INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT- SPAIN:

CONFERENCE ON SELF MANAGEMENT:

Self management refers to the libertarian socialist and anarchist idea that workplaces can and should be run democratically by the people working in them without managers of any other bosses. There have been numerous historical experiments using this idea. This coming April the Spanish CNT, along with others will be holding a conference on the history and principles of this idea. The details from the Anarchist Black Cat discussion board follow below.

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ALTERNATIVES TO CAPITALISM: SELF-MANAGEMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Within the framework of the CNT-AIT centenary (1910-2010), a series of conferences brought together under the name of “Alternatives to Capitalism: Self-management in the spotlight” will take place in Barcelona (Spain). These conferences will be held throughout April 2010. The contents will be organized in three blocks of lectures: theoretical, historical and a broader one, based in more current experiences.

The theoretical block draws up a program of lectures on how the capitalist system works, focusing on the present moment of economic and social crisis. Anarcho-syndicalist proposals facing the crisis will also be debated. This theoretical perspective is completed with several papers which shall offer a wide vision of economic and social literature on the subject of socialism and libertarian-communism models.

The historical block tries to put forward two strong models that may serve as an alternative to the capitalist system. On the one hand, that of the anarchist collectivization during the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), for which lectures will be included to explain how it worked in the different regions where it was implemented (Catalonia, the Valencian Community, Aragon, Castile, Andalusia). On the other hand, explanations will be offered on the Yugoslav co-management model (1950-1990) with the purpose of assessing this experience both in the light of a possible model for the development of impoverished countries and from the limits imposed on socialism by the five-year plan, the market and the One Party State, along with a strictly libertarian vision of the whole process.

With the present block we intend to gain an insight on different organizational experiences that fight against capitalism nowadays from a self management point of view. In this sense, the contribution of the CNT-AIT (labour and socioeconomic aspects) is included, as well as those of other specific anarchist organizations (socio-political aspect), of some models of cooperatives with a radical perspective (labour and socioeconomic management aspect) or of cultural and study centres (cultural aspect). Finally there’s place for initiatives linked to local and municipal fields, such as those of squat social centres and apartments, municipalism or local assemblies (local-political aspect). Finally, from a wider geographical, and in some cases, thematic point of view, live experiences from other places in the world will be debated, such as social movements in Latin America, Chiapas, Brazil (Landless Workers Movement, MST), Argentina (enterprises recovered by their workers), Venezuela and Greece.

More info:

http://www.autogestion2010.info/

Organizing:

CeNTenary (Barcelone) Comission

Collaborating:

Fundación Anselmo Lorenzo – FAL (http://www.cnt.es/fal)

Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences – ICEA (http://iceautogestion.org/)Fundació d'Estudis Llibertaris i Anarcosindicalistes – FELLA (http://www.nodo50.org/fella) PROGRAM

Friday 9th April. Capitalist system: exploitation, conflict and destruction

-4 p.m. Introduction to the conferences. CNT Barcelona

-4.15 p.m. Where do we stand in the crisis? Miren Etxezarreta. Economist, lecturer at Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) for 35 years and member of the critic economic seminar TAIFA

-5.30 p.m. Capitalism today: crisis or downfall? Some thoughts. Toni Castells. Economist.

-6.45 p.m. Anarcho-syndicalist proposals in the face of the economic crisis. Gaspar Fuster. Economics teacher in Secondary Education and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-8 p.m General debate and conclusions

Saturday 10th April – Morning. Studies on self-management and models on socialism and libertarian communism (I).

-10 a.m. Socialism and libertarian communism in economic thought until 1939. Lluís Rodríguez Algans. Economist and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-11.15 a.m. Self-management, an up-to date debate: participative planning or re-conceptualization of the market. Endika Alabort Amundarain. Economics lecturer at Basque Country University (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea) and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-12.30 p.m. Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences: study and technical support for widespread self-management. Members of the ICEA.

-1.45 p.m. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 10th April – Evening. Studies on self-management and models on socialism and libertarian communism (II).

-4 p.m.The economics of freedom: creating abundant lives for all (in English). Jon Bekken. Member of the editorial collective of Anarcho-syndicalist Review, former general secretary and treasurer of Industrial Workers of the World.

-5.15 p.m. Inclusive Democracy as a political project for a new libertarian synthesis: rationale, proposed social structure and transition (in English). Takis Fotopoulos. Political philosopher and ex-senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of North London (UK) where he taught Political Economy for over twenty years. He has been the editor of the theoretical journal Democracy & Nature, The International Journal of Inclusive Democracy since 1992 and founder of the Inclusive Democracy movement.

-6.30 p.m. Anarchist Planning for Twenty-first Century Economies: A Proposal (in English). Robin Hahnel. Professor Emeritus at American University where he taught Political Economy for thirty-three years, and is currently Visiting Professor of Economics at Portland State University. He is best known as co-creator along with Michael Albert of an economic model known as “participatory economics” which is widely discussed as an alternative to capitalism (PARECON).

-7.45 p.m. General debate and conclusions

Friday 16th April. Anarchist collectivization during the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (I)

-4p.m. Historical background and social aspects of the Civil War. Paco Madrid. Historian.

-5.15p.m. Face to face against the state: the 1936 revolution and agrarian collectivism in Catalonia. Marciano Cárdaba. Historian. Researcher in the social, economic and political factors of agrarian collectivization in Catalonia (1936-1939).

-6.30p.m. Collectivist transformations in the industry and services in Catalonia (1936-1939). Toni Castells. Historian.

-7.45p.m. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 17th April – Morning. Anarchist collectivization during the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 (II)

-10a.m. "Agrarian collectivities in Aragon (1936-1939). Between revolution and reaction." Walther L. Bernecker. Professor of the History of Spain, Portugal, and Latin-America at Friedrich Alexander University, Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany).

-11.15a.m. Coup-d’etat, war and social transformation in Andalusia and Castile (1936-1939). José Luis Gutiérrez Molina. Historian. Researcher in contemporary social history, particularly in Andalusia.

-12.30p.m. Collectivities in the Valencian Community. Ending with the typical topics. Manuel Vicent. Historian and archivist.

-1.45 p.m. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 17th April – Evening. Yugoslavia 1950-1990

-4 p.m. Unequal development as a limit to the self-management process. The Yugoslav case. Ramón Franquesa. Lecturer of World Economy at University of Barcelona (UB). Researcher in management of natural, renewable resources and on Social Economy and non-capitalist economic organization processes

-5.15p.m. The Yugoslav selfmanagement squeezed by the plan, the market and the single party : is the suppression of institutions the solution? (in English). Catherine Samary. Professor and Researcher specialist of the Yugoslav and East European transformations; activist in internationalist networks.

-6.30p.m. Yugoslav Self-Management: An Anarchist perspective (in English). Andrej Grubačić. Historian and anarchist sociologist. Researcher in the subject of anarchism and the history of the Balkans. Member of Industrial Workers of the World.

-7.45p.m. General debate and conclusions

Tuesday 20th April. Organizational models as an alternative to capitalism: anarchism and anarcho-syndicalism.

-4p.m. CNT: syndicalism for social change. Genís Ferrero. Member of the CNT Barcelona.

-5.15p.m. Libertarian organizations: Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), Iberian Federation of Anarchist Youth (FIJA), Federation of Libertarian Students (FEL).

-6.45p.m. Uruguayan Anarchist Federation. Specific anarchism, anarchist direct action: towards the construction of the Popular Power. Mario Remedios. Secretary of Affairs of FAU. Militant of the Germinal Ateneo in the Villa Colón neighbourhood (Montevideo).

-8p.m. General debate and conclusions

Wednesday 21st April. Organizational models as an alternative to capitalism: cooperativism and municipalism.

-4p.m. Solidarity economy: the embryo of a new economy? Jordi García Jané. Cooperativist, professor and writer on subjects related to solidarity economy and social alternatives in general. -5.15p.m. Cooperatives: production, finances and consumption. Mol-Matric, Coop57, and Germinal.

-6.45p.m. Libertarian municipality on the way to self-management. Manel Aisa. Historian.Assembly of the neighbourhood of Sants. Mireia Rosselló.

-8p.m. General debate and conclusions

Thursday 22nd April. Organizational models as an alternative to capitalism: anarchism, culture and social movements.

-4p.m. House squatting and social centres. Jesús Rodríguez. Activist of the squat movement.

-5.15p.m. Libertarian Ateneo. Popular Encyclopaedic Ateneo and Libertarian Ateneo of Sants. Xavier Oller, historian and members.

-6.45p.m. Libertarian Centre of Studies: Foundation for Libertarian and Anarcho-syndicalist Studies (Barcelona), Libertarian Centre of Studies, Federica Montseny (Badalona), Libertarian Centre of Studies, Francesc Sàbat (Terrassa), Foundation Anselmo Lorenzo (Madrid). Members.

-8p.m. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 24th April – Morning. Nowadays experiences (I): Social Movements in Latin America, Chiapas y Brazil.

-10 a.m. Social movements in Latin America: you can’t fight progressivism. Raúl Zibechi. Thinker and activist, professor and researcher in social movements, journalist and international analyst for La Jornada (Mexico) and Brecha (Uruguay).

-11.15 a.m. Indigenous rebellion in Chiapas. Committee of Solidarity with the Zapatist rebellion.

-12.30p.m. Landless Workers Movement from Brazil, the struggle for land, Agrarian Reform, and a fairer society. María Carballo. Anthropologist and member of the MST Support Committee of Barcelona since 1996.

-13.45. General debate and conclusions

Saturday 24th April – Evening. Nowadays experiences (II): Argentina, Venezuela and Greece

-4p.m. From crisis to self-management: origins and perspectives of the recovery of firms in Argentina. Luis Buendía. Economist and pre-doctoral researcher at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-5.15p.m. Imperialism, social reform and popular power in Venezuela. Luis Baños. Libertarian militant active in organizational, education and popular struggle processes in the rural environment and the city. Historian and member of the Institute of Economic and Self-management Sciences (ICEA).

-6.30p.m. Tracking down social antagonism and anarchist-antiauthoritarian movement in Greece. Anarchist companions from Greece.

-7.45p.m. General debate and conclusions

-8.15p.m. End of the program. CNT Barcelona

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-BARCELONA:

ANARCHA-FEMINIST CONFERENCE:

This March 8 marks International Womens' Day and this year marks the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, the anarcho-syndicalist CNT of Spain. It is thus quite appropriate that this weekend will signal the start of a month long anarcha-feminist conference in the heartland of international anarchism, Barcelona. The following is the announcement from the CNT Centennary Commission. The English language version below comes from the Anarkismo website.

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Barcelona: Anarcha-Feminist Conference
Martha Ackelsberg, Ana Sigüenza, Antonia Rodrigo, the Colectivo Juana Julia Guzmán from Colombia, Mujeres Libres... just some of the participants in this festival of feminism and anarchism organized by the CNT in Barcelona in March. [Castellano]

Barcelona: Anarcha-Feminist Conference

This year - 2010 - the CNT celebrates 100 years since it was founded, in a context very different from today's. For this reason, we want to analyze and reflect on the path that this class-struggle union has followed throughout its history and examine its role today. There is no doubt that the people who have been members of the CNT have mostly been women and men with a capacity for critical thought, sometimes well ahead of their time, and there have been times when the CNT has played a vital role, as in the social revolution of 1936. Today we ask ourselves how it sees itself as a union that fights against every form of authority, and especially against something as important as patriarchy which, along with capitalism, inhibits the freedom of many living beings and is destroying the planet.

So, this Feminist Conference arise from the need of various female members of the CNT to visualize the vital role that women play in the anarchist movement, to reflect on the connection between anarchism and feminism, to challenge traditional gender roles, female and male, on which patriarchy are based.

The Conference on Women and Anarchism will be an opportunity to get closer to the realities of female militancy. We intend to analyze, discuss and highlight the participation and organization of women who identify with libertarian principles without giving up their gender identity. We want to see the problems that affect us as women in the various areas where we operate: labour, educational, organizational, health, emotional, etc., and the problems arising from a patriarchal and capitalist society such as ours that affects us and our comrades, male and female alike.

To this end, we will try to deal with the subject on two levels: one level is our own situation as female workers and union activists in a class-struggle, revolutionary and libertarian union, covering the historical perspective and the needs that we see today. The second level is feminist women's participation in the various organizations that seek to contribute to social change. We are interested in highlighting these daily struggles, the projects that result from them, the difficulties that exist and the contradictions that we encounter. We also wish to work on these aspects by collecting multiple experiences from the past and others that are in progress today all over the world.

To try to cover these objectives, we have organized five topics:

1. Women, work and the union

2. A historical reference: the Mujeres Libres

3. Anarcho-feminism: organized women

4. Women in the press and propaganda of The Idea

5. Sexual diversity and anarchism.

Everyone is invited to participate in these reflections on our/your part so that we can try to get closer to achieving our/your utopian society.

Let our thoughts become action.
PROGRAM

- Saturday 6 March 11.00 a.m.

Women and Anarcho-syndicalism: with Ana Sigüenza (first Secretary General of the CNT) and Laura Vicente (Doctor of Contemporary History at the University of Alicante), author of "Teresa Claramunt. Pionera del feminismo obrerista anarquista".

Venue: Centre Cívic Drassanes - Sala d'Actes. C/Nou de la Rambla 43. ( L-3: Liceu, Drassanes ó Paralel).

- Sunday 7 March 5.00 p.m.

Workshop - Self-managing our health (women-only event - prior registration required: libertariascnt@hotmail.com )

Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)

- Wednesday 10 March 7.00 p.m.

Cine forum: "Adrift (by casual women workers)" Authors: precarias a la deriva.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Friday 12 Marzo 7.00 p.m.

Anarcho-feminist Theory & Practice, with La Katino Anarkista (member of the Red Anarcofeminista de Mujeres and creator of the publication "Alejandra") and Vanessa Ortíz, from the Juana Julia Guzmán collective (Bogota).

Venue: Fundació d'Estudis Llibertaris i Anarcosindicalistes - FELLA. C/Joaquin Costa 34. ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2 Universitat).

- Saturday 13 March 5.00 p.m.

Anarchist women propagandizing The Idea, with María Ángeles García Maroto, anarcho-feminist journalist and writer, member of the Alcoi SOV, and Antonina Rodrigo, writer, author of the book "Amparo Poch y Gascón, médica y anarquista".

Presentation of feminist publications. RAG (Ireland), Herstory (Barcelona), Histeria (Barcelona), Mujeres Preokupando 8 (Barcelona) and others...

Venue: Centre Cívic Pati Llimona. C/Regomir 3. ( L-3: Liceu ó L-4 Jaume I).

- Sunday 14 March 5.00 p.m.

Feminist self-defence workshop. Organized by a Barcelona self-defence group (women-only event - prior registration required: libertariascnt@hotmail.com ).

Venue: Casa de la Solidaridad. C/Vistalegre, 15. ( L-2: Sant Antoni)

- Friday 19 March 7.00 p.m.

Animal liberation, liberation of the land and liberation of women. Natalia, Maria, Isabella and Clara.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Saturday 20 March 5.00 p.m.

Mujeres Libres, yesterday and today, with Martha Ackelsberg, professor of Political Science and Women's & Gender Studies at Smith College, Northampton, MA (USA) and author of "Free Women of Spain: Anarchism and the Struggle for the Emancipation of Women", together with comrades from the Mujeres Libres in Extremadura and Madrid.

Venue: CCCB – Aula 2. C/ Montalegre, 5 ( L-3: Catalunya ó L-1 i L-2 Universitat).

- Friday 26 March 7.00 a.m.

Gender, race and class. Carla.

Venue: Espai Obert. C/Violant d'Hongria 71, 1º. ( L-5: Plaça de Sants i Badal; L-3: Plaça del Centre)

- Saturday 27 March 11.00 a.m.

Sexual Diversity and anarchism: debate organized by D-género, a pro-sexual liberation libertarian collective from Madrid, Karolina, Filipo Brenda and Maricarmen.

Venue: Centre Cívic Barceloneta. C/Conreria 1 – 9. ( L-4: Barceloneta).

* Workshops are for women only. Prior registration is required - write to: libertariascnt@hotmail.com . Dates for the workshops are subject to change, and in this case participants will be advised by email. Further workshops may be organized if the maximum number of participants is exceeded.

Organized by:
Comisión del CeNTenario (Barcelona)

English translation by FdCA-International Relations Office
Related Link: http://www.cnt.es/centenario

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SPAIN:

CNT CENTENNARY- SOLIDARIDAD OBRERA STATEMENT:

As has been mentioned previously on this blog this year marks the centennary of the foundation of the Confedracion Nacional de Trabajo, the Spanish CNT. The CNT was the most sucessful of all anarchist organizations in history, and its legacy lives on in many anarchosyndicalist groups both within Spain and outside of it. As I mentioned previously I will be presenting various items about this history over the course of the year. The statements on this centennaryof the two larger Spanish anarchosyndicalist organizations, the CGT and the CNT have already been presented here. See here for the statement of the CGT and here for that of the CNT.

There is another, smaller anarchosyndicalist federation in Spain, Solidaridad Obrera. This organization came out of a split from the CGT, and, speaking somewhat simplictically, it may b seen as being "half-way" between the CGt and the CNT. In terms of icdeological affinity it is the Spanish organization that I personally favour the most. I do, however, recognize that it is something of an exercise in futility. For better or worse the CGT represents well over 90% of anarchosyndicalists in Spain today. Solidaridad Obrera is basically confined to the area of Madrid and one Catalan city.

Still, their voice desreves to be heard on this anniversary as they are also one of the heirs of the CNT. Their statement, translated from one of their journals Contramarchas, follows below. This statement takes both the CGT and the CNT to task for their celebrations of the centennary. A cynic might say that this criticism is something of "sour grapes" as SO doesn't have the numbers to do what the larger federations can do. On the other hand they make very good points about the need for unity amongst the anarchosyndicalists of Spain in presenting the ideals today. How far this unity can go when there is at least one real tactical difference ie whether to participate in workplace elections or not is questionable. This is something real and much more important than the nitpicking matters of "theory" ie opinion that usually divide leftist groups. Still, there is a great "continent" of opportunity for cooperation amongst the groups that is away from this question, and SO is right in that such cooperation should be encouraged as much as possible. The same perhaps applies to other anarchist groups with different agendas elsewhere in the world, though there the differences may be much more profound.

In any case here is their statement on the Centennary.

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2010 CENTENARY OF THE C.N.T.

Between the end of the nineteenth and the start of the early twentieth century, the ideal of worker’s social emancipation permeated large sections of the working class, not precisely like it occurs today. In recent years we have been celebrating anniversaries that we believe are very important (and that we are now very far from being able to repeat) with the intention of disseminating them amongst the workers . Without going much further we have just commemorated in our magazine Solidarity No 15 (Autumn 2009), the 75th anniversary of the Asturian Revolution and the centennary of the Tragic Week, two milestones in terms of the working class confrontation with tyrants (the Second Republic and Alfonso XIII, respectively), without leaders or hierarchies, which put the system in check and which it bloodily suppressed by using the army against the people on both occasions. They filled the jails of all those who bothered them, especially labour militants, and in the case of the Tragic Week forged a shoddy setup to “legally” assassinate Ferrer Y Guardia and permanently close the Modern School, for the greater joy of the Church, which as happens at present, dominates education to conveniently indoctrinate new generations.

Despite all that persecution and repression, Solidaridad Obrera (a union created by socialists and anarchists in Barcelona in 1907 and since then involved in establishing itself in Catalonia) convened its third congress, calling, at the same time, for participation from all the local organizations in the rest of Spain. That Congress decided to build a new state-wide organization to "hasten the economic emancipation of the working class through the revolutionary expropriation of the bourgeoisie ...". Thus was born the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo, the anarchist union that would bring together the most militant and revolutionary parts of the labour movement and realize the greatest feats of the workers’ struggle up to 1939: The strike of 1911, underground activity, the revolutionary strike of 1917 with the UGT, The Canadiense strike in 1919, the consequent 8 hours day, the strike against the war in Morocco in 1923, underground activity, the rent strike in 1930, the occupation of the Duro Felguera in 1931, the insurgent uprisings of 1932 and 33 (Casas Viejas), the Zaragoza strike in 1934, the Asturian Revolution (UHP) in 1934, the construction strike in Madrid in 1936, the collectivisation of industry, services and agriculture ... It had to be ended by means of death, horror and blood as the fascists, military and church, led by the Criminalísimo Franco (the biggest murderer of workers in history ) ended this trajectory.

This centennial is claimed both by the current CNT, and by the CGT (which in its manifesto "100 years of anarcho-syndicalism" openly declares itself as anarchist). Both organizations prepare, each for its side and not without some polemics (If anarchosyndicalism is 140 years old and not 100, then we must ask when did the CGT begin?), concerts, conferences, lectures, debates and exhibitions for this celebration. In our opinion, an unnecessary waste of money for mere self-aggrandizement and to keep on sowing discord between the two organizations.

In Solidaridad Obrera on the occasion of this anniversary, we have given our members José Peirats’ trilogy "The CNT in the Spanish Revolution "(2nd Ed 1988), a great work that recounts the accomplishments of our companions in that first part of the twentieth century. We would like it if the centenary was a cause of contact between the anarcho-syndicalist organizations and workers in general, and was used to disseminate the principles, the realized struggle and the news of workers’ self-organization that is currently outside the institutionalized unions. In this sense we set forth proposals that will promote unity and disseminate its results. While we must say that we start from a situation unfavourable for the unitary proposals to succeed, as each organization seeks more the reaffirmation of their own different postulates than the road to anarchosyndicalist unification, so necessary so that the working class can stand up the fierce attacks that we're suffering.