New Perspectives on Anarchism, Labour and Syndicalism: The Individual, the National and the Transnational

Constance Bantman · Dave Berry

Aug 2010 · Cambridge Scholars Publishing

About this ebook

This collection presents exciting new research on the history of anarchist movements and their relation to organised labour, notably revolutionary syndicalism. Bringing together internationally acknowledged authorities as well as younger researchers, all specialists in their field, it ranges across Europe and from the late nineteenth century to the beginnings of the Cold War. National histories are revisited through transnational perspectives—on Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Poland or Europe as a whole—evidencing a great wealth of cross-border interactions and reciprocal influences between regions and countries. Emphasis is also placed on individual activist itineraries—whether of renowned figures such as Errico Malatesta or of lesser-known yet equally fascinating characters, whose trajectories offer fresh perspectives on the complex interplay of regional and national political cultures, evolving political ideologies, activist networks and the individual. The volume will be of interest to specialists working on the history of anarchism and/or trade unionism as well as the political or social history of the countries concerned; but it will also be useful to students and the general reader looking for discussion of the most recent thinking on the historiography of labour and anarchist movements or those wanting a comprehensive overview of the history of syndicalism.

About the author

David Berry is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, History and International Relations at Loughborough University, England. He has published widely on the French left and labour movement in the twentieth century, notably A History of the French Anarchist Movement, 1917–1945 (Oakland, California: AK Press, 2009). He is currently writing a biography of Daniel Guérin (1904–88). He is Reviews Editor of the journal Anarchist Studies and a member of the editorial board of the review Dissidences. He is a founder member of the Specialist Group for the Study of Anarchism (now the Anarchist Studies Network) within the British Political Studies Association.

Constance Bantman was awarded her PhD in 2007 for a thesis on “Anarchisms and anarchists in France and Great Britain, 1880–1914: Exchanges, Representations, Transfers.” She has taught at the Universities of Paris 13, Oxford, and Imperial College London, and is currently Lecturer in French at the University of Surrey, England. She is currently working on a British Academy-funded project entitled “Transnationalising French Anarchism, 1870–1940.” She is also a founder member of the Anarchist Studies Network.