Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism (Counter-power, 1) - Softcover

Van Der Walt, Lucien; Schmidt, Michael

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9781904859161: Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism (Counter-power, 1)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 190485916X ISBN 13: 9781904859161

Publisher: AK Press, 2009

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van der Walt, Lucien, Schmidt, Michael

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From the Inside Flap:

Table of Contents
Preface by Stuart Christie
Acknowledgments
Illustrations
Chapter 1 Introduction
Our Project
Beyond Capitalism: History, Neoliberalism, and Globalisation
Rethinking the Broad Anarchist Tradition
Social Base and Global Reach
What Is the Broad Anarchist Tradition?
Insurrectionist Anarchism, Mass Anarchism, and Syndicalism
Organisational Dualism
War, Gender Issues, and Anti-Imperialism
Anarchism and Marxism
Before We Start
Part 1 Theory and Analysis
Chapter 2 Socialism from Below: Defining
Anarchism
The Meaning of Anarchism: Debating the Literature
The Need for a New Approach
Starting Again: Socialism, Bakunin, and the First International
Against Hierarchy
Against Capitalism and Landlordism
Against the State
The Rejection of State Socialism
Elements of the Social Revolution
The Popular Classes
Internationalism, Social Equality, and Anti-imperialism
Counterpower and Counterculture
For a New World
Crime and Social Order
Anarchism Redefined: Socialism, Class, and Democracy
In Conclusion: The Modernity of Anarchism

Chapter 3 Proudhon, Marx, and Anarchist Social Analysis
Cooperatives, Proudhon, and Peaceful Change
A Critical Appropriation of Marxist Economics
Marxist Economics and Anarchist Communism
History, Progress, and the State
The Vanguard and the State
State Capitalism and Libertarian Socialism
Economic Determinism and the Broad Anarchist Tradition
The Anarchist Understanding of Class
In Conclusion: Toward an Anarchist Social Analysis

Part 2 Strategy and Tactics
Chapter 4 Roads to Revolution: Mass Anarchism versus Insurrectionist Anarchism
Anarchist Communism versus Anarcho-syndicalism?
The Insurrectionist Tradition
Mass Anarchism, Possibilism, and Syndicalism
Syndicalism: Prefiguring the Future in the Present
Against Economism: Direct Action versus "Political Action"
Anarcho-syndicalism, Revolutionary Syndicalism, and De Leonism
In Conclusion: Building Tomorrow Today

Chapter 5 Anarchism, Syndicalism, the IWW, and Labour
Bakunin, Sorel, and the Origins of Syndicalism
The First International and the First Syndicalists
The First Wave: Syndicalism before the French CGT
The IWW and Syndicalism
De Leon and Connolly
The "Glorious Period" of the mid-1890s to mid-1920s
In Conclusion: Syndicalism and the Broad Anarchist Tradition

Chapter 6 Ideas, Structure, and Armed Action: Unions, Politics, and the Revolution
Union Activism, Anarchist Ideology, and Union Bureaucracy
Mass Anarchism, Radical Counterculture, and Syndicalism
Anarchist Schools and Syndicalist Education
Democracy and Direct Action
An Iron Law of Oligarchy?
Alliances and the Struggle outside the Workplace
Defending the Revolution
The Question of Power and the Spanish Revolution
In Conclusion: Anarchism, Syndicalism, and Counterpower

Chapter 7 Dual Unionism, Reforms, and Other Tactical Debates
The Antimilitarist Tradition and Popular Revolt
Reforms, Laws, and Compromises
Boring from Within and Dual Unionism
Tactics in Context and Organisational Dualism
Syndicalism and Rank-and-file Movements
In Conclusion: Reform and Revolution

Chapter 8 Militant Minority: The Question of Anarchist Political Organisation
Insurrectionist Anarchists, Antiorganisationalism, and Stirner's Ghost
Syndicalism and Anarchism without Adjectives
Bakuninism, the Organisation of Tendency, and the "Platform"
From Bakunin to the "Platform"
Rethinking the "Platform" Debate
Other Responses to the "Platform"
In Conclusion: Militant Minority and Mass Movement

Part 3 Social Themes
Chapter 9 The Class Character and Popular Impact of the Broad Anarchist Tradition
The Case against "Spanish Exceptionalism"
Broader Impacts and Infusions
The Class Character of the Broad Anarchist Tradition
The Broad Anarchist Tradition in the Countryside
Behind the Rise of Peasant Anarchism
In Conclusion: Labour Movements and Peasant Revolts

Chapter 10 Anarchist Internationalism and Race, Imperialism, and Gender
Anarchist Class Politics and Race
An International and Internationalist Movement
Imperialism and National Liberation
Anarchists and Syndicalists in Anti-imperialist Struggles
Anarchism, Syndicalism, and Women's Emancipation
Women, Class, and Counterculture
Anarchist and Syndicalist Women's Activism
In Conclusion: Class Politics and Human Emancipation

Chapter 11 Conclusion to Volume 1 and Prologue to Volume 2

Bibliography
Index

About the Author:

Lucien van der Walt teaches development, economic sociology, and labor studies at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. Besides the history of anarchism and syndicalism, he researches and teaches on contemporary labor struggles and neoliberal restructuring in the region. Winner of both the 'Labor History' and CODESRIA thesis prizes. Presented papers at more than 80 conferences and workshops, and has written for top journals like Capital and Class, and Labor History. More than 70 other articles and papers. Has a background in social movement activism, trade union education, the Workers' Library and Museum, the Anti-Privatisation Forum, and the National Health and Allied Workers Union.

Michael Schmidt is a Johannesburg senior investigative journalist with 18 years' experience on daily and weekly newspapers, including The Natal Mercury, Natal on Saturday, Sunday Times, ThisDay and Saturday Star.. A columnist and frequently interviewed by broadcasters such as SAfm, BBC and Channel Islam. Has experience in Chiapas, civil war Guatemala, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Darfur, and LebanonActive in the anti-apartheid movement and a former shop steward, and today a journalism trainer.

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