Anarchist Writers

The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:

https://www.blackflag.org.uk

This year’s third issue is a special dedicated to the life and work of Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921) to mark the 180^th anniversary of his birth. As such, the issue contains many rare English-language texts by Kropotkin along with newly translated articles from the French newspapers he was intimately associated with – Le Révolté, La Révolte  and Les Temps Nouveaux. We are also happy to announce that we have secured translations of his prefaces to the 1902 and 1919 Russian editions of The Conquest of Bread. The articles and letters cover a range of subjects, from anarchism to war, from revolution to eugenics. In addition we include evaluations of Kropotkin’s ideas and legacy by leading libertarian activists like Rocker, Berneri, Goldsmith and Malatesta.

The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:

https://www.blackflag.org.uk

This issue includes articles on and by the Federalist wing of the First International, to mark the birth of revolutionary anarchism at the St. Imier Congress of the First International in 1872, as well as articles on and by Camillo Berneri and Errico Malatesta. We also discuss the formation of the 1922 syndicalist International Workers’ Association and include its first Information bulletin, itself an excellent introduction to the ideas of syndicalism. Malatesta is also subject of an article on national self-determination in light of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We end by a long critical review of a Marxist collection about the First International, exposing its assumptions and prejudices.

The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:

https://www.blackflag.org.uk

This issue includes articles on or by American anarchists Sam Dolgoff, Voltairine De Cleyre and Lucy Parsons, libertarian socialist Cornelius Castoriadis as well as an Anarchist Guide to the Communist Manifesto and a discussion of anarchist approaches to (political) elections.

There are many schools of libertarian socialist thought. The various schools of anarchism (mutualist, collectivist, communist, syndicalist and individualist) are the most famous but there are others, some better remembered than others. Council communism, for example, still has its adherents but others, such as the Guild Socialism of this excellent collection, do not. In this case, this is a distinct shame as the ideas of G.D.H. Cole (1889-1959) should be better known for they address issues still relevant to activists today and, unlike council communism, Guild Socialism is not encumbered by Marxist prejudices nor jargon and was all the better for this.

Tom Mann (1856-1941) played a critical role in the industrial struggles of 1910-1914, better known as “the Great Unrest” or “the syndicalist revolt”. This article discusses his influence and ideas as well as his links to anarchism along with other aspects of British syndicalism during this period. It appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Vol. 1 No. 3 (Autumn 2021)

The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:

http://www.blackflag.org.uk

This issue includes articles on or by Tom Mann and British syndicalism, Émile Pouget and his contribution to French syndicalism, libertarians at the 1896 London Congress of the Second International, fighting fascism in Italy and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, the anarcho-feminist Mujeres Libres group and more.

American academic J. Salwyn Schapiro claims that Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a fascist have been repeated by Marxists ever since he made them. This article exposes his bad-faith as well as the many distortions and inventions Schapiro inflicted on Proudhon, showing that he was – for all his faults – an anarchist. It appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Vol. 1 No. 2 (Summer 2021)

The new issue of Black Flag Anarchist Review is now available:

http://www.blackflag.org.uk

This issue includes articles on or by Albert Meltzer, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Joseph Déjacque and Daniel Guérin, interviews with Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin and Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin, and reviews.

Anarchists, I hope, would read Mustapha Mond’s “A Brief Question of Syndicalism” with mixed feelings. On the one hand, it is always nice to see other socialists apparently searching for common ground with their libertarian “frienemies” and implicitly admit that we were right. On the other, there is a substantial element of wishful thinking about it which limits its usefulness.