Workers Solidarity Movement

Audio from the 2nd Dublin anarchist bookfair of Emmet O'Connors talk on Syndicalism in Ireland and the discussion that followed it.

In times past Dominick Street - developed in the 1750s by the Dominick family - was the “first settlement” of fashionable Dublin and much favoured by “the quality”. It housed such notables as William Hamilton; the mathematician who was elected the first foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA was born in No.36, horror writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu in No.45, and Sinn Fein founder Arthur Griffith in No.4.

Revolutionary martyrs, being unable to speak for themselves, are liable to be claimed by all sorts of organisations with whom in real life they would have had little in common. When they are of national or international importance, like the Irish syndicalist James Connolly, this also mean that biographies often tend to be very partisan affairs, aimed at recruiting the dead to one cause or another. The story of their life becomes reduced to a morality tale whose conclusion is whatever positions the author holds dear today.

The Easter 1916 rising in Dublin is often portrayed simply as nationalist blood sacrifice but it can also be examined as an insurrection which was seriously planned to defeat the British army. It is credited with transforming political attitudes in Ireland, leading to the partally successful war of independance but nationalist histories tend to understate the other reasons why the situation was transformed and to completely ignore the wave of workers struggles that broke out during the war.

1922'de Emma Goldman Sovyet Rusya'dan dert yanıyordu; [Sovyet Rusya] "kör ve topalın, sağır ve aptal'ın mucizevi kürler için toplandığı modern bir Sosyalist Lourdes [Fransa'nın güneybatısında bir haç yeri]" haline gelmişti. Tarihsel geçerlilik iddiasında bulunan pekçok dini olay gibi, Ekim devriminin pekçok efsanesi de tarihsel bir tanıklıktan ziyade parti liderliğine [karşı] körü körüne bir iman yaratmak amacı ile yazılmıştır.

Freedom Press, Londen 1965. Samengesteld en geredigeerd door Vernon Richards.

Dit boek dient als een introductie tot Malatesta's denken over het
anarchisme. En het is ook zeer helder denken. Je kunt het er mee eens
zijn of het er niet mee eens zijn, maar je zult niet je hoofd pijnigen door
te proberen een lading van jargon te ontcijferen.

Realitas mengenai implementasi sebuah masyarakat anarkis sering sekali diragukan. Dan kadang-kadang kita yang "setuju" dengan filosofis anarkisme pun menganggap masya-rakat anarkis sebagai utopia yang tidak dapat direalisasikan.

Benvenuta la tregua indetta dall'IRA. Negli ultimi 25 anni oltre tremila persone sono rimaste uccise ed oltre 40000 ferite. A migliaia incarcerate o tuttora in prigione. La responsabilita' di queste morti e di tutte queste sofferenze va principalmente imputata allo Stato britannico. Nessun cessafuoco e' stato a tutt'oggi annunciato dallo Stato britannico, ne' dalle forze paramilitari lealiste che hanno ucciso civili cattolici e minato un'ufficio del Sinn Fein dalla cessazione della campagna militare dell'IRA (da quella data, 31 Agosto, si conti anche la bomba sul treno Belfast-Dublino del 12 Settembre posta dagli oltranzisti del Ulster Volunteer Force che ha provocato due feriti, N.d.T.).In tali circostanze il cessafuoco della sola IRA non arrechera' pace, tantomeno giustizia. [...]

Emma Goldman 1922 yilinda soyle yakiniyordu: "Sovyet Rusya, korlerin, sagir ve dilsizlerin dertlerine mucizevi bir derman bulacaklari umidiyle kendisine kostuklari moden sosyalist Lourdes* haline geldi." Rus Devrimi, onyillar boyunca varolagelmis devrimci fikirlerin gercek yasama gecirilebilmesi acisindan ilk tarihsel firsatti. Dune kadar teori olan sey, simdi pratige donusuyordu. Iki devrim anlayisi (devletci-merkeziyetci ve liberter-federalist) arasindaki mucadele, soyutlama duzeyinden cikip somut bir nitelik kazaniyordu.

Sendikalizm, bugun liberter hareket icindeki en guclu egilimi olusturuyor. Sendikalizm, buyuk isci sendikalari kurdu, onemli mucadelelere onculuk etti, pek cok ulkede Anarsizme populer ifadesini kazandirdi. Sendikalizmin anarsist-komunist bakis acisini anlayabilmek icin, onun kokenlerine, temel inanclarina ve tarihsel deneyimine bakmak zorundayiz.