Murray Bookchin, American libertarian theorist and father of social ecology, is well known for his work on the interconnections between ecology and social struggle. In “The Spanish Anarchists: The Heroic Years (1868-1936)”, published in 2001 by AK press editor, he offers a detailed analysis of the evolution of the anarchist movement in Spain, from its origins to the outbreak of the Civil War. This review examines the work’s themes, its resonances with the contemporary situation, and the lessons that can be drawn from it by 21st-century environmentalist and communalist activists.

A history of struggle and collective emancipation

The book traces the “heroic years” of the Spanish anarchist movement, a period marked by a series of workers’ and peasants’ insurrections that sought to overthrow capitalism, the state and all forms of hierarchy. Bookchin highlights the central role of the anarcho-syndicalist unions, in particular the CNT (National Confederation of Labor), and their commitment to a society based on self-management, direct democracy and libertarian federalism.

The importance of Spain’s socio-economic and geographical context, with agrarian economic structures and an emerging urban working class, is essential to understanding why Spain became fertile ground for anarchism. Bookchin’s work brilliantly describes how anarchist ideas took root in this social reality and how they mobilized hundreds of thousands of workers and peasants.

Parallels with the contemporary situation

Current and/or future struggles for social ecology and communalism can draw many lessons from these past movements. The current context is marked by growing ecological urgency (collapse of biodiversity and climate disruption unprecedented in our era), and global political and economic crises. In the same way that Spanish anarchism emerged in response to the inequalities and oppression of the time, ecologist and communalist movements today are taking shape in the face of environmental degradation and the dysfunctions induced by and intrinsic to capitalism and state institutions.

A striking parallel lies in the ability of Spanish anarchists to organize at local level, while nurturing a global vision of emancipation. This federalism and decentralized action are key elements that today’s environmental activists could incorporate into their strategy. Bookchin’s communalist model is based on autonomous, self-managed communes, federated at local level and confederated at supra-local level in a free, ecological society. The practice of direct democracy and popular assemblies, which Spanish anarchists experimented with, offers a source of inspiration for those seeking to move beyond the framework of contemporary representative “democracy”.

So what are the concrete lessons for communalist activists in the 21st century?

1. Local action and global vision: Spanish anarchists were able to articulate a global revolutionary vision while acting on a local scale, particularly in rural areas. Today’s activists, particularly communalists, could draw inspiration from this approach. By setting up ecological communes based on local initiatives for autonomy and self-management, they can both meet the immediate needs of communities and pave the way for a broader paradigm shift.

2. Unionism and self-organization: The role of anarcho-syndicalist unions, such as the CNT, underlines the importance of organizing within workplaces and communities. Today’s movements could adapt these models to their own realities, creating networks of mutual aid, mutual support and resistance to the institutions that perpetuate the ecological and social crisis.

3. Direct democracy and confederalism: The practice of direct democracy, experimented with by Spanish anarchists in self-managed communities, shows that another political model is possible. Communalists must promote and experiment with alternative forms of self-government based on federated local communes, while fighting against centralized state institutions.

4. Anti-capitalism and ecology: Like Spanish anarchists, today’s environmental activists must recognize that capitalism is intrinsically linked to the exploitation of natural resources and people. Communalism, with its decentralized, ethical and sustainable model, represents an alternative to this destructive system.

Raising awareness and acting here and now

To spread the idea of social ecology and communalism and anchor them in practice, we need to adopt a multi-level approach:

1. Education and awareness-raising: It is essential to focus on popular education to raise awareness of the links between ecology, social justice and direct democracy. This can be done through campaigns, conferences and communalist workshops.

2. Setting up local experiments: Creating “pilot projects” of small-scale, self-managed communes helps demonstrate that concrete alternatives exist and are viable. These projects must be accompanied by participatory democratic practices, aimed at recreating citizens (in the old sense of the term) and making them actors in the management of their own environment.

3. Reclaiming common spaces: Communalist activists can start with local actions to re-appropriate the commons, whether through urban agriculture, cooperatives or community spaces. These initiatives serve as the basis for building autonomous institutions, independent of capitalism and the state.

4. Networks, federations and confederations: Finally, just as Spanish anarchists federated their struggles at national level, today’s activists need to create international networks of communes and environmental movements. This will amplify local impact and pool knowledge and resources in line with the principle of democratic confederalism.

What are the main dangers we need to overcome?

1. Cooptation-recovery by state institutions and political parties

One of the main dangers facing any revolutionary movement is cooptation and/or recuperation by state institutions or political parties. History is replete with examples of social movements being absorbed by reformist parties or state institutions, thereby losing their radicalism and autonomy.

– Exclude electoral participation under the state framework: Participating in elections in centralized states risks channelling militant energy towards reformist and institutional rather than revolutionary goals. Communalism advocates transformation from below, via people’s assemblies and autonomous local structures. Involvement in classical representative politics will fatally pervert this idea by subjecting it to the constraints of centralized state governance.
– Resistance to the centralization of power: The history of the Spanish Civil War shows how the CNT and other revolutionary unions were partly neutralized by entering republican governance structures. To avoid this, communes must always be wary of centralization of power and favor radical decentralization, creating horizontal networks between communes rather than pyramidal structures.

2. The reformism of institutionalized trade unions

Reformist unions, which accept the rules of the institutional game, can dilute the radicalism of movements by seeking limited concessions rather than systemic change.

– Maintaining a militant and autonomous base: Anarcho-syndicalist unions in Spain initially sought to maintain a distance from the state and reformist unions. Communalist militants had to ensure that their organizations remained independent of the state and large bureaucratic union structures, to avoid compromising their ideals.

– Rejection of corporatism: It is important that communalist movements do not focus solely on sectoral demands (labor, housing, etc.), but always link them to a global project of emancipation and ecological and social transformation. We must avoid purely reformist struggles that fragment and depoliticize the movement.

3. Internal bureaucratization

One of the pitfalls encountered by many revolutionary movements is the tendency to bureaucratize their internal structures. This leads to a loss of direct democracy and the creation of a new ruling elite, which is totally at odds with the ideals of social ecology and therefore with those of communalists.

– Preservation of direct democracy: Communalism must be organized around structures of direct democracy, where decisions are taken by popular assemblies and not by permanent representatives. Rotating and revocable mandates must be favored to avoid the formation of a professionalized bureaucracy within the movement.

– Anti-hierarchical culture: It is crucial to cultivate a culture of radical equality, which prevents the emergence of charismatic leaders or hierarchical structures within the movement. The danger of creating a new revolutionary elite is very real if activists are not vigilant on this point.

4. Fragmentation and local isolation

Another major danger is that communal projects remain too isolated from each other, focusing solely on local initiatives without articulating a global vision of social transformation. This fragmentation can lead to exhaustion or easier recuperation by local powers.

– Libertarian federalism: The history of Spanish anarchists shows the importance of federating local initiatives to form a network of solidarity. Communalism must constantly seek to establish horizontal links between communes and create a form of communalist internationalism via democratic confederalism, so as to avoid isolation and make the movement more resistant to recuperation.

– Local and global articulation: While local anchoring is crucial, it’s important for each commune to be part of a wider project, be it national or international networks. This strengthens solidarity between struggles and places local initiatives within a systemic framework of transformation.

5. Loss of revolutionary perspective

A subtle but crucial danger is the tendency to abandon the revolutionary ideal in exchange for immediate gains or progressive reforms. The Spanish experience shows that, when a movement abandons its revolutionary objective for short-term compromises, it becomes vulnerable to recuperation by moderate or reactionary forces.

– Keep utopia as a horizon: Communalist movements must constantly remind themselves that their local actions are part of a wider project of systemic transformation. They must be ready to resist reformist temptations that could dilute the scope of their struggle.

– Radical experimentation: To avoid falling into reformism, the communalist movement must encourage radical social experimentation, transforming not only political structures, but also modes of production, consumption and human relations (cooperatives, circular economies, new forms of solidarity).

Consequently, the communalist movement towards social ecology must maintain constant vigilance to avoid falling into the traps of recuperation by the state, political parties or reformist trade unions. This requires organizational autonomy, internal radical democracy, and a permanent articulation between local struggles and a global vision of social transformation.

The lessons of the Spanish anarchist movement show that the key to avoiding the perversion of the project lies in the ability to maintain revolutionary coherence and refuse to compromise with centralized power structures. In this way, communalist activists can hope to build a perennial movement in tune with the ecological and social challenges of the 21st century.

In conclusion, Murray Bookchin’s book on the Spanish anarchists offers a rich source of inspiration for today’s ecological movements and the communalist movement in the making. The lessons of Spanish anarchism enrich those of the Paris Commune, and show that emancipation is possible through decentralized local organization, solidarity and direct democracy. In a context of ecological and social crisis, it is urgent to translate these ideas into concrete action to transform society from the bottom up, with autonomous communes as the starting point towards an ecological, solidarity-based and free society.

See also: Acting here and now with the Social Ecology of Murray Bookchin