Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, 1870-1940: The Praxis of National Liberation, Internationalism, and Social Revolution (Studies in Global Social History, 6)

Book info: Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, 1870-1940: The Praxis of National Liberation, Internationalism, and Social Revolution (Studies in Global Social History, 6) (Hardcover, 464 pages) – Brill, 2010. Language: English.

Narratives of anarchist and syndicalist history during the era of the first globalization and imperialism (1870-1930) have overwhelmingly been constructed around a Western European tradition centered on discrete national cases. This parochial perspective typically ignores transnational connections and the contemporaneous existence of large and influential libertarian movements in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Yet anarchism and syndicalism, from their very inception at the First International, were conceived and developed as international movements. By focusing on the neglected cases of the colonial and postcolonial world, this volume underscores the worldwide dimension of these movements and their centrality in anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles. Drawing on in-depth historical analyses of the ideology, structure, and praxis of anarchism/syndicalism, it also provides fresh perspectives and lessons for those interested in understanding their resurgence today. Contributors are Luigi Biondi, Arif Dirlik, Anthony Gorman, Steven Hirsch, Dongyoun Hwang, Geoffroy de Laforcade, Emmet O'Connor, Kirk Shaffer, Aleksandr Shubin, Edilene Toledo, and Lucien van der Walt. With a foreword by Benedict Anderson. About the Author Steven J. Hirsch, PhD (1997) in Latin American History from The George Washington University. Currently is Associate Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg. Researches and writes on the history of anarchism and working-class politics in Peru.

Lucien van der Walt, Ph.d. (2007) in Industrial Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand, is Professor at Rhodes Unibersity, South Africa. Winner of the 2007 Labor History thesis prize, and the 2008/2009 CODESRIA Africa thesis prize, and co-author of Black Flame: the revolutionary class politics of anarchism and syndicalism (AK Press. San Francisco)  (with Michael Schmidt). Background in trade union education, the Workers' Library and Museum, the Anti-Privatisation Forum, and the National Health and Allied Workers Union.