At The Cafe

We are going through an unprecedented time of human history, in which even the future of the planet is at stake. This was not inevitable. It is the result of the systems that have been brutally imposed by a ruling elite, including colonial expansion and imperialism, which gave rise to global capitalism. This system as spread to every corner of the world, bringing with it exploitation, oppression, wars and environmental disaster. We believe that only anarchist communism can save the day. The ruling class is desperate to make us think that the serious issues we are facing can be resolved within capitalism, with continual growth and profits for a few. Too many in the trade unions, reformist parties and environmental believe the same.  Demands for a ‘Just Transition’ or a ‘green economy’ are still all within the logic of capitalism. Other options are being put forward by Communists of the Leninist tradition. Though they call for revolution, theirs would be a top-down one, sacrificing our freedom in the process. Anarchism, without the communism, is also an inadequate solution. Focusing on individual freedom and being anti-authority does not address the big changes that need to take place in our economic and social systems. Instead we propose anarchist communism. As Malatesta said: “We too aspire to communism as the most perfect achievement of human solidarity, but it must be anarchist communism, that is, freely desired and accepted, and the means by which the freedom of everyone is guaranteed and can expand; for these reasons we maintain that State communism, which is authoritarian and imposed, is the most hateful tyranny that has ever afflicted, tormented and handicapped mankind.”      

Public Discussion Meeting hosted by the ACG.

This is a complete and unedited recording of a public discussion meeting held in June 2022 by the ACG on the cost of living.

This is a podcast of our pamphlet Land and Liberty- arguing the case for building movement for land justice as part of a general revolutionary movement for anarchist communism.

Nick Heath talks about anarchist communism and how this current is the main way forward for building a well-organised, revolutionary, working class anarchist movement.

Recently two important books on anarchist communism have appeared. They both seek to reclaim the tradition of anarchist communism, and both have been written by veterans of the anarchist communist movement. The first to appear has been A Defence of Anarchist Communism by Brian Morris, followed by The Idea: Anarchist Communism, Past, Present and Future. Brian has been defending the “integrity, importance and contemporary relevance of anarchist communism as a historical movement and as a political tradition” for more than 40 years in pamphlets, articles, books and letters. In Defence of Anarchist Communism is a very valuable book, and one that will hopefully rehabilitate anarchist communism and bring it to the attention of many new readers. As Brian writes: “…it is important to recognise and stress the vitality and continuing relevance of anarchist communism as a political tradition. Like all social movements, anarchist communism is complex, diverse, and ever-changing, open and responding to new events and new ideas…” Nick Heath’s book seeks to rehabilitate the current of anarchist-communism and make it better known and understood; and to renovate and modernise it. It offers a prehistory of the idea of anarchist communism, its origins in the First International and extensive chapters on the history of anarchist communism in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. As such it will be the first comprehensive work on anarchist communism, one where it is not sidelined or where it ends up as a footnote.

We have selected the first three chapters of Petr Kropotkin’s Conquest of Bread for the reading group because it tries to envisage what an anarchist communist society would look like. Kropotkin wrote The Conquest of Bread to systematically explain the essential ideas of anarchist-communism. It was a watershed moment in anarchist history since it was the first time that a completed and in-depth theoretical work of anarchist-communist theory was available to the public.Throughout the first three chapters, Kropotkin constructs an argument for the common ownership of all intellectual and useful property due to the collective work that went into creating it. Kropotkin does not argue that the product of a worker's labour should belong to the worker but asserts that every individual product is essentially the work of everyone since every individual relies on the intellectual and physical labour of those who came before them as well as those who built the world around them. Because of this, Kropotkin proclaims that every human deserves an essential right to well-being because every human contributes to the collective social product.

Dale Walford spoke to anarchist communist historian, writer and militant Nick Heath about his new book The Idea – Anarchist Communism, Past, Present and Future. The book is being published in May 2022 by JUST books If you are interested in finding out more about anarchist communism or are interested in the Anarchist Communist Group (ACG), please visit: https://www.anarchistcommunism.org with links to all our socials.

What does the slogan 'No War but the Class War' mean in the interimperialist conflict between Russia and NATO-backed Ukraine? The recent actions of the Russian state in Ukraine follow on from its military support for the Assad regime in Syria, its presence in Libya, its intervention in Kazakhstan to help crush the revolt there, its support for the Lukashenko regime in Belarus, and its disguised military presence in Africa via the Wagner Group. In all these cases the Russian state wants to maintain/further its imperialist interests. In opposing Russia the NATO countries have chosen to back Ukraine, both politically and with limited military support. Western liberalism has re-embraced a (supra-)nationalism. The conflict poses uneasy questions and issues for libertarian communists, especially for those in “the West”. What action can/should groups take? Should support be given to Ukraine, and if so what does that mean? Is ‘no war but class war’ just a slogan? Can it be turned into something more? What are the longer term outcomes, is a new cold (or even hot) war beckoning? This public meeting organised by the Anarchist Communist Group intends to give discussion to these questions and hopefully provide, if not answers, some clarity about how communists and anarchists can approach the matter.

The Anarchist Communist Group had its first national reading group event. We selected the topic of the Green New Deal to launch the reading group because it is often put forward as a key part of a strategy to tackle climate change. Through the readings we addressed the following questions in small groups (not recorded) before reporting back and having a whole group discussion. Questions 1. What are the positive features of the Green New Deal? (US/Britain) 2. What are the limitations? 3. What does this issue tell us about how social transformation will come about? What is the role of the State- national and local- and the struggle for reforms? 4. What ideas do we have for campaigns/actions/strategies that will lead to real change- and an eco anarchist communist society? Readings: https://www.resilience.org/stories/2019-05-14/one-cheer-more-or-less-for-the-green-new-deal/ http://www.anarkismo.net/article/31250 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MHHHvblfrO0TyCC9T9IqLCjNrO9N2N_p/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=110879616352976367677&rtpof=true&sd=true If you are interested in finding out more about anarchist communism or are interested in the Anarchist Communist Group (ACG), please visit: https://www.anarchistcommunism.org with links to all our socials.