AUTONOMY NOW Present:
‘Anarchism, Syndicalism and the Amsterdam Congress of 1907’
with Anthony Zurbrugg and Carl Levi
Thursday 31st January, 7pm
Venue: Housmans Bookshop
The Amsterdam Anarchist Congress of 1907 was a unique occasion for libertarians to meet and discuss. It gathered delegates from 14 different countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît Broutchoux, Pierre Monatte, Amédée Dunois, Emma Goldman, Rudolf Rocker, and Christiaan Cornelissen.
Various themes were treated during the Congress, in particular concerning the organization of the anarchist movement and syndicalism. Other issues included popular education, the role of the general strike, and anti-militarism– an International Antimilitarist Congress simultaneously took place in Amsterdam. However, the most important debate concerned the relation between anarchism and syndicalism (or trade-unionism).
In France several libertarians were leading the French Labour Confederation the CGT: did they offer a new and better strategy? What opposition were they facing? Did libertarians offer an alternative to Social-Democracy and the growing threat of war?