Preliminary Programme

Wed 11 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Thu 12 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.00 - 18.30

Fri 13 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

Sat 14 April
    8.30 - 10.30
    11.00 - 13.00
    14.00 - 16.00
    16.30 - 18.30

All days
Go back

Wednesday 11 April 2012 16.30 - 18.30
W-4 ELI07 Anarchist Elites II: Case Studies
Maths Building: 417
Networks: Elites and forerunners , Politics, Citizenship, and Nations Chair: Pietro Di Paola
Organizers: - Discussant: Bert Altena
Vivien Bouhey : Parisian Anarchist Leaders from the Mid‐1880s to 1894
In our Ph.D. dissertation (Vivien Bouhey, Les Anarchistes contre la République, PUR, 2009), we have shown that, between 1880 and 1894, there existed a de facto hierarchy of sorts among the French anarchist movement: some activists of major anarchist circles (e.g. in Paris or Lyons) then emerged within the movement, ... (Show more)
In our Ph.D. dissertation (Vivien Bouhey, Les Anarchistes contre la République, PUR, 2009), we have shown that, between 1880 and 1894, there existed a de facto hierarchy of sorts among the French anarchist movement: some activists of major anarchist circles (e.g. in Paris or Lyons) then emerged within the movement, wielding some authority connected with their positions in the movement, their intellectual or oratory skills, their charisma or their militant tendency.

We have also highlighted that other activists, across France but also sometimes abroad, have looked up to such emerging leaders, expecting them to produce ideas and especially some help in the field of oral and written propaganda, a feature that enhanced the polarisation of the movement.

Such de facto hierarchy then led us to probe the existence of what we called “anarchist executives” in these major anarchist circles: what we mean by “executives”, a denomination we explained in a paper entitled “Y a-t-il eu un complot anarchiste contre la République ?” published on the website of Mouvement Social, is the presence in the same spot of activists who, being at the top of such unofficial hierarchy, might sometimes give, individually and in a disorderly way, by common consent but always in relation to a specific point, and always unofficially, major thrusts to the movement’s oral and written propaganda. Of course, such a trend does not preclude the existence of groups or individuals acting autonomously abroad or in France.

The gist of our dissertation, which was sometimes misrepresented in some accounts of our work, has sparked debate: this is the reason for our study of “Paris-based anarchist leaders from the mid 1880s to 1894”. We want to show who these leaders are, their relation to other activists and, judging from oral, written and action-driven propaganda, their role within the movement at the local, regional, national or even international level. (Show less)

João Freire, Paulo Guimarães : Syndicalism and Anarchism in Portugal during the Interwar Period: Struggles, Dreams and Ideological Debates
Since the 1970s, the Portuguese historiography of the Labour Movement insisted on the ideological and organizational shortcomings of the Syndicalism and Anarchism during the I Republic (1910-1926) and Military Dictatorship (1926-1933), recovering the Marxist critic of that period and shadowing the solvent action of the ideological competition at the time ... (Show more)
Since the 1970s, the Portuguese historiography of the Labour Movement insisted on the ideological and organizational shortcomings of the Syndicalism and Anarchism during the I Republic (1910-1926) and Military Dictatorship (1926-1933), recovering the Marxist critic of that period and shadowing the solvent action of the ideological competition at the time among social militants. In this paper, we present the organizational trajectory, strategies and ideological debates among the Portuguese libertarians during the period of societal fascization. We conclude that after the end of the Spanish Civil War, the changing international environment, efficient communist propaganda and the anti-fascist strategy led to the growing isolation of the libertarian ideals. In spite of that, there were proposals for a strategic and ideological renewal of the libertarian movement after the 1940s. (Show less)

Jorge Molero-Mesa, Isabel Jiménez-Lucena : “Doctor, Move Away from those People”: Inclusion-exclusion Dynamics Related to Medical Professionals within the Spanish Anarchist Movement in the First Third of the 20th Century
The aim of this paper is to analyze the dynamics taking place within Spanish anarcho-syndicalism in the first third of the 20th century between manual workers and medical professionals who shared the anarchist ideology. The common presence of physicians in European anarchist movements and, in general, within the workers’ movement, ... (Show more)
The aim of this paper is to analyze the dynamics taking place within Spanish anarcho-syndicalism in the first third of the 20th century between manual workers and medical professionals who shared the anarchist ideology. The common presence of physicians in European anarchist movements and, in general, within the workers’ movement, has been traditionally justified owing to an alleged “social conscience” that these professionals had acquired as direct witnesses of the havoc wreaked by the industrial revolution and capitalism in the workers’ bodies. In addition, the revolutionary reasoning on the workers’ poor living conditions and inequality in the face of disease and death, as accounted for in medical-social studies, was a permanent feature of anarchist thinking. And furthermore, these studies decisively contributed to the anarchists’ socio-political consideration of biological phenomena.

However, in the case of Spanish anarcho-syndicalism, the relationship between the libertarian movement and medical professionals was never free from trouble, confrontation and controversy. The incorporation of technicians to the workers’ movement was a widespread feature, yet, while socialist organizations left the management of their health policies to physicians, the anarchist trade unions did not accept these technocratic principles as they did not consider intellectuals as the best suited to make decisions concerning the whole community.

In this context, it becomes apparent that medical professionals developed different strategies in order to be accepted by anarcho-syndicalist militants, who, in turn, showed a variety of acceptance levels according to the distinct lines of thought within the trade unions. The analysis of these inclusion-exclusion dynamics must take into account the role of re-signified medical knowledge by health professionals, the libertarian critique of health improvement, and the different proposals that, with more or less success, were put forward by medical circles within the National Confederation of Labour (CNT, in its Spanish acronym). (Show less)



Theme by Danetsoft and Danang Probo Sayekti inspired by Maksimer