Les anarchistes espagnols - Les années héroïques 1868-1936

by Murray Bookchin, Nicolas Calvé (Translator)

Fut un temps où Barcelone, parmi d’autres villes et villages espagnols, était une enclave anarcho-syndicaliste : usines, transports en commun et services publics étaient gérés et administrés par des comités et des syndicats de travailleurs, le plus souvent issus des classes ouvrières et populaires. Pendant près de trois générations, les idées et les pratiques anarchistes ont connu des années que l’auteur qualifie d’« héroïques ».

Publié pour la première fois en 1976, cet ouvrage retrace tambour battant l’histoire de l’anarchisme en Espagne depuis la fin du XIXe siècle jusqu’à la veille de la révolution sociale de 1936. Fondé sur une variété de sources et salué comme une pierre angulaire de l’historiographie de l’anarchisme, ce classique de l’écologiste libertaire Murray Bookchin est traduit en français pour la première fois. Non content de rendre accessibles au lectorat francophone les riches enseignements que l’anarchisme espagnol continue de nous apporter, ce livre permet de contester, preuves à l’appui, l’idée reçue voulant qu’une société libertaire soit une utopie irréalisable.

Murray Bookchin (1921-2006) était un philosophe, militant et essayiste écologiste étatsunien. Considéré comme l’un des penseurs marquants du municipalisme libertaire, il a écrit de nombreux livres et articles, dont Une société à refaire (Écosociété, 2011).

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, Spain, Spanish Civil War, European History, Anarchism

412 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Murray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist author, orator, and philosopher. A pioneer in the ecology movement, Bookchin was the founder of the social ecology movement within anarchist, libertarian socialist and ecological thought. He was the author of two dozen books on politics, philosophy, history, and urban affairs as well as ecology. In the late 1990s he became disenchanted with the strategy of political Anarchism and founded his own libertarian socialist ideology called Communalism.

Bookchin was an anti-capitalist and vocal advocate of the decentralisation of society along ecological and democratic lines. His writings on libertarian municipalism, a theory of face-to-face, assembly democracy, had an influence on the Green movement and anti-capitalist direct action groups such as Reclaim the Streets.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bookchin argued, in one of the earlier histories of the Spanish Revolution, that it took nearly 3 generations of struggle, organization building, and conflict to lead up to the strong revolutionary change that characterized the Revolution and Civil War. The book is therefore the story of building the revolutionary organizations that led to the founding and development of the anarchosyndicalist union in the CNT and specifically anarchist activist organization in the FAI. Bookchin notes that Anarchism and similar socialist movements took root in Spain very early on as a result of the extreme measures of the Spanish ruling classes, along with the heavy village communal traditions. He frames Spanish Anarchists having developed through periods of building unions, before drifting towards terrorism as a response to repression, such as assassinating politicians and military officials. By the 20th century, it had been generally accepted that multiple tactics should be embraced, including direct action, propaganda, general strikes, and dogged union organizing. The founding of the CNT in 1911, enabled a larger union movement to arise in Aragon, Catalonia, southern Spain, and beyond. By the 1920s-30s, several right-wing military coups led to repression of leftist movement but rapid growth of the CNT and the creation of the more secretive FAI. All of this built towards the eventual showdown in 1936, when again a right-wing general in Franco attempted to nullify an election, but this time, the people of the country stood up and said no, ushering in the Revolution in Barcelona and the countryside in the shadow of the Republican cause that began the Civil War.

Key Themes and Concepts
-Anarchism in Spain came from utter poverty and rigid class societies, which lead to Spanish Anarchists carrying a disdain for pleasures of the flesh, a responsibility of all to work, and duty towards revolution. Spanish revolutionaries also carried an inherent distrust of authority.
-Tensions between the Anarchists of the rural peasantry and the urban unionists led to different traditions which eventually worked together in alliance, but still led to heavy debates, such as national organization versus local, communes versus dividing the land into individual plots, libertarian communism versus Bakunin’s collectivism, and more.
-Spanish Anarchists believed in a general transformation of lifestyles, embracing utter equality and devotion to building a different society and embracing a multitude of tactics to get there.

[Asa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essential resource for understanding the significance of anarchism in Spain, a movement that had a profound, though often overlooked, influence on the course of modern history.

The book offers an in-depth historical account of Spain’s anarchist movement, particularly during the early 20th century, when anarchists briefly controlled significant parts of Catalonia and played a crucial role in shaping the region's social and political landscape. Murray Bookchin's work stands out as one of the most comprehensive histories of anarchism in Spain up until 1936, shedding light on a revolutionary era that mainstream historians often overlook.

What makes this work especially significant is its recognition of the near-revolutionary potential of anarchism in Spain. As noted by figures like Noam Chomsky, the anarchist-controlled parts of Catalonia could have represented the most progressive society the world had ever seen, at least for a brief moment. This history serves as a powerful reminder of the potential for alternative, non-authoritarian forms of governance to emerge in the context of social and economic upheaval.

For those interested in understanding not only the history of anarchism in Spain but also the broader implications of anarchist ideas on modern society, Bookchin’s narrative is invaluable. While anarchism may not have achieved long-term dominance, its influence on Spanish (and world) history is undeniable, and this book offers a much-needed antidote to the neglect of anarchist movements in traditional historical accounts.

Whether you identify as an anarchist or not, this is a must-read for anyone seriously engaging with the complexities of political history and the role of revolutionary movements in shaping our world. Bookchin’s analysis challenges readers to reconsider the assumptions they hold about governance, authority, and the potential for grassroots movements to disrupt entrenched systems of power.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first point to mention: One's understanding of what happened in Spain is almost certainly indicated by the answer to one question. Was this the Spanish Civil War or the Spanish Revolution? The essence of Bookchin's book (and it is not original to him) is that there was a revolution within the Civil War. While there is considerable recognition of the Civil War, there is much less discussion and consideration of the revolution within that civil war.

One immediate problem in understanding the dynamics in Spain is the crazy quilt set of actors. Key groups run the gamut from Fascists (Francisco Franco as a leader) to monarchists to liberals/moderates to Marxists (Trotskyites, represented by the organization POUM, versus Stalinists, organized as the UGT [with members called Ugetistas:]) and anarchists (syndicalists, members of the union CNT, whose members were called Cenetistas, and straight out anarchists, members in the organization FAI, with individual members referred to as Faistas). Yikes! One needs a scorecard to keep them straight!

This book does not focus on the Civil War and Revolution so much as on the background to those events. Bookchin goes back to the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin's influence on Spanish radicals. Much of this book is the run up to the Civil War and the revolution embedded within that Civil War--the Republic versus the Fascists represented the Civil War. The anarchists trying to implement libertarian societies was the revolution.

Topically, the book begins with the origins of the idea of anarchism in Spain. Bakunin was a critical figure here, a Russian aristocrat who, oddly enough, adopted the anarchist perspective. An emissary who did not speak Spanish brought Bakunin's ideas to Spain; given the linguistic obstacles, it is surprising indeed to see that he had an impact on the development of a Spanish anarchist movement.

The book then describes the development of that movement in Spain over the past quarter century of the 1800s and the early 1900s as well. In short, anarchism did develop something of a foothold in Spain. Unfortunately, some of the advocated if this view engaged in "propaganda of the deed," terrorism, to try to advance the cause. In the process, much damage was done to that very movement.

Bookchin then described the twin developments--support for anarcho-syndicalism (a perspective that argued that workers' organizations ought to structure the productive process and be the basis for organizing society) and the CNT (a union that supported syndicalism). The essence of the latter can be discerned by this quotation from Bookchin (page 162): "Obedience to the wishes of the membership was a cardinal rule. At the annual congresses, for example, many delegations arrived with mandatory instructions on how to vote on each major issue to be considered. If an action was decided upon, none of the delegations which disagreed with it or felt it was beyond the capacity of its membership was obliged to abide by the decision."

The instability of government in the 1920s and 1930s is then discussed, as a lead up to the outbreak of the Civil War/Revolution. Bookchin concludes by observing that (page 302): "We must leave the details of that revolution--its astonishing achievements and its tragic subversion--to another volume."
Obviously, Bookchin has an ideological perspective on the events in Spain over the period of time that his book covers. And that must be taken into account when reading this work. Nonetheless, overall, his scholarship is solid, and much of what he contends is found in other volumes as well (hence, triangulation occurs to some extent). For those wanting to understand the Spanish Civil War from a perspective not normally presented, this book makes a solid contribution.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating history of one of the most important anarchist and syndicalist movements in history. This book offers a very important perspective that is vital in understanding the social, political, and ultimately human context that lead to the development of the Spanish Revolution, and the inextricably linked Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939; at the same time giving us a plethora of further reading that I intend to do.

Bookchin does a wonderful job in explaining the dynamics, organization, and evolution of the movement. Important to note is the fact that the tendency within syndacalism to bureaucratize, as happened in France, was off-put by a constant influx of rural workers into industrialized cities (pages 60-61). Furthermore this book raises a lot of important questions, and points out many difficulties that such a movement have to answer respectively overcome when trying to grow in influence.

I will briefly enumerate the points I thought were important, in the hopes that prospective readers know what to find (or not) in this book:
- strategies by which anarchists spread their ideas (p. 69)
- the problem of the movement losing overall militancy because of rapid growth (p. 82)
- the evolution of the organizational structures of the movement (p. 119), and its subsequent evolution (p. 165, p 268)
- the contradictions faced by the anarcho-syndicalist movement when they were faced with the problem of voting for a "lesser evil" in an attempt to curtail the rise of fascism (p. 259). Their mistake beautifully summed up with the phrase: "one must emphasize that it would have been preposterous to expect a "lesser evil" to behave with noble virtue." (p. 261), offering a very sobering view on how radical movements should treat electoral politics.
- Murray Bookchin meticulously explains the tensions, and dynamics that existed between the two allied factions whose synthesis gave rise to anarcho-syndicalism: the FAI (Federación Anarquista Ibérica), and the CNT (Confederación Nacional del Trabajo). How their evolution impacted each other and ultimately an exposition of the differences in temperament, organization, and scope. All scattered throughout the book, with important emphasis on different historical contexts.
- a constant emphasis on the state and capitalist repression faced by the movement; this is highly important as this is ultimately both the goal of the anarcho-syndicalism and what gives it shape
- the constant antagonism between the socialist UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores), and the CNT/FAI. In it embodied the almost irreconcilable conflict between the two great branches of radical anti-capitalism
- an account of the liberatory lifestyles, that even today would be considered to radical, adopted by people from a deeply conservative, catholic country in the late 1800, and early 1900s
- an overview of assassination conducted by the movement, and retaliations that were ensued
- a detailed analysis of the struggle in which the CNT/FAI were engaged in on the onset of the highly unstable Second Spanish Republic in 1931

Besides all theoretical, and historical information there is also a healthy emphasis on important characters, that shaped the movement:
- the story of the anarchist Fermin Salvochea from Cádiz
- the harrowing tale of the sixty year old peasant known as "Six Fingers" who declared comuniso libertario in his village upon the forming of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, only to have him, his family, and his fellow comrades slaughtered
- fairly detailed accounts of the affinity group "Los Solidarios" whose members included the famous Francisco Ascaso, Buenaventurra Durruti, and García Oliver

Ultimately, this book is indispensable for getting a unique, and very little talked about perspective, on the Spanish Revolution, and Spanish Civil War.

Last, but not least it is important to note that we get a clear picture of the sentiment that a significant portion of the population faced, and its signature cry for a better world: "Viva la anarquía! Viva comunismo libertario!"

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bookchin’s “the Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years” covers the period from 1868 to 1936—that is, from Giuseppi Fanelli’s introduction of the anarchist “Idea” to Madrid and Barcelona, to the beginnings of the military coup of 1936. It is a history of the formative years of the Anarchist movement, rather than a history of the Spanish Civil War. I don’t have the historical background to evaluate Bookchin’s conclusions; this book served as an introduction to this subject matter for me. All I can do is muse on some of the themes that he touches on.

Bookchin argues that Spanish anarchist movement which climaxed in the Spanish Civil War was the last great classical workers’ proletarian socialist movement, in the tradition that started from the June 1948 Parisian uprisings. In the prologue and final chapter, he notes that capitalism has changed greatly since the period stretching from the 1840s through 1930s: “In those years capital besieged a surprisingly preindustrial society, which could resist it with its rich neighborhood life, its towns, and villages. Today, that preindustrial society is increasingly giving way to a highly commodified market society—not merely a market economy—that has turned so much of the Western world into a giant supermarket with its subservient and suburbanized lifeways.” (p. 7) Accordingly, Bookchin argues that future Left movements will have a different character than those from the period this book treats.

Bookchin emphasizes the spirit of experimentalism and deep humanism that animated the Spanish anarchist movement. He does not lionize this movement, and he does not hesitate to criticize its tactical mistakes and departures from ideals. Yet the anarchist movement, in Bookchin’s history, comes out much better than the more moderate socialists, whose authoritarian organizational forms led to their own eventual downfall. In that sense, the anarchists, often criticized for being utopians, appear more realistic than the authoritarian wing of the socialist movement.

It’s interesting to compare Spain in this period to the U.S in (roughly) the same period. One of the major themes in Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” is the great skill that American liberals have with co-opting radical movements, thus saving capitalism again and again. Zinn describes the Progressive movement in the early 20th century in this manner (as a reaction to socialist and labor activism), and the New Deal (as a reaction to U.S. labor militancy in the 1930s). Naomi Klein’s No Logo could be read as a description of how corporate America—with lifestyle branding-- has now completely co-opted the stirrings of rebellion against stultifying bourgois life in the 1950s and ‘60s. In contrast, Bookchin argues that the Spanish liberals largely abandoned the working class and peasants. This left a space for anarchism to grow in Spain.

Above all, it is fascinating to read about how the “Idea” of anarchism inspired normal workers and peasants to build movements and institutions on their own, largely without the assistance of a vanguard of intellectuals, and largely without forming stultifying bureaucracies.

[Francisco · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone possessing a discontent with “the anomie and atomization fostered by the bourgeois megalopolis…an awareness of the meaninglessness of a life devoted to mindless toil, an acute consciousness of hierarchy and domination in all its forms.”

For anyone interested in “abolishing hierarchy and domination, achieving a spiritually nourishing daily life, replacing mindless toil by meaningful work, attaining the free time for the self-management of a truly solidarizing human community.”

For anyone asking themselves why the fuck this can’t happen in a technologically advanced society and era; why there’s needless scarcity “in an abundant economy that can provide for personal needs with a minimum of toil so that the individual can acquire the free time for self-cultivation and full participation in the direct management of social life.”

For anyone who wants to move beyond “the realm of ‘fairness,’ equivalence, and justice” to “the moral realm of freedom.”

Bookchin’s strongest achievement here is in bringing out—from the lost, neglected, and subjugated spaces of history—the Spanish Anarchist movement, how it formed libertarian social structures, and how it stood against the flagrantly misguided proletarian socialism of Marxist ideology.

These were real people, real ideas, real societies that time after time organized and resisted even against the severest forms of suppression, be they decreed by monarchs, republics, or dictators.

Their visions of “happy Arcadias” and their stories of intractable militancy are urgently called for in our times.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Indeed, no less important as a subject of study than the woerkers' committees and agrarian collectives that were to follow the July revolution was teh movement that created the ground work for libertarian social structures - the Spanish Anarchist movement itself." (312)

While errounsly I thought the book was going to about THE REVOLUTION itself, I read it anyway and this much to my liking. Bookchin ends the book with the quote above, pointing out that those celebrated social structures (for some the only proof that an industrial society can be organized in anarchistic fashion) don't come into being by some magic spontaneity, but by the hard work of forming a movement, a counterculture.

Which helps explain why he wrote a 300 pager on what happened before the R-word and apparently only a few articles on the 'actual' event.

[Lee Humphries · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book that's been sitting on my shelf for a while & been meaning to read it. If you are interested in how and why a country like Spain desired a massive social revolution then this is the book for you. Chomsky often cites that the Spanish revolution was over 30 years in the making and this book demonstrates and documents the events leading up to 1936 social revolution. I've read a few books on Spain which mostly concentrate on the civil war itself this book is essential as the forerunner to one of the biggest social revolutions which was sadly crushed by fascism & Stalin.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bookchin's fantastic history of the Spanish anarchist movement BEFORE the Civil War. this is actually the best-written thing I've found of Bookchin's. if only he could have written this way for his theory pieces, like The Ecology of Freedom, which contains so many great ideas but written in such a jumbled mess.

if you're curious about the Spanish Revolution/Civil War, this book is the necessary back-story.

[David Grassé · Rating 5 out of 5]

For all those who maintain that Anarchism could never be sucessfully actualized.

[Ferran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part molt important de l'historia d'Espanya.
El llibre está ben escrit i estructurat, però potser massa detallista pel que jo buacava

[Javier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know little about the history of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Spain, to say nothing of anarchist movements in the country more specifically. Bookchin's account here certainly provided a good introduction to both of these, though I found his writing style here somewhat less exciting than in either Post-Scarcity Anarchism or The Ecology of Freedom; the radical criticality that I have found in these books--and admired Bookchin for--is certainly missing here. Overall, this is a fascinating period of history reminiscent of the mid- to late- nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries in Russia--and a social milieu featuring much more passion and resistance (in my view) than is the case in much of our current reality.

The last ten pages (the Epilogue)--where Bookchin criticizes the narrow, economistic concerns of Marxism/socialism; claims the 'industrialization of the proletariat' to valorize, not negate, capitalism; and calls on those "discontent with the quality of everyday life," aware of the "meaningless of a life devoted to mindless toil," and conscious of "hierarchy and domination in all its forms" to promote social revolution--were worth five stars themselves.

[Carmilla Voiez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Studying Europe's interwar period without reference to the Spanish Anarchists felt incomplete, but Bookchin came to my rescue. My introduction to Bookchin came via an audio Bookchin Reader, and I am delighted to report that his own writing (at least in this text) is far less pretentious, more concise and clearer than the Reader led me to believe.

1868-1936 Spain, was a time of new ideas which spread through the regions like wildfire and created idealists in both the moderate and radical left. This book tells their stories - their mistakes and successes, and the difficulties and suppression (from government and paramilitaries and communist "comrades") they faced. A wonderful read if you have any interest in leftist politics or twentieth-century European history.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for those who are interested in anarchism. Beautifully, methodically researched; this concise history may be dry and factual but Bookchin does not spare insights when they are warranted.
The "Idea" is one of the most deliberately overlooked political systems in history. In Spain (and other places) it tended to work well without outside interference. Much as it has been in Rojava recently.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful history of Anarchism in Spain up to the beginning of the Civil War itself. As other reviewers elsewhere have pointed out, this is book that even people pissed off at Bookchin because of his pamphlet denouncing Lifestyle Anarchism like.

[Anthony · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting topic. Terrible writing.

[Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting content, but terribly written prose. It was one of those books where I would sometimes find myself re-reading the same sentence over and over to try to make sense of it.

[AlexDC · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5!

[Konstantinos Mindcrimek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Για πολλούς η πιο σημαντική κοινωνική επανάσταση του 20ου αιώνα συνέβη στην Ισπανία και αυτό το τρομερό σε βάθος και αναλύσεις βιβλίο προσπαθεί να εξηγήσει πως συνέβη το φαινόμενο του αναρχισμού στη χώρα της Ιβηρικής. Ο εντυπωσιακός αριθμός των ατόμων που πήραν μέρος στον εμφύλιο δεν ήταν απλά ένα στιγμιαίο ξέσπασμα και παρόλο που έχουν γραφτεί πολλά για εκείνη την περίοδο λίγα είναι γνωστά για το διάστημα που προηγήθηκε γιατί «από ιστορική άποψη, κανένα άλλο προλεταριάτο δεν προσέγγισε ούτε κατά διάνοια το βαθμό της ταξικής συνείδησης, του διεθνισμού, της επαναστατικής έξαρσης και του ανθρώπινου μεγαλείου που πέτυχαν οι Ισπανοί εργάτες».

Ο Βookchin περιγράφει το πώς το κίνημα μεγάλωσε και γιγαντώθηκε μέσα από τις διαφορετικές εκφάνσεις του (αναρχικός κολεκτιβισμός, αναρχοκομμουνισμός του Κροπότκιν), πως το κίνημα πέρασε από χίλια μύρια και απίστευτη καταστολή που έπνιγε στο αίμα τα συνεχιζόμενα ξεσπάσματα του κόσμου για επτά δεκαετίες, πως ρίζωσε και εκτός των βιομηχανικών πόλεων ανάμεσα στους αγρότες που πήγαν κόντρα στους τσιφλικάδες κτλ. Στην ουσία βλέπουμε όλη την ιστορική εξέλιξη, από τους μπακουνικούς της Α’ Διεθνούς μέχρι το πραξικόπημα του Φράνκο το 1936.

Άψογη αναθεωρημένη έκδοση με σημειώσεις/επεξηγήσεις σε κάποια λάθη του συγγραφέα και προφανώς έχει εξαιρετικό ενδιαφέρον ως πολιτικό ανάγνωσμα παρά το αναμενόμενο μπέρδεμα με την παράθεση δεκάδων ονομάτων, οργανώσεων κτλ και τις πολύπλοκες δυναμικές μεταξύ όλων. Το πιο ενδιαφέρον για μένα είναι πως το κίνημα πάτησε πάνω στην συνδικαλιστική οργάνωση της χώρας βάζοντας όμως μπροστά τις ελευθεριακές αρχές μιας κοινωνίας που δεν ήθελε απλά να διεκδικήσει καλύτερα μεροκάματα αλλά και να αποφύγει το στάδιο/παγίδα της δικτατορίας του προλεταριάτου οπότε διαφοροποιείται από τον κρατικιστικό σοσιαλισμό.

Στα θετικά και το επίμετρο του Μάκη Κορακιανίτη στο τέλος με το συμπέρασμα πάνω στην ουσία του προβλήματος της κυριαρχίας ανθρώπου πάνω σε άνθρωπο και πως αφορά τον πολιτισμό στο σύνολο του και είναι ευρύτερο της ταξικής καταπίεσης. Γράφει ο Κορακιανίτης:
«Για τον Μπούκτσιν και την κοινωνική οικολογία είναι ξεκάθαρο ότι όσο υπάρχουν κοινωνικές σχέσεις κυριαρχίας, όσο υπάρχει κοινωνική ιεραρχία, όσο υπάρχει γραφειοκρατικός έλεγχος της ανθρώπινης ζωής, όσο δεν προωθούνται στη βάση της κοινωνίας αμεσοδημοκρατικές μορφές διαχείρισης των κοινωνικών ζητημάτων και, φυσικά, όσο εξακολουθεί να λειτουργεί η καπιταλιστική οικονομία με τον παράλογο και καταστροφικό ανταγωνισμό της και την εμμονή της, την ψύχωσή της, θα λέγαμε, για μια απεριόριστη οικονομική ανάπτυξη, η οικολογική κρίση θα παίρνει ολοένα και πιο απειλητικές μορφές μέχρι την πιθανή ολοσχερή καταστροφή του πλανήτη μας»

[Mario Bonato · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elegantly written book and a detailed account of the ups and downs of the anarchist movement in Spain. The author however does not hold back with his own views. His own anarchist-libertarian opinions and fantasies penetrate deep into the narrative of the book. An attempt at a somewhat objective narrative fails, if it ever existed. Hence it does not hold to the standards of contemporary historical studies. However, if one abstracts from the author's opinions, it is a thoroughly exciting insight.

[Sami Eerola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clearly bias book, bot very well written account on the Spanish Anarchist movement, that although defends most of the Anarcihsts actions, it is not shying away from the more controvercial parts of the movement, like terrorism. The best part of this book is its abolity to capture the feeling of the people of that time period

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enlightening.

[Juan Vigeuras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muy guay si alguien quiere aprender sobre las relaciones entre los sindicatos anarquistas y los partidos comunistas en la España de antes y durante la guerra.

[Darren]

Reviewed in the June 1998 issue of the Socialist Standard:

https://socialiststandardmyspace.blog...

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very dense and could have used an editor for clarity and conciseness. Despite this, I really wish he put out the second volume. What an absolutely fascinating and inspiring movement.

[Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les anarchistes espagnols - Les années héroïques 1868-1936 constitue un ouvrage fascinant. Bien qu'il soit adressé à un grand public, Murray Bookchin démontre sa grande maîtrise du sujet au fil des anecdotes, entrevues et fonds d'archives qu'il a accumulé sur les années militantes du mouvement libertaire espagnol. À travers ce thème absolument unique, Bookchin dresse le portrait des aspirations d'une époque, des rivalités entre les gauches, des crises qui ont été causées par l'action directe du mouvement ainsi que les conséquences que le "mouvement de l'idée" a eu sur l'éventuelle guerre civile de 1936.

Cependant, il est aussi possible de critiquer le (très) fort militantisme de l'auteur ainsi que sa complaisance idéologique envers son sujet d'étude, ce qui va l'amener jusqu'à banaliser en partie les violences commises par le mouvement anarchiste. Si celui-ci démontre un enthousiasme presque sans fond au regard des premières années "héroïques" (1868-1883), il fera une critique acerbe de tous les leaders du mouvement qui prôneront une ligne plus "opportuniste" au fil des décennies, position qui décrédibilise une frange pourtant importante du mouvement libertaire. Ainsi, Bookchin semble avoir un "enfant préféré" dans le mouvement et le jupon dépasse souvent. Qui plus est, son récit est souvent livré avec une telle intensité idéologique qu'il est parfois difficile de faire la différence entre le Bookchin des années 1990 du George Polizer des années 1930, ce qui n'est pas peu dire.

Personnellement, je trouve que la meilleure partie du livre demeure la conclusion, en particulier au niveau des réflexions quant à la pertinence du mouvement libertaire en ce début de XXIe siècle. Tel que mentionné par Bookchin, si la noblesse des idées des anarcho-syndicalistes contrastait fortement avec les dérives autoritaires des mouvements communistes, il n'en demeure pas moins que la réalité matérielle de l'Espagne pré-franquiste était caractérisée par une pauvreté affligeante. Ainsi, cette volonté d'émancipation restait en très forte opposition avec les besoins courants à remplir, dichotomie déjà soulevée par le philosophe anarchiste Abad de Santillan. Ainsi, avec la montée de l'intelligence artificielle, la possibilité d'un revenu minimum garanti et l'obligation de décroissance afin de lutter contre les changements climatiques, il reste pertinent de garder un oeil sur le mouvement libertaire, notamment pour explorer différentes avenues émancipatrices possibles... telles que la journée de 8 heures obtenue en 1919!

[Micah · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1868, the "Idea" (as they called it) was planted in Spain by someone on a mission from Bakunin, one Fanelli who spoke no Spanish but whose passion was enough to convince the dedicated militants who began the anarchist movement in Spain, which would become the most significant in the world and help carry out the most far-reaching revolution of modern times.

Today it seems like we inhabit a different planet. The days are long gone when a union could be formed, dedicated to the overthrow of capitalism, and grow to tens of thousands of members in a few months and organize violent general strikes in major cities.

Bookchin's history seems well-balanced and obviously sympathetic, written as it was in the '60s and '70s before he became a crotchety anarchist-hater. He makes a general division between the mountain peasant anarchists of Andalucia, given to terrorism and jacqueries, and the industrial anarcho-syndicalists headquartered in Catalunya. The shadowy FAI with its organic affinity groups based on close personal friendships is of course covered, although here perhaps Bookchin's more moderate style shows through. He's not a big fan of the dramatic "cycle of insurrections" the FAI initiated in 1932-33, when pueblos would seize or blow up the town hall, raise the black flag, abolish money, and declare libertarian communism. Bookchin also finds some excuses for the CNT's blunder in 1936, when it allowed its members to vote for the left, although he also sees that this was the road that led the syndicalist union to open collaboration with the bourgeois state. The union that refused to accumulate strike funds because drawn-out strikes reduce workers' revolutionary fury in lightning strikes, was drawn down the path to co-optation.

Ultimately, Bookchin perhaps gives too much space to the CNT, as though it were a strictly anarchist organization, or as though all anarchist activities were concentrated there. He even admits this in his Preface written in the early '90s. Today I think an historian would have to look more closely into the FAI, or even other, more obscure groups. Bookchin finds the CNT's diversity of tactics impressive: "The general strike was combined with local uprisings, a steady barrage of propaganda, direct action by individuals or small groups, and dogged union organizing, each flexibly deployed to reinforce the others." This multiplicity of balanced methods was certainly key, but perhaps combining them all into one CNT with a National Committee was an error the anarchists would regret.

[* · Rating 4 out of 5]

No longer using this website, but I'm leaving up old reviews. Fuck Jeff Bezos. Find me on LibraryThing: https://www.librarything.com/profile/...

This book is not about the nearly forgotten simultaneous revolution and reaction that took place in the second half of 1936 in Spain. Instead, the book focuses on the even more buried account of the preceding 70 years of anarchist agitation and organization that lead to that standoff. Murray Bookchin meticulously reconstructs the organizations, ideologies, theories, movements, historical events, intellectuals and important persons of the time in a compelling history.

What struck me the most about the Spanish Anarchists was the boldness of their actions. The Spanish Anarchists set out to polarize society on class lines through class warfare and strikes, destabilize the state apparatus through insurrection and mass non-participation, and then arm the people to resist the reaction of capitalists and state reactionaries. Entire villages simply declared "libertarian communism," took over land and factories, and started operating them in the interest of all until they were smashed by the reaction forces. And this before there was solidarity enough to spread this type of action across the country. This shows what is possible when oppressed people take it upon themselves to fight for their own freedom.

Bookchin takes careful note of the mistakes made by the revolutionary movement, criticising the foolhardy moves of the anarchists as well as when they seemed too conservative in their strategy. But Bookchin saves his most poisonous vitriol for excoriating Spanish Socialists, and they deserve it. Spending the majority of their time and energy on opportunistic efforts, the Spanish Socialists and Communists stood in the way of revolution far more often than they inspired it. Waiting for conditions to appear, they undermined the organizing already taking place. Acting as scabs, putting themselves in the position of mediators between the working class and the state, and refusing solidarity with anyone outside of their narrow dogma, they undermined the Spanish working class and peasant movements towards freedom.

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went to Barcelona in 1978 for a day. There were nervous looking teenagers standing around in uniforms w/ machine guns. Franco had been dead for 4 yrs. I left. I went to Madrid in 1984 to visit a friend. It was amazing. Very liberated. I went to Barcelona again in 2004 - pd to do so by the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona to participate in a hactivist festival of sorts. I read this bk before & during being there. It was extremly useful in understanding the culture. Of course, for anarchists like myself, Republican Spain was an amazing thing, a peak in the history of anarchy. Nonetheless, the anarchists lost the civil war to the fascists. As such, I think it's important to remember that to win against fascism there must be a total revolution in human consciousness. If it boils down to a war, the fascists are more likely to 'win' because that type of winning is based almost solely on levels of brutality & that's the specialty of fascists - wch is, obviously, why anarchists oppose them.