One of the most useful aspects of sometimes dry reports from gatherings is the snapshot of otherwise amorphous movements — in this case, the French syndicalists and anarchists of 1913.
Radical Reprint: The French Anarchist Conference
Tag: Freedom newspaper
Radical Reprint: The Land and the Labourer
The July 1913 issue of Freedom features a lengthy article hooked on a major strike of agricultural workers in Ormskirk
Radical reprint: The Napoli revolt of 1913
On a cold day in the wake of a war, starving Italian citizens wanted to put up a poster against raised tariffs but were told to hop it by the government – which in short order was faced with 100,000 protesters and severe rioting. Italy’s imperial excursion to Libya in 1911-12 had caused a great
France and the anarchist general strike of 1912
Much of the December 1912 issue of Freedom was given over to a celebration of its star writer Peter Kropotkin’s 70th birthday celebrations. The political philosopher had long since established a reputation as one of anarchism’s greatest thinkers, and was fulsomely praised for his “ceaseless energy … and intense conviction that our ideals would live
50 years on: The trials of Purdie and Prescott
In this extract from the mid-December 1971 issue of Freedom, Nicolas Walter reported on court proceedings in the cases of Ian Purdie and Jake Prescott as they faced accusations of conspiring towards a series of bombings attributed to the anarchist Angry Brigade. The Angries had been active since 1967, but only began putting out their
Freedom and Empire, 1948
In his second article looking at recent editions to the Freedom digital archive, historian Jack Saundrs considers the anarchists’ take on Britain’s declining imperial holdings as another vicious conflict broke out just a few years on from World War II — the Malayan Emergency. In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, the governors of
Freedom and the 1974 Miners’ Strike
Jack Saundrs looks over some recent additions to Freedom’s extensive digital archive, which draws together unique scans and mirrored works to create a sizeable library of the paper’s historic works. The 1974 papers set was first scanned by the excellent Sparrows’ Nest. Between 1970 and 1974 Britain experienced a peak in worker militancy. There were
Kropotkin and Freedom
Rounding off our month of articles commemorating 100 years since Kropotkin died, Selva Varengo writes on the political philosopher’s long association with the Freedom Group through the Freedom newspaper and how many of his key works were outlined in its pages. A partial digital archive of the many issues he contributed to can be found
Pioneers of anarchism: Varlam Cherkezishvili (Tcherkesoff)
Lesser-known of two “anarchist princes” exiled to London in the 1890s (the other being Peter Kropotkin), Cherkezishvili (Warlaam Tcherkesoff in the Russian manner) was an influence on British and wider European movements up to the beginning of the First World War. Tcherkesoff, as he was best-known during his exile from Russia, was born to Georgian
At the anarchist bookfair: Freedom’s new site, books, journal and archive!
Many regular Freedom readers will be aware that the last few years have been tumultuous at the Press, with the near-catastrophic fire in 2013, closing the paper as a regular production in 2014, the reorganising of our publishing enterprise in 2015, a survey in 2016 which suggested we would need to raise a whopping £40,000
Recent Articles
Travellers rally against Manchester police brutality
Outrage at forced removal of children from Christmas market ~ Lulu Smith ~ Community advocacy groups rallied outside Parliament yesterday (2 December) against Manchester police brutality and GRT discrimination.
Emergency in free Rojava as Syrian war reignites
Kurdish autonomous struggle caught between competing interests as the entanglement of regional and local powers enters a new phase ~ Blade Runner ~ The Peoples’ Democratic Assembly convened in Rojava yesterday (2 December) to evaluate the resumption of the war in Syria, and plan for a possible attack on the Democratic Autonomous Administration.
Negativity and positivity in anarchism: An inextricable but contradictory duality
My initial purpose was to reflect on the unavoidable, and often undervalued, negative dimension of anarchism—but I soon realised this forced me to leave aside its entire positive aspect ~ Tomás Ibáñez, Redes Libertarias ~ When I turned on my computer to begin writing this text, I was tempted to title it: “A passionate praise
“Their desire to kill has never been higher”: Resisting ethnic cleansing in the West Bank
A solidarity report from Masafer Yatta, in the south Hebron hills ~ Aidan Frere-Smith ~ On 1 January 2021, Haroun Abo Aram was shot outside of his family home in the village of Al-Rakeez in Masafer Yatta, in the south Hebron hills of the West Bank.
State-sponsored suicide: Who do you trust?
Not enough has been written about the mindset of a state which is introducing this Assisted Dying Bill at high speed, with only 5 hours for debate, in a climate whipped up to support it ~ Tabitha Troughton ~ It’s too terrible to think that our very own Prime Minister could—is it too terrible?
