insurrectionary anarchism

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Insurrectionary anarchism is a revolutionary theory, practice and tendency within the anarchist movement which opposes formal anarchist organizations such as labor unions and federations that are based on a political programme and periodic congresses. Instead, insurrectionary anarchists advocate direct action (violent or otherwise), informal organization, including small affinity groups and mass organizations which include non-anarchist individuals of the exploited or excluded class.

Many anarchist communists, such as the publishers of Barricada magazine in the United States and foreign immigrants to the US such as Luigi Galleani and Johann Most have been insurrectionary anarchists.[1]

Here, a text from the magazine "Killing King Abacus" outlines some of the basis points of insurrectionary anarchist praxis.

Insurrectionary anarchism is not an ideological solution to all social problems, a commodity on the capitalist market of ideologies and opinions, but an on-going praxis aimed at putting an end to the domination of the state and the continuance of capitalism, which requires analysis and discussion to advance. We don't look to some ideal society or offer an image of utopia for public consumption. Throughout history, most anarchists, except those who believed that society would evolve to the point that it would leave the state behind, have been insurrectionary anarchists. Most simply, this means that the state will not merely wither away, thus anarchists must attack, for waiting is defeat; what is needed is open mutiny and the spreading of subversion among the exploited and excluded. Here we spell out some implications that we and some other insurrectionary anarchists draw from this general problem: if the state will not disappear on its own, how then do we end its existence? It is, therefore, primarily a practice, and focuses on the organization of attack... The State of capital will not "wither away" ...attack is the refusal of mediation, pacification, sacrifice, accommodation, and compromise.

Alfredo M. Bonanno, an Italian insurrectionary anarchist has also had an impact on this specific tendency, writing such works as "Armed Joy," "The Anarchist Tension," and others. Another Italian insurrectionary with great impact on anarchists was Luigi Galleani. Leon Czolgosz, President McKinley's assassin, was considered an insurrectionary anarchist. A well-known German insurrectionary anarchist was Johann Most.

In the USA, Barricada, Willful Disobedience, Killing King Abacus, and other magazines caused interest in insurrectionary anarchism to grow. Insurrectionary anarchists are generally interested in class struggle. Many also identify with related theoretical positions such as anarchist communism, Situationist theory, autonomism, primitivism, and green anarchism.

See also

• Malatesta's speech during the International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam (1907)

External links

• Insurrection v.s. Organization: Reflections from Greece on a Pointless Schism, essay from Peter Gelderloos, author of How Non-violence Protects the State
• Anarchism, insurrections and insurrectionalism, article from Anarkismo.net critical of insurrectionary anarchism
• Crimethought: Some Notes on Insurrectionary Anarchism, article from Guerrilla News Network
• Talk and Tactics and Bloody Revolution: Insurrectionary Anarchism in Seattle, audio stream interview from A-Infos Radio Project

Insurrectionary groups and publications

• Barricada An insurrectionary anarchist publication from the USA
• Killing King Abacus An insurrectionary anarchist publication from the USA
• Insurrectionary Anarchists of Seattle
• Insurrectionary Anarchists of the Coast Salish Territories, Canadian insurrectionary anarchists
• La Anarquia, Argentine insurrectionary publication (in Spanish)
• Social War, Italian insurrectionists (in Italian, English, French and Spanish)
• Modesto Anarcho, an insurrectionary anarchist journal and website based out of Modesto California.
• At Daggers Drawn Insurrectionary anarchist publication translated from Italian by Jean Weir. A poetic overview of the insurrectionary perspective.
• A Murder of Crows an insurrectionary anarchist magazine out of Seattle.

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