For a Libertarian Communism

by Daniel Guérin, Mitchell Abidor (Translator), David Berry (Editor)

In his foreword to an earlier collection of essays on libertarian communism, Daniel Guérin addressed himself to younger people “alienated from ideologies and ‘isms’ shorn of any meaning by an earlier generation” and particularly from “socialism, which has so often been betrayed by those who claimed to speak in its name, and which now provokes an understandable skepticism.” In this collection of essays, written between the 1950s and 1980s and published here for the first time in English, Guérin not only provides a critique of the socialist and communist parties of his day, he analyzes some of the most fundamental and pressing questions with which all radicals must engage. He does this by revisiting and attempting to draw lessons from the history of the revolutionary movement from the French Revolution, through the conflicts between anarchists and Marxists in the International Workingmen’s Association and the Russian and Spanish revolutions, to the social revolution of 1968. These are not just abstract theoretical reflections, but are informed by the experiences of a lifetime of revolutionary commitments and by his constant willingness to challenge orthodoxies of all “Far from allowing ourselves to sink into doubt, inaction, and despair, the time has come for the left to begin again from zero, to rethink its problems from their very foundations. The failure of both reformism and Stalinism imposes on us the urgent duty to find a way of reconciling (proletarian) democracy with socialism, freedom with Revolution.”

Genres: Politics, History, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Essays

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Daniel Guérin was a French anarcho-communist author, best known for his work Anarchism: From Theory to Practice , as well as his collection No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism in which he collected writings on the idea and movement it inspired, from the first writings of Max Stirner in the mid-19th century through the first half of the 20th century.

He is also known for his opposition to Nazism, fascism, Stalinism and colonialism, in addition to his support for the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) during the Spanish Civil War, and his revolutionary defence of free love and homosexuality.

Reviews

[Marius Jaan · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much to like about this book! First, the curation and editing of content was excellent: multiple short and longer pieces that help readers new to Guerin access his work. Well done. Notes to the text are detailed, useful, and thorough. Translation: flows well in almost all places, and was easy to read. The appendices, the 1971 platform and 1989 call for alternative, are well-placed, relevant, and connect to the earlier chapters. They give additional context and framing to Guerin’s writing, thinking, and practice. Berry and Abidor both deserve credit for enabling such a clear flow through the text.

Multiple sections that address revolutionary problems, misrepresentations of the French revolution, and challenges with Jacobins are probably the most valuable in the text: they point to the ongoing authoritarian lusts of groups that see themselves as better, more informed, or vital to any revolution. Self-management in Revolutionary Spain was interesting and engaging, but it left me wanting for more—fortunately the notes helped out here.

This collection is as much about educating and persuading the reader on specific points as it is a guidebook and introduction to multiple other critical anarchist writers and thinkers. Reading Guerin feels as if you’re in conversation with someone you respect, and you sit back and listen out of respect and admiration for their perspective.

Excellent book. Worth owning, and worth making sure this is in your local library.

[Zéro Janvier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un recueil de textes politiques de l'écrivain, historien et militant communiste libertaire Daniel Guérin, disparu en 1988.

Ce recueil a été publié en 2003 par les Editions Spartacus, qui avaient déjà publié l'édition précédente sous le titre "A la recherche d'un communisme libertaire" en 1984.

Ces textes, écrits pour la plupart dans les années 1950 à 1970, sont excellents et peuvent à mon avis éclairer encore aujourd'hui nos réflexions et nos luttes.

[Donald · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fun read. More just a quick taste of what Daniel Guerin was about, with an introductory essay and some short articles. The parts about the challenges of self-management are the strongest. The weakest are Guerin's explanations for the failures of historical revolutions, which rely on simple morality tales of usurpation.

[Sugarpunksattack Mick · Rating 4 out of 5]

"For A Libertarian Communism" is a collection of Guérin's writings translated into English for the first time from the period (1950s-1980s) where he tries to revive anarchism and to bring anarchism and communism together. The historical relationship between Anarchism and Communism can be characterized by rifts and, at times, armed opposition. While adherents on both sides dig in and write bitter polemics about the other, Daniel Guérin is that rare voice that attempts to dispel the seemly unbridgeable gaps into a synthesis he calls libertarian communism.

As part of this process of rehabilitation, in the essay 'Proudhon and Workers' Self-management' he situates Proudhon's concept of workers self-management as opposing Louis Blanc's proposed centralization, whose influence can be found in Marx and Engels 'Manifesto'. The essay explores both the praise worthy and inconsistent aspects of Proudhon's theory in order to put forth a consistent view of self-management. Such a view should take into account the need to provide a level of education for workers to be able to actually self-manage while also declaring that all of this must be done under the broadest kind of freedom rather than under the iron hand of a state. As an openly declared anti-Stalinist, we can assume that Guérin is referring to Stalin and the USSR.

In 'Three Problems of Revolution' and 'The French Revolution De-Jacobinized' Guérin attempts to tease out different approaches to revolution-authoritarian, anti-authoritarian, and scientific socialists (that try to balance between the two)-in order to cast the revolutionary past as bound up in our revolutionary present. Part of this is to show how the Jacobin influence on Marx, Engels, and especially Lenin is to our demise when trying to look to a liberatory future of revolt that puts power into the hands of the proletariat. The other part of exploring the French Revolution in particular is to dig up the proletarian aspects of the revolution despite its overwhelmingly bourgeois nature.

Guérin’s essays still feel fresh and exciting for anyone pulled towards Anarchism, Socialism, Marxism, etc, yet repelled by the often petty infighting.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great collection of writings by Daniel Guérin, a great Marxist/Anarchist thinker!

[Juan Carlos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro para ver otro marxismo, añadirle una perspectiva desde la autogestión y la emancipación plena. Me ha gustado bastante.

[Chandler Jameson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, coming off of the heels of Meltzer it certainly read more humbly.

I found it rather interesting that Capitalism was hardly mentioned, no real argument against it was presented. Rather it was more or less assumed to be something to be done away with. In a sense this was refreshing. It allowed for the author to focus more on his attacks against Marxism and authoritarian socialism which was overall very interesting.

[Static · Rating 5 out of 5]

La edición es perrísima (se deshace en las manos) y la letra muy enana. El contenido magistral.

[Jesse Hilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dense history of the dilemmas between Marxism and anarchism. And yet the book is 147 pages long or something, so the essays are quite bite-sized. Can something be bite-sized and dense? If you’ve ever wondered what lessons for revolutionaries can be found in Proudhon’s conceptions of self-management, in “de-Jacobinizing” the French Revolution, or in studying the agricultural collectives that sprung up during the Spanish Civil War, this book is for you. It’s not fun or entertaining. It leads you on a strange almost science-fiction thought experiment, alternate history, what if.

[Rory · Rating 4 out of 5]

A selection of essays, some better than others. The best to read is probably the introduction; ”The Search for a Libertarian Communism:
Daniel Guerin and the "Synthesis" of Marxism and Anarchism” (written as an overview of Guriens thought) and the chapter “Three Problems of the Revolution”.

[graceofgod · Rating 3 out of 5]

About what you'd expect.

[Pierre-Olivier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recueil de texte de guerin qui synthétise sa pensée communiste libertaire. Un must !!

[Aaron Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great introduction to someone I wasn't familiar with previously.