Anarchism and feminism: a historical survey

Abstract

This article discusses a double paradox: first, that the anarchists, so proud of their genuine commitment to anti-authoritarian politics, were yet so blind to the oppressive effects of patriarchy. However, secondly, within this generally male-orientated culture, there were still ambivalences in anarchist politics, with some pockets of real sympathy for feminism. Material is drawn from the experience of anarchists within Europe, 1840-1940. 'Buenas noches, Señora! Vaya usted con Dios.' 'Go with God,' we answered. But others greeted her in a different way: Two young workmen came by ... 'Salud!' they called, the Popular Front greeting. 'Salud!' Gerald [Brenan] answered them rather half-heartedly, but I answered them 'Go with God'. 'Salud!' seemed curt and ugly after the soft 'Buenas noches' and the splendid 'Vaya usted con Dios', surely the most beautiful greeting in any language. And the young men's voices seemed to have an aggressive ring, and their harsh 'Salud', though it was spoken with friendly smiles, seemed to break rudely through the lovely evening sights and sounds like an aggression from other worlds of factories, labour troubles and strikes.[8]

‘They're Talkin’ Bout a Revolution’: Feminism, Anarchism and the Politics of Social Change in the Global Justice Movement

“…Far less purist in nature, feminist global justice activists, as we have seen, have an equivocal view of the state, seeing it, on the one hand, as a crucial conduit of oppressive power and, on the other, as a potential instrument of progressive change (Gemie, 1996). Not wanting to 'let the state off the hook' (interview, Hyderabad, 2005), many feminist activists within the GJM see the state as neither an intransigent enemy nor an ally, but rather as a vehicle of power that should be approached in a pragmatic way.…”

“…Despite having a far more variegated and networked conception of power than their predecessors, many of today's anarchists still concentrate their ire on the state and its allied institutions-capital, the church, the army and educational structures (Gemie, 1996)-as their primary targets. So Graeber calls for 'a world without states and capitalism', 16 as does the Anarchist FAQ website: 'Without the abolition of states and capitalism, no real revolution has taken place'.…”

The Anarchist in Uniform: The Militarisation of Anarchist Culture during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)

“…121 European anarchism had long expressed a certain puritanism towards sex work while also instrumentalising images of female suffering to underline societal inequity. 122 In many ways, though, this was also a replication of Spanish anarchism's particular constructions of masculinity which, as Richard Cleminson notes, contrasted physical improvement, moral strength and the purity of rural life with the corrupting influences of urban spaces. 123 Consequently, descriptions of the front often highlighted the combatants' physicality, with their 'dark torsos, like animated bronze.'…”

We Are Displaced, But We Are More Than That: Using Anarchist Principles to Materialize Capitalism’s Cracks at Sites of Contemporary Forced Displacement in Europe

“…Although plenty of Indigenous groups traditionally use ethical practices which we might recognize to be non-hierarchical and based around consensus, the modern anarchist movement began in nineteenth-century Europe, led by figures such as Kropotkin, Proudhon, and Bakunin. The “anarchist century” (Gemie 1996 :417) was a time of empire and rapid industrialization; the atrocious effects of colonialism and slavery were clearly visible, inequality, and literal Dickensian poverty abounded. These conditions led many working-class Europeans to seek a better life across the Atlantic, in both North and South America, such that by the 1880s, Europeans were exporting not only capitalism, disease, and racism but also, in some cases, anarchist principles.…”