A-Infos (en) Italy, FDCA, Cantiere #42 - An American Anarchist By Stefania Baschieri (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1912) represents one of the most original yet 
least studied figures of late-nineteenth-century American anarchism. Her 
work, which encompasses poetry, political essays, and public speeches, 
constitutes a significant contribution to the history of libertarian 
thought and the genealogy of radical feminism. Although she did not 
achieve the fame of contemporaries like Emma Goldman, de Cleyre 
developed a remarkably coherent and profound theoretical reflection, 
also influenced by Kropotkin, Bakunin, and Proudhon, which led her to 
emphasize direct action, solidarity, and, above all, opposition to 
capitalism, the source of poverty and exploitation.
Her intellectual biography is marked by a constant tension between 
discipline and rebellion. Raised in a poor but free-thinking environment 
(her father was a fervent admirer of Voltaire, hence her name), she 
received, contradictorily, a Catholic education, which, however, 
contributed to solidifying her aversion to any form of religious authority.
The event that marked her political turning point was the Haymarket Riot 
trial (1886), which she interpreted as an exemplary manifestation of the 
state's structural violence against workers' movements. From that 
moment, her commitment to anarchism became progressively more nuanced 
and conscious.
One of the most significant aspects of de Clerye's thought is her 
adherence to the so-called "anarchism without adjectives," a term 
intended to overcome the divisions within the anarchist 
movement-individualism, mutualism, collectivism, libertarian 
communism-which she considered sterile and counterproductive. Anarchism, 
in her view, is not a pre-established economic model, but rather an 
ethical principle based on the rejection of all forms of coercive authority.
Although de Cleyre did not explicitly define herself as a feminist, her 
analysis of patriarchal structures and her rejection of gender roles, 
which she viewed as products of society, not nature, constitute a 
significant contribution to the history of feminist thought. Her 
critique of marriage as a legal and economic institution serving the 
control of women's bodies and labor anticipates central themes of 
radical feminism in the late twentieth century. In her essay "Sexual 
Slavery" (published in "An American Anarchist," elèuthera, 2017), she 
denounces marriage as legalized sexual slavery and the double oppression 
of women by the state and by men. She also firmly rejects bourgeois 
suffragism: women's freedom does not come through the vote, but through 
the total destruction of the state, capital, and patriarchy. In this 
regard, one of her famous quotes remains: "You want the vote? What good 
will it do you to vote for laws made by men who consider you breeding 
stock?"
De Clerye identifies three fundamental dimensions of women's emancipation:
* economic autonomy, a necessary condition for escaping material 
dependence on one's husband;
* sexual self-determination, understood as the right to dispose of one's 
own body outside of religious or normative constraints;
* education, conceived as a tool for intellectual and political 
emancipation; this belief made her a supporter of Francisco Ferrer's 
Modern School.
Her reflections on male violence, the blaming of victims, and the social 
impunity of violence against women constitute an element of remarkable 
modernity and great revolutionary power, especially when placed within 
the cultural context of the time. But we can add that her vision of 
marriage as rape anticipates contemporary debates on consent and 
domestic violence.
De Clerye's life was marked by material hardship, health problems, and, 
not least, an attempted murder that left her severely weakened. Despite 
this, she remained steadfastly committed to education, to which she 
placed immense importance, and to theoretical production. Her refusal to 
denounce the person who had attempted to kill her, consistent with her 
opposition to the punitive mechanisms of the state, is also a prime 
example of her ethical consistency.
Today, Voltairine de Cleyre's thought resonates in many currents of 
contemporary feminism: from intersectional feminism to queer movements, 
from the critique of family institutions to anti-authoritarian 
educational practices. Her idea that freedom cannot be granted from 
above, but built from below, has become a cornerstone of many more 
radical social movements.

https://alternativalibertaria.fdca.it/wpAL/
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