A-Infos (en) France, Monde Libertaire - For an objective history of the CNT and the FAI (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

In 2014, Jesús F. Salgado, in his seminal work on Amor Nuño and the CNT 
(Amor Nuño y la CNT. Crónicas de vida y muerte, Fundación Anselmo 
Lorenzo), lamented the lack of a Spanish translation of César M. 
Lorenzo's book, Le Mouvement anarchiste en Espagne: pouvoir et 
révolution sociale (Ed. libertaires, 2006)... Julián Vadillo Muñoz has 
not only aptly filled this gap, but has done so far better than a 
translation of Lorenzo's work could have. Indeed, while this work 
possesses many qualities, beginning with its pioneering spirit, it 
suffers from significant flaws, notably the emphasis it places on 
conflicts and biases within the libertarian movement and its persistent 
personalism, particularly regarding the figure of its father, H. 
Martínez Prieto. Julián Vadillo, however, avoids these pitfalls and 
offers us first and foremost a history of the CNT, in which he revisits 
the origins of Spanish anarcho-syndicalism, restoring the French 
movement, the Bourses du Travail (labor exchanges), the CGT (General 
Confederation of Labour), and the Charter of Amiens to their rightful 
place. He also makes sure to address internal debates through sources 
that are often largely unpublished and little known in France. He avoids 
the trap of personalism, and each activist who is too well-known here 
finds a more appropriate place in the work, while simultaneously 
highlighting others.

He also emphasizes one of the CNT's strengths during the Civil War: the 
creation of the National and Regional Federations of Industries. And 
while in this work on the CNT he stresses the apparent difficulty of 
writing a history of the FAI due to its seemingly more elusive nature, 
he rises to the challenge brilliantly, again thanks to rich and 
previously unpublished original sources. He brings to life the process 
of the FAI's creation, revisits the internal debates by citing the 
forces at play with the groups involved, which take us beyond the 
well-known Los Solidarios and Nosotros, and discusses the debates that 
led the FAI to evolve from a specific organization composed of affinity 
groups to a mass organization.

He concludes with the final break with the CNT, having definitively 
debunked the myths of the FAI as the CNT's puppet master, once again 
contradicting César M. Lorenzo, who uses the unfortunate term "Redskins" 
to refer to the FAI's supposed influence over the CNT. In both works, he 
provides an extensive conclusion covering the history of both 
organizations, during and after the Franco regime. And if these sections 
leave us wanting more, it's only a matter of time: Historia del 
movimiento libertario español (Catarata), published in 2023, is one I'm 
eager to read! So, yes, truly, for those who read Spanish, these two 
books are essential!

Gwenolé Kerdivel, La Sociale group, Rennes

VADILLO MUÑOZ, Julián, Historia de la CNT. Utopía, pragmatismo y 
revolución (Catarata, 2019) and Historia de la FAI. El anarquismo 
organizado (Catarata, 2021).

https://monde-libertaire.net/?articlen=9137
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe https://ainfos.ca/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en