Workers Solidarity Movement

'IDEAS AND ACTION' is a day of discussions happening in Dublin on March 28th. Anarchists active in the successful anti-water charges campaign in the South and in the struggle against the Job Seekers Allowance in the North will share their experiences. Anarchist trade unionists will talk about building workplace organisation and the opposition to 'social partnership'.

Despite its relevance, The Organisation Platform of the Libertarian Communists is as controversial as ever. Kevin Doyle reviews Constructive Anarchism, a new pamphlet from Monty Miller Press in Australia that has collected The Platform and some of the early responses to its proposals into one useful edition.

Irish anarchism has no historical tradition, as a movement it is only coming into existence. We do not yet enjoy the popular understanding of and respect for anarchist ideas that can be found among thousands of militants in countries like Sweden, Spain, France, Italy or Korea. But that is not to say that we have no history at all. We are beginning to uncover forgotten events...

Although many classical anarchist theorists and figures came from Russia, the advent of the Soviet State effectively crushed the movement. Now anarchism is reborn in Russia. Laure Akai and Mikhail Tsovma write from Moscow to tell us a little about the trials and tribulations of the new Russian anarchist movement.

In August 1995 an international gathering of libertarian communists took place in Ruesta, Spain. We present here the agreed declaration issued at the end of that gathering

The WSM signed the Reusta declaration, this was the letter that accompanied our decision to sign. 

A look at how the Barcelonia rent strike of 1931 prepared the ground for the revolution of 1936. The Barcelona Rent Strike of 1931 not only served to reduce rent costs for working class families but was also an education in self-organisation for thousands of workers. It, along with other stuggles in those years, created an organised working class that in 1936 made the most succesful attempt yet to overthrow capitalism and create libertarian communism.

Awareness League

The Awareness League in Nigeria is to become the first African section of the IWA. Readers of Workers Solidarity will remember the League from the reports of the jailing of four of its members by the state for opposing the military coup there. The international appeal launched on this occasion raised nearly $2000 dollars, saw pickets and demonstrations in many countries including Ireland and resulted in the publication of over 54 articles in languages including Japanese and Hindi. The four comrades were released.

In the last year the international computer network called the internet has become a source for countless articles in the mainstream media. But did you know that anarchists have been using this system for several years now?

Behind all the mumbo-jumbo the net is no more than a cheap method of international communication. It allows collective discussion and the finding and retrieving of information. There are several different ways that anarchists have been using it.

Anarcho-syndicalism has been and continues to be the most influential current within anarchism. Anarcho-syndicalists seek to build revolutionary unions, that organise all workers in a democratic union with a minimum number of full time 'officials' who will be on the average wage of those they represent and completely answerable to the rest of the membership.