‘We have taken a good path. As we see it, the formation of
social study circles and the establishment of libertarian schools are
solid, protective bulwarks in our race toward emancipation. They are
the groundwork of the great revolution.’ - La Protesta Humana, January 7th, 1900
When the Argentine economy collapsed in 2001, many were surprised by
the factory takeovers and neighbourhood assemblies that resulted. But
workers' control and direct democracy have long histories in Argentina,
where from the late nineteenth century and well into the twentieth,
anarchism was the main revolutionary ideology of the labour movement and
other social struggles. Most histories of anarchism in Argentina tend
toward dry analyses of labour politics, lists of union acronyms, and the
like. For Juan Suriano, that's just one part of the story. Paradoxes of
Utopia gives us an engaging look at fin de siècle Buenos Aires that
brings to life the vibrant culture behind one of the world's largest
anarchist movements challenging the myth that anarchist was merely a
euro-centric movement: the radical schools, newspapers, theatres, and
social clubs that made revolution a way of life. Cultural history in the
best sense, Paradoxes of Utopia explores how a revolutionary ideology
was woven into the ordinary lives of tens of thousands of people,
creating a complex tapestry of symbols, rituals, and daily practices
that supported-and indeed created the possibility of-the Argentine
labour movement. The author creates an innovative panorama that gives
equal weight to the strengths and weakness of anarchism in Argentina,
effective strategies and grave mistakes, internal debates and state
repression, all contextualized within the country's broader political,
economic, and cultural history.
The history of anarchism in Argentina also has a local angle as Irish
born Dr John Creaghe also took part in the emerging movement returning
to Argentina in 1894 to find anarchism under the banner of FAO and later
FORA (Argentine Regional Workers' Federation) gaining enormous
influence within the wider labour movement. Creaghe became editor of the
daily newspaper ‘La Protesta’ which was closed down on numerous
occasions. Alan O’Toole notes that, “It was the major paper of
revolution in Argentina until recent years… its establishment and
continuation was probably his greatest single contribution to the
politics of revolution.” (See)
This immersing of anarchist ideas and practices into the emerging
labour movement resulted in major state repression, including
imprisonment, censorship and killings with the police estimating that
there were around 5,000-6,000 anarchist militants in Buenos Aires alone
during the first ten years of the century. Indeed the number of
libertarian centres and anarchist circles peaked to 51 by 1904 dropping
to 22 by 1910, overwhelmingly concentrated in working class
neighbourhoods. For example in Rosario’s Casa del Pueblo, the centre was
a collaborative effort between ten different groups. The list of
activities carried out in 1900 speaks for itself: they found employment
for 446 people, a library holding 380 books on science, art, sociology
and literature; even a permanent orchestra and a theatre group, sixty
four lectures and lent the hall to workers’ associations.
Conflicts occured constantly throughout the decade and the anarchists
mobilised a large percentage of the city's workers-port workers, cat
drivers, coachmen, sailors, mechanics, bricklayers etc. There were seven
anarchist led general strikes including the renters strike of 1907 on
other demands for union recognition and improvement in labour
conditions. Libertarian centres, study circles, daily newspapers, to
touching on all aspects of life; to more recreational activites such as
literacy readings, music and libertarian dances provided the backbone
this support. Thus the libertarian circle 'was an environment in which
workers' cultures emerged-through the exchange of individual
experiences, workers became collective and began to assume a shared
identity.'(p19)
However, by 1910 the Argentine anarchist movement in terms of numbers
and influence was in steady decline mainly due to brutal state
repression, but the growth of social welfare in housing, education and
work, voting rights and institutionalisation of labour disputes all
contributing with the author pointing out that ‘there is no doubt that
the tendency toward self-marginalisation, combined with their reluctance
to analyse or even note domestic particularities, dramatically
facilitated their separation from the workers’.
In a time whenever 'identity lifestylism' and 'escapism' dominates
some sections of the libertarian movement, this book is a welcome
critical reflection, providing lessons for our movement and a powerful
account of how anarchists can built a strong social movement- a glimpse
of what is possible with political coherancy and strategic focus. There
are no short-cuts to social revolution and building a movement that is
firmly entrenched and located within the wider working class.
http://www.wsm.ie/c/anarchism-south-america
This book is available from the WSM bookservice (Solidarity Books) or
alternatively from Just Books Collective at the Na Croisbhealai workers
co-operative in Belfast. Well recommended!