block- organisa on possibly can. But at in there. I think they wanted to ades, sabotage, non-compliance the end of the day, SOS is a lit- ‘take No s SOS’ over to Derby to etc. People in No ngham are tle too mid. It’s clear that even get kudos. We couldn’t go anyway, not afraid of these things. I was though people will say they sup- but we’d have gone as anarchists, amazed how much support the port the idea of, say, a student-led not in some Trot ‘rent-a-demo’. students had last year, for exam- occupa on of a city centre build- ple. No s SOS had people in it ing, they might wander along, but And at the same me, every very new to poli cal ac on and they won’t commit to anything mee ng started ge ng TU fo- they thought the student riots that might marginalise workplace- cussed again, discussing how and occupa ons were brilliant. focused ac vism. They don’t really bad the internal poli cs of, for No s. UnCut shuts down 3 or get it. So SOS should con nue, example, Unison are, and how 4 business of a Saturday in and but either try to free itself from we need to get socialists elected gets a really good crowd. People this iner a or maintain its role as within them. Don’t get me wrong, stand and listen to them. The a focal point. It can’t go down the there are No s SOS ac vists I’d far NHS campaign occupied a huge reformist route and be beholden rather have represent me or have roundabout in town for hours to the trades unions. Members infl uence within my union than (it also hung a life-size effi gy of of the Le organisa ons have a some New-Labourite. In par cular, Andrew Lansley, which was a bit choice. They have to ask them- there are several people in Unison controversial!). selves where their priori es lie in No ngham and No s. who are and be honest about it. in or around Le Par es who are I think No s SOS should be a genuinely great people. But at the hub and a support for these and end of the day everyone (else) even more daring sorts of direct knows that the Le ’s struggles ac on. In itself, it can’t be radi- for control of the unions means cal because it can’t seem to do 29 HHistoryistory The Great Unrest: Prelude to the Storm

Miners wai ng to go into the mass mee ng at Empire Theatre, Tonypandy, 9th November 1910

The ‘Great Unrest’ refers to the of workers fi ght over wages and from 389 in 1908 to 872 in 1911 period between 1910 and 1914 condi ons with the most militant and over 1400 in 1913. In 1909 when the western world was methods. Total union membership only 170,000 Bri sh workers had convulsed by social and industrial grew from 2,477,000 in 1910 to struck, in 1911 the fi gure to strikes and disorder, reaching a over 4 million by the end of 1913 961,000. 91 percent of transport peak in 1913 and only ending and brought state rule to breaking workers and 62 percent of miners (though not en rely s fl ed or point. par cipated in strikes between silenced) by the beginning of the 1910-13. In 1911 the fi rst na- Great War of 1914-18. The wave Industrial militancy in the 1910s onal rail strike was called and in of strikes in Britain saw millions reached a new level. Strikes rose 1912 the fi rst ever na onal coal 30 strike. The printers’ strike of 1911 of armed confl ict if troops were What Was The Cause Of The led to the establishment of a new used to break the strike. Daily Great Unrest? workers’ daily newspaper - the mass demonstra ons were held Daily Herald. This mass wave of throughout East London in sup- By 1910, ci ng fi nancial con- strikes and protests spread across port of the strikers, some num- straints, the Liberal government’s all industries and all classes of bering over 100,000 strong. The earlier reforms were coming to an workers. In Bermondsey, South strike was solid and won. end. Industrial grievances were London, 15,000 women workers building over poor working condi- from over 20 factories - many in ons, discipline at work, and the food processing, a notoriously Dockers failure of wages to keep pace with low-paid and sweated occupa on rising prices. Yet unemployment - came out on strike in 1911, one In Liverpool this victory spread remained low, meaning there of the biggest strikes by women confi dence and 4,000 Liverpool were fewer people available to workers in the Unrest, winning dockers walked off the job in the bosses to be used as blackleg be er terms and the right to or- June. Other groups of workers labour. Low wages and the sense ganise in a union. followed. By the end of the day that an enriched middle class was 10,000 were out. The seafarers holding down pay, a third of the came back out in support of the popula on below the poverty line, First shots dockers. The dockers won the ill health, infant mortality, and strike, promp ng tug boat and oppressive government and police The fi rst shots in this ferry workers, coopers, labour- were real and infl ammatory griev- had been fi red in 1910 when over ers, porters, brewery workers ances. 300,000 miners in South Wales and workers at the rubber plant struck and remained on strike for to strike in turn. The strikes At the same me, the struggles of almost twelve months. It was united Protestant and Catholic women for the vote and for Home triggered in September by 70 workers in a city riddled with Rule in Ireland were reaching a miners in a dispute over tonnage sectarianism. In July and August crisis point. In the course of the rates paid by the ‘Cambrian Com- a wave of unoffi cial rail strikes struggles these movements raised bine’. It was a bi er dispute with broke out as wage nego a ons ques ons about the posi on of pitched ba les between strikers, (workers called them ‘confi sca- the working class and disenfran- troops and police brought in from on boards’) broke down. These chised under capitalism and the London, who were assis ng scab strikes were largely spontaneous, legi macy of the capitalist state. labour to break the strike. In wildcat strikes. 50,000 workers One of the crucial years in this Tonypandy one striker was killed were out on unoffi cial ac on period was 1911, a year when and 500 injured. Though eventu- before the union leaders even the country came close to the ally defeated, the example of the got involved. Mass working class collapse of the ruling elites, will miners and how they organised, resistance, driven by rank and to govern and the replacement from the bo om up and led by fi le workers and infl uenced by of a capitalism with socialist militants, inspired other socialist militants such as Tom then-current forms of socialism workers. In May 1911, seafarers Mann, Ben Tille and James Con- and syndicalism. The historian started unoffi cial strikes over un- nolly, combined across indus- George Dangerfi eld, in his book, ion recogni on and working con- tries, gaining confi dence from The Strange Death of Liberal Eng- di ons. In June a wave of strikes each other and with each victory. land, says the working class ‘took broke out over pay and condi ons Lenin observed, ‘the workers a revolu onary course and might on the docks in Southampton, have learned to fi ght. They have have reached a revolu onary con- Cardiff and Hull, joined by workers discovered the path that will clusion’. Trotsky agreed: ‘In those in Manchester and London. The lead them to victory. They have days a dim spectre of revolu on London dockers were faced by an become aware of their power’. hung over Britain’. The tragedy of alliance of bosses and the state: the period is that it did not lead Winston Churchill threatened to to any signifi cant change in social dispatch 25,000 troops unless rela ons but rather intensifi ed the workers accepted defeat to them and made WWI possible by which dockers’ leaders warned the deple on of the working class’ 31 will to fi ght its enemy, the capital- ist ruling class.

The Llanelli Railway Strike

1911 saw the fi rst ever na onal railway strike and the last me that soldiers fi red on striking workers (killing two) though not the last me that strikers have been murdered by those defend- ing the status quo. One of its most important events occurred in Llanelli in South Wales, but the ‘Llanelli Riot’ was just one of a se- ries of strikes and militant ac on by workers that make the recent events look like a tea party. Troops camped near Llanelli during the Railway Strike, 1911. Merseyside rail workers began unoffi cial strikes in July 1911, and soon 15,000 workers were out. 8000 associated transport workers strike empha cally enough: ‘War of the government panicked. joined the strike in solidarity. The is declared, the men are being Home Secretary Winston Church- strikes arose from the increas- called out’. ill declared, ‘The men have ing impoverishment or railways beaten us. We cannot keep the workers and families, and the trains running. We are done!’ long hours and dangerous work- Troops But the ruling class was not done ing condi ons they faced. A third quite yet. In a day long ba le in- of railway workers were paid less Immediately groups of up to cluding a bayonet charge against than £1 a week. It was usual for 1,000 workers a acked signal unarmed strikers, 700 troops them to work sixty hours a week boxes manned by scabs, tore up took control of the railway. But and some mes seventy hours or track, blocked the lines and de- the next day, the workers hit more. Over me was compulsory stroyed the railway telegraph. In back. They stoned police and sol- and frequently unpaid. Between Chesterfi eld, strikers set the sta- diers and blocked the tracks. A 1897 and 1907 more than 5,000 on ablaze. 50 troops of the West detachment of 80 soldiers under had been killed and 146,000 in- Yorkshire regiment reinforced the Major Stuart tried to clear the jured in industrial accidents. police and made repeated bayo- line at bayonet point. The crowd, net charges into the workers. The rather than disperse, surged up Rail union leaders were cau ous government then mobilised over the embankment and hurled but could not resist the anger and 50,000 troops. In a rare outbreak abuse and the occasional stone militancy of their members. Unof- of honesty, the general in charge at the troops. The Riot Act was fi cial strikes occurred in Swansea, intoned ‘Nothing could have been read and Major Stuart ordered Hull, Bristol and Manchester and more harmonious or easier than his troops to open fi re. Leonard then spread. Faced with this situ- my rela ons with the railway mag- Worstell and John John were a on and an absolute refusal to nates’. killed. John John - Jac as he was consider the workers’ demands, known - was a local rugby star. the leaders called a na onal In Llanelli, strikers had seized Leonard Worstell, who had just on the railways. railway buildings to halt any move- le a sanatorium where he had 200,000 railway workers joined ment along the line, ac on sup- been treated for TB, had simply the strike. The general secretary ported by broad sec ons of the le his kitchen where he was of the Amalgamated Society of working class locally, especially in shaving to see what the fuss was Railway Servants, announced the the nplate factories which domi- about. nated the town. Some members 32 Children

Rather than cowing the workers, this led to an explosion of anger. Pickets halted a train carrying supplies to the army and wrecked the carriages. The goods yard was destroyed. Almost 100 railway carriages were burnt and soon the strikers were a acking the homes and businesses of the magistrates and town council. There was loot- ing in Market Street and dozens of shops had their windows smashed and goods stolen. A wagon carry- ing explosives blew up, killing one School students on strike at Bigyn school, Llanelli, 1911. man and severely injuring several more, three of whom died soon Children were not isolated from events a er. Children at Bigyn School in the town decided to strike as well, around them, their parents would have boyco ng lessons to mark the unjust killing of John and Worstell. been directly aff ected by the strikes and

Eventually however, the union they fully understood that their own leaders sought compromise and prospects in work depended on victory were bought off with a commis- sion and concessions, provoking or defeat in the present struggles. anger but also fuelling the sense of the latent power of industrial organisa on and militancy. Three unions merged to form the Na- produce industrial labour, were parents would have been directly onal Union of Railwaymen and organised on the basis of severe aff ected by the strikes and they had soon recruited a further discipline, physical punishments fully understood that their own 90,000 members. The strikes and rote learning. On 5 Sep- prospects in work depended on demonstrated that even workers tember 1911 thirty or so boys victory or defeat in the present with no tradi on of militancy and marched out of Bigyn School, struggles. with mid or bureaucra c lead- this me to protest over a can- erships can explode into ac on. ing. Within days, pupils in more Strikers ac vely sought to unite Militants of the me, anarchist than sixty towns throughout the whole community - including and syndicalist, understood the Britain had taken to the streets children - in their struggles. And violence of the state, but they did to express their own grievances. the students on strike ac vely not fully grasp the way bureauc- By the end of the week the strike debated the merits of the strikes racy could s fl e militancy. had spread to schools in Liver- and what should be done. The pool, Sheffi eld, Birmingham, Lon- students chalked demands on the don, Glasgow and other ci es. pavement: the aboli on of home The Young Take To The Streets lessons and the cane and an extra The school strikes of 1911 were half-holiday in the week. While The boyco of lessons in Bigyn not unique. The fi rst na on- some protests were violent - boys School to mark the deaths in wide strikes occurred in 1889 in the East End of London armed Llanelli was the forerunner of and took place during a me themselves with s cks and iron more serious resistance among of widespread industrial un- bars - most were not, but are im- young people. Schools in Brit- rest. Children were not isolated portant because of the way young ain, li le more than factories to from events around them, their people gathered together to 33

Strikers at the ‘monster demonstra on’ of 13th August 1911, before the police a acked. discuss, ar culate and then press 70,000 strikers in Liverpool away city while HMS Antrim anchored demands, not just about discipline from the union offi cials and con- in the Mersey, its guns trained on but also hours, leaving age and trolled most of the city’s industrial the centre of Liverpool. holidays. life. Goods could only be moved with the agreement of the com- These 7,000 troops and special mi ee and factories ground to a police had turned the city into an The Liverpool Transport Strike halt. The authori es were power- armed camp. One observer re- less. But the commi ee allowed called ‘the stench of the unscav- In June 1911, seafarers had the movement of food, coal, pet- enged streets - the corpora on won major concessions from the rol and other necessi es to keep workers had come out in sym- bosses as a result of mass, co- hospitals and other vital services pathy – and of the truck loads ordinated strike ac on, backed opera ng. It wasn’t , but a of vegetables ro ng at Edge Hill by sympathy ac on in other ports city being run on diff erent princi- Sta on. I remember bits of bro- and mass rallies by workers in ples nonetheless. ken bo le, relics of ba les down support of the strike. Under- by the docks, the pa er of feet standing the lessons to be learnt, Detachments of police and mili- walking the pavements when the 4,000 dock porters struck on 7 tary were despatched to the city trams ceased to run, the grey August, followed by another 6,000 from Leeds and Birmingham. HMS Antrim lying on guard in the coal-heavers and carters. A city- 200 offi cers from the Royal Irish Mersey, the soldiers marching wide strike commi ee—including, Constabulary together with 400 through the streets’. vitally, the rail workers—agreed troops of the Royal Warwickshire that all transport workers would Regiment were greeted with boos When the strikers held a ‘family add their support through sym- and catcalls outside Lime Street day’ on Sunday 13th August, po- pathy strikes. The next day, 4,000 Sta on. The Lord Mayor asked for lice and troops a acked it, spark- railway workers struck; the docks addi onal police, and troops, from ing several days of street fi gh ng. were closed and no goods trains the Scots Greys, the Hussars and The movement soon reached ran. Soon, the strike commi ee The Yorkshire Regiment arrived in propor ons. Residents had taken the leadership of the the city. In total an extra 2,400 po- of working class districts in north lice and 5,000 troops were in the Liverpool erected barbed wire 34 barricades. A mass demonstra on at St George’s Hall in central Liver- pool was brutally a acked by the police and pitched ba les spilled into the streets. Mounted police offi cers charged the crowd and, a er a lengthy resistance and nu- merous baton charges, cleared the area. The Liverpool Echo reported the fi gh ng as ‘a scene which re- minded one of the turbulent mes in Paris when the Revolu on was at its height’. The Liverpool s pen- diary magistrate, surrounded by troops of the Warwickshire Regi- ment, read the Riot Act. Tom Mann, syndicalist and chair of the Liverpool Transport Strike commi ee, addresses a mass assembly of workers. Trouble erupted nearby with police and troops pelted with diseases like diphtheria and capacity for sudden and spon- missiles from roof tops. Police tuberculosis were rife. Work- taneous, organised and collec- cleared the roo ops and ordered ing condi ons in Liverpool were ve ac on, led from below and that public houses be closed. extremely poor, with most of the with terrible strength. Secondly, The events of this Bloody Sunday labour employed in the docks, that such movements gain their were followed by three days of warehousing and transport. Un- power from anger and grievances guerrilla warfare in the streets like other major towns, Liverpool grounded in the objec ve facts of and neighbourhoods of the city. did not have a manufacturing everyday life: poverty, ill-health, Five prison vans carrying some of base and people were employed authoritarian governments and those arrested at the rally, es- and discarded on a casual basis. elites, unfair treatment in work corted by cavalry, were a acked Decades of Tory rule in the city, and other aspects of life, the en- in order to rescue the prisoners. an authoritarian police and mu- richment on one group of people Two dockers, Michael Prendergast nicipal government, grievances (the ruling class and its allies) and and John Sutcliff e, were killed by ignored, workers scorned and to the rela ve impoverishment of soldiers guarding the convoy. The be disciplined by the Bible, hun- the rest. Thirdly, that such move- following day virtual mar al law ger and the police truncheon, ments will be weakened and may was imposed on the city - as it had these provided fer le ground ul mately be defeated if they been in London - but s ll the strike for social unrest. But it was the rely on representa ve leadership con nued and by the end of the powerful rhetoric and organis- rather than direct democracy. As month, a er threats of sympathy ing power of syndicalist militants syndicalists pointed out in 1911, ac on from other sec ons, the which directed the working class based on bi er experiences in the employers gave in and sued for against its enemy - the own- South Wales miners’ strike, ‘The peace on the union’s terms. ing classes - and gave them the possession of power inevitably means to challenge them: the leads to corrup on. All leaders industrial mass strike. become corrupt, in spite of their Militancy own good inten ons. No man was ever good enough, brave enough What explains this militancy? Lessons or strong enough to have such Large areas of Liverpool consisted power at his disposal as real lead- of poor proper es, back-to-back What lessons can we learn from ership implies’. terraced houses, occupied by large the events of 1911? Firstly, that families, some mes two families no ma er how ‘beaten’ the to a room. They had communal working class appears to be, how sanitary and washing facili es, disorganised, ill-led or divided poor sanita on, and associated within itself, it has a tremendous 35 TThehe ParisParis CommuneCommune ooff 11871871 aandnd iitsts ImpactImpact Revolutionary Portrait: Eugene Varlin, Martyr of the Paris Commune

Eugene Varlin was born on 5th October 1839 near Clayes-Souilly in France, into a poor family. His father, an agricultural day labour- er, also had a small piece of land to grow vegetables. His grandfa- ther on his mother’s side had sup- ported the 1848 revolu on and he suff ered under Louis Napoleon. His stories had a big infl uence on Eugene.

Eugene’s father hoped that his son would study and not be con- demned to hard toil all his life like so many others in the neighbour- hood. He a ended school un l 13 and then took an appren ceship as a bookbinder with his uncle in Paris. He took evening courses at the same me, even learning La n and dis nguished himself in his studies.

Varlin became conscious of the need to organise and joined the Bookbinders’ Society at the age of 18. This society concerned itself with sickness benefi ts and re re- ment sums and he sought to make it more militant. In 1864, already on police fi les, he took part in his fi rst strike and became a mem- ber of the strike commi ee. His direc on he called for the crea on ing among the an -authori ans agita on in the Society led to his of a Federa on of Parisian Work- within the First Interna onal expulsion from it and he now set ers’ Socie es which was created which he joined in 1865. He up his own bookbinders’ associa- in 1869. During the strike wave of advanced the ideas of federalism on which grew to three-hundred 1869 he set up a strike fund, not within it. He began wri ng for members by 1870. At the same devoted to one trade but for all the weekly paper of the First In- me he organised a coopera- workers on strike. terna onal, La Tribune Ouvriere. ve restaurant and a coopera ve He was one of the four French shop. Eugene became a socialist, adopt- delegates at the London confer- ing the mutualist outlook of ence. He was unimpressed by the In an a empt to turn the work- Proudhon, situa ng himself on London leadership of the Interna- ers’ socie es in a more militant the le of that current and act- onal, preferring the company of 36 Marx’s daughters to that of their father, and waltzing with them throughout the last evening!

However, Varlin felt the need to con nue to work within it. He was opposed to the Proud- honist posi on which said that women should stay at home and not work in the factories. He had mee ngs with Bakunin and , represen ng the libertarian current within the Interna onal. With the banning of the Interna onal in 1868 he was fi ned and served 3 months in prison. He developed a collec vist posi on, becoming coordina ng Communards about to destroy the Tour Vendôme in Paris, 1871. secretary of the workers’ socie es. He believed the socie es could be a place to train people for a future society. At the end of 1870, a er On the 26th March, as a mem- having set up sec ons of the inter- ber of the Interna onal, he During the Bloody Week, with na onal in , Lille and Creusot, was elected to the Council of the advance of the troops of the he had to fl ee to Belgium. the Commune, being the only Versailles government, he led the delegate to be elected in 3 ar- defence of the Sixth and Tenth Ar- With the fall of Napoleon III and rondissements. He served on the rondissements, fi gh ng from bar- the se ng up of a government fi nance commi ee, fi nally pass- ricade to barricade. The Versaillais of na onal defence in Paris, he ing to the commi ee for military troops began massacres, but returned there and founded the supply. Varlin denounced the a empts vigilance commi ee of the Fourth by some Communards to retaliate Arrondissement. He became del- With his experience of coop- with similar massacres, and tried egate to the central commi ee of era ves he now set up clothing unsuccessfully to stop the execu- twenty arrondissements, where workshops, one of which was di- on of fi y hostages. he was in charge of fi nance. Head rected by Louise Michel. He also of a Garde Na onale ba alion, Eu- became secretary of the Council Recognised by a priest in the gene, with his libertarian outlook, of the Interna onal, maintaining street on 28th May, Varlin was felt that this had to be aligned to links between the Commune and arrested. He had made no a empt the workers’ movement and that the workers’ socie es. to fl ee or to hide himself. He was its leaders be elected and sub- tortured and beaten and then ject to instant recall. However he As a libertarian he was opposed fi nally put up against a wall and resigned from the ba alion when to the moves to set up a Commit- shot, his body lying on the ground it failed to accept his sugges ons. tee of Public Safety to defend the for several hours. In front of the He saw that the new government Commune, reminding himself of fi ring squad he cried out “Vive la was prepared to make a deal with the role of such an organisa on Commune!” the Prussians and to fl ee Paris for in the 1789 Revolu on. He saw Versailles. When this government in it the danger of a dictatorship a empted to seize the cannons at in opposi on to the grass roots Montmartre, Eugene Varlin was organisa ons of the masses. He among those who took part in the signed the declara on of the subsequent insurrec on, with the minority, fl yposted throughout ba alions of the Ba gnolles dis- Paris protes ng against these trict taking control of the area. moves. 37 AAnniversarynniversary IIssuessue The day will come: Chicago 1886

“The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are thro ling today”.

Last words of anarchist August Spies on the gallows on November 11th 1886.

This year marks the 125th anni- versary of the Haymarket events and the judicial murder of anar- Lucy and . chist ac vists. Organise! looks at the background to the events, the ing day, Chicago police a acked alive and condemned the process incident and the repression that and killed picke ng workers at the that had led to the legal murder followed. This was the main rea- McCormick Reaper Plant in Chi- of the others son, o en obscured and forgot- cago. A protest mee ng was called ten, some mes deliberately, that for the following day. The meet- con nued to fi ght workers began to celebrate May ing was almost over when it was for the memory of her mur- 1st every year. a acked by police carrying rifl es. dered partner Albert. The event A dynamite bomb was hurled into radicalised many and some like In the summer of 1884 the Fed- police ranks and in the a ermath , who had ini- era on of Organized Trades and the police began fi ring, killing four ally been hos le to the Chicago Labor Unions called for May 1st, workers. defendants, became anarchists 1886 to be the star ng point for as a result. agita on for an eight hour day. As Mar al law was declared the a result Chicago, with the largest following day and anarchist or- Today a memorial to the martyrs group of organised workers in the ganisers were rounded up. Many stands in the old German cem- USA at that me, had the largest of them had not even been at etery in Chicago. Alongside those demonstra on, with 80,000 work- the incident in the Haymarket. executed are many anarchists ers marching. This stunned the The two-month trial resulted in who chose to be buried alongside employers. Some feared a com- verdicts of death for seven of the the martyrs, like Emma Goldman, ing revolu on and others quickly defendants and fi een years hard Voltairine de Cleyre and Lucy signed agreements for shorter labour for another. Subsequently, Parsons. hours with the same pay. two had their sentences changed Some of the organisers of the to life imprisonment. One of the Chicago 1886 is a reminder both Chicago event were anarchists like anarchists, Louis Lingg, escaped of the key role that anarchists Lucy and Albert Parsons. Lucy had the noose by apparently killing have had in workers’ struggles been born a slave in Texas, with a himself in his cell - although some and of the ferocious and murder- black, na ve American and Mexi- have cast doubt on this as he was ous repression that the employ- can background. Her husband wai ng for a pardon that day and ers and the State are prepared to Albert edited the paper Alarm and regard his death as ‘mysterious’. use. In these mes of radicalisa- was one of the founders of the Adolph Fischer, George Engel, on of struggle, the memory of Chicago Trades and Labor Assem- August Spies and Albert Parsons the Chicago Martyrs needs to be bly. were hanged on November 11th re-emphasised in forthcoming of that year, crying out defi ant an- May Day processions so that the Albert travelled to Ohio to speak archist slogans from the scaff old. parades are not le to the union at rallies there on May 2nd. How- In 1893 Governor Altgeld par- bureaucrats and their pals in the ever, in his absence, on the follow- doned the three defendants s ll Labour Party. 38 AAnniversarynniversary IIssuessue The

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolu on. Organise! inves - gates this extremely important and much-misunderstood event in three ar cles. 39 The land belongs to those who work it.

Mexico in 1910 was a land where an emerging working class was adop ng radical forms of organi- sa on and struggle, where the indigenous peoples were s ll con nuing their resistance against three hundred years of rule ini ated by Spain, and where the bourgeoisie itself was a empt- ing to develop and consolidate its power against the establishment ins tu ons of the old regimes and the Catholic Church.

The regime directed by Porfi rio Diaz represented the interests of the small group of rich owners of vast agricultural estates, and in addi on served the interests of foreign capital, including that of the USA. It was opposed by vari- ous groups within the liberal bour- geoisie who wanted a na onal revolu on to ins tute bourgeois democracy. This agreement was at fi rst led by Madero and Carranza. Carranza represented a group of landowners in northern Mexico who had been excluded from the regime. In addi on, there was the movement around the Magon Soldier during the Mexican Revolu on. brothers, which was evolving in an increasingly anarchist direc on, the customary compromise with who were virtually slaves; there a workers’ movement to a lesser the regime that was frequent in were the cowboys and ranch or greater extent infl uenced by Mexico. The opposi on turned to hands in the north, and the small the Magonistas, and strong rural mobilisa on of the masses to help farmers. Discontent had been movements around Emiliano Za- this come about. slowly building long before the pata in the south and Pancho Villa bid of Madero for power. The in the north. Throughout Mexico condi ons free villages were increasingly were wildly divergent. There were under threat and the big estates The aging Diaz, in power for 34 s ll the free villages based on were expanding, propelled by the years, announced his impending tradi onal Indian ways of organis- development of mills and of the re rement which started off the ing, where land was farmed on a sugar cane industry. period of unrest. The bourgeois collec ve basis; there were the opposi on advanced a candidate labourers on the big estates and in Madero was a typical modernis- to the Presidency and pushed it the mber industry in the jungles, ing member of the bourgeoisie, through, rather than giving in to 40 whose aims were solely the depar- ture of Diaz and the introduc on of democracy. He now made himself popular with a promise of , having the fi nancial backing of several Mexican and American capitalists, as well as re- lying on his own personal fortune.

The Magon brothers and the PLM

The movement led by Ricardo Flores and Jesus Flores Magon had had a much longer record of opposi on to Diaz. They had founded an opposi on journal Regeneracion in 1900 and soon formed the Par do Liberal Mexica- no (Mexican Liberal Party) which essen ally advanced a programme of civil rights. Gradually, under the infl uence of Ricardo, this party orientated itself towards the indig- enous free communi es and the poor peasants. The Magon broth- ers were forced into exile in the USA, whilst maintaining contact with PLM members in Mexico. In exile Ricardo met the Ameri- can anarchist Emma Goldman and established a friendship with English sec on of Regeneración, 1914. the Spaniard Florencio Bazora, a friend of the Italian anarchist Malatesta. Links were formed with the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the USA. When Madero called for an rose up in nine other states in World (IWW). The PLM, despite its uprising against Diaz on 20th No- Mexico, orchestra ng joint mili- con nuing to retain the same tle, vember 1911 the PLM mobilised tary ac vity with the Maderistas started to transform itself into an its forces. They were in favour of and infl ic ng big defeats on the anarchist communist organisa on. a tac cal alliance on the ground old regime. In Baja California (see The Magonistas began to smug- with the Madero forces against ar cle below) the PLM seized gle Regeneracion into Mexico Diaz, but were categorically Mexicali and this deeply disturbed and massive agita on took place against a poli cal alliance with the regime. The PLM hoped in among the workers and peasants. them. Indeed, the PLM hoped to the long run to expropriate the win elements of the Maderistas big landowners there, but in the The PLM a empted two insur- over to more radical posi ons. mean me, forced them to hand rec ons, in 1906 and 1908, both Unfortunately the Madero upris- over large sums of money. The repressed. For their part, the ing failed, and it was only in late PLM, in addi on, hoped to use USA interned some of the PLM December that the movement Baja California as a base from leadership in 1907 for conspiracy renewed itself. PLM forces under which to support other PLM units. and viola on of the laws of neu- Praxedis Guerrero crossed the trality between Mexico and the border and marched through the PLM units gained many victories, state of Chihuahua. The PLM 41 in contrast with the poor military Emiliano Zapata organised armed bands to take record of the Maderistas. Interna- onally many socialists, syndical- back communal lands seized by the estates ... He ists and anarchists began support- represented a new genera on willing to fi ght. ing the cause of the PLM.

Thanks to Silva, a PLM guerrilla commander, Madero returned to should lay down their arms. The maintaining their principles and Mexico from the States, but on PLM refused this, and saw that a behaving as anarchists, whilst not the following day, declared him- social revolu on was con nuing using this tle. self commander in chief of the in- within Mexico. However, many surgent forces, and a er another insurgents now thought that the However repression was falling PLM commander came over to his Madero regime would lead pro- more and more upon the PLM. side, he arrested Silva for refusing gressively towards greater social Ricardo and Librado Rivera were to recognise his authority. The jus ce. The American Socialist again arrested by the US govern- situa on was compounded by the Party withdrew its support from ment and sentenced respec vely split between the leadership in the PLM, and transferred it to Ma- to 20 and 15 years in jail!! In exile in the States, clearly anar- dero. Only a sec on of the IWW 1922 Ricardo died in prison, chist communist, and some of the and the anarchists con nued to with strong indica ons that he PLM membership in Mexico, not support the PLM. had been murdered by the US as poli cally developed, and lead- authori es. Released in 1923, ing to compromises with Madero. Despite these setbacks Regen- Rivera returned to Mexico where For his part Madero denounced eracion released a new manifesto he was a leading light in the an- PLM militants to both the US and to replace that of 1906, calling archist group, Hermanos Rojos, Mexican governments, and prof- for struggle against authority, the maintaining his convic ons un l ited from lack of communica on Church and capitalism, and for the his death in 1932. to peddle the myth that the two establishment of a free society. movements were in alliance. This However, some infl uen al mem- destroyed PLM unity, leading to bers of the PLM, including Jesus Zapata splits towards Madero. Madero Flores Magon, had rallied to Ma- had eight leading Magonistas ar- dero. And, in June 1912, Ricardo In the south, Emiliano Zapata rested in Chihuahua and one hun- and other important PLM militants organised armed bands to take dred and forty seven members of were arrested by the US govern- back communal lands seized their units were disarmed. At the ment and sentenced to 23 months by the estates, spurred on by same me a campaign of slander in jail for breaking the neutrality Madero’s bid to challenge the began against the PLM on both laws. old regime. He represented a sides of the border. On the Ameri- new genera on willing to fi ght can side they were portrayed as Peace only lasted a few weeks and the village elders accepted mere bandits. On the Mexican a er the signing of the treaty and this situa on, standing aside to side they were portrayed as tools several movements, including that let them take over the village of American interests. This situ- of Zapata, took up the cry of Land councils. The movement around a on was facilitated by the large and Liberty. Madero himself was Zapata was dis nguished by its number of American volunteers murdered by the reac onaries determina on to restore commu- swelling PLM ranks, be they social- and a new phase of unrest began. nal land. As a result it increased ists, anarchists or IWW. When Ricardo Flores Magon came from a small band to a large out of jail in January 1914, he re- movement. It forced the Madero newed his agita on. Cri cising the regime to talk about widespread Victory over Diaz successive regimes, he denounced land reforms. The Zapa stas the manipula on of the masses established the Plan of Ayala call- Madero fi nally came to power in by the diff erent fac ons of the ing for the return of seized lands, November 1211, signing a treaty bourgeoisie. He cas gated Pancho and further, that a third of land with Diaz. Offi cially, the Revo- Villa for ac ng as their servant, owned by the estates be distrib- lu on was over, and everyone but praised the Zapa stas for uted to the landless. This was 42

O lio Montano the former school Emiliano Zapata, his brother Eufemio and their wives. teacher who introduced Zapata to anarchist ideas.

dra ed by Zapata and a local anar- ment came to include tens of intelligentsia and many workers’ chist teacher, O lio E. Montano. thousands. When Huerta was leaders made their peace with A er Huerta, represen ng the old smashed the Zapa stas control- Carranza. The Zapa sta movement regime, seized power and mur- led the south. At the Conven on con nued in the south, with Za- dered Madero, many Magonistas of Aguascalientes in September pata issuing many denuncia ons and syndicalists fl ed south and 1914, the diff erent forces in- of the new regime, but by now he made contact with the Zapa sta volved in the smashing of Huerta had lost most of his intellectual movement. Among these were met up. Peasants and workers supporters, some of the insurgent Octavio Jahn, a French anarchist from the revolu onary units leaders who had been won over communist, and the brothers Igna- forced through the Plan of Ayala. by promises of non-interference in cio and Antonio Diaz Soto y Gama. Carranza and his group refused Zapa sta territory. to accept this and set up their The Huerta coup meant that own government. These Car- On 9th April 1919 Zapata was opposi on was coming from the rancista then began to co-opt lured into a trap and gunned liberal bourgeoisie, the workers’ insurgent leaders. One of these, down. movement and the rural move- a Zapa sta leader called Jose ments. In the north the move- Rouaix, who had become gover- The fi nal phase of the revolu on ment of cowboys and ranch hands nor of Durango, joined Carranza took place when some of Carran- around Villa adopted the Plan and together they set up a com- za’s generals, who represented a of Ayala, eff ec vely uni ng the mi ee on agrarian reform. At the more radical approach of a sec on movements in the countryside. same me Carranza sought to of the bourgeoisie, revolted, and Huerta was defeated. In the proc- buy off the workers’ movement in the following hos li es, fi nally ess, the peasant groups disman- by promising labour legisla on defeated him. In this confl ict the tled many big estates and killed or and organising rights (see the new contender for power, General expelled many offi cials of the old separate ar cle ‘A Grave Error’). Obregon, received the support of regime. The Zapa stas fought a many remaining Zapa stas and classic guerrilla campaign, making The Carrancista smashed Villa those who had earlier joined Car- sudden appearances, and then in the north, and in the south, ranza. disappearing again. The move- isolated the Zapa stas. The 43 The triumph of Obregon meant the ins tu onalisa on of the revolu on refl ected in the tle of the new ruling party, The Ins tu- onal Revolu onary Party. The hopes and aspira ons of workers and peasants had been dashed.

Why Was The Revolu on De- feated?

The PLM put the military and insurrec onal ques on before the poli cal educa on of its militants. As a result there was a lack of ide- ological unity, as seen in the suc- cession of splits and defec ons. The 1906 and 1908 insurrec ons had resulted in the deaths or im- prisonment of many of the most ac ve and poli cally advanced militants. The PLM, in its progres- sion towards anarchism, began to accentuate the importance of the working class over that of the Badge of Par do Liberal Mexicano. peasantry. However, the working class in Mexico was s ll in devel- lack of fi nances, whereas Madero, pata arrived in Mexico City they opment and too weak and numer- for example, was able to call on failed to take the ini a ve. They ically small to have a decisive in- millions of dollars. failed to form an eff ec ve and fl uence. For its part, propaga on las ng alliance among them- of PLM ideas among the peasants To end on a posi ve note, the selves, failed to establish links of was hindered to a certain extent PLM had infl uenced the struggles solidarity with urban workers, by widespread illiteracy. Recruit- of both workers and peasants and failed to confront Carranza ment to the PLM had been dif- with their an -authoritarian ideas, and to a empt to dismantle fi cult, and the infl ux of foreign radicalising them from the Zapa s- State power. Nevertheless the in- volunteers had distorted the situa- tas in the south to the forma on fl uence of the Zapa stas echoes on. The leading lights in the PLM of unions heavily under the infl u- down to the present day. had in the main remained in Los ences of anarchism. Today s ll in Angeles when they should have Oaxaca, the PLM has inspired the As to the workers movement, been on the ground in Mexico. present-day Magonistas. lack of experience and numerical They had believed that the pro- weakness does not excuse an in- duc on of Regeneracion, enabled As to the Zapa sta movement, ability to link up with the agrar- by being in the States, was of fi rst whilst most eff ec ve in its military ian movements, and the support importance. This removal from ac vity and its land occupa ons, it given to Carranza against those the scene clouded their judge- failed to ac vely form an alliance movements. Revolu onaries, ment and their lack of clarity led with urban workers, only gaining both in Mexico and elsewhere, to a debate on the interna onal the support of a small number of need to refl ect on all these mis- level as to whether or not they anarchist workers and intellectu- takes, and be prepared to fi ght were truly anarchist (they cer- als. Like the PLM, its lack of poli - against coop on and compro- tainly were) robbing them of a cal educa on, led to the defec on mise in future social struggles. certain amount of interna onal of people like Rouaix and others. solidarity. The PLM suff ered from When the forces of Villa and Za- 44 Uprising in Baja

Baja California (Lower Califor- nia) is the long fi nger of land that stretches down into the Pacifi c south of the border with Califor- nia in the USA. The border towns of Tijuana and Mexicali and the coastal town of Ensanada are its chief towns. Here for six months during 1911 a major insurrec on took place. Organise! Looks at this li le-known event, in which the famous Wobbly, Joe Hill, is rumoured to have been involved.

On 29th January 1911 twenty armed Magonista militants, led by Jose Maria Leyva, seized the town Magonistas in Tijuana a er the fi rst ba le at the border town, 1911. of Mexicali. Leyva called himself the General in Chief of the Insur- gent Forces and was assisted by Si- mon Berthold. This act threatened thirty Americans led by ex-ser- independent expedi on. the rich agricultural estates as well geant William Stanley seized a as the water resources used by border post to the east of Mexi- Luis Rodriguez seized Tecate on the US farmers of Imperial Valley. cali. The following day, Leyva and 12th March, whilst Stanley again The Magonistas were soon joined Berthold declared the founda on seized the same border post and by many volunteers from the USA, of a coopera ve commonwealth built up his forces to a hundred. boos ng their numbers to 80. A in Baja California. The insurgents Meanwhile the US government, column of soldiers was sent from now numbered 300 at Mexicali, aff righted by the perceived threat Ensenada to drive them out. with two thirds of them from to its interests, massed 20,000 sol- the USA. On 1st March another diers on the border. Figh ng now At the same me in the US press Magonista column led by Fran- broke out between the govern- an eccentric businessman, Dick cisco Vasquez Salinas and Luis ment troops and the insurgents, Ferris, with backing from im- Rodriguez crossed the border Tecate was retaken and Leyva and portant bankers, began to make into Baja California and started Berthold failed to regain it. An- announcements about crea ng an requisi oning the big estates tagonisms between the Americans independent Baja California, and near Tecate. and the Mexicans within the insur- to recruit one thousand men to gent ranks con nued, with Leyva carry this out. The US press began Indecision within the insurgent being blamed for the defeat. He to falsely amalgamate the Magoni- ranks at Mexicali led to serious was dismissed as commander and sta ac ons with Ferris’s plans. disagreements, with Stanley replaced by Salinas. Disobeying a emp ng to strip Leyva of his Salinas, Stanley launched an a ack The government troops were command, which was coun- on government troops and was defeated and the insurgents tered by Berthold. Stanley then defeated dying a day later. He was increased their numbers to 200. crossed the border into the USA replaced by Caryl ap Rhys Pryce, The socialist John Kenneth Turner with the aim of convincing the a Welsh ‘soldier of fortune’ who brought them a delivery of arms Magonista leadership in Los accused Salinas of having betrayed over the border. A few days later, Angeles that he should lead an Stanley. 45 cease hos li es, and Pryce, who was favourable to a ceasefi re, went to L.A. to argue for this. He was dismissed. His place at Ti- juana was taken by Louis James, also under the infl uence of Ferris. James called for an independ- ent republic and the new regime used this as a pretext of accus- ing the Magonistas of serving US interests. Fortunately, James was ousted and forced to fl ee. Mosby a empted to control the situa- on and closed down the saloons and casinos. However he s ll looked for tourist revenue and set up a Wild West Show in the style of Buff alo Bill!

The Mexican government con- vened with the US authori es, which allowed 1500 Mexican troops to cross and re-cross the Volunteers in the Magonista foreign legion pose for the cameraman in May 1911. border and a ack the insurgents. The detachment of Guerrero was massacred. For their part the US capture of Tijuana led to great authori es arrested the Mag- On 13th April Berthold died of enthusiasm in radical circles with onista leadership in Los Angeles. an infec on of a wound he had 30 deserters from the US Army Leyva, who had gone over to the sustained in the previous month. crossing the border to join the Madero regime, nego ated a sur- The elec on of a new commander insurgents. render of the insurgents at Mexi- aggravated the confl icts between cali. Leyva later made a career in Mexicans and Americans and a However media a en on went to the Mexican army. group of Indians, led by Emilio Pryce’s head. He set up a system Guerrero, quit the detachment. where for 25 cents American The forces led by Mosby at Tijua- Meanwhile the Industrial Work- tourists could visit the sights of na refused to surrender and were ers of the World (IWW) delivered ba le. He allowed the saloons a acked by government troops. arms to the insurgents. and gambling dens to con nue The insurgents fl ed, Mexicans their ac vi es, taxing them and and Indians disappearing into the Salinas arrived in Los Angeles to sending 850 dollars to the Mag- countryside and the Americans meet with the Magonista leader- onista leadership. Pryce became fl eeing over the border where ship but was arrested by the US more and more out of control and they were disarmed by the US authori es. Francisco Quijadas started talking about uni ng Baja Army. replaced him. Meanwhile Mosby California to the USA, in several was wounded and replaced by interviews to US papers. He regu- The a empt at revolu on in Baja Sam Wood, who was joined by larly crossed the border, dining at California, had proved to be a fi - Pryce at the retaken town of the best restaurants in San Diego asco, with the insurgents crippled Tecate. They seized Tijuana a er and establishing contact with the by dissensions between Ameri- fi erce fi gh ng. Tijuana was, and businessman Dick Ferris. cans, Mexicans and Indians, and s ll is, a playground for Americans with opportunism and lack of po- to come over the border to spend The Madero regime had now li cal principle rife among some their money in saloons, casinos, come to power on 21st May. The of its leading actors. brothels and at the racetrack. The Magonista leadership refused to 46 A Grave Error: the Mexican Syndicalists

The birth of the workers’ move- workers. They founded a paper building was closed down by the ment in Mexico was profoundly of the same name and proposed authori es with the planned dem- infl uenced by anarchism. This the se ng up of a free school onstra ons of 1st May 1914 being movement proclaimed independ- modelled on the principles of used as a pretext. With the fall of ence from the poli cal par es and the Spanish anarchist, Ferrer. Huerta, Carranza now intervened the State. Yet in 1915 a pact was The paper was suppressed and and allowed the Casa to establish signed with the Cons tu onalists Moncaleano was expelled by the itself at a commandeered convent. led by Carranza. Organise! Looks Madero regime. However those at why this might have happened. remaining set up the Casa del The Carranza regime inaugurated The workers’ movement in Mexico Obrero Mundial (House of the a period of normalisa on into was rela vely young and inexperi- Interna onal Worker), the name the Mexican revolu on. Intrigues enced. At the me the popula on being also used for a local fed- mul plied, a whole host of ca- counted eleven million who lived era on of unions. New papers reerists and profi teers inserted in the countryside as opposed to supported by the Casa began to themselves into the administra- four million who lived in urban appear in 1913. on, and norms were established centres. A comparison with Russia controlling nego a on with the during the 1917 Revolu on could The Casa carried out intense employers, demonstra ons on be made. ac vity, advanced the ideas of the streets, poli cal mee ngs etc. direct ac on and rejected the The State now became the legal The fi rst two decades of the interven on of the Ministry arbiter in workplace disputes. twen eth century were marked of Labour created by the new In this climate, the Casa estab- by a radicalisa on of the Mexican leader of Mexico, Huerta, in con- lished a pact with Carranza on workers’ movement, with an infl ux fl icts between the workers and 17th February 1915 and work- of Spanish immigrants, bringing the employers. ers organised by the Casa in Red with them new forms of organis- Ba alions and Anarchist Sanitary ing. The tradi onal forms of or- However, a sec on of the move- Ba alions reinforced Carranza’s ganising began to give way to new ment began to ally itself with troops. They were used to counter and radical unions based on the another contender for power, the detachments of the peasant ideas of anarcho-syndicalism. General Carranza. The Casa revolu onaries of Zapata and When Madero came to power Villa! Seven thousand Mexico in 1911, the legisla on workers’ organisa on that had existed Carranza and representa ves of Casa del Obrero Mundial. under the regime of Porfi rio Diaz did not disappear. However the fall of Diaz had encouraged this movement and strikes of transport workers, bakers, clothes makers and the dockers of the port town of Tampico broke out during that year.

A Colombian anarchist, Juan Francisco Moncaleano, arrived in Mexico in 1912 and with seven others set up the Luz (Light) Group, formed mostly of manual 47 City workers went to the Cons - Carranza shu ng down the Casa However, this organisa on was tu onalist military training centre H.Q. one year later when the Casa s llborn and a er an a empt at and their par cipa on was sig- a empted to start organising a general strike in August 1916 nifi cant in victories over Villa and again in the workplaces. it was savagely repressed by the Zapata. The Casa jus fi ed this on Obregon regime. This now set the grounds of the religiosity and This appalling mistake was argued up an offi cial union central the the primarily ‘agrarian’ outlook of against by the Magonistas and Regional Workers’ Confedera- the Zapa stas and Villistas, accus- by the Industrial Workers of the on of Mexico (CROM). This new ing them of being backed by the World (IWW) in the USA, and was organisa on was completely cor- Church and bankers!! In exchange, rejected by the railworkers, the oil pora st, ghtly aligned with the Carranza gave the Casa some of- workers and the tex le workers of State, with a well-paid and large fi ces and allowed the publica on Puebla and Veracruz. An a empt bureaucracy, ac ng as a direct of their papers. Eulogies to heroic was made to set up a revolu on- control by the poli cians over the Cons tu onalist leaders started ary central of anarcho-syndicalist workers. Even a large number of appearing in these papers with unions in July 1915, and a li le old ac vists ac ve within Mexi- such comments as, ‘The triumph later, a workers’ conference took can anarcho-syndicalism entered of cons tu onalism is the triumph place in Veracruz and the CNT its ranks. of liberty’! All of this did not stop (Mexican region) was created.

Press Fund Appeal If you like Organise! and would like to see it con nue, then as a reader who sympa- thises with the poli cs of this magazine you should seriously think of dona ng money. Any amount, no ma er how small or how large (!) is very welcome. The more we get the more we will be able to think about increasing the size of our magazine and appear- ing more o en. If you want to see Organise! providing libertarian com- munist analysis then donate by sending cheques or postal orders made out to “AFED” to BM ANARFED, London WC1N 3XX. We will acknowledge any dona ons and keep readers informed of the amounts we receive. Alterna vely you can donate electronically by going to www.afed.org.uk and clicking on the Donate bu on on the le of the screen. 48 CCultureulture The anarchist sculptor Henri Gaudier Brzeska

educa onalist by the Spanish state, a demonstra- on which ended in a riot. The many strikes and demonstra- ons of 1910 pulled him more and more into the orbit of the workers’ movement and the an- archist movement and he became acquainted with the ideas of syndicalism. Among these dem- onstra ons was the funeral of the anarchist Cler, murdered by the police during a strike in June of that year. Another demonstra- on a ended by Gaudier was the huge demonstra on to protest the execu on of Liabeuf. This young worker had falsely been accused of being a ponce when he fell in love with a pros tute. As a re- sult he was jailed. Coming out of prison he had decided to avenge himself and had a acked a police patrol killing one cop and wound- ing seven others. He went to his death crying “I am not a ponce!” The Tate Gallery in London recent- two years at the age of sixteen, The demonstra on, supported by ly hosted an exhibi on on the radi- taking on business studies at fi rst many workers, ar sts and writers, cal art movement the Vor cists. in Bristol and then Cardiff , all the also turned into confronta ons Organise! looks at the poli cal me drawing and reading more with the police and Gaudier might convic ons of one of its members, and more. He then con nued to well have been involved with the sculptor Gaudier-Brzeska. study at Nuremburg in Germany these. The fate of Liabeuf was to between April and September have an eff ect on Gaudier, as will Henri Gaudier was born in 1891 1909. Returning from Germany be seen(1). at Saint Jean de Braye on the east- he decided to interrupt his stud- ern outskirts of Orleans in France. ies and moved to Paris where he He began to produce sculptures The district was part rural and got a job as a translator with a in this period. In May 1910 he met part urban. He wanted to become publisher. He made use of a local a Polish woman, Sophie Brzeska, a carpenter like his father but library and in his spare me hung twenty years older than himself, showed great talent at school, im- out in student and ar s c cir- and fell in love with her. In an at- mersing himself in books, school cles, becoming acquainted with tempt to introduce Sophie to his work and drawing and becoming anarchist militants. He took part family, the pair thought it a good a solitary individual isolated from in the enormous demonstra on idea that Sophie got lodgings in a his sisters and mother. The award in Paris on 14th October 1909 village near his old home. There of a grant meant that he was able against the announcement of the was an anonymous denuncia on to study abroad in England for death sentence on the anarchist to the police and she was accused 49 of being a pros tute, and she was Gaudier-Brzeska. jus fying this appalling about- forced to return to Paris. Remem- face with a need for a defence of bering the example of Liabeuf and During 1913 and the fi rst part ‘civilisa on’ and ‘culture’ against the strictures put on , of 1914 he produced some of the forces of a barbarous and Gaudier passed Sophie off as his his fi nest work, compared to the authoritarian Germany. Gaudier- sister, even to his close ar s c most advanced works of the me Brzeska was to write in 1912 that associates. His convic ons on free being produced by Archipenko, he was chastened that ‘the youth love, in addi on to his an -milita- Modigliani, Zadkine, Epstein and of France had not revolted en rist convic ons, pushed him more Brancusi. As a result of several masse against the abominable and more towards the anarchist commissions, he was able to open conscrip on’ and that he did movement, and Sophie herself a workshop and to buy supplies of not ‘recognise any patrio c duty’ appears to have had anarchist marble. He le his job in autumn to join the dra . Two years later convic ons. He was infl uenced by 1913 and devoted himself to his he was to jus fy his new stance Malatesta but most of all by the art. He became connected with by sta ng that, ‘It is a ma er of anarchist theorist Kropotkin. He the London Group of avant garde saving civilisa on before these tried to meet Kropotkin in Decem- ar sts, diff eren a ng himself bastards destroy all works of Art.’ ber 1912 in London, describing from the Futurist movement. Further reading: Mark Antliff , him as “the great anarchist”. He In four texts published a er his ‘Henri Gaudier-Brzeska's Guerre wrote to Sophie that he would death in the Vor cist magazine sociale Art, Anarchism and An - have been delighted to execute a Blast, he outlined his diff erences Militarism in Paris and London, portrait of Kropotkin. He admired with impressionism and futurism. 1910–1915’ in the journal Mod- the work of the great illustrator He became a par cipant in the ernism/modernity, Volume 17, Aris de Delannoy, whose sketches Vor cist group, and a friend of Number 1, January 2010, pp. appeared in the libertarian papers the poet Ezra Pound. Pound and 135-169. Temps Nouveaux and L’Homme Gaudier-Brzeska had many argu- du Jour and mourned his death in ments about the la er’s anar- (1)Victor Serge in his Memoirs of 1911. He was also an admirer of chism. Pound, as is well known, a Revolu onary gives a graphic Steinlen, another noted anarchist later became a supporter of fas- descrip on of the Liabeuf aff air… illustrator. He himself had an incli- cism and a notorious ant-Semite. ’Shouts and angry scuffl es broke out when the guillo ne wagon arrived, na on to become an illustrator for Gaudier-Brzeska made an analogy escorted by a squad of cavalry. For the anarchist press to the extent of his technique of directly carv- some hours there was a ba le on of sidelining his sculpture. ing into marble with the anarchist the spot, the police charges forcing idea of direct ac on! One of his us ineff ec vely because of the dark- He assiduously read the French works, ‘Two Women Running’, un- ness, into side-streets from which anarchist papers and the London fortunately now lost, is described sec ons of the crowd would dis- anarchist journal Freedom. by Gaudier-Brzeska as an allegory gorge once again the next minute… Fleeing the dra in 1911 he le of the spirit of Liberty urging on At dawn, exhaus on quietened the France for London in January of Woman to a nobler life. crowd, and at the instant when that year. There he met up with the blade fell upon a raging head Sophie again and they a empted So what then compelled this com- s ll yelling its innocence, a baf- fl ed frenzy gripped the twenty or to earn a living, o en having to be mi ed an -militarist to suddenly thirty thousand demonstrators, and separated for long periods be- renounce his convic ons on the found its outlet in a long-drawn cry: cause of work. Henri found a job outbreak of the First World War? Murderers!... When in the morning with a wood merchant in the City, Why did he return to France to en- I returned to that part of the boule- and began to develop his sculptur- list to be subsequently slaughtered vard, a huge policeman, standing on al skills, at fi rst modelling himself on the front on 5th June 1915? the square of fresh sand which had on Rodin, and then infl uenced by Malatesta was to rage, ‘Have the been thrown over the blood, was at- his visits to the Bri sh Museum, anarchists lost their principles?’ ten vely treading a rose into it’. falling more and more under Gaudier-Brzeska, like many social- the infl uence of the tribal arts of ists, syndicalists and an anarchist Africa and . In 1912 his minority which included Kropot- drawings appeared in a magazine kin, were to enthusias cally sup- of modern art, Rhythm, signed port the Allies against Germany, 50 RReviewseviews

David John Douglass, Ghost Danc- also with their erstwhile comrades ers: The Miners' Last GeneraƟ on who were looking for a pay-off (Chris e Books, 2010). and a way out of the industry. This Paperback: 540 pages ISBN-10: did not prevent another chance 1873976402 ISBN-13: 978- to fi ght in the early 1990s, when 1873976401 massive public sympathy and, oddly enough, brief media support Ghost Dancers is the third and for the miners gave them another arguably the best of Dave Doug- chance. But as Dave argues, the lass’ autobiographical trilogy general mood was not for another Stardust and Coaldust - A Coal- outright fi ght, contrary to the miners Mahabharata. In it Dave claims of many of the 57 varie- documents the great miners’ es of le y. The Major govern- strike 1984–5, the years imme- ment fi nished what Thatcher had diately before, the confl ict itself started and much of the le is s ll and then the fall out. It is a long coming to terms with the conse- and in many respects detailed quences of this watershed. Ghost response of regional elements of account but it needs to be; the Dancers is told with Dave’s cus- the NUM to pit closures in their strike was recognised by many at tomary honesty, humour and an- areas. Dave gives a detailed and the me as of fundamental impor- ger. It is a commi ed and largely nuanced discussion of the issues tance for the fortunes not only of convincing account by someone around whether or not to hold a the miners but of the organised who was signifi cant in the events na onal secret ballot, something progressive Bri sh working-class described, but who manages very the press made an awful lot of. in its en rety; its impact stretched well to keep their own role in He shows it was a decision of even to far fl ung Penzance, where perspec ve and to talk engagingly the rank-and-fi le a er exhaus- Labour Party ac vists received a and independently about other ve debate and discussion, generous response when pass- persons and forces in the strug- and not some instruc on from ing round the collec ng bucket in gle. This includes the anarchists as is now univer- the town and conducted a war of who come out very well… wri en sally believed. He also shows words in the local press with Ro- with Dave’s unique libertarian but how the miners came close to man Catholic priests and others. un-sectarian and un-dogma c securing some sort of victory on But in achieving this status, the perspec ve, Ghost Dancers is several occasions, only for the strike has also a racted a lot of essen al reading for anyone who Thatcher government to harden myths, o en media invented, that wants to be er understand what their resolve and fi ght on. The have li le or no bearing in real- happened to the miners in the discussion of organising the fl y- ity. Dave does a very admirable 1980s and early 1990s and why ing pickets by one of those most and eff ec ve job of nailing very we are s ll coming to terms with responsible for it is also makes many of these myths. A good deal the consequences. for fascina ng reading, as do the revolved around the apparently details of the various debates poor tac cal decision over the Ghost Dancers is available from: and confl icts that arose as the ming of the strike and - Freedom Bookshop, Angel Alley, hunger set in. These of course in- ship of Arthur Scargill. Dave shows Whitechapel High Street, London; clude the humorous (and not so that, while Arthur might have fed Housemans Bookshop, Caledonian humorous) picket-line anecdote the myth of his own omnipotence Road, London; and ordered from as well as detailed excerpts from himself, the heavily decentralised all branches of Waterstones; on- the set-piece conference speech. NUM (like the old Miner’s Federa- line from centralbooks.com and on before it) was not easily led AK distribu on. Class War readers Finally, Dave shows how the into a strike it did not want. In can also get a personally signed defeat did not demoralise all fact areas came out in support of copy, direct from the author on miners. Many kept on fi gh ng, other areas, thereby building a [email protected] (£13.50 though they had to do so now de facto na onal strike from the post paid). 51 OObituarybituary Bob Miller (1953-2011)

Goodbye Comrade Bob. , Maoist populism, mes of the publica ons of this or the despo c leaderships of the movement he helped sustain and On June 17th this year Bob Miller na onal libera on movements - develop our presence and role to died a er a brief and intense fi ght Bob found his home amongst the this day, ensuring that the voice with cancer. This was a tragic Libertarian Anarchist Communists of the revolu onary minority had blow not just for his family, friends a place to be heard. and comrades, but also for the From the point he joined the revolu onary movement which in group Social Revolu on in 1972 Bob was no paragon of virtue, Bob, lost a dedicated and commit- he began a contribu on as ac v- nor hero, nor icon. On the con- ted contributor to its past, present ist, writer and theore cian that trary, it was exactly his normality, and its future. shaped the course and character his open and accessible human- of the revolu onary movement ity that allowed him to achieve Bob was inspired like many of his for the next 40 years. Those of so much. A warm generous genera on in the late 60’s and us ac ve today are aware of the individual, his ability to make early 70’s by the intensity of the seminal contribu ons to our friends, be open to discussion, class struggle against capitalism thought and prac ce that came his recogni on of the poten al and its superpower confl icts by from the organisa ons Bob dedi- and goodness of people around proxy in Vietnam and throughout cated himself to in those years: him - those he considered com- the ‘developing’ world. Not falling Solidarity for Social Revolu on, rades, and those not necessarily for the mesmerising range of false Careless Talk, Intercom, Wildcat, ‘fellow travellers’ - gave him the choices off ered to young revo- Subversion, and for the last 13 ears of many. Confi dent and clear lu onists then to side with one years the Anarchist Federa on. in his own revolu onary ideas, state or another – liberalism or As editor and author at various he was non sectarian and warmly 52 welcomed the contribu on of oth- edited our na onal publica ons unaware of the seriousness of his ers. His funeral, a ended by more Resistance and Organise!, along illness un l the last month of his than 300 people included not with others, always ensuring a life. A devout atheist and human- just friends, family and work col- rallying point and visibility in the ist Bob bore the news and pros- leagues (though Bob had recently North West of England, so vital pect of death with a realism and re red), but comrades and revo- at mes when pessimism, illness stoicism that inspires his friends lu onaries from a range of tradi- or exhaus on aff ected some of and his family. His partner and ons and viewpoints from around us around him. La erly he had comrade Sally barely le his side Europe. been instrumental in the organi- in those last weeks, loving, caring sa on’s regenera on and growth and suppor ng even of his deter- As a worker Bob fought his corner giving our movement a fi rm and mina on to ease the pain of those for his colleagues and class. As a stable founda on into a future around him with his con nuing teacher suppor ng largely work- no one imagined he would be mentoring and realism. In his ing class children from migrant removed from in such un mely death both grief and celebra on communi es for whom English fashion. of a great life go hand in hand. was not their fi rst language, he We love, appreciate, miss and was well known in and respected In his last year, along with his thank our Comrade Bob for all the by the diverse ethnic and religious long me partner, wife, comrade things he brought to our lives and communi es of his home town and constant companion Sally, movement. of Oldham in the North West. He he fought a famous campaign on also gained the a en on of those behalf of a young refugee Rabar who revile our class interests, the Hamed, an Iraqi school student, From Sally racist thugs and fascists of the whom the Bri sh State threw Na onal Front in its turn, and the on to the streets and des tu on Bob died quietly and bravely Bri sh Na onal Party and its suc- as a precursor to deporta on. which was how he lived his life. He cessors and off shoots. Bob had The campaign achieved rapid was a quiet hero to me and to our a secret pride in appearing on the success and na onal a en on, kids, Ka e and Tom. He gave us an Nazi thug site ‘Red Watch’ as a gaining recogni on from Human uncondi onal love based in kind- key enemy of na onalism and the Rights organisa ons and earning ness although anyone who knew white supremacists. Without ma- him and Sally the Human Rights him was aware he could be a chismo or an ins nct for violence, Ac vist 2010 award for Rabar’s “grumpy bugger”. It isn’t possible Bob was not afraid of defending defence in their local community. to say how much we miss him, but our class and his communi es on While this, as so many other we were so lucky to have known the street and in his neighbour- struggles, con nues, Bob re- and loved him and to have been hood. mained commi ed and ac ve up loved by him. to losing consciousness in his last Whilst a key mentor and organiser few days. in the Anarchist Federa on, espe- cially in its North West sec on, he It is a small mercy that Bob was 53 Also available from the Anarchist Federation

Pamphlets

In the Tradi on Beyond Resistance - a revolu onary manifesto Explaining where our poli cs comes from. Ar cles from the pages of Organise from 1996 on the First 10 years of the Anarchist Communist Federa on The AF’s in-depth analysis of the capitalist world (as we were then known) and from 1999-2004, the in crisis, sugges ons about what the alterna ve series “In the Tradi on” which documents many Anarchist could be like, and of the earlier revolu onary groups that we draw evalua on of social and organisa onal forces which some inspira on from. play a part in the revolu onary process.

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Basic Bakunin Kropotkin and the by Brian Morris This 2007 updated edi on of put fi rst pamphlet outlines the ideas of one of the A new pamphlet introducing the ideas of one of founders of class struggle anarchism. the most infl uen al anarchist communist writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. £1.50 (UK) and £2.00 (overseas) £2.50 (UK) and £3.00 (overseas)

Introduc on to Anarchist Against Na onalism Communism Published September 2009, an analysis of na onal- This pamphlet is made up of two parts that run ism and why anarchist communists are fundamen- alongside each other. The main text lays out the tally against it. fundamental ideas of anarchist communism. Vari- ous boxes throughout the text give examples from £2.50 (UK) and £3.00 (overseas) history to illustrate the ideas described in the main sec on.

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Work and the Free Society Role of the Revolu onary Organisa on

The name says it all. Why work is so terrible and Anarchist communists reject the Leninist model why it must be destroyed before it destroys us! of a ‘vanguard’ party as counter-revolu onary. This new edi on explains the concept of revolu- £2.50 (UK) and £3.00 (overseas) onary organisa on and its structure. All libertar- ian revolu onaries should read this fundamental text.

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Back issues of Organise! are available Transla ons of various AF texts are available in Arabic, Français/French, from the London address (or email Deutsch/German, Español/Spanish, Português/Portuguese, Ελληνικός/ Greek, Hollands/Dutch, Русский/Russian, Gàidhlig/Gaelic, Cymraeg/ distribu [email protected]) for £1.50 inc. Welsh, Esperanto, and Turkish. For complete lis ngs: p&p. Alterna vely, send us a fi ver and h p://www.afed.org.uk/organisa on/interna onal-iaf-ifa.html we’ll send you whatever we can fi nd ly- ing around. As We See It 70p plus postage Available in Welsh, Serbo-Croat, Greek. German, Span- ish and Portugese. For complete list of back issues - h p://www.afed.org.uk/publica ons/ Beyond Resistance organise-magazine.html 70p plus postage Available in French. 54 55 Aims & Principles of the Anarchist Federation

1 The Anarchist Federa on is an organisa on of revolu- and cra , skilled and unskilled, etc). Even syndicalist un- onary class struggle anarchists. We aim for the aboli on ions are constrained by the fundamental nature of union- of all hierarchy, and work for the crea on of a world-wide ism. The union has to be able to control its membership in : anarchist communism. order to make deals with management. Their aim, through nego a on, is to achieve a fairer form of exploita on of 2 Capitalism is based on the exploita on of the working the workforce. The interests of leaders and representa ves class by the ruling class. But inequality and exploita on are will always be diff erent from ours. The boss class is our also expressed in terms of race, gender, sexuality, health, enemy, and while we must fi ght for be er condi ons from ability and age, and in these ways one sec on of the it, we have to realise that reforms we may achieve today working class oppresses another. This divides us, causing a may be taken away tomorrow. Our ul mate aim must be lack of class unity in struggle that benefi ts the ruling class. the complete aboli on of . Working within the Oppressed groups are strengthened by autonomous ac on unions can never achieve this. However, we do not argue which challenges social and economic power rela onships. for people to leave unions un l they are made irrelevant To achieve our goal we must relinquish power over each by the revolu onary event. The union is a common point other on a personal as well as a poli cal level. of departure for many workers. Rank and fi le ini a ves may strengthen us in the ba le for anarchist communism. 3 We believe that fi gh ng racism and sexism is as im- What’s important is that we organise ourselves collec vely, portant as other aspects of the class struggle. Anarchist- arguing for workers to control struggles themselves. Communism cannot be achieved while sexism and racism s ll exist. In order to be eff ec ve in their struggle against 8 Genuine libera on can only come about through the their oppression both within society and within the work- revolu onary self ac vity of the working class on a mass ing class, women, lesbians and gays, and black people may scale. An anarchist communist society means not only at mes need to organise independently. However, this co-opera on between equals, but ac ve involvement in should be as working class people as cross-class move- the shaping and crea ng of that society during and a er ments hide real class diff erences and achieve li le for the revolu on. In mes of upheaval and struggle, people them. Full emancipa on cannot be achieved without the will need to create their own revolu onary organisa ons aboli on of capitalism. controlled by everyone in them. These autonomous or- ganisa ons will be outside the control of poli cal par es, 4 We are opposed to the ideology of na onal libera on and within them we will learn many important lessons of movements which claims that there is some common self-ac vity. interest between na ve bosses and the working class in face of foreign domina on. We do support working class 9 As anarchists we organise in all areas of life to try to struggles against racism, genocide, ethnocide and poli - advance the revolu onary process. We believe a strong cal and economic . We oppose the crea on of anarchist organisa on is necessary to help us to this end. any new ruling class. We reject all forms of na onalism, Unlike other so-called socialists or communists we do not as this only serves to redefi ne divisions in the interna- want power or control for our organisa on. We recognise onal working class. The working class has no country and that the revolu on can only be carried out directly by the na onal boundaries must be eliminated. We seek to build working class. However, the revolu on must be preceded an anarchist interna onal to work with other libertarian by organisa ons able to convince people of the anarchist revolu onaries throughout the world. communist alterna ve and method. We par cipate in struggle as anarchist communists, and organise on a fed- 5 As well as exploi ng and oppressing the majority of peo- era ve basis. We reject sectarianism and work for a united ple, Capitalism threatens the world through war and the revolu onary anarchist movement. destruc on of the environment. 10 We oppose organised religion and cults and hold to a 6 It is not possible to abolish Capitalism without a revolu- materialist analysis of capitalist society. We, the working on, which will arise out of class confl ict. The ruling class class, can change society through our own eff orts. Wor- must be completely overthrown to achieve anarchist com- shipping an unprovable spiritual realm, or believing in a munism. Because the ruling class will not relinquish power religious unity between classes, mys fi es or suppresses without their use of armed force, this revolu on will be a such self-emancipa on / libera on. We reject any no on me of violence as well as libera on. that people can be liberated through some kind of super- natural force. We work towards a society where religion is 7 Unions by their very nature cannot become vehicles for no longer relevant. the revolu onary transforma on of society. They have to be accepted by capitalism in order to func on and so can- not play a part in its overthrow. Trades unions divide the working class (between employed and unemployed, trade