Call for papers for the ASN 2.0 Conference 'Making Connections'
Loughborough University 3-5 September, 2012.
Panel Stream: Anarchism and War
Anarchism and War
The panel intends to investigate the impact of war on the anarchist movement and the ways in which the anarchists engaged with it.
For example, although the majority of the anarchists opposed both WWI and WW2, these conflicts had profound repercussions for the international anarchist movement. Contrasting analyses regarding the nature of the conflicts gave rise to divisions and acrimonious polemics (e.g. the debates that followed the publication of the Manifeste des Seize in 1916, and Rudolf Rocker's support for the intervention of the Allies in 1945). Direct participation in belligerent and military operations was also highly controversial (the partisan brigades in Italy in WW2 and, even more problematic, the militarization during the Spanish Civil War are two clear examples). The various activities that the anarchists organised to oppose war, will also be a focus for the panel.
Indeed, opposition to war gave anarchist movements the opportunity to seek connections and links with other political and social organizations, even if in polemical terms (pacifists, socialists, Trade Unions, communists).
The panel aims therefore at investigating the ideological debate about war in the anarchist movement and the contradictions that war creates in the movement. It also intends to examine the connections that the anarchist movements established with other groups in periods of war in order to organize antiwar activities, not only in the past but also in relation to current anti-war movements.
If you would like to present a paper on this topic, or to contribute to it in other forms, send proposals of 200-500 words (along with contact details and institutional affiliation if applicable) to the panelconvener: Pietro Di Paola (pdipaola [at] lincoln.ac.uk), by 31 March 2012.
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