A-Infos (en) Another REVIEW of: Facing The Enemy: A History of Anarchist Organization from Proudhon to May 1968 by Alexandre Skirda

[Worker <a-infos-en@ainfos.ca>(NORTHEASTERN ANARCHIST #5)]

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Facing the Enemy: A History of Anarchist
Organization from Proudhon to May 1968

by Alexandre Skirda; translated by Paul Sharkey (AK
Press)

- reviewed by Geert Dhondt (Valley Anarchist
Organization, Western Massachusetts)

"in the name of the principles of individual autonomy
and freedom of initiative, every stable
organizational tie was repudiated as being authoritarian
and thus anti-anarchist." -Gaetano Manfredonia

"It will be readily appreciated that I cannot remain
indifferent to the nonchalance and negligence
currently obtaining in our circles. On the one hand, it
prevents the creation of a coherent libertarian
collective that would enable anarchists to take their
proper place in the revolution, and on the other, it
permits a making-do with fine phrases and grand
notions, while shying away when action is called for.
Responsibility and collective discipline should not
cause alarm: they are the fellow travelers of the
practice of social anarchism." -Nestor Makhno

"Anarchy! Organization! These are contradictory." I
heard these comments, with fellow comrades from
the Valley Anarchist Organization (VAO), tabling in
Western Massachusetts. These confused and
misguided rantings did not come from an ISO initiate
or Trotskeyite prankster, but from an unsuspecting
individual who came across VAO's literature table. He
seemed to possess little or no knowledge of
anarchism, or other revolutionary traditions. He was
however, echoing a common misunderstanding that
anarchism has absolutely nothing to do with
organization, that "anarchism and organization are
opposites - how can you have a group with a name such as
Anarchist Organization?" Unfortunately given the
current trends in radical politics, there exists a general
reluctance by anarchists to educate non-anarchist
about what anarchism is, and a refusal among many
anarchists to attempt to come to a consensus
definition of anarchism. These comments do not only
come from those unfamiliar with anarchism, this
narrow and misinformed perspective is also to be
readily found within the awkwardly emerging anarchist
movement.

Recently, I've read and heard from people who take the
labels of 'individualist', 'insurrectionist,' and
'primitivist' that they are highly suspicious of the new
revolutionary organizational efforts of
Northeastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists
(NEFAC) and the Bring the Ruckus (BTR) draft
proposal, specifically because of the strategic
organizational structures that these groups advocate.
Individualist anarchistic tendencies mistrust of
anarchist organizing is nothing new. It has existed since
the debates amongst the 19th century anarchists. The
book, Facing the Enemy, is new ammunition for
anarchists who want a greater understanding of the
history, successes and failings in anarchist organizing,
and the debates and controversies that plagued our
19th and 20th century radical predecessors. This book
is for those who are interested in creating truly
revolutionary organizations. Organizations that are
absolutely necessary for those not just interested in
"fucking shit up," but for those who are fighting to
win. What a timely book.

The focus of 'Facing the Enemy' is on anarchist
organizations in France, Russia and Spain. It is divided
in 20 chapters plus an appendix of about 100 pages of
original documents (such as The Organizational
Platform) and a bibliographic list of names. The book
starts off with Stirner and Proudhon, continues
with chapters on Bakunin, Bakuninist Organization,
The Alliance and the First International,
propaganda by the deed, anti-organizationists and
Bombers, the rise of syndicalism, international
congresses, World War I, the Russian Revolution, and
a large part on the Dyelo Truda group (a group of
Russian anarchists in exile in France) their
Organizational Platform of LIbertarian Communists and the
debates around the platform, the CNT-FAI and as well
as some more recent anarchist organizations in
France.

In 'Facing the Enemy', Alexandre Skirda historically
and theoretically analyzes why it is that anarchism
throughout history has failed to bring about a new and
free society. "Torn between strident individual
autonomy and a sometimes lumbering collective
approach, libertarians have regularly failed to leave a
definitive liberating imprint upon events and upon the
movement of history." (pg.4) Skirda believes that
a reason why anarchists have failed to make an imprint
on these events is because anarchists have failed
to build effective organizations. The main focus of the
book is the organizational platform of the Dyelo
Truda group. The book builds up the writing of the
Platform as the highlight of anarchist organization,
drawing on the lessons of the Makhnovists during the
Russian Revolution and the following chapters
discuss the influence of the platform on those
organizations.

Skirda contends that the 'Organizational Platform' is
directly in-line with Bakunist organization. 'The
Organizational Platform of the General Union of
Anarchists' was written in 1926 by the Dyelo Truda
group, an assemblage of Russian Anarchists living in
exile in France in the aftermath of World War I and
the Russian Revolution. Drawing upon their
experiences in the anarchist movement for more then
20 years and analyzing the failures of the anarchist
movement during WWI and the Russian Revolution,
the platform was written as a proposal to form a
organization, one that would be able to respond to  crises,
such as war or a revolutionary situation, and then take
advantage of these crises to build a free society.

'Facing the Enemy' is an important tool to be used in
the current debates in the anarchist movement
around organization and synthesis vs. platformist and
cadre organizations. The platform organization, as
detailed and analyzed by Skirda, was subject to every
sort of criticism and accusation of being
anti-anarchist. In similar fashion to the attacks against
the platformists in the 1920s, NEFAC, which
seeks to federate anarcho-communist collectives, and
the Bring the Ruckus proposal, which calls for the
formation of a revolutionary cadre organization, are
facing anti-anarchist criticisms by some of today's
anti-organizational self proclaimed anarchist factions.
A whole chapter covers the debate around the
Platform: attacks on tactical unity and collective
responsibility by Malatesta, synthesis vs. platformist
debate with Voline, as well as a debate that the
platform was the "Bolshevization of anarchism".
Interestingly, the strongest opposition to the Platform
came from anarchists that stood by the synthesis
position. This synthesis idea is not to differentiate your
position from different anarchist tendencies but
instead that those who hold contradictory positions can
work together in a meaningful way. The aim of
this process is to try to fuse the different anarchist
tendencies and to be as inclusive as possible. This
synthesis position is exemplified now by Social
Ecologists working in the modern movement.

Taking the perspective put forth by 'Facing the
Enemy', anarchists will find insight into the problems
plaguing the success of NEFAC and the Bring the
Ruckus document. I find that these groups are the
current versions of the platformist (NEFAC) and cadre
(BTR) traditions of anarchist organizations.
These two groups though utilizing different issues
come forth from a tradition including Bakuninist
organization, the Alliance, the Organizational Platform
and the FAI (Iberian Anarchist Federation).
Bakunin thought that a revolutionary anarchist
organization should be the grouping of a small group of
well-disciplined revolutionaries that would act as a sort
of "general staff" in the revolution, who "would
take great care not to supplant the people in its struggle
for emancipation". (pg.13) This organization was
to guide the revolutionary masses in an anarchist
direction. The aim of the revolutionary organization
was, according to Bakunin, "to assist the people's
self-determination on a basis of absolute equality, and
full and multifarious human freedom". (pg.17) The
Alliance was the Bakuninist organization within the
context of the First International and while both these
groups were pursuing the same ultimate goals,
their strategies were different. The International had as
its mission to organize the workers into one body
while the alliance had as its mission, "the endowment
of those masses with a genuinely revolutionary
direction."

The 'Organizational Platform' picks up the tradition
where Bakunin left off. As Skirda explains, "The
chief reason for the anarchist movement's lack of
success has been the 'absence of firm principles and
consistent organizational practice.' Anarchism had to
'marshal its forces into an active general
organization, as required by reality and the strategy of
the social struggle of the classes,' which was in tune
with the Bakuninist tradition and the wishes of
Kropotkin. This organization would lay down a general
tactical and political line for anarchism, leading on to
an 'organized collective practice' (pg.124-125)".

This does not mean that they believed that all
anarchists should unite under this one platform; from the
very beginning the Dyelo Truda group stated that this
would be impossible and undesirable. There exists a
wide variety of tendencies within anarchism which are
often contradictory. The platform was written to
"make an ideological and political selection of
anarchism's homogeneous forces and at the same time
differentiate themselves from anarchism's chaotic,
petit-bourgeois (liberal) and rootless elements."
(pg.128)

The creation of an organization of militants on the
bases of a theoretical and practical program,
differentiating themselves on the basis of ideology and
strategy from other anarchists, is the core of the
Platform. Similarly, the creation of the FAI in Spain in
1927 is the continuation of these ideas of
organizational practice. The FAI was created to keep
the CNT (National Confederation of Labor), a large
union, anarchist. The FAI goal was to keep watch over
the "CNT's doctrinal orthodoxy," a relatively
small group of anarchists who worked to steer the
CNT into an anarchist direction. The objective of the
Platform, the formulation of the FAI, NEFAC and the
BTR is to organize along the lines of a theoretical
and practical program. It is not the purpose to take
control of any movement but instead it is the strategy
of the formation of such groups to influence and steer
autonomous self-activity of oppressed people into a
revolutionary and anti-authoritarian direction.

I have found this book extremely relevant if not
invaluable to my understanding and approach to the
issues we face in today's anarchist movement. But the
book is much, much more than that. It is a
complete and easy to read history of anarchist
organizations in 19th and 20th century Europe. It covers
the struggles our deceased and beloved comrades faced
and how important anarchist figures related to
organizations. Facing the Enemy also includes
interesting details and anecdotes (such as a
police-paid-for
anarchist paper in Paris, police infiltration of anarchist
"propaganda by the deed" groups or how Voline
translated the platform to French from Russian to give
certain important words different meanings in an
attempt to undermine the platform). Skidra exhibits
full control of the subjects he discusses and the book
is full of quotes, interesting analysis and insights into
the events that shaped 20th century anarchist
theory. Skirda's invaluable historical account is written
in a serious and sometimes witty style. Facing the
Enemy also gives an accessible overview of how
different trends within anarchism developed throughout
the last 150 years. I sincerely hope that this important
book will be widely read.

===================

Printed in NORTHEASTERN ANARCHIST #5

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