Transcript Anarchist Women: a brief history of ideas, struggle and

Anarchist Women: a brief history
of ideas, struggle and action.
B.A.S.S.
Erst: Brisbane, January 2013.
Overview
• American anarchist women: Helena Born;
Mollie Steimer; Voltarine de Cleyre; Emma
Goldman
• Spanish anarchist women: Mujeres Libres
• What issues are relevant today?
America
• Based on Anarchist Women 1870 – 1920
(Marsh, 1981) with a focus on 4 women of
the many involved in anarchism
• Set in the context of growing radical
movements
• Anarchism was divided into individualists
and communist-anarchists
• Women from middle class and working
class backgrounds, local or immigrant
Individualists
• Tended to be more educated, led by
Benjamin Tucker and based on ideas of
Proudhon – economic and social system
that abolished government and emphasised
economic equality. Tucker founded the
journal “Liberty” in 1881
• More attractive to local Americans than to
immigrants
Communist-anarchists
• Were more collectivised in attitude and by the
early 1890s this approach dominated. Johann Most
was a leading figure and tended to represent the
stereotype of anarchist (book on how to make
bombs)
• Based on Kropotkin’s idea that “human beings
desire to cooperate with others to secure basic
needs of life”
• Mostly Eastern European Jewish immigrants
Helena Born (1860-1901)
• Held views common to anarchist women namely 3
goals: total equality for women; free choice of
individuals to determine their own lives; the
destruction of capitalism
• In her lifestyle she achieved the first two goals in
terms of unconventional relationship and income;
in England unsuccessfully tried to organise
seamstresses; died at 41
Mollie Steimer (1897-1980)
• Emigrated from the Ukraine; working class and
very poor. Lived in a ghetto in New York and
mostly educated in radical youth groups.
• Inspired by Kropotkin and joined the anarchist
group “Freedom” in 1917 – basic acceptance of
anarchist ideology and could see an intellectual
and moral vision for the future
• Arrested in 1918 for “espionage” for the
distribution of leaflets supporting Bolshevik
revolution
Mollie Steimer (cont.)
• She was sentenced to 15 years in jail and refused to
join a campaign for her release saying: “I am
against petitioning a government official and
consider it against my principles to ask for my
release…when thousands of other political
prisoners are languishing in U.S. prisons”
• Deported to Soviet Union 1921 but was a dissenter
– with Senya Fleshin, her lover, she tried to free
anarchist prisoners but was beaten, tortured and
jailed. Deported to Germany and had to flee from
Hitler. She was put in a concentration camp in
France and then she and Fleshin fled to Mexico.
Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1911)
• Local American -poor early childhood. Marsh describes
her as “wild, free, intellectually precocious and impulsive”
(p.12).
• Her parents separated and she was sent to live with her
father at 12. He sent her to a Catholic school for
“discipline” – led to more rebelliousness
• She first joined the socialists but found it too restrictive, so
in 1889 she became an anarchist.
• She worked as an English teacher and devoted the rest of
her time to anarchist activism and theory. She was antiwar, anti-capitalism and anti-centralised nationalism.
• She supported sexual freedom, the economic and
emotional independence of women from men, individual
acts of rebellion and wrote about her ideas.
Voltairine de Cleyre (cont.)
• She suffered from bouts of depression, and de
Cleyre had a son who she left in the care of his
mentally unstable father until he was 15. She
described herself as working hard and “keeping
integrity…with all the limitations of material
conditions”. She did not want to become an
“idealess creation of material needs”
• By 1893 she agreed that participation in a larger
radical community was the best way to bring
about social revolution (though did not define
this). Mostly focussed on the anarchist
community.
Emma Goldman (1869-1940)
• A propagandist extraordinaire who was well known
beyond the anarchist community- appealed to middle
class before WW1 and after she died to the feminists of the
1960’s. She was a staunch advocate of women’s
emancipation (Marsh, 1981)
• Russian Jewish immigrant, went to NY at 20 and quickly
became part of the anarchist movement. She was inspired
by Bakunin’s ideas of revolt, atheism and collectivism. She
agreed with Kropotkin’s concept of “each according to
need” and was an advocate of free love. She faced many
hostile crowds for the sake of free speech, and went to
prison for advocating birth control (Woodcock, p. 440).
• She was a prolific writer and went on lecture tours,
including to Europe to promote internationalism.
Quote from Goldman’s writings
• Anarchism stands for the liberation of the
human mind from the dominion of
religion…property…shackles and restraint of
government and for a social order based on
the free groupings of individuals for the
purpose of producing real social wealth
(1910).
• She produced “Mother Earth” (1906-1917),
“Living my life” (1931) and others.
Spain – Mujeres Libres (Free
Women)
• Context (based on Woodcock’s Anarchism, 1962 &
Leval’s Collectives in the Spanish Revolution, 1975):
• Fanelli, influenced by Bakunin, brought the
doctrine of the Alliance to Spain in 1869
• It was: “atheistic; it demands the political,
economic and social equality of members of both
sexes” and “for all children of both sexes equality
of the means for development…maintenance and
education”
• From this came the CNT-FAI which was
committed to full equality
Context (cont.)
• Based on Women in the Spanish revolution (Willis,
1975) & McLoughlin
(flag.blackened.net/revolt/ws/spain48.html )
• Conditions for women continued to be repressive,
despite the vote for both sexes (aged 23+) being
established in 1931 under the Republic, which also
allowed for divorce if there was “just cause”.
• When the military insurrection against the
Republic occurred in July 1936 women played a
dominant role and attitudes began to change.
Spanish Revolution
• By the end of 1936, Leval recorded the social
revolution that had occurred when landowners
had left, businesses had collapsed and local
government had become powerless.
• About half of Spain was free from fascist
occupation and collectives developed that were
anarchistic in attitudes, ie they came from the
people’s initiative, groups worked on the land for
the benefit of the whole community and there was
economic equality (even when there was no
attempt to abolish money).
• The collectives existed for different periods of time
according to how well they resisted Franco’s and
Stalinist forces.
Mujeres Libres
• Despite the CNT-FAI statement that “the two
sexes will be equal, both in rights and obligations”
in practice it was failing to attract women in 1936
and those in the union felt undervalued.
• Mujeres Libres was founded in May 1936 with the
aim to empower women and give them confidence
to participate in anarchist politics. They did not
see themselves as feminists, were not
individualists rather saw the “struggle for
emancipation was a collective one” (McLouglin).
Mujeres Libres (cont.)
• Over a 2 year period 30,000 women achieved
much. The major focus was education, eg Casa de
la Dona (Barcelona) in 1937 took in 600-800
women/day. Schools and courses trained women
for industry in Madrid & Barcelona and
encouraged them to fight for equality in the
workplace.
• Military training was offered with a shooting
range in Madrid. There were schools for children
based on anarchist education – exploration not
brainwashing.
Mujeres Libres (cont.)
• They achieved legalised abortion, contraception,
divorce and some rights to child care at the local
level & maternity hospitals
• By late September they had 7 sections in the CNT,
including Transport, Public Service, Nursing
• Women played an active role in the battle against
the nationalist army in Madrid and set up
committees for food, ammunition and
communication.
Mujeres Libres – quotes
(Blood of Spain, Fraser, 1986)
• A woman who used to go to an anarchist
centre after work: “the classes were mixed
and I think they helped us, men and
women, to develop a new way of
understanding…A real liberation”
• “As long as any woman is kept as an object
and is prevented from developing her
personality, prostitution, in fact, continues
to exist” (editor Mujeres Libres).
Questions
• What were the main issues for the anarchist
women in America and Spain in this
period?
• How relevant are these issues today?
• How can anarchist women today carry their
ideas forward?