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Insurrectionary anarchism

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    Insurrectionary anarchismis a revolutionary theory and tendency within theanarchistmovement that emphasizesinsurrectionas a revolutionary practice. It is critical of formal organizations such aslabor unionsand federations that are based on a political program and periodic congresses. Instead, insurrectionary anarchists advocate informal organization and smallaffinity groupbased organization. Insurrectionary anarchists put value in attack, permanentclass conflictand a refusal to negotiate or compromise with class enemies.

    Associated closely with theItalian anarchist movement,the theory of insurrectionary anarchism has historically been linked with a number ofhigh-profile assassinations,as well as the bombing campaigns of theGalleanistiandInformal Anarchist Federation(FAI).

    History[edit]

    Development[edit]

    Among the earliest inspirations for insurrectionary anarchism wasMax Stirner's 1845 bookThe Ego and Its Own,a tract that upheld a kind of proto-individualist anarchism.[1]Stirner distinguished between "revolution"and"insurrection",defining the aims of" revolution "to be a new arrangement of society by astate,while he considered the aims of an "insurrection" to be the rejection of such arrangements and the freeself-organisationof individuals.[2]

    During the 1870s, the idea of "propaganda of the deed"was initially developed byItalian anarchiststo mean smalldirect actionsthat would inspire others to themselves carry out acts of insurrection. Insurrectionists viewed every riot or rebellion as a kind of "revolutionary gymnastics" which could lead to a generalisedsocial revolution.[3]Driven by this theory, Italian individualist anarchists carried out a series of high-profile assassinations during the 1890s, killing French PresidentSadi Carnot,Spanish Prime MinisterAntonio Cánovas del Castillo,Austrian EmpressElisabeth Wittelsbachand Italian KingUmberto Savoy.[4]

    Meanwhile, the question of organisation had divided the Italian anarchist movement into the syndicalists, who advocated for organisation within the labour movement, and the insurrectionists, who emphasised violent and illegal forms of self-organised direct action.[5]The insurrectionary anarchists rejected all forms of formal organisation, including anarchist federations and trade unions, and criticised the movement'sreformistandactivisttendencies for failing to take "immediate action".[6]Although both tendencies advocated foranarchist communism,pro-organisationalists such asFrancesco Saverio MerlinoandErrico Malatestaconsidered the insurrectionists to really constitute a tendency ofindividualist anarchism,due to their belief inindividual sovereigntyandnatural law.[7]

    Galleanist movement[edit]

    Luigi Galleani,an early leading proponent of insurrectionary anarchism

    Contemporaneous with the rise ofanarcho-syndicalism,insurrectionary anarchism was promoted in theUnited Statesby the Italian immigrantLuigi Galleani,through his newspaperCronaca Sovversiva.[8]Galleani was a staunch anti-organisationalist, opposing anarchist participation in the labour movement, which he felt displayed reformist tendencies and a receptiveness tocorruption.[9]This stance brought Galleani into conflict with theIndustrial Workers of the World(IWW) during the1912 Lawrence textile strike,following which they entered into a fierce polemic. However, outside observers paid little attention to the differences between the anarchist factions, who were generally viewed as part of the same "amorphous inscrutable threat".[10]

    Galleani advocated forpropaganda of the deed,which was taken up throughout North America by a network ofGalleanist cells,usually consisting of close-knit individuals.[11]Following theAmerican entry into World War Iand the ensuingpolitical repressionthat followed, the Galleanists initiated a violent campaign in opposition to the American government.[12]After some Italian anarchists were killed by police fortearing down anAmerican flag,the Galleanists carried a reprisal attack, which itself triggered a wave of arrests against insurrectionists.[13]When one of the Italian insurrectionists was threatened with deportation, the Galleanists responded with abombing campaign,sendingletter bombsto industrialists, politicians and lawyers.[14]None of the bombs hit their targets, instead injuring a housekeeper and accidentally killing one of the insurrectionist conspirators.[15]Although the conspirators themselves were never caught, Galleani and other Italian insurrectionists were deported and the bombings were used as justification for repression of the1919 strike wave.[16]

    Aftermath of theWall Street bombing(1920)

    During thesubsequent political repression,the Italian anarchistsSacco and Vanzettiwere arrested on charges of armed robbery. The Galleanists responded by carrying out theWall Street bombing,killing 38 people and making the task of exonerating the pair more difficult.[17]Nevertheless, the Galleanists continued their efforts to aid Sacco and Vanzetti, who they considered to have been framed. In 1922, they began publication ofL'Adunata dei refrattari,in which they encouraged their readers to break the pair out of prison and carry out retributive violence against the responsible state officials. This further exacerbated the split between the syndicalists and insurrectionists, as the two factions excluded each other from their own campaigns.[18]

    Political repression largely drove the insurrectionary anarchist movement underground, withMarcus Grahamdeclaring that they would continue to operate on a conspiratorial basis until they could again agitate in the open.[19]During the late 1920s, Graham moved toSan Francisco,where he became involved with insurrectionary anarchists around the Galleanist newspaperL'Emancipazione.As theGreat Depressionlimited their capacity, the paper shifted to publications in theEnglish languageand invited Graham to be its editor. In January 1933, the group established the newspaperMan!,intended as a means to revive the Galleanism of the previous decade. For Graham and his collaborators, thesocial revolutionwas to be built on individuals achieving a form of enlightenment that would break them from "every law, custom and sham creed in which he now finds himself trapped". Like early insurrectionists,Man!rejected syndicalism and the labour movement, which they considered to be inherentlyauthoritarian,and frequently criticised union officials for corruption. Graham also formulated acriticism of technologyand called for the destruction of civilisation, in arguments that were an early precursor toanarcho-primitivism.[20]

    Man!andL'Adunata dei refrattaricontinued to act as the main expressions of insurrectionary anarchism throughout the 1930s, but failed to revive it as a popular tendency.[21]Before long,Man!came under increasing police repression, culminating with Graham's arrest and the subsequent cessation of publication in 1939.[22]By the 1940s, the insurrectionary anarchist movement was only a marginal force, concentrated aroundL'Adunata dei refrattariin New York.[23]The periodical slowly declined until the early 1970s, when it was finally succeeded by the anti-authoritarian publicationFifth Estate.[24]

    Resurgence[edit]

    Insurrectionary anarchism re-emerged within the Italian anarchist movement during theYears of Lead,when the country was marked by instances ofleft-wingandright-wing terrorism.In 1977,Alfredo Bonannopublished his bookArmed Joy,which espoused acritique of work,emphasised the feeling ofjoyand advocated for the use of revolutionary violence. Although Bonanno was imprisoned for the book's publication and the Italian state ordered all copies be destroyed, he continued to pen insurrectionist manifestos. As theCold Wardrew to a close, he called for insurrectionary anarchists to coordinate themselves into an informal "Anti-Authoritarian Insurrectionist International" in order to build contact and exchange ideas, but this project was stillborn.[6]

    Logo of theInformal Anarchist Federation(FAI)

    During the 1980s, Italian insurrectionary anarchists began carrying out small acts of vandalism against "soft targets" such astelecommunicationsandelectricity infrastructure.These were usually carried out by small informal groups, largely distributed throughoutNorthernandCentral Italy,that focused on localised social conflicts.[25]These attacks escalated into violence during the late 1990s, when insurrectionists began carrying out bombings and assaults. The escalation initially caught the Italian authorities off guard, as they were used to these attacks being carried out without casualties.[26]

    Between the years of 1999 and 2003, four insurrectionist groups carried out a series of more than 20 bombing attacks, following which they merged together into theInformal Anarchist Federation(FAI) in December 2003.[27]To announce their formation, the FAI carried out a series of bombing attacks against various officials of theEuropean Union,including the European PresidentRomano Prodi,although none of the letter bombs sent out caused any injuries. A further series of letter bomb attacks were carried out by the FAI in 2010 and 2011, during which a number of people were injured.[28]After a cell of the FAIkneecappedan executive ofAnsaldo Nuclearein 2012, fears of anarchist terrorism spread rapidly throughout Italy. This led to a wave of arrests against insurrectionary anarchists, including one of the attackersAlfredo Cospito,which briefly put the FAI into an "operational stasis" before they resumed parcel bomb attacks the following year.[29]Over a decade of active operations, the FAI claimed 50 violent attacks, having caused 10 injuries and no deaths.[30]

    Anarchist graffiti during the2008 Greek riots

    Since the dissolution of theRed Brigades,insurrectionary anarchists have been considered by the Italian government to be among the most dangerousdomestic terrorists in Italy,second only toIslamic terrorists.[31]The FAI's example was followed on an international scale by a number of other insurrectionary anarchist groups, most notably theConspiracy of Cells of Fire(CCF) inGreece,who joined together with the FAI to launch what they called the "Black International".[30]Parts of Bonanno's insurrectionary programme have also been taken up by anarchist sections of theanti-globalization movement,as well as by theSardinian nationalistCostantino Cavalleri and theAmerican individualistWolfi Landstreicher.[32]

    Protester facing riot police in the "Battle of Seattle"

    In the United States, insurrectionary anarchism had largely been sidelined until the establishment ofUp Against the Wall Motherfucker,which promoted the use of violent direct action in solidarity with theKing assassination riots.[33]During the mid-2000s, nihilists that were inspired by the rise of insurrectionism in Europe establishedAnarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed(AJODA), which took up the insurrectionist calls to violence and whose members participated inoccupation protests.Insurrectionary anarchists went onto play a leading role in theOccupy movement,although they often clashed with activists that promotedcivil disobedienceandprefigurative politics,and ultimately failed to develop a long-term strategy for the movement.[34]

    Theory and practice[edit]

    Insurrectionary anarchism generally upholds core anarchist principles, such asanti-authoritarianism,anti-capitalism,anti-clericalism,anti-imperialism,anti-militarismandanti-statism.It has also historically combined with other causes, includingradical environmentalism,national liberation strugglesand theprison abolition movement.[25]

    Direct action[edit]

    Insurrectionary anarchists generally undertake two basic types of direct action: vandalism of low-profile targets, such as infrastructure or buildings; and violent attacks, often usingletter bombs,against political or military targets.[35]

    Insurrectionary anarchists often see direct action as a form of emotional release, and participating in action as a source ofjoy.Militants of the FAI, such asAlfredo Cospito,described their attack against an Italian executive as a moment where they "fully enjoyed my life".[36]Insurrectionists can also see violence as a method of self-empowermentand even, in existential terms, as a means to achieve enlightenment.[25]

    Informal organisation[edit]

    Insurrectionary anarchism shares the anarchist opposition tohierarchical organisation,but goes even further as to oppose any form oforganisational structurein general.[37]Instead, insurrectionists emphasise small, informal and temporary forms of organisation, such asaffinity groups,that can together undertakedirect action.Often formed from pre-existinginterpersonal relationships,these groups utiliseconsensus decision-makingto collectively elaborate a programme for attacks against thestateandcapitalism.[32]

    The insurrectionist organisational model has been compared to that of "leaderless resistance",which encourages the independent action of small groups and lone wolves, without an overarching centralised hierarchy. This model minimises risks ofespionageand internaldebate,while also fostering a degree ofideological pluralism,so long as it doesn't distract from direct action.[38]This model has been noted both for its capacity to resist infiltration, but also for its tendencies towards isolation,[39]and the development of an unofficial leadership.[40]While informal organisation can allow for a certain amount of flexibility and adaptability, information sharing is also hampered by its compartmentalised structure and the reliance of interpersonal trust can present a barrier to recruitment.[41]

    See also[edit]

    References[edit]

    1. ^Marone 2015,pp. 195–196.
    2. ^Dunlap 2020,p. 993;Newman 2016,p. 4;Newman 2019,p. 300.
    3. ^Zimmer 2018,p. 362.
    4. ^Marone 2015,p. 195;Pernicone 1993,pp. 288, 292–293.
    5. ^Cornell 2016,p. 38;Pengam 1987,pp. 74–75;Turcato 2018,pp. 240–241.
    6. ^abMarone 2015,p. 196.
    7. ^Turcato 2018,pp. 241, 242–243.
    8. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 36–37.
    9. ^Cornell 2016,p. 37;Zimmer 2018,pp. 360–361.
    10. ^Cornell 2016,p. 38.
    11. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 37–38.
    12. ^Cornell 2016,p. 69.
    13. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 69–70.
    14. ^Cornell 2016,p. 70.
    15. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 70–71.
    16. ^Cornell 2016,p. 71.
    17. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 76–77.
    18. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 93–94.
    19. ^Cornell 2016,p. 77.
    20. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 113–118.
    21. ^Cornell 2016,p. 124.
    22. ^Cornell 2016,p. 142.
    23. ^Cornell 2016,p. 151.
    24. ^Cornell 2016,p. 267.
    25. ^abcMarone 2015,p. 198.
    26. ^Marone 2015,p. 194.
    27. ^Marone 2015,pp. 198–204.
    28. ^Marone 2015,p. 204.
    29. ^Marone 2015,pp. 204–205.
    30. ^abMarone 2015,p. 205.
    31. ^Marone 2015,pp. 194–195.
    32. ^abMarone 2015,p. 197.
    33. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 282–282.
    34. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 299–300.
    35. ^Marone 2015,p. 207-208.
    36. ^Marone 2015,pp. 197–198.
    37. ^Marone 2015,pp. 205–206.
    38. ^Marone 2015,p. 206.
    39. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 37–38;Marone 2015,pp. 206–207.
    40. ^Cornell 2016,pp. 37–38;Marone 2015,p. 198.
    41. ^Marone 2015,p. 207.

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