We are taking a break over the holidays but wanted to provide a follow up reading to Against the Logic of the Guillotine that provides further insight into anarchist critiques of the Bolshevik coup in 1917. This chapter, “Aestheticizing Revolution” by Allan Antliff, distinguishes the authoritarian violence of the Bolsheviks from anarchist conceptions of revolutionary violence. It was published in 2017 in the critical anthology, Anarchism 1914-1918: Internationalism, Anti-Militarism, and War (Ruth Kinna and Matthew Adams, eds.).
Illustration: ‘Civilization” by Robert Minor, Golos Truda (Voice of Labour), October 20, 1917.
Our discussion turned from anarchy in international relations towards wanting to learn more about the history of anarchist revolutionaries. Thanks to the anarchists at Crimethinc (who need your support right now, as they are being targeted by far-right trolls and billionaires) we decided on learning more about why anarchists burned the guillotine during the Paris Commune of 1871. We have two readings for the next meeting, the first by Crimethinc is the primary reading we will discuss. The second is optional, and provides a detailed historical chronology and background to the Paris Commune.
This week we are reading “Through Separation to Community” by German anarchist Gustav Landauer (1870-1919). Landauer is best known for arguing the State is “a condition, a certain relationship between human beings, a mode of human behaviour; we destroy it by contracting other relationships, by behaving differently.” Novelist, playwright, author of three theoretical works and editor of the anarchist newspaper, Der Sozialist (intermittently published between 1893-1899; 1909-1915), he endured frequent stints in prison before the outbreak of World War One. Landauer anticipated the war would lead to revolutionary uprisings and, in November 1918, when workers and soldiers rose up and overthrew the conservative government of Germany’s second largest state, Bavaria, he joined the effort. 
For the next reading, we are looking at the first part of The Coming Insurrection. You can find the whole text here – but remember, in preparation for Aug 13th, we are reading circles 1 to 4. 
Last week’s discussion introduced us to Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdish Worker’s party, who, after he was jailed indefinitely by the Turkish State, turned to a number of new sources to revisit his previous Marxist-Leninist nationalist ideology. He did a ‘180’ and turned to the writings of the anarchist social ecologist Murray Bookchin, and from there developed his own vision of anarchism, which he called “Democratic Confederalism.”
Our next reading circle is scheduled for Tuesday, February 26th from 6:45 – 9pm; discussion starts at 7pm. As always, we meet on unceded Lekwungen territory at Camas Books and Infoshop (2620 Quadra Street).
For our next meeting we are reading Murray Bookchin’s classic text “Listen Marxist!” from 1971. This historical text was a significant intervention in the cultural milieu of the Left. This was the time when Marxism was considered the supreme ideology and dominated radical spheres, except for the anarchists.