ANARCHIST PEOPLE:
FREE WOMEN OF SPAIN- A BOOK REVIEW:
(FROM LINCHPIN ISSUE 3)
As Molly has mentioned previously at this blog the Ontario based Common Cause organization has brought out issue # 3 of their publication Linchpin. Here's one of the articles in that paper, a book review of Martha Acklesberg's book 'Free Women of Spain', about the Spanish anarchist organization Mujeras Libres. Gives the flavour of what Linchpin contains....
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Free Women of Spain
The Free women of Spain strikes its readers into thinking about equality, empowerment community and revolution, Karine from the Hamilton local delves in further to what sounds like a brilliant book.
The Free women of Spain strikes its readers into thinking about equality, empowerment community and revolution, Karine from the Hamilton local delves in further to what sounds like a brilliant book.
Martha Acklesberg, in Free Women of Spain, reviews the history of the struggle for women's emancipation in Spain, before and during the Spanish Revolution (1936-1939), focusing on the major anarchist women's organization, the Mujeres Libres (Free Women) a group of libertarian women in many parts of Spain.
She introduces us to their struggle by interviewing some of the women of Mujeres Libres who explain their role and contribution during the revolution, but also the difficulties they encountered within the male-dominated organization, (such as CNT, FIJL and many others) of getting their voices heard. Nevertheless, they always believed in the importance of working together within these organizations while having their own organization in order to develop their sense of self and the skills they would need to believe in their own capacities.
This book is about empowerment, equality and the need to build community organizations. Mujeres Libres was a group that was able to reach up to 20,000 women, by, but not only, distributing their newspapers and offering courses and programs for women's interests. Many of us can learn a lot from their experience by reading this book because it reminds us to have to fight inequality, not only outside in the society, but also within our own organizations. It is book that I, myself, felt very empowered by and I hope it can reach you in the same way.
READ ON>> There's an archive of a talk based on the book given to the Irish Workers' Solidarity Movement at http://www.wsm.ie/story/3131
2 comments:
Have you heard of the BBC documentary series on the Spanish Civil War? I've heard that there's a full hour devoted to anarchism in action. I have yet to be able to find it anywhere...
You are probably thinking of 'Land and Freedom', rather than a BBC documentary. Land and Freedom is on the Christie Books channel (see our links section). If there is something else closer to what you are looking for the Christie Books channel is the best place to search first.
Molly
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