Independence Anarchism

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Independence Anarchism, also known as Anarcho-Independentism, is an anarchist, culturally left-wing and economically left-wing movement of movements that emphasizes the autonomy, self-determination or independence (national liberation) of a given people with a common identity from forms of hierarchy, especially centralized ones, in defense of the people's language and the non- reactionary aspects of its culture and history. It inhabits the bottom left corner of the political compass.

Independence anarchism as a term originated in the stateless nations of Western Europe in the 80s, and was "officially" adopted by independence anarchists at their first international meeting in 1985, in Guasila, Sardinia. As a result, the movements from Western Europe (with the exception of Quebec) are the only ones that use the label. A few examples of them are in Catalonia, Brittany, Occitania, the Basque Country, the Canary Islands, Sicily, Sardinia, Andalusia, Castile and Galicia.

However, many similar national liberation movements in which anarchists have participated have also existed in Eastern Europe, East Asia, the Americas and Northern Africa. These include Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Georgia, Armenia, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Kabylia (and Algeria in general), the Rif (and Morocco in general), Macedonia (and Bulgaria in general), Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine.

Independence anarchism is seen as an anarchist tendency and a strain of Post-Colonial Anarchism alongside Indigenous Anarchism, Black Anarchism and Chicano Anarchism, all of which are involved in national liberation struggles. Ideologically, independence anarchism is compatible with both social and individualist forms of anarchism.

History and Branches

Catalan Countries

The history of independence anarchism in the Catalan Countries (territories where the Catalan language is spoken) can be traced back to the 19th century. As the Catalan anarchist-oriented worker movement and the revindicative national liberation movement became ever so tied together, mostly due to their mutual belief in federalism, ideals close to those of modern independence anarchism began to arise. By 1881, Josep Llunas i Pujals, the primary theorist of what would later become anarcho-syndicalism, founded the popular libertarian collectivist weekly newspaper La Tramontana (The Tramontane), akin to Catalanism and federalism, while many anarchist Catalanists such as Jaume Brossa wrote essays on the magazine L'Avenç (The Advance), founded on the same year. Although L'Avenç and La Tramontana were closed by the authorities in 1893 and 1896 respectively, they would set the stage for other anarchist newspapers in Catalan to appear, such as L'Avenir (The Future) and El Progrés (The Progress), both in 1905. La Tramontana even shortly came back in 1903, 1907 and 1913.

With the creation of the National Confederation of Labour (CNT) syndicate in 1910 in Barcelona, factions within anarcho-syndicalism that can be considered the precursors to Catalan independence anarchism began to materialize. Many prominent anarcho-syndicalists such as Joan Peiró, Salvador Seguí and Federica Montseny made statements in support of Catalan autonomy (despite the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia being a subject that initially caused an internal division in the CNT). Meanwhile, the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI) was founded in 1927 in València.

Catalan anarchist militiamen carrying an estelada

The CNT and the FAI briefly formed the CNT-FAI during the Spanish Civil War to prevent the nationalists from taking Catalonia. The CNT-FAI union still had its internal ruptures, which resulted in two main factions: the more moderate, minoritarian and reformist Treintists that were mostly made up of some CNT members, and the more majoritarian, insurrectionary Faists led by the FAI. Both sectors, despite the difference of their tactics, sometimes shared a Catalanist sentiment although revindicative/nationalist rhetoric was nowhere to be seen. Before the CNT-FAI's social revolution fell apart, a proposal was made by the Valencian branch of the CNT to make a Statute of Autonomy for the Valencian Country, but the project never saw the light of day. The nationalists would take over all of Spain in 1939 and Franco would later have a lot of CNT-FAI members executed, effectively driving most Catalan anarchists into exile for the duration of the Francoist dictatorship.

Throughout more recent history, the CGT was formed in 1979 as a result of a split in the CNT concerning union elections. The CNT, the CGT and the FAI would continue to campaign for anarchism in Catalonia, frequently holding debates and talks about the "national question" between its members.

However, aside from these three main groups, independence anarchism would finally first appear after the Spanish transition to democracy, with the birth of self-described independence anarchist collectives exclusive to the Catalan Countries.

In Catalonia, these organizations would first appear in the 80's. The two most notable groups of the era were the Col·lectiu Ikària (Ikària Collective; CI) and the Federació Anarco-Comunista Catalana (Catalan Anarcho-Communist Federation; FACC).

Propaganda document by the Ikària Collective

Ikària was born on January 1980 out of student movements and smaller independent libertarian organizations with the objective of initiating a debate inside the anarchist movement in Barcelona. After 1985 it became known as Ikària-Contracorrent, and it published the fanzine Ikària: la Polla de Déu from January 1985 to March 1990. The FACC was founded in Barcelona in 1981 as an anarcho-communist organization for national liberation (after a long process started in 1978 by the anarcho-communist affinity group Tramuntana Floreal, now more commonly known as Nord-Est Llibertari), edited the bulletin Tramuntana (not to be confused with the original from 1881) and the newspaper Visca la Terra (Long Live the Land), and registered itself as a political party in 1983 under the name "Partido Federación Anarquista-Comunista Catalana".

The CI and the FACC worked together in the comarcal Libertarian Assembly of the Barcelonès, but nonetheless began to lose activity in 1982. Thus, on November 1982, they joined forces to create the Coordinadora Llibertària dels Països Catalans (Libertarian Coordinator of the Catalan Countries).

Aside from the CI and the FACC, the Libertarian Coordinator of the Catalan Countries regrouped several Libertarian Assemblies in different comarcas, such as that of the Empordà (including the Coordinadora Llibertària Empordanesa or Empordanese Libertarian Coordinator, which edited a publication called La Campana de l'Empordà (The Bell of the Empordà)), the Baix Camp (including the Col·lectiu Llibertari de Vilaplana (Libertarian Collective of Vilaplana)), the Maresme (and the Coordinadora Llibertària del Maresme or Libertarian Coordinator of the Maresme, which edited La Ceba (The Onion)) and the Berguedà, among others. There were also several smaller groups that followed independence anarchism inside the Coordinator, such as the Col·lectiu Independentista Estel Negre (Independentist Collective Black Star), the Grup Llibertari de l’Ateneu de Mataró (Libertarian Group of the Mataró Athenaeum), the Grup Anarquista l'Insurrecte (Anarchist Group 'the Insurgent'), the Aliança de la Democràcia Socialista (Alliance of Socialist Democracy) and even a youth organization called the Joventuts Anarco-Independentistes (Independence Anarchist Youth; JAI), which likely edited (along with the FACC) a fanzine in the city of L'Escala called Skena Pelat: fanzine llibertari de l'Empordà (Skena Pelat: libertarian fanzine of the Empordà).

After years of organizing activities nationally and internationally, the Libertarian Coordinator of the Catalan Countries became inactive by the mid 80's, but ultimately ceased to exist when the FACC was publicly dissolved in late 1988. The Ikària Collective suffered the same fate soon after their headquarters were attacked with an incendiary bomb on July 9th, 1990.

It is also important to note that a short-lived independence anarchist syndicate referred to as the National Confederation of Labour-Catalan Countries (CNT-PPCC) was formed on late 1983 as a result from a split that the CNT underwent. The CNT-PPCC is seen as another organizational proposal of the FACC.

In the Valencian Country, nominally, independence anarchism would take a bit longer to arrive. Nevertheless, the collective Recerca Autònoma (Autonomous Research) was formed in 1993. It edited a magazine of the same name, first released on February 1994. Recerca Autònoma and other Valencian groups with similar tendencies such as Germania Socialista (Socialist Brotherhood) eventually fell into inactivity.

In spite of previous events though, independence anarchism in the Catalan Countries experienced a resurgence in the 2000's, with the creation of several new organizations. For example, local groups like Acció Autònoma (Autonomous Action), born in Terrassa in 1997, the collective Catarko, founded in the comarca of El Prat in 2006, and the Valencian collective L'Ullal (The Tusk), born in 2008.

Logo of Negres Tempestes

But by far the largest independence anarchist collective in the Catalan Countries is Negres Tempestes (Black Storms; NNTT), founded in 2005 after many encounters between like-minded individuals in the annual Catalan protests of September 11th. Negres Tempestes edits the magazine La Rosa dels Vents (The Compass Rose) and focuses its activity on various squatted social centers, especially the Can Vies Self-Managed Social Center.

The Bloc Negre (Black Bloc) of the annual demonstrations on September 11th, National Day of Catalonia, serves as a yearly meeting point for the most recent Catalan independence anarchist groups.

TBD

Brittany

TBA

Occitania

TBA

Basque Country

TBA

Canary Islands

TBA

Sicily

TBA

Sardinia

TBA

Andalusia

TBA

Galicia

TBA

Quebec

TBA

Similar Movements

Hong Kong

TBA

Puerto Rico

TBA

Beliefs

TBA

Nationalist or Internationalist?

Contrary to modern popular thought, Independence Anarchism differs from Post-Colonial Anarchism in that, while the latter identifies themselves as an anti-state nationalist ideology (also focusing more on combatting the colonialist part of imperialism), the former abandoned all mentions of nationalism as soon as newer terminology was introduced. (Note: This is a major WIP as of now, do not expect the quotes here to represent the whole movement)

An example of this is in Canarian independence anarchism. The first major collective that came in representation of the movement was the COA, which called for self-management and anti-militarism from a "nationalist" perspective, according to them. However, they also wrote:

"Las realidades van más rápidas que el lenguaje. El término "nacional" o "nacionalista" lo asociamos al Estado porque históricamente han estado identificados. (...). Pero no es eso lo que nos tiene que parar, ya encontraremos otros términos cuando hayamos avanzado más; no por eso debemos cuestionar el trabajo por la liberación de los pueblos."
"Realities go faster than language. We associate the terms "national" and "nationalist" with the State because they have historically been identified. (...). But that is not what has to stop us, we will find other terms when we advance further; not because of this shall we question the work for the liberation of all peoples."

COA, 1984, 'Por qué un antimilitarista es también un nacionalista'.

Indeed, a couple years later, the Spanish terms "anarcoindependentismo" and "independentismo libertario" were passed around the Canary Islands, after the 1st International Independence Anarchist Encounter that happened in 1985.

In Catalan independence anarchism, the term "nationalism" never got any traction, but a similar opinion is expressed:

"L’opció per l’«independentisme» enfront del «nacionalisme» respon a diversos criteris. En principi, no considerem el nacionalisme necessàriament oposat a l’internacionalisme. De fet, el segon només es pot entendre —ni que sigui etimològicament— com una ampliació del primer. (...). Ara bé, no defensem el fenomen «nació» en bloc, perquè en la mesura que fenomen poblacional, presenta dins seu totes les contradiccions de les societats classistes. (...), donat el pes que té la burgesia catalana dins l’Estat espanyol, el vell món «català» és prou gran, i el nostre antagonisme social amb ell prou pronunciat, com perquè ens distanciem del «nacionalisme» i ens apropem al concepte d’«independentisme», entès en el seu contingut més ruptural i més d’autoafirmació enfront d’un poder."
"The option for «independentism» versus «nationalism» responds to several criteria. In principle, we do not consider nationalism necessarily opposed to internationalism. In fact, the latter can only be understood —not just etymologically— as an extension of the former. (...). However, we do not defend the «nation» phenomenon as a whole, because even as a population phenomenon, it presents within itself all the contradictions of class societies. (...), given the weight that the Catalan bourgeoisie has within the Spanish State, the old «Catalan» world is large enough, and our social antagonism with it is as sufficiently pronounced as to make us distance ourselves from «nationalism» and approach the concept of «independentism», understood in its most disruptive and self-affirming way against power.

Ricard de Vargas Golarons, Joan A. Montesinos, Josep M. Canela, Joan Palomas, Joan Casares and Enric Cabra; 1987; 'Anarquisme i alliberament nacional'.

Personality

Very angry all the time, he just wants independence. TBD

How to Draw

Flag of Independence Anarchism

The flag of independence anarchism is the anarchist version of the estelada (starred flag), an unofficial flag typically flown by supporters of Catalan independence. It was first notably used by the previously mentioned Catalan Anarcho-Communist Federation (FACC) in the 80's and later used by more recent groups from the 2000's onwards. Another version of the independence anarchist flag, mainly used by the Ikària collective (but first formulated by the FACC in November 1983), swapped the red 8-pointed star with a white circle-A symbol. Since then, many other variants have appeared (for example, one with a black field), especially recently, during the growth of the internet.

The symbolism behind the flag is as follows. The red stripes on the yellow background represent Catalonia or the Catalan Countries. The triangle symbolizes liberty, fraternity and equality, while the color black is the color of anarchy. The eight-pointed red star is a compass rose and, at the same time, represents the whole world and the 8 territories of the Catalan Countries (Catalonia proper, the Valencian Country, Andorra, the Balearic Islands, Northern Catalonia, La Franja, l'Alguer and el Carxe).

  1. Draw a ball.
  2. Fill in with yellow.
  3. Draw four horizontal red stripes.
  4. Draw a right-pointing, black triangle on the leftmost point.
  5. Draw an 8-pointed red star in the center of the triangle.
  6. Draw the eyes, and you're done!
Color Name HEX RGB
Yellow #FFD800 255, 216, 0
Red #CD0000 205, 0, 0
Black #141414 20, 20, 20


Relations

Friends

Frenemies

  • Nationalism - As much as I dislike the nation-state, I don't dislike the existence of nations. I'm still waiting for you to acknowledge that nations are stateless and borderless.
  • Anationalism - Your false internationalism that does not acknowledge peoples' right to autonomy makes your ideology inconsistent with your anarchism, and is merely another form of imperialism. Esperanto is cool though.
  • National Communism - Meh, we collaborate sometimes. You're kinda just my authoritarian counterpart.

Enemies

Further Information

For overlapping political theory see:

Post-Colonial Anarchism • Black Anarchism ( Anarkata) • Indigenous Anarchism • Democratic Confederalism ( Dawronoye) • Neozapatismo

YouTube

Wikipedia

Online Communities

Literature

General

Catalan Countries

Brittany

Occitania

Basque Country

  • Anark-Herria by Marc Légasse and Jakue Pascual. Publishing house Txertoa, Basque Country, 1986. Re-edited by Juantxo Estebaranz, Javi Olaizola, Ritxi Aizpuru, Idoia Eizmendi, Jordi Bonet i Martí and Jon Markel Ormazabal. Publishing houseTxalaparta, 2011. (In Spanish and Basque)
  • El movimiento autónomo en Euskadi by Emilio López Adán (Beltza). (In Spanish)
  • Apuntes sobre anarquismo y cuestión nacional by Jakue Pascual. Published in the Borroka Garaia da! website; Basque Country; November 28th, 2011. (In Spanish)
  • Independentzia osoa / Independencia total by Anark-Herria. Basque Country, 2000's. (In Basque and Spanish)
  • Anarquismo e izquierda abertzale by Borroka garaia da!. Published in the Borroka Garaia da! website; Basque Country; June 4th, 2015. (In Spanish)
  • Aportación al debate sobre la izquierda abertzale by Jakue Pascual. Published in the Anark-Herria website; Donostia-San Sebastián; November 18th, 2011. (In Spanish)
  • Marc Légasse: anarquista y separatista (interview with Marc Légasse). Published in the Punto y Hora de Euskal Herria magazine, Bermeo, September 1982. (In Spanish)
  • Breve historia del anarquismo vasco by Juantxo Estebarantz. Publishing house Txertoa; June 17th, 2011. (In Spanish)
  • Por una alternativa libertaria y global by Mikel Orrantia. Publishing house Zero Zyx; January 1st, 1978. (In Spanish)
  • Nación y anarquismo: notas para una discusión más allá de las caricaturas by Manuel de la Tierra. Published in the Ekintza Zuzena magazine, Santiago de Chile, December 2010. (In Spanish)
  • Euskadi: ETA y el nacionalismo revolucionario by Mikel Orrantia. Published in the Revista Mensual/Monthly Review, May 1979. (In Spanish)
  • Cuestión nacional y autonomía obrera en Euskal Herria by Zirikatu. Biscay, 1985 (published in 1989). (In Spanish)
  • Comandos Autónomos: un anticapitalismo iconoclasta by the Felix Likiniano Cultural Association. Publishing house Likiniano Elkartea, Bilbao, November 1996. (In Spanish)
  • Komando Autonomoak: una historia anticapitalista by the Felix Likiniano Cultural Association. Publishing house Virus; Bilbao; December 17th, 1998. (In Basque and Spanish)
  • Nazio arazoa by Bereterretxe. Publishing house Likiniano Elkartea, 1978. (In Basque)
  • Telúrica vasca de liberación by Jakue Pascual. Publishing house Virus, November 1996. (In Spanish)
  • El hilo negro de los noventa: encuentros con la autonomía by the Felix Likiniano Cultural Association. Publishing house Likiniano Elkartea, Bilbao. (In Spanish)
  • La gran curva vasca del 2000 by Karlos García Salmones. Publishing house Likiniano Elkartea, c. 2000, Bilbao. (In Spanish)
  • Palabras de un anarquista vasco by Marc Légasse. Publishing house Likiniano Elkartea; January 1st, 2002; Bilbao. (In Spanish)
  • Felix Likiniano: miliciano de la utopía by Pilar Iparragirre. Publishing house Txalaparta; Tafalla; January 1st, 1994. (In Spanish)
  • Marc Légasse: un rebelde burlón by Amaia Ereñaga. Publishing house Txalaparta; 1997. (In Spanish)

Canary Islands

Sicily

Sardinia

Castile

Puerto Rico

Kabylia

Ukraine

Quebec

Aragon

  • El Consejo de Aragón by Alejandro García. Published in the Utopías y realidades blog; Aragon; February 22nd, 2008. (In Spanish)

Asturias

Galicia

Cantabria

  • Anarquismo y nacionalismo by Agitación Rural. Published in the 2nd issue of the Agitación Rural fanzine, Cantabria, 2008. (In Spanish)

Levant

Periodicals

Catalan Countries

La Tramontana (1881 – 1896, 1903, 1907, 1913) (Catalan Wikipedia)

Periòdich vermell, Periòdich polític vermell.

Most issues can be found here and here.

L'Avenç (1881 – 1893) (Catalan Wikipedia)

Periodich catalanista; Lletras, Art, Ciencia; Ciencias, Arts, Lletras; Literari, Artístich, Científich; Literari, Artístic, Científic.

Most issues can be found here.


Terra Lliure (1949 – 1984) (L'Argonnaute library, in French)

Recerca Autònoma (1994 – 1998)

Butlletí informatiu.

  • 0 (February 1994)
  • 1 (April 1994)
  • 2 (June 1994)
  • 3 (September 1994)
  • 4 (December 1994)
  • 5 (March 1995)
  • 6 (June 1995)
  • 7 (November 1995)
  • 8 (May 1996)
  • 9 (October 1996)
  • 10 (March 1997)
  • 11 (June 1997)
  • 12 (December 1997)
  • 13 (June 1998)

Laketània (2004)

Revista d'agitació cultural.

  • 1 (2004)
  • 2 (Summer 2004)

La Rosa dels Vents (2006–) (Own website, in Catalan)

Publicació de debat llibertari als Països Catalans.

  • 1st epoch (April 2006 – April 2009)
    • 0 (April 2006)
    • 1 (July 2006)
    • Special issue (September 11th, 2006)
    • 2 (January 2007)
    • 3 (September 11th, 2007)
    • 4 (March 2008)
    • 5 (September 2008)
    • 6 (April 2009)
  • 2nd epoch (Q3, 2009 – Autumn 2014)
    • 1 (Q3, 2009)
    • 2 (April 2010)
    • 3 (September 11th, 2010)
    • 4 (September 11th, 2011)
    • 5 (April 23rd, 2012)
    • 6 (Winter 2012-2013)
    • 7 (Autumn 2013)
    • 8 (Spring 2014)
    • Special issue (Autumn 2014)
  • 3rd epoch (February 2nd, 2019–)

Sedició (2017–)

Butlletí irregular dels Comitès Anarquistes dels PPCC.

  • 1st epoch (Spring 2017 – September 11th, 2020)
    • 1 (?)
    • 2 (?)
    • 3 (?)
  • 2nd epoch (September 11th, 2020–)
    • 4 (February 2022)

Brittany

Le Poing dans la Gueule (1976) (Breton and European Digital Library, in English)

Journal autonomiste révolutionnaire, Journal autonomiste libertaire.

  • 1 (March-April 1976)
  • 2 (June 1976)


Le Huchoèr (2001 – 2009) (Breton and European Digital Library, in English)

Organe du collectif libertaire breton Huch !, Organe du collectif anarcho-indépendantiste Huch !, Journal anarcho-indépendantiste breton.

  • 1 (April 2001)
  • 2 (July 2001)
  • 3 (November 2001)
  • 4 (February 2002)
  • 5 (May 2002)
  • 6 (Late 2002)
  • 7 (February 2003)
  • 8 (May 2003)
  • 9 (September 2003)
  • 10 part 1 (December 2003)
  • 10 part 2 (December 2003)
  • 11 (March 2004)
  • 12 (June 2004)
  • 13 (September 2004)
  • 14 (December 2004)
  • 15 (March 2005)
  • 16 (June 2005)
  • 17 (September 2005)
  • 18 (January 2006)
  • 19 (April 2006)
  • 20 (December 2006)
  • 21 (2007)
  • 22 (2007)
  • 23 (March 2008)
  • 24 (November 2008)
  • 25 (July 2009)

Na Doue Na Mestr (2009 – 2011) (Breton and European Digital Library, in English)

Bulletin anarcho-indépendantiste, Bulletin anarcho-indépendantiste gratuit de la Coordination Bretagne Indépendante et Libertaire.

  • 1 (Early 2009)
  • 2 (April 2009)
  • 3 (July 2009)
  • 4 (November 2009)
  • 5 (March 2010)
  • 6 (Mid-2010)
  • 7 (October 2010)
  • 8 (February 2011)

Websites

Catalan Countries

Organizations not independence anarchist, with independence anarchist members or similarities:

Brittany

Occitania

Basque Country

Organizations not independence anarchist, with independence anarchist members or similarities:

Canary Islands

Sicily

Organizations not independence anarchist, with independence anarchist members or similarities:

Sardinia

Andalusia

Castile

Hong Kong

Organizations not independence anarchist, with independence anarchist members or similarities:

Puerto Rico

Quebec

Aragon

Asturias

Galicia

References

TBD

Gallery

Navigation

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