FREE SHIPPING on Orders of $40 or More!
Social-democracy and Anarchism in the International Workers' Association, 1864-1877

This book explores the conflicts that took place in the First International. Social and economic conditions varied greatly in Europe in the 1860s and 1870s. The strategies adopted by the various federations and sections of the International Workers’ Association, or IWA, reflected this diversity. Although Marx and Engels have been seen as the leaders of the International, there were many who rejected their leadership. In September 1873 the six federations of the IWA met together in Geneva and reasserted the principle that political organising should be subordinate to workplace – economic – organization. The great aim of the IWA was for working people to liberate themselves. These federations, the only ones that were active, reversed the decisions of the congress held in The Hague a year earlier. They disregarded edicts of expulsion issued by the New York based General Council, at the instigation of Marx and Engels. Marx and Engels discovered they were generals without an army, isolated and at odds with the bulk of the organized labour movement. René Berthier reviews the historiography of this conflict. This book sheds new light on differences between the emerging Social-democratic and Anarchist traditions, and explores the history of the IWA.

1122342493
Social-democracy and Anarchism in the International Workers' Association, 1864-1877

This book explores the conflicts that took place in the First International. Social and economic conditions varied greatly in Europe in the 1860s and 1870s. The strategies adopted by the various federations and sections of the International Workers’ Association, or IWA, reflected this diversity. Although Marx and Engels have been seen as the leaders of the International, there were many who rejected their leadership. In September 1873 the six federations of the IWA met together in Geneva and reasserted the principle that political organising should be subordinate to workplace – economic – organization. The great aim of the IWA was for working people to liberate themselves. These federations, the only ones that were active, reversed the decisions of the congress held in The Hague a year earlier. They disregarded edicts of expulsion issued by the New York based General Council, at the instigation of Marx and Engels. Marx and Engels discovered they were generals without an army, isolated and at odds with the bulk of the organized labour movement. René Berthier reviews the historiography of this conflict. This book sheds new light on differences between the emerging Social-democratic and Anarchist traditions, and explores the history of the IWA.

21.95 Out Of Stock
Social-democracy and Anarchism in the International Workers' Association, 1864-1877

Social-democracy and Anarchism in the International Workers' Association, 1864-1877

by Rene Berthier
Social-democracy and Anarchism in the International Workers' Association, 1864-1877

Social-democracy and Anarchism in the International Workers' Association, 1864-1877

by Rene Berthier

Overview

This book explores the conflicts that took place in the First International. Social and economic conditions varied greatly in Europe in the 1860s and 1870s. The strategies adopted by the various federations and sections of the International Workers’ Association, or IWA, reflected this diversity. Although Marx and Engels have been seen as the leaders of the International, there were many who rejected their leadership. In September 1873 the six federations of the IWA met together in Geneva and reasserted the principle that political organising should be subordinate to workplace – economic – organization. The great aim of the IWA was for working people to liberate themselves. These federations, the only ones that were active, reversed the decisions of the congress held in The Hague a year earlier. They disregarded edicts of expulsion issued by the New York based General Council, at the instigation of Marx and Engels. Marx and Engels discovered they were generals without an army, isolated and at odds with the bulk of the organized labour movement. René Berthier reviews the historiography of this conflict. This book sheds new light on differences between the emerging Social-democratic and Anarchist traditions, and explores the history of the IWA.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780850367195
Publisher: Merlin Press Limited, The
Publication date: 11/01/2015
Pages: 256
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

René Berthier is an active researcher and writer.

Table of Contents

Author's preface viii

Translators' preface x

Introductory note 1

Introduction 3

Key questions 12

The question of the conquest of power 12

The question of programme 18

Practical experiences of solidarity 25

Action and organisation 30

The Alliance 31

Organisation and the proletariat 48

Trades Sections and Central Sections 53

Bakunin's viewpoint summarised 55

After the Commune 66

The London Conference, 17-23 September 1871 67

Reactions to the London Conference 69

The Fifth Congress of the International, The Hague, September 1872 73

The Alliance for Socialist Democracy and the IWA 75

Two Congresses in Saint-Imier, September 1872 77

The reaction of the General Council of New York 81

The Collapse of the Marxist International 83

The International in Germany 85

The IWA Congress in Geneva, 1 September 1873 90

Reactions from the General Council in New York 91

The 'Anti-Authoritarian' response 93

The Congress of the Marxist secessionists in Geneva 95

The General Council had no funds 97

The dissolution of the General Council 102

The Anti-Authoritarian International and Attempted Conciliation 104

The Seventh congress of the International, Brussels, September 1874 104

The Eighth Congress of the International, Bern, October 1876 105

Earlier attempts at reconciliation 105

Labour candidates - a question of circumstance 106

The Congress in Olten, June 1873 - dialogue with little rancour 107

On Bakunin's tomb 109

Initiatives for reconciliation appear to gain ground 109

German Socialists oppose rapprochement 111

Debates at the Bern Congress 113

The report of the Belgian Federation 115

Questions of representation 116

The Balkans War 117

Hopes for reconciliation 118

Bakunin and parliamentary institutions 119

Julius Vahlteich 124

The Gotha Congress 126

Towards the End of the Anti-Authoritarian' International 131

The Ninth Congress of the International, Verviers, September 1877 131

Paul Brousse and Andrea Costa 134

The debate about the Ghent Universal Socialist Congress, September 1877 135

The Ghent Congress, 9 September 1877 140

The Congress of Fribourg, 1878. The end of the Jura Federation and the evaporation of the Anti-Authoritarian' International 146

The Birth of Anarchism 152

Collectivists and Communist Anarchists 152

The 'Anti-Authoritarian' concept 153

Conclusion 158

Appendices 165

1 Preamble to the Statutes of the JWA, Geneva, First Congress of the IWA, September 1866 165

2 Extract from the minutes of the Brussels IWA Congress, September 1868 166

3 Programme of the International Alliance for Socialist Democracy, October 1868 166

4 Resolutions at a meeting at Crèt-du-Locle, May 1869 167

5 Key demands of the Social Democratic Workers' Party, August 1869 168

6 The Basel Congress of the International, September 1869 169

7 L'Egalité criticises the General Council, 6 November 1869 173

8 Minutes of Committee Meeting, Geneva Alliance for Socialist Democracy Section, 14 January 1870 174

9 Minutes of a General Assembly Meeting, Geneva Alliance for Socialist Democracy Section, 2 April 1870 175

10 Jura Federation: Polemic against the General Council, July 1872 177

11 Resolutions of the Saint-Imier Congress of the IWA, 15-16 September 1872 179

12 The Sixth Congress of the International, Geneva 1-6 September 1873 183

13 Bakunin's last letter to Élisée Reclus, 15 February 1875 186

14 Current demands, the Gotha Programme of the German Social-Democratic Party, May 1875 187

15 Resolutions of the Congresses of Verviers, 5-8 September 1877 and Ghent, 9-14 September 1877 188

16 1877: The International falls apart 191

Chronology 195

Sources 200

Notes 202

Index 220

From the B&N Reads Blog
Page 1 of

Customer Reviews