International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam
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The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam took place from 24 August to 31 August, 1907. It gathered delegates from 14 different countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît Broutchoux, Pierre Monatte, Amédée Dunois, Emma Goldman, Rudolf Rocker, Christian Cornélissen, etc.
Organisation of the Congress
The Belgian and Dutch anarchists were at the initiative of the congress [1]. While the Dutch took care of the material organisation of the event, the Belgians started the publication of the Bulletin of the Libertarian Internationale, which had as main editor Henri Fuss [1]. In December 1906-January 1907, they launched a memo in seven languages calling for an international meeting, which was signed by the anarchist federations of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Bohemia, London (anarchists speaking Yiddish) — it was not signed by any French anarchists [1]. In France, the anarchist movement was divided into those who rejected the sole idea of organisation, and were therefore opposed to the very idea of an international organisation, and those who put all their hopes in the trade-unions, and thus "were occupied elsewhere" [1]. Only 8 French anarchists assisted the Congress, including Benoît Broutchoux, Pierre Monatte and René de Marmande [1].
The 1907 Amsterdam Congress
Various themes were treated during the Congress, in particular concerning the organisation of the anarchist movement and
An Anarchist International was thereafter constituted, composed of an international bureau of 5 members, with the task of "creating international anarchist archives" and to "connect anarchists from different countries."[1] The bureau was sited in London, and a new congress envisioned for 1909. The new International, to which the French anarchists remained hostile, only edited 12 issues of an irregular bulletin.[1] At the end of 1911, the London bureau ceased all activities.[1]
The debate between Malatesta and Monatte
Malatesta and Monatte in particular disagreed on the issue of organization. Upholding the principles of the 1906
Charter of Amiens, which had proclaimed the ideological neutrality of trade-unions and
their independence from political parties, Monatte thought that syndicalism, as understood in France, was revolutionary and would
create the conditions of a social
On the other hand, Malatesta criticized Monatte, stating that "syndicalism was not a necessary and sufficient means of social
revolution," while at the same time supporting (as Monatte) the ideological neutrality of trade-unions, in order not to divide
the workers' movement.[3] Malatesta
thought that trade-unions were reformist, and could even be, at times, conservative. Along with Cornélissen, he cited as example
Finally, Malatesta criticized over-idealization of the general strike, stating that the latter could not, by itself, provoke a revolution, which would necessarily have to pass, according to him, by an armed insurrection.[3]
Legacy
This opposition between two visions of the organisation of the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jean Maitron, Le mouvement anarchiste en France, tome I, Tel Gallimard (François Maspero, 1975), pp.443-445 (French)
- ^ a b French: "A ce syndicalisme d’opinion qui a produit, en Russie par exemple, des syndicats anarchistes, en Belgique et en Allemagne, des syndicats chrétiens et des syndicats social-démocratiques, il appartient aux anarchistes d’opposer un syndicalisme à la manière française, un syndicalisme neutre ou, plus exactement, indépendant. De même qu’il n’y a qu’une classe ouvrière, il faut qu’il n’y ait plus, dans chaque métier et dans chaque ville, qu’une organisation ouvrière, qu’un unique syndicat. A cette condition seule, la lutte de classe - cessant d’être entravé à tout instant par les chamailleries des écoles ou des sectes rivales - pourra se développer dans toute son ampleur et donner son maximum d’effet. Le syndicalisme, a proclamé le Congrès d’Amiens en 1906, se suffit à lui-même." See Extract of Monatte's declaration (French)
- ^ a b c d e f g Extract of Malatesta's declaration (French)
See also
External links
- Ariane Miéville, Syndicalisme, anarchisme et anarcho-syndicalisme en débat au Congrès Anarchiste d’Amsterdam en 1907 (French)
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