Platformism

Platformism is a form of anarchist organization that seeks unity from its participants, having as a defining characteristic the idea that each platformist organization should include only people that are fully in agreement with core group ideas, rejecting people who disagree. It stresses the need for tightly organized anarchist organizations that are able to influence working class and peasant movements.[1]

"Platformist" groups reject the model of Leninist vanguardism, instead aiming to "make anarchist ideas the leading ideas within the class struggle".[2] According to platformism, the four main principles by which an anarchist organisation should operate are: ideological unity, tactical unity, collective responsibility, and federalism.

Overview

In general, platformist groups aim to win the widest possible influence for anarchist ideas and methods in the working class and peasantry—like especifismo groups, platformists orient towards the working class, rather than to the rest of the far left. This usually entails a willingness to work in single-issue campaigns, trade unions and community groups; and to fight for immediate reforms while linking this to a project of building popular consciousness and organisation. They therefore reject approaches that they believe will prevent this, such as insurrectionary anarchism, as well as "views that dismiss activity in the unions" or that dismiss anti-imperialist movements.[3]

The name "platformist" derives from the 1926 Organisational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft),[4] published by the Group of Russian Anarchists Abroad, in their journal Dielo Truda ("Workers' Cause"). The group, which consisted of exiled Russian anarchist veterans of the 1917 October Revolution (notably Ukrainian Nestor Makhno who played a leading role in the anarchist revolution in Ukraine of 1918–1921), based the Platform on their experiences of the revolution and the eventual victory of the Bolsheviks over the anarchists and other groups. The Platform attempted to address and explain the anarchist movement's failures during the Russian Revolution outside Ukraine. The document drew praise and criticism from anarchists worldwide and sparked a major debate within the anarchist movement.[5]

Today platformism is an important current in international anarchism. Around thirty platformist and especifista organisations are linked together in the Anarkismo.net project, including groups from Africa, the Americas, and Europe.[3] At least in terms of the number of affiliated organisations (if not in actual membership in some countries),[6] the Anarkismo network is larger than other anarchist international bodies, like the synthesist[7] International of Anarchist Federations and the anarcho-syndicalist International Workers' Association.

Organisational ideas

The Platform describes four key organisational features which distinguish platformism:

• Tactical unity — "A common tactical line in the movement is of decisive importance for the existence of the organisation and the whole movement: it avoids the disastrous effect of several tactics opposing each other; it concentrates the forces of the movement; and gives them a common direction leading to a fixed objective".[8]
• Theoretical unity — "Theory represents the force which directs the activity of persons and organisations along a defined path towards a determined goal. Naturally it should be common to all the persons and organisations adhering to the General Union. All activity by the General Union, both overall and in its details, should be in perfect concord with the theoretical principles professed by the union".[9]
• Collective responsibility — "The practice of acting on one's personal responsibility should be decisively condemned and rejected in the ranks of the anarchist movement. The areas of revolutionary life, social and political, are above all profoundly collective by nature. Social revolutionary activity in these areas cannot be based on the personal responsibility of individual militants".[10]
• Federalism — "Against centralism, anarchism has always professed and defended the principle of federalism, which reconciles the independence and initiative of individuals and the organisation with service to the common cause".[11]

The Platform argues that "[w]e have vital need of an organisation which, having attracted most of the participants in the anarchist movement, would establish a common tactical and political line for anarchism and thereby serve as a guide for the whole movement". In short, unity means unity of ideas and actions as opposed to unity on the basis of the anarchist label.

Publication history

The Organisational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft) was written in 1926 by the Group of Russian Anarchists Abroad, a group of exiled Russian and Ukrainian anarchists in France who published the Dielo Truda journal. The pamphlet is an analysis of basic anarchist beliefs, a vision of an anarchist society and recommendations as to how an anarchist organisation should be structured.

Antecedents of the Platform

The authors of the Platform insisted that its basic ideas were not new, but had a long anarchist pedigree. Platformism is not therefore a revision away from classical anarchism, or a new approach, but a "restatement" of existing positions.[5]

They cited Peter Kropotkin arguing that "the formation of an anarchist organisation in Russia, far from being prejudicial to the common revolutionary task, on the contrary it is desirable and useful to the very greatest degree" and argued that Mikhail Bakunin's "aspirations concerning organisations, as well as his activity" in the First International, "give us every right to view him as an active partisan of just such an organisation". Indeed, "practically all active anarchist militants fought against all dispersed activity, and desired an anarchist movement welded by unity of ends and means".[12]

Problems caused by poor translations

The Platform used to be known in English as the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists, a result of its having been translated from the French edition popularized in the early 1970s. In his book Facing the Enemy: A history of Anarchist Organization from Proudhon to May 1968 (p. 131), Alexandre Skirda attributes much of the controversy about the Platform to the original 1926 French translation made by its opponent Voline. Later translations to French have corrected some of the mistranslations and the latest English translation, made directly from the Russian original, reflects this.

Other terms

Some platformist organisations today are unhappy with the designation, often preferring to use descriptions such as "anarchist communist", "social anarchist", "libertarian communist/socialist" or even especifist. Most agree that the 1926 Platform was sorely lacking in certain areas and point out that it was a draft document, never intended to be adopted in its original form. The Italian Federation of Anarchist Communists (FdCA), for example, do not insist on the principle of "tactical unity", which according to them is impossible to achieve over a large area, preferring instead "tactical homogeneity".[13]

The Platform today

Today there are organisations inspired by the Platform in many countries, including:

Country	Name	Acronym	Affiliation	Ref
Argentina	Federación Anarco-Comunista de Argentina	FACA		[14]
Australia	Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group	MACG	Anarkismo
Brazil	Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira	CAB	Anarkismo
Colombia	Grupo Anarquista Bifurcación & Grupo Libertario Via Libre	GAB & GLVL	Anarkismo
France	Union communiste libertaire	UCL	Anarkismo	[15]
Germany	Die Plattform	DP
Greece	Anarchist Federation	AF
Italy	Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici	FdCA	Anarkismo
Ireland	Workers Solidarity Movement	WSM	Anarkismo
New Zealand	Aotearoa Workers’ Solidarity Movement	AWSM
Norway	Motmakt	M	Anarkismo	[16]
Russia	Autonomous Action	AA		[17]
South Africa	Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front	ZACF	Anarkismo	[18]
Switzerland	Libertäre Aktion Winterthur & Organisation Socialiste Libertaire	LAW & OSL	Anarkismo
United Kingdom	Anarchist Communist Group	ACG		[19]
United States	Black Rose Anarchist Federation / Federación Anarquista Rosa Negra & Humboldt Grassroots	BRRN & HG	Anarkismo	[20]
Uruguay	Federación Anarquista Uruguaya	FAU	Anarkismo

Organisations inspired by the Platform were also among the founders of the now-defunct International Libertarian Solidarity network and its successor, the Anarkismo network, which is run collaboratively by roughly 30 platformist and especifista organisations around the world.

Criticisms

The Platform attracted strong criticism from some sectors on the anarchist movement of the time, including some of the most influential anarchists such as Voline, Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Camillo Berneri, Max Nettlau, and Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman and Gregori Maximoff.[21]

The "synthesist" alternative

As an alternative to platformism Voline and Sébastien Faure proposed synthesist anarchist federations,[22] which they envisioned to form under the principles of anarchism without adjectives.[23]

In place of the Platform's stress on tight political and organisational unity, the "synthesist" approach argued for a far looser organization that would maximise numbers i.e. a big tent approach. Platformists view such organisations as weak despite their numbers as the lack of common views means an inability to undertake common actions—defeating the purpose of a common organisation.[5]

Malatesta's shift to "agreement" with collective responsibility

While such criticisms indicated a direct rejection of the Platform's proposals, others seem to have arisen from misunderstandings.

Notably, Malatesta initially believed that the Platform was "typically authoritarian" and "far from helping to bring about the victory of anarchist communism, to which they aspire, could only falsify the anarchist spirit and lead to consequences that go against their intentions".[24]

However, after further correspondence with Makhno—and after seeing a platformist group in formation—Malatesta concluded that he was actually in agreement with the positions of the Platform, but had been confused by the language they had used:

But all this is perhaps only a question of words.

In my reply to Makhno I already said: "It may be that, by the term collective responsibility, you mean the agreement and solidarity that must exist among the members of an association. And if that is so, your expression would, in my opinion, amount to an improper use of language, and therefore, being only a question of words, we would be closer to understanding each other."

And now, reading what the comrades of the 18e say, I find myself more or less in agreement with their way of conceiving the anarchist organisation (being very far from the authoritarian spirit which the "Platform" seemed to reveal) and I confirm my belief that behind the linguistic differences really lie identical positions.[25]

See also

• Especifismo
• Federalism
• Synthesis anarchism, Voline's and Sébastien Faure´s response to platformism

References

1. "J.3 What kinds of organisation do anarchists build? | Anarchist Writers". anarchism.pageabode.com. Retrieved 2019-01-31.
2. Workers Solidarity Movement, 2012, "Why You Should Join the Workers Solidarity Movement" Archived 2017-01-03 at the Wayback Machine. Accessed 5 January 2012.
3. Anarkismo, 2012, "About Us". Accessed 5 January 2012.
4. Dielo Truda group (2006) [1926]. Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft). Ireland: Nestor Makhno Archive. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
5. Schmidt, M. and van der Walt, L. 2009. Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism (Counter-Power vol. 1). Edinburgh: AK Press. pp. 252-255
6. "In reply to the Platform, supporters of the "synthesis" counter by pointing to the fact that "Platformist" groups are usually very small, far smaller than "synthesis" federations (for example, compare the size of the French Anarchist Federation with, say, the Irish Workers Solidarity Movement or the French-language Alternative Libertaire)""J.3.2 What are "synthesis" federations?" in An Anarchist FAQ Archived 2010-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Most national sections of the International Anarchist Federation (IFA) are good examples of successful federations which are heavily influenced by "synthesis" ideas (such as the French and Italian federations)." "J.3.2 What are "synthesis" federations?" in An Anarchist FAQ Archived 2010-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
8. From section on Tactical Unity in The Platform
9. From section on theoretical unity in The Platform
10. From section on Collective responsibility in The Platform
11. All sourced from the From section Federalism within the Organizational Section of the original document
12. From section on Tactical Unity in The Platform
13. FdCA positions and theoretical documents, retrieved 2 January 2012
14. / Herederos de Joaquín Penina, diario La Capital Archived 2011-05-07 at the Wayback Machine
15. Abel Mestre, "À l'extrême gauche, les libertaires jouent l’union", Le Monde
16. "Motmakt". Motmakt. Archived from the original on 2012-04-02. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
17. "What is Autonomous Action". Retrieved 27 June 2008.
18. "About AWSM".
19. "In the Tradition". Retrieved 14 November 2017.
20. "Black Rose Anarchist Federation -". Black Rose Anarchist Federation. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
21. "Why do many anarchists oppose the "Platform"?". An Anarchist FAQ. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved Aug 12, 2013.
22. "Especifismo and Synthesis/ Synthesism". Retrieved 4 May 2015.
23. "J.3.2 What are "synthesis" federations?" in An Anarchist FAQ Archived 2010-10-07 at the Wayback Machine
24. "A Project of Anarchist Organisation". Archived from the original on 16 April 1998. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
25. Malatesta, On Collective Responsibility, http://www.nestormakhno.info/english/mal_rep3.htm

External links

• Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft) The most accurate translation of the platform in English
• Anarchism and the Platformist Tradition An Archive of Writings on the Platformist Tradition within Anarchism, including relevant material by Bakunin.
• Manifesto of The Libertarian Communists Written in 1953 by Georges Fontenis for the Federation Communiste Libertaire of France. It is one of the key texts of this current.
• A Guide to the Platform based on the older translation
• Towards a Fresh Revolution Written by the Friends of Durruti group following the Spanish Civil War, this text is arguably one of the most important Platformist texts ever written. It reaffirms the early calls from the Russian comrades for tactical and theoretical unity, and better organizational practices, and sheds light on the errors in organization during the Spanish Civil War.
• Social Anarchism and Organisation, the Context of the Rio de Janeiro Anarchist Federation's 2008 Congress and the Debate About Organisation
• Anarchist Organisation not Leninist Vanguardism, A look at the debate within anarchism and with Leninism on organisation, written by Wayne Price.
• Anarkismo.net - Multilingual anarchist news site run by over 30 platformist and especifist organisations on five continents
• About the Platform by Errico Malatesta and Nestor Makhno