A discussion of the Paris Commune and its legacy from an anarchist perspective, indicating how it influenced both Anarchism and Marxism. It shows that anarchism alone has learnt its lessons and that Marxism, particularly in its Leninist form, paid lip-service to it while ignoring both its actual politics and its lessons.
(more…)Category: Russian Revolution
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The life of Peter Kropotkin
A write up of a talk given in Glasgow in May 2022 on the life and ideas of Peter Kropotkin to mark the anniversary of his birth. As usual, this write-up reflects what I wanted to say rather than what was actually said but it is close enough.
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Review: Romancing the revolution
A review of an interesting book on the reaction to the Russian Revolution within the British left at the time. It shows how many on the left went from supporting the revolution due to its increase in democracy to defeating the Bolshevik dictatorship in a few years. It appeared in Anarcho-Syndicalist Review No. 73 (Spring 2018)
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Review: The Bolsheviks in Power
Review of a 2007 book on the first year of Bolshevik power. Documents the Bolshevik assault on soviet democracy and the opposition. It appeared in Black Flag
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In Defence of the Truth
A critique of a lengthy defence of the Bolsheviks by a (then) leading member of the British SWP in International Socialism (Autumn 1991). It shows how references on the Makhnovists and the Kronstadt revolt are misused and distorted to defend the Bolshevik regime. In short, a classic example of the Trotskyist school of falsification.
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