Anarcho-communism - Politics in Minutes (2016)

Politics in Minutes (2016)

Anarcho-communism

Anarcho-communism, like most other strands of anarchism, is profoundly anti-capitalist and, as its name suggests, links to communism in its views of ownership. Promoted by Russian anarchists Peter Kropotkin (pictured) and Emma Goldman, it advocates abolition of the state, economic markets, money and capitalism in favour of common ownership of the means of production. Goldman, together with many other anarchists, also advocated the abolition of marriage. This strand of anarchism developed from radical socialist trends after the French Revolution but was first expressed during the First International, which brought together socialists, communists, anarchists and trade unionists. Anarcho-communists were influential during the 1936 Spanish Revolution, and were a major force in Aragon, Andulusia and Catalonia, with much of Spain’s economy being placed under worker control. Worker committees ran factories, farming was collectivized and workers even ran hotels and restaurants. By 1939, however, anarcho-communism in Spain had been crushed.

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