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Recent publications and new editions from Zabalaza Books

category international | anarchist movement | press release author Saturday June 20, 2020 00:29author by Zabalaza Books Report this post to the editors

Over the past 18 months Zabalaza Books has published over two dozen new publications or new editions of previous publications, all of which can be read online or downloaded in PDF format from the Zabalaza Books website.

Read the full list of titles and overviews of their contents, with links to the full texts, below.

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Recent publications and new editions from Zabalaza Books

Over the past 18 months Zabalaza Books has published over two dozen new publications or new editions of previous publications, all of which can be read online or downloaded in PDF format from the Zabalaza Books website.

Read the full list of titles and overviews of their contents, with links to the full texts, below.

Anarchism’s Relevance to Black and Working-Class Strategy: Dispelling Ten Myths


Author: Lucien van der Walt

To have a discussion about anarchism’s relevance to (black) working class strategy in the face of ongoing capitalist restructuring, we need to dispel myths about anarchism and syndicalism, to reclaim the revolutionary core of the anarchist tradition.

The above text is from an October 2005 presentation at a Red and Black Forum, Phambili Motsoaledi Centre, Motsoaledi, Soweto.

The Revolutionary Message of the ‘Friends of Durruti’


Author: Georges Fontenis

The Spanish anarchist organisation ‘The Friends of Durruti’ was formed by members of the CNT in 1937 in opposition to the collaboration of the CNT leadership in the government of Republican Spain. The first heavily censored issue of their paper ‘Friend of the People’ appeared just after the Maydays in Barcelona, sections of it are reproduced for the first time in English in this pamphlet. The Mayday defence of the revolution in Barcelona was crushed at the cost of 500 lives, including the disappearance, torture and murder of key anarchist organisers by the Stalinists. The Friends of Durruti outlined an alternative path for Spanish anarchists, one intended to not only protect but to expand the revolution and bring it to victory…

Georges Fontenis’ analysis of the Friends of Durruti, from a pamphlet translated by the Workers’ Solidarity Movement.

Anarchism: From Theory to Practice


Author: Daniel Guérin

Anarchism: From Theory to Practice by Daniel Guérin is a “definitional tract in the ‘ABCs’ of anarchism”. It is Guérin’s best-known work, describing the intellectual substance and actual practice of anarchism.  The book covers the theoretical basis of anarchism, as well as giving historical examples of its practical application in selected struggles in the 20th century.

Originally published in French, in 1965, by Editions Gallimard under the title L’anarchisme: De la doctrine à l’action. The English translation by Mary Klopper, with a foreword by Noam Chomsky, was first published by Monthly Review Press, New York, in 1970.

The Foreword and Postscript were taken LibCom, with the rest from the Anarchist Library.

Anarchist Communism: Its Basis and Principles


Author: Piotr Kropotkin

Anarchism, the no-government system of socialism, has a double origin. It is an outgrowth of the two great movements of thought in the economic and the political fields which characterize the nineteenth century, and especially its second part. In common with all socialists, the anarchists hold that the private ownership of land, capital, and machinery has had its time; that it is condemned to disappear; and that all requisites for production must, and will, become the common property of society, and be managed in common by the producers of wealth. And in common with the most advanced representatives of political radicalism, they maintain that the ideal of the political organisation of society is a condition of things where the functions of government are reduced to a minimum, and the individual recovers his full liberty of initiative and action for satisfying, by means of free groups and federations – freely constituted – all the infinitely varied needs of the human being.

Anarchist Communism: Its Basis and Principles first published in 1887 by New Fellowship Press, London. This version from Kropotkin’s Revolutionary Pamphlets. Roger N. Baldwin, editor. Vangaurd Press, Inc., 1927

Communism and Anarchy from Freedom, 1901. Reprinted in Small Communal Experiments and Why They Fail, Jura Books, Australia.

Both texts taken from the Anarchist Library

Building Trade Union Democracy as Prefigurative Politics in South Africa


Author: Nicole Ulrich

This pamphlet is an extract from the book Strategy: Debating Politics Within and at a Distance from the State – Eds. John Reynolds & Lucien van der Walt published by the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit (NALSU), Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa.

The State, Accumulation and Class Formation after Apartheid


Author: Lucien van der Walt

This pamphlet is an extract from the book Strategy: Debating Politics Within and at a Distance from the State – Eds. John Reynolds & Lucien van der Walt published by the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit (NALSU), Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa.

Economic Policy from Below: an Anarchist Critique of the COSATU Unions’ “Radical Reform” Project


Author: Warren McGregor

This pamphlet is an extract from the book Strategy: Debating Politics Within and at a Distance from the State – Eds. John Reynolds & Lucien van der Walt published by the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit (NALSU), Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa

Modes of Politics at a Distance from the State


Author: Lucien van der Walt

This pamphlet is an extract from the book Strategy: Debating Politics Within and at a Distance from the State – Eds. John Reynolds & Lucien van der Walt published by the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit (NALSU), Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa

The Political Party System: No Friend of the Working Class


Author: Warren McGregor

This pamphlet is an extract from the book Strategy: Debating Politics Within and at a Distance from the State – Eds. John Reynolds & Lucien van der Walt published by the Neil Aggett Labour Studies Unit (NALSU), Rhodes University, Makhanda, South Africa

The Strategy of Especifismo


Author: Juan Carlos Mechoso of the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU), interviewed by Felipe Corrêa
English translation: Jonathan Payn, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2020

This interview with Juan Carlos Mechoso of the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU) – conducted by Felipe Corrêa – discusses FAU’s “strategy of especifismo”. Relevant topics are addressed in the questions, such as: the concept of especifismo, this type of anarchism’s relationship with the classics and with similar experiences that have emerged in history, especifismo’s relation with the Latin American context, comparisons with other ideologies that promote operating at distinct levels (party – mass movement), scientific concepts, ideology and its relation to socialism, programmatic positions that anarchists should defend in popular movements, concepts and conceptions of class, neo-liberalism, the development model of Latin American, popular power, strategy, armed struggle and social revolution.

Interview conducted between May and August 2009

Capitalism, Anti-Capitalism and Popular Organisation


Author: Universidade Popular / Movimento dos Trabalhadores Desempregados (MTD-RJ) (Movement of Unemployed Workers) [Brasil]
English translation: Jonathan Payn, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2020

This booklet, called Capitalism, Anti-Capitalism and Popular Organisation, is a publication of the Popular University of Rio de Janeiro in conjunction with the Movement of Unemployed Workers of Rio de Janeiro (MTD-RJ).

Formed in mid-2007, the Popular University believes in the political, social and cultural self-education of male and female workers (homeless, landless, unemployed, street vendors, etc.) with a view to building a new society based on socialism and freedom. It is made up of students and workers who assert themselves as the real producers of the wealth of the current society and ,“indignant with the most complete situation of misery and oppression that affects us”, has the “deepest desire for the collective construction of a new society, based on co-operation and equality. ” [Pro-Popular University Manifesto]

This notebook was designed and written by Universidade Popular. The first part was based to a large extent on the book Anticapitalismo para Principiantes by Ezequiel Adamovsky, edited in Argentina.

Towards a Fresh Revolution


Author: Friends of Durruti

Towards a Fresh Revolution is the highly influential pamphlet written by anarchist CNT militants during the Spanish revolution who opposed the co-option of their organisation into the Republican government.

The introduction to the 1978 edition of Towards a Fresh Revolution was written by Jaime Balius, former secretary of the Friends of Durruti and director of its paper.

Manifesto of Libertarian Communism


Author: Georges Fontenis

The Manifesto of Libertarian Communism was written in 1953 by Georges Fontenis for the Federation Communiste Libertaire of France. It is one of the key texts of the anarchist-communist current.

It was preceeded by the best work of Bakunin, Guillaume, Malatesta, Berneri, the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists * written by Makhno, Arshinov and Matt, which sprang from the defeats of the Russian Revolution, and the statements of the Friends of Durruti, also a result of another defeat, that of the Spanish Revolution.

The Manifesto was originally written in 1953 for the Federation Communiste Libertaire of France. It was then published in an English translation in Britain under the auspices of the Anarchist Communist Federation (now Anarchist Federation). This third ZB edition includes minor changes to the original.

Organisational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft)


Author: Group of Russian Anarchists Abroad (“Delo Truda” Group)
“It is high time that anarchism emerged from the swamp of disorganisation, to put an end to the interminable vacillations on the most important questions of theory and tactics, and resolutely move towards its clearly understood purpose and an organised collective practice”.
– Organisational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft)

First published 20 June 1926

Third Zabalaza Books Edition, August 2019

Breaking the Chains: A History of Anarchism


Author: Lucien van der Walt

This is a book about the history of anarchism. It is a history of nearly 120 years of unbroken workers struggle. It is a history of sacrifice and bravery by ordinary people fighting for a world without bosses and oppression.

First issued by Workers Solidarity Federation, 1998

This Zabalaza Books edition, July 2019

Building Working Class Unity in South Africa: Lessons from United Fronts in Germany, Italy and Russia


Authors: Jonathan Payn, Jakes Factoria, Tina Sizovuka and Warren McGregor

This pamphlet is a collection of articles exploring the concept, history and anarchist/syndicalist approaches to United Fronts – and their relevance and potential for building working class unity in South Africa – written in the context of the National Union of Metalworkers (Numsa)’s resolution, following its historic 2013 Special National Congress, to break with the ANC-led Alliance and form a ‘United Front against neoliberalism’

First Zabalaza Books edition, July 2019

From Union Renewal to a Self-Managed Society: Towards an Anarcho-Syndicalist Project


Author: Lucien van der Walt

Trade union renewal is high on the agenda in many countries, but we need to think carefully about why we want it. Union renewal is a profoundly political and ideological issue.We need to have a clear understanding of how we got into the current mess where many unions are bureaucratic, inefficient and struggle to respond to urgent issues. We need to think carefully about what we want to achieve, not just in terms of how we organise – but what we aim at in the long run.

First Zabalaza Books edition, July 2019

[Leaflet] Tearing Racism up from its Capitalist Roots: An African Anarchist-Communist Approach


Author: Bongani Maponyane (ZACF)

Racism has been a curse in South Africa, and remains embedded in the society. But how scientific are racist ideas? Where do they come from? And how can we fight racism and create a truly equal and fair society? What do we as revolutionary anarchists think?

Ecology in Democratic Confederalism


Author: Ercan Ayboga

Ecology is one of the three pillars of the paradigm of Democratic Confederalism, the political-theoretical concept of the Kurdish Freedom Movement. Besides democracy and gender liberation, ecology has been mentioned explicitly as a dimension in this concept since 2005. However to date, ecology is less discussed and practiced than the two other pillars.

First Zabalaza Books edition, July 2019

A Case for Anarchist Class Analysis: Why it Works Better than the Marxist Approach and What it Means for Struggles


Author: Leroy Maisiri

The purpose of this pamphlet is giving a coherent, comparative analysis on how anarchists and Marxists view the concept of “class,” and the political implications of each approach. Class is the nucleus of both Marxism and anarchism; however the conceptualisation of class is different for both. In pointing out these differences, it is my hope that I will convincingly show how and why the anarchist conceptualisation of class is more comprehensive and more useful, providing a more holistic analysis of many related aspects of class, and a more practical political guide.

First Zabalaza Books edition, March 2019

Basic Bakunin


Authors: Colin Parker (with an introduction to the South African Edition by Lucien van der Walt)

This pamphlet provides an excellent introduction to the ideas of Mikhail Bakunin, the “founder” of anarchism… We do not see Bakunin as a god who never made mistakes. Of course he was not perfect. He was a man, but a man who gave his all for the struggle of the oppressed, a revolutionary hero who deserves our admiration and respect. From Bakunin, we can learn much about revolutionary activism. We can learn even more about the ideas needed to win the age-old fight between exploiter and exploited, between worker and peasant, on the one hand, and boss and ruler on the other…

March 2019, second South African edition by Zabalaza Books,
with 2004 South African introduction

Alternatives from the Ground Up: Anarchism/Syndicalism and (Black) Working Class Self-Emancipation in Post-Apartheid South Africa


Author: Lucien van der Walt

This commentary, an input at a Globalization School debate in Cape Town, engages current labour and Left debates on building alternatives, drawing on the experiences of the radical wing of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, and on anarchism and syndicalism. It argues for a strategy of bottom-up mobilization based on debate and pluralism, and building structures of counter-power and a revolutionary counter-culture that can prefigure and create a new social order. The aim is to foster a class-based movement against exploitation, domination, and oppression, including national oppression, that can win reforms through self-activity, unite a range of struggles against oppression, and develop the capacity and unity needed for deep social change. This should be outside parliament, the political party system and the state. The outcome, ultimately, would be the replacement of capitalism, the state, and social and economic inequality, by a universal human community based on self-management, the democratization of daily life, participatory economic planning, and libertarian socialism.

First Zabalaza Books edition, 2019

Anarchism and the National Liberation Struggle


Author: Alfredo Bonanno

This important pamphlet attempts to develop an anarchist internationalist position on the ever present reality of national liberation struggles and the national question. Wide ranging in the topics it covers – from internal colonialism to a critique of certain Marxist views – the pamphlet argues that anarchists should support national liberation struggles insofar as they are waged by and for the oppressed classes, and that the national question can only be resolved by the free association of peoples on a libertarian and federalist basis.

Humanity will never be free until we liberate ourselves by global social revolution.

Third South African Edition, February 2019

Class Struggles in South Africa: from Apartheid to Neo-Liberalism


Author: Bikisha Media Collective

The South African working class is on the retreat. It is not defeated, but is falling back in the face of a major neo-liberal offensive by the democratic government elected in 1994. A vicious “home-grown Structural Adjustment Programme,” called “GEAR” or the Growth, Employment and Redistribution strategy, is in place, and it has directly contributed to a million jobs lost, to cuts in social services, and to rapidly growing class inequality.

First edition by the Bikisha Media Collective & Zabalaza Books, 2005
This second edition by Zabalaza Books, February 2019

Freedom for All: An Introduction to Anarchism


Over the last few years, the resurgence of revolutionary anarchism has caught the attention of the world.

The role of the anarchists in the anti–globalisation movement, at Seattle, Prague, Gothenburg, Genoa, La Paz, and Porto Allegre – where we have been in the forefront of militant resistance – has been widely reported in the media.

The New York Times recently proclaimed “Anarchism: the idea that refuses to die,” whilst SAPA, not to be outdone, blamed the anarchist “black bloc” for the disruption of the G8 summit in Genoa, Italy.

But what is the anarchist movement? What does it want? Where is it going? And how can you get involved?

First edition by Zabalaza Books, 2008. This second edition 2019

Anarchist Propaganda and An Anarchist Programme (2 Essays)


Author: Errico Malatesta

2nd Zabalaza Books Edition

Il Programma Anarchico (An Anarchist Programme) was drafted by Malatesta and adopted by the Unione Anarchica Italiana at its Congress in Bologna (1920)

[Leaflet] Revolutionary Anarchism and Political Parties


Author: Alliance of Libertarian Communists (ACL), Mexico

For a long time there has been an erroneous conception regarding anarchists’ views on parties. In this document, we, as revolutionary anarchists, wish to clarify the matter a little. We will begin by saying that our ideology is rooted in the philosophical and political ideas of the Russian revolutionary Mikhail Bakunin. With that said, we believe that, as a self-sacrificing fighter for the cause of the workers and therefore an enemy of bourgeois capitalist exploitation and State repression, Bakunin understood perfectly the historical need for a revolutionary party, consisting only of the most dedicated elements who sacrificed themselves to the revolutionary cause and were an integral part of it.

Anarchy


Author: Errico Malatesta

Written in 1891, Anarchy is one of Errico Malatesta‘s most influential writings. In it, he sets forth the basic principles of anarchism. This is the Vernon Richards translation published by Freedom Press in 1974.

The ABC of Anarchism


Author: Alexander Berkman
“Our social institutions are founded on certain ideas; as long as the latter are generally believed, the institutions built on them are safe. Government remains strong because people think political authority and legal compulsion necessary. Capitalism will continue as long as such an economic system is considered adequate and just. The weakening of the ideas which support the evil and oppressive present-day conditions means the ultimate breakdown of government and capitalism. Progress consists in abolishing what man has outlived and substituting in its place a more suitable environment.”
Alexander Berkman,

The ABC of Anarchism

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