Anarchism spread into Belgium asCommunards took refuge inBrussels with the fall of theParis Commune. Most Belgian members in theFirst International joined the anarchistJura Federation after the socialist schism. Belgian anarchists also organized the1886 Walloon uprising, theLibertarian Communist Group, and several Bruxellois newspapers at the turn of the century. Apart from new publications, the movement dissipated through the internecine antimilitarism in theinterwar period. Several groups emerged mid-century forsocial justice andanti-fascism.
In September 1872, during theHague Congress of theInternational Workingmen's Association, the Belgian delegates spoke out against the exclusion ofMikhail Bakunin proposed by the General Council of London, dominated byKarl Marx. In this founding conflict of anarchism, they joined the camp of the "anti-authoritarians" against the "authoritarians". Like Bakunin, the Belgian delegates refused to achieve their objectives by conquering political power and were in favor of a federalist structure of the International, in which the local groups retained a large degree of autonomy. According to them, the revolution would take place quickly and a new society would be built from below.[1]
From this split was born, at the congress of Saint-Imier on 15 September 1872, an "anti-authoritarian" International known as theJura Federation. It was around this that the anarchist current was born, which then claimed to be called "revolutionary collectivism", wanting to be the promoter of aself-managed economic system outside allauthority, allcentralization, allstates and giving as objective "the destruction of all political power by therevolutionary strike". The majority of Belgian members of the First International joined this anti-authoritarian International.[2][3]
In the mid-1870s, Belgian socialism was made up of a set of workers' associations anxious to maintain their independence and to stay away from politics. The local federation ofVerviers was then the center of the anti-authoritarian International in Belgium. It challenged trade unionism and political action to privilege revolutionary propaganda: the abolition of the state must be the top priority. But the announced revolution was long overdue and thesocial-democratic tendency, particularly present inGhent andBrussels, gradually won out over the anti-political revolutionary.[1]
The termcompagnon ("fellow") by which anarchists refer to themselves was first used in Belgium, saidJean Maitron. "When therepublicans," cried Tévenin, judged before the Assize Court of Isère, "wanted to designate themselves separately from themonarchists, they took the name of citizen; we who despise the right ofcitizenship, we looked for an absolutely working-class term and we adopted that of companion; that means a companion in struggle, in misery, sometimes also in a chain". These companions do not belong to a party, but to local groups without structures and living an independent life.[4]
TheWalloon uprising of 1886 designated a series of insurrectional workers' strikes that began on 18 March with a commemoration of the 15th anniversary of theParis Commune, organized by theRevolutionary Anarchist Group ofLiège. There were violent clashes between demonstrators and the police, the army was mobilized and the uprising was crushed, causing the deaths of several dozen strikers.
In 1902,Georges Thonar chaired the "revolutionary congress" ofLiège which was a success of participation but gave few concrete results, in particular because of individualism and the fear of any authoritarianism which paralyzed any beginnings of organization. Dispersed in an multitude of trends, the movement proved incapable of implementing its resolutions, of coordinating its action.[8]
However Thonar continued his project of organizing anarchism. To clarify the positions, he drew up a manifesto,What anarchists want, which excluded from the outset those nostalgic forpropaganda of the deed and the "originals" who were not conformist.[8]
For him, anarchism was located in "an active propaganda, purely theoretical and without phrases", aiming at "integral education" through study circles, schools, conferences, newspapers and brochures. To ensure "the development of personal dignity, of the spirit of independence and of feelings of solidarity", such was the immediate objective of group action.Direct action was not neglected, but anarchism knew that "riots" and "revolutions" are not created "artificially"; that "governmental arbitrariness and capitalist exploitation will push the masses that must be educated as a consequence to a gigantic general strike, the prelude to thesocial revolution". He did not reject any idea ofreform because "the educational action of the struggle waged to obtain them is useful to the working class."[9]
In October 1904 inCharleroi and on this basis, Thonar, assisted byÉmile Chapelier, brought together alibertarian communist congress of around a hundred fairly representative militants who unanimously adopted his text and laid the foundations for aFriendly Federation of Anarchists.[10]
The objectives were, on the one hand, to bring together the anarchists by means of an organization which allowed them to act more methodically, and, on the other hand, to take concrete measures to develop propaganda, whether through conferences, publications or libraries. The organization project, entirely developed by Georges Thonar, in a way leader of the movement at the time, speaks of a libertarian federalism based on voluntary collaboration: each group and each individual retains its autonomy, and no one imposes decisions (which makes it possible to overcome the reluctance of those who fear the appearance of a certain authoritarianism). The organization of the federation was based on three types of gathering: local sections, study and propaganda circles, intended to train members through conferences on both social and scientific subjects; concentration groups meeting monthly and finally the free federation, without statute, holding an annual congress. The publication of a newsletter informs about the state of propaganda and new publications, and its production is carried out each time by a different group in order to develop contacts and avoid excessive centralization.[11] Thonar was appointed secretary,[12] but he was quickly disappointed because, apart from the holding of an annual congress, few actions were organized collectively.[1][8]
In July 1905, the libertarianL’Experience community inStockel, was founded byÉmile Chapelier and his partner Marie David (Joseph Jacquemotte's sister).[13] It had five to fifteen people, wanting to be an alternative topropaganda of the deed – what they called "propaganda by example".Victor Serge,Jean de Boë and theEsperantist activistEugène Gaspard Marin, notably stayed there.[14][15]
The libertarian communist colony was the Brussels section of theLibertarian Communist Group founded on 25 July 1905 with a view to structuring the movement to carry out joint action and sustained propaganda. Until then,individualism and the fear of authoritarianism had always pushed anarchists to refuse any form of organization.[11]
The project was the implementation of libertarian communism:common property,communal work (gardening andpoultry farming essentially) and consumption according to the principle of "From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs". It relied on the principle ofmutual aid developed byPeter Kropotkin. It was an open environment, integrated into the Belgian and international anarchist movement, and multiplying activities for those who came to visit it: newspapers,active theater,conferences, etc. On 22 July 1906, the second Belgian Libertarian Communist Congress was held there, which launched the idea of an anarchist international. The colony published multiple brochures, which helped reactivate Belgian and international anarchism, onrevolutionary syndicalism,neomalthusianism,Esperanto,free love, etc. It was an assumed experimental environment, not wanting to appear as a model, nor as a fixed structure.[16][17]
A showcase for anarchism, the colony was open to visitors on Sundays, lectures and plays were given there. The community published many brochures in its collection.[18] On 11 August 1906, it published the first number of the weekly L'Émancipateur.[14]
TheLibertarian Communist Group (French:Groupement Communiste Libertaire, GCL) was a Belgian anarchist organization founded by about thirty militants on 25 July 1905 and disappeared in August 1907. Its goal was to propagate the ideas oflibertarian communism by means of meetings, the creation of education circles, and the publication of newspapers and propaganda books.[19] Its main objective was to structure a movement divided into many tendencies and to create the means necessary for the development of the libertarian press.Georges Thonar was its general secretary.
On 15 October, a congress was held inLiège to study two questions: the foundation of a libertarian colony and the attitude to adopt in the event of war.[10] At this congress, Thonar clarified that the group was addressing activists who believed in the need to strengthen the organization of propaganda and solidarity, so the group was relatively closed. The GCL adopted a declaration in which it specified that its aim was to propagate the libertarian communist theories defined by the Declaration of principles adopted at the Congress ofCharleroi in 1904.
In July 1905, the libertarianL'Expérance community was created byÉmile Chapelier and became the local section ofStockel. At the beginning of 1906, the first results were quite encouraging: the number of members and sections continued to increase. The GCL managed to ensure the survival ofL’Insurgé and organized meetings, study circles, and the publication of propaganda books.[10][11] At that point, the GCL had around 100 activists divided into around 15 sections.[10] The newspaperL'Insurgé, which Thonar launched in 1903,[20] becameL’Emancipateur, "Organ of the Groupement Communiste Libertaire" and was published inL'Expérance.[21]
However, the GCL did not alleviate the financial difficulties of the anarchist press, which was one of its primary objectives, andL’Émancipateur, with its 300 subscribers, did not balance its books. Contacts were spaced out between the different sections and Secretary General Georges Thonar lost contact with his base. Finally, the sections reproached the group for its centralizing tendency and decided to dissolve it at the last general assembly in August 1907. However, it was decided to maintain a network woven by the fraternal relations formed between the members during the meetings and that the action must to develop in a new direction:revolutionary syndicalism.[11][10]
In July 1908, at the call of theBrussels Revolutionary Group, largely from theL'Experience colony, an anarchist Federation was formed based on "the free membership of groups, without statutes, without regulations and without a committee". It published the newspaperLe Révolté.[8][10][1]
On 11 and 12 June 1905 inCharleroi, a revolutionary trade union congress brought together delegates from 24 localities, mainly inHainaut, but also fromGhent, Brussels, andLiège. The delegates includedminers,glassmakers,typographers,carpenters,metallurgists and painters.[8] The congress decided on the principle of the creation of aGeneral Confederation of Labour.[22][1] Following the model of theFrench CGT, for the new Confederation, it was a question of bringing together all the trades in a single agreement so as to create an anti-political union capable of carrying out the revolutionary general strike. Its goal is the elimination of wage labor. But unlike France, which was industrialized late but where the workers 'groups were nourished by a revolutionary tradition, Belgium, and in particular the Walloon industrial basins, experienced the first industrial revolution on the continent but a workers' movement which is organized late. Local and professional particularism reigned and union membership was very small30.
On 16 July 1905, the first issue of the newspaperL’Action Directe, "organ of workers", then "organ of the General Confederation of Labor" then "organ of revolutionary syndicalist propaganda" appeared in Gilly (Belgium).[23] Founded byLéopold Preumont, from June 1907,Henri Fuss succeeded him at the head of the newspaper which was both a propaganda tool and a rallying center for the unions ofCharleroi andLiège, which claim to be indirect action.[24]
On 28 January 1906 in Brussels, the constitutive congress of the new organization was held, a congress prepared by theUnion des Travailleurs bruxellois founded byHenri Fuss and in whichGeorges Thonar andÉmile Chapelier joined in particular.[8] The Belgian CGT grew in the following years but its newspaper,L’Action Directe and some of its members were prosecuted on several occasions, in particular because of theiranti-militarist positions or their participation in strikes. These lawsuits had the consequence of depriving the movement of its most important activists. These reasons, to which are added a local and professional particularism and the absence of outstanding personalities, caused the end of the CGT in 1908.[1]
A large Belgian delegation took part in theInternational Anarchist Congress in Amsterdam in August 1907, includingGeorges Thonar andHenri Fuss (Liège),Émile Chapelier (Boitsfort), Segher Rabauw and Samson (Antwerp), Janssen and Heiman (Ghent), Schouteten (Brussels), Hamburger and Henri Willems.[25] TheLibertarian Communist Group intervened there in particular in the debate on the organization.[26]
TheConfédération syndicale belge (Belgian Trade Union Confederation) was anAnarcho-syndicalisttrade union movement inBelgium. The organization was founded inLiège on 19 April 1908.Confédération syndicale belge was the last of the various anarcho-syndicalist union movements formed in Belgium in the years prior to theFirst World War. The organization had around 10,000 members fromAntwerp,Kortrijk,Brussels,Verviers, theCentre region andLiège. It was formed by the small revolutionaryConfédération générale du travail (founded on 28 January 1906 in Brussels), the Antwerp diamond workers union (3,000 members), the glass workers union (Union Verrière) ofLodelinsart and others in reaction to the creation of theCommission syndicale, a trade-union confederation directly linked to, and under the orders of theBelgian Labour Party. In January 1910, the diamond workers union finally joined theCommission syndicale after a mediation byCamille Huysmans andJan Van Zutphen, general secretary of the diamond general trade union ofAmsterdam, theAlgemene Nederlandse Diamantbewerkersbond. This ended the history of theConfédération syndicale belge, the last attempt to create a trade union independent from theBelgian Labour Party.[27]
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On 22 October 1893 in Brussels,Henri Willems published the first issue of the bimonthlyLe Libertaire, the "Socialist-revolutionary organ of the groups of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode", in Brussels. It contained two epigrams: "Patriotism is the last refuge of a rascal" byAugust Spies and "Our enemy is our master" byJean de La Fontaine, and followed the newspaperL'Antipatriote. However, its printer and publisher were prosecuted in 1894 for press offenses, which led to the stopping of publication of the newspaper.[28]
The first issue ofLa Débâcle sociale was published on 4 January 1896 inEnsival. Originally published every two weeks, from issue 6 ( 22–29 March 1896), it became a weekly. Among the contributors:Henri Zisly,Henri Beylie,Émile Gravelle,Jules Moineau,Augustin Hamon,Élisée Reclus andSéverine. After 10 issues, the newspaper stopped on 19 April 1896.[29] In March 1896,La Débâcle sociale also published in the form of a brochure, the plea byÉmile Royer,Pour l´anarchisteJules Moineau.[30]
In 1910, theRevolutionary Federation published the newspaperLe combat social, the leader of which wasFélix Springael.[31] In the first issue, published under the title ofBulletin of the Revolutionary Federation, the Revolutionary Federation declared itself for integral socialism, for a society in which everyone produces according to their strength and consumes according to their needs.[32]
On 1 November 1902 in Brussels, the first issue of the newspaperLe Flambeau, "Organe de combat Révolutionnaire", came out, edited by Julius Mestag.[33] "Le Flambeau is not a journal of theory, nor a gossip sheet, it is a revolutionary combat organ, the cry of the oppressed, the expression of a feeling of revolt."[34]
On 11 August 1906, the first issue of the weeklyL'Émancipateur, "Organ of the Groupement Communiste Libertaire", published by the libertarian colony founded by Émile Chapelier, was published in Stockel. Georges Thonar was its administrator and printer. The newspaper ceased to appear in December 1906 after 13 issues appeared. The newspaperLe Communiste succeeded it in June 1907. Its epigraph was "from each according to their ability; to each according to their needs".[35][36]
On 18 September 1910, the first issue of the second period ofL'Émancipateur "Communist-anarchist revolutionary organ" came out in Liège. The managing editor responsible for the newspaper wasFrançois Requilez. The journal was edited from number 24 by the groupThe Seekers of Truth. Fifty two issues appeared until March 1913. The newspaper was replaced from this date and until July 1913 byL'action anarchiste.L’Émancipateur reappeared in March 1914 for a new series of twelve issues, until 2 August 1914. Its epigraph was: "We want to establish a social environment which ensures to each individual all the sum of happiness adequate for the progressive development of humanity".[37]
In July 1921, the first issue of the third period ofL'Émancipateur, first subtitled "Organe communiste-anarchiste Révolutionnaire", was published byCamille Mattart in Flémalle. After becoming the newspaper of theLibertarian Communist Federation, the title disappeared in December 1925 to make way for the newspaperLe Combat. Camille Mattart then republished it periodically from 1928 to 1936.[38]
Like the international movement, the libertarian movement emerged from the First World War divided, fractured between radicalantimilitarists and supporters of a victory forWestern democracies gathered around theManifesto of the Sixteen.World War I was undoubtedly a fatal halt to the development of anarchism all over the world. In Belgium, while until 1914, the libertarian movement was the first censor on the left of theWorkers' Party, it gradually lost its influence.[57] TheRussian Revolution of October 1917 aroused enthusiasm among some who joined thecommunist movements, while others realized the truedictatorial nature of the newBolshevik power.
Most Belgian anarchists then embarked on newspaper publication. Belgium, during the interwar period, was a land of exile and Belgian militants of this generation welcomed and helped many exiles living in semi-clandestinity:Italian,German andSpanish anarchists, Jews,conscientious objectors,neo-Malthusians, etc. The movement was influenced by the arrival ofItalian exiles fleeingfascism or immigrants seeking work: five anarchist magazines in the Italian language were published in Brussels in the interwar period. Some local activists collaborated on these publications and sometimes edited them, such asHem Day orJean De Boë.[58]
In 1921, a Belgian Anarchist Communist Federation initially brought together three groups inBrussels,Liège and in theBorinage.[58]
In 1924,Hem Day welcomed theSpanishanarcho-syndicalistsFrancisco Ascaso andBuenaventura Durruti, then on the run toCuba, into his home for two years.[59] In 1928, the International Committee for Anarchist Defense (CIDA) was created to fight against the expulsions and extraditions of foreign anarchists. A support network was set up around CIDA for many militants living in semi-clandestinity and an exfiltration channel towards South America.[58]
As afterWorld War I, Belgian anarchism emerged shaken fromWorld War II. However, as soon as the last battles had been fought, attempts to rebuild the movement appear. Even if they did not define themselves specifically as an anarchist, by welcoming libertarians and letting them express themselves, several groups participated in this libertarian renewal. Their purpose wassocial justice,pacifism,anti-militarism,anti-fascism, etc.[66]
Without being specifically anarchists,Les Cahiers socialistes, founded in November 1944, brought together independent socialists of all stripes and maintained close relations with groups clearly claiming to be part of the libertarian movement and welcomed in its editorial committee, in 1947, an anarchist activist likeErnestan.[67]
The editorial line of the review advocated alibertarian socialism that attempts a critical approach toMarxism. For its authors, the very essence of Marxism has been obscured by the too rigid doctrine of political parties. It was important to give more freedom to the socialists, as to the workers. This resolutely libertarian approach led them to adopt a rather nuanced point of view with regard to the debate on the role ofthe State, a conflict which is at the basis of the split of theFirst International. ForLes Cahiers socialistes, theauthoritarian socialists, by retaining the notion of the State, perpetuate an oppressive system, while in reaction, the anarchists advocate a "petty-bourgeois"individualism. The solution, according to them, lay in an alternative:self-management. The journal was certainly not presented as statist, for its authors, the state was neither a form of socialism nor a means of achieving it.[68]Les Cahiers socialistes believed that each individual had the right to assert their socialist ideal and was categorically opposed to authoritarianism.[69]
ThePensée et Action group was founded on 28 March 1945 following a conference by its leader,Marcel Dieu. The aim of the group was "to awaken and develop individual and intellectual consciousness to fight against all forms of authoritarianism". The group organized more than a hundred conferences on fields as diverse as sociology, politics, economics,psychology, literature, philosophy,sciences,Fine Arts, etc. The talks were attended by around thirty spectators, sometimes around a hundred.[70]
The group publishes an eponymous monthly review which should serve as "a link between all those who, beyond the fray of today and tomorrow, are looking for the possible bases of a free evolution of men in societies".[71] It therefore declared itself open to all, as attested by the formula written on the back cover of each issue of the review: "Pensée et Action intends to seek, beyond any sectarianism, any political or dogmatic ideology, the elements of a genuinely revolutionary culture, defending the merits of the essential demands of the mind and of men!"[71] Forty-six issues were published between September 1945 and December 1952. From that date until 1970, the review was replaced byLes Cahiers de Pensée et Action.
Action commune libertaire was founded on 2 November 1952,[72] at the call of the libertarian trade unionistJean De Boë. In addition toAlfred Lepape (Dour) who was the responsible editor and secretary of the group's publications, Guy Badot (Charleroi),Hem Day (Brussels), Georges Simon (Quaregnon), Joseph De Smet (Ghent), Luis Broecke (Antwerp) and Jean-Baptiste Schaut (Liège) were also members of the group.
The association brought together anarchists of all tendencies and sets itself the objective of providing information intended for a large public. It publishedpacifist andanti-militarist posters and leaflets, recurring themes among libertarians of this generation. The group was quickly undermined by divisions betweenindividualists, including Hem Day and Joseph de Smet, and thelibertarian communist fringe. After 1954 and a few rescue attempts, the group disappeared.
The Belgian section ofInternational Antifascist Solidarity (SIA) was founded on 18 May 1946 in the form of an association. It brought togetheranti-fascists andanti-Stalinists around the founders: Joseph De Smet and especially Jean De Boë. The association organized the defense of asylum seekers who had fled their country andauthoritarian regimes. It was a meeting place for immigrants, including the manyanarcho-syndicalists from theNational Confederation of Labor (CNT) in exile.[73]
In addition to its activities and galas, the association published brochures and leaflets during important events such as in 1960. For example, at the wedding of Baudouin, the young Belgian king, with Fabiola, from the Spanish nobility, the association denounced the living conditions under theFranco dictatorship and the passive collaboration of theroyal family andclerical circles.[73]
In 1958, young people, including Stéphane Huvenne,[74] joined the association and offered to organize more spectacular or even violent actions, which caused tensions between the new and the old generation mainly made up of non-violent activists. The young Spanish anti-fascists decided to leave SIA and to join theLibertarian Youth (FIJL), then in exile on Belgian territory since its ban in France on 9 August 1963.[73]
Without being specifically anarchist, the Belgian section of theWar Resisters' International (IRG) brought together many libertarians. Pacifist and antimilitarist, the IRG was the only association which did not base its rejection of war on foundations of a religious nature. It advocated an integral nonviolent pacifism: "War is a crime against Humanity. For this reason, we are determined not to help any kind of war and to fight for the abolition of all its causes”. The IRG provides concrete support to people who resist militarism and conscription (rebels, conscientious objectors, etc.) and, on a more philosophical level, advocates for "a world without war and a new social order, where all cooperate for the common good”.[75]
Two personalities of the libertarian movement took responsibilities at the international level:Hem Day andJean Van Lierde. The group published the newsletterNon-violence et Société. The action that most mobilized the pacifists of the IRG was the struggle for the recognition of the status ofconscientious objector and, in return, the creation of a civilian service. Some libertarians wonder about the value of this status, official recognition by the powers in place, and, even more, about the legitimacy of a civil service, which constituted participation in the workings of the state.[75][76]
The leftist movement of the years afterMay 68 was marked by the influence of anarchism, in particular byspontaneism,horizontality,direct democracy anddirect action.[85] InLiège, in the wake of the events of May 68 and the student movementBoule de neige, the anarchist monthly "Le Libertaire" was published, in whichNoël Godin,Edgard Morin, JP Delriviere, Mihaili Djosson and Yves Thelen participated.[86] The latter, in issue 7 February 1969, wrote the "Manifesto of the Libertarian" which specified the line of the monthly under the title "What is anarchism".
“Socialisme et Liberté" was created in 1966 byFrançois Destryker, but it differed from the rest of the libertarian milieu in Brussels. At the time, a few comrades disseminated libertarian ideas in isolation. "L'Ordre Libre", an organ of theCercle La Boétie, had been distributed byJean De Smet since 1960. In November 1965, issue 2 of this review appeared, which tells us about the liquidation of the Institute of Possibilities. There was also a Libertarian Center, in premises rented by the Brussels CNT, near theGrand-Place in Brussels.
The CNT brought together other comrades. For his part, Hem Day ran the review "Pensée et Action" and kept alive the libertarian tradition within thepacifist movement andFreemasonry. The anarchist movement in the 1960s was therefore limited to a few individuals whose visions for the future were limited to rehashing the past. "Socialisme et Liberté" also made contact with CRIFA:Commission des relations de l’ Internationale des Federations anarchistes, in France.
“Socialisme et Liberté” defended the following positions:
May 68 brought with it the anarchist discovery ofcouncil communism. The activists ofSocialisme et Liberté were active during the Free Assemblies organized at ULB. In 1969, "Socialisme et Liberté" took part in the organization of the international meeting of ICO (Information Correspondence Ouvrière) in Brussels. This meeting takes place at the Auberge de la Paix, bringing together around a hundred participants.Daniel Cohn-Bendit was present, as well as other participants of May 68. The group "Socialism and Freedom" was influenced by "Noir & Rouge", which proclaimed itselfanarchist-communist and many texts, in the review, alluded to contributions ofdialectical materialism. "Noir & Rouge" approached anarchism critically and dismantled Russian mystification. The ICO criticized the unions as a cog in the state apparatus and thus answered a fundamental question about the nature of the USSR. Noir & Rouge had 46 issues, going from simple mimeographed sheets to a printed pamphlet format. It had a relative influence during the events of May 1968, Daniel Cohn-Bendit frequented this group. From this moment, "Socialisme et Liberté" argued the question of the nature of unions, that of anarcho-syndicalism. Within "Socialisme et Liberté" an important political deepening was being developed, without however arriving at an autonomous theorization.
Alliance 89 was founded on 7 January 1969, its main objective was to inform and collect documentation on the anti-authoritarian movement in Belgium. With this in mind, it created a documentation center as well as a library which was in its premises at the Maison de la Paix inIxelles.
Its work was not limited to maintaining a library, the Alliance also published brochures by well-known anarchist authors as well as its own newsletter. The Alliance library attempted to bring together libertarian works. It was formed in the wake of Socialisme et Liberté. It was being developed in a room at the Maison de la Paix, in Ixelles. It was associated with CIRA in Lausanne. With the Alliance, a crossroads was created for meetings. This was the reflexive axis from which various groups claiming to be part of the libertarian movement formed, developed, and disappeared. But the Alliance continued to refer toDaniel Guérin. The name of the association referred to the name of the group created byMikhail Bakunin within theFirst International. The association's goal was "to work on the cultural level for the free development of the human person". Concretely, the group's mission was to provide the most precise and complete documentation possible to activists, supporters, students or researchers wishing to learn about the anarchist movement, its press, its literature and its actions. To do this, it set up a library containing a large number of books and publications on this subject. Its action also included the publication of publications, periodical or not, the organization of conferences, debates, meetings and seminars. Finally, the association supported free education centers or community houses.
A Hem Day Fund committee was also created to manage the documents offered by the anarchist. It was made up of Jean Cordier, Jean Van Lierde, Jean Thys and François Destryker. Indeed, before his death, the anarchist had expressed the wish that his collections be entrusted to theRoyal Library. The committee responsible for this fund within the Alliance took a whole series of steps to ensure that these were integrated as quickly as possible into the Albertine's collections. The committee also suggested that officials of the Royal Library provide them with the help of a libertarian objector to speed up the classification of this collection.
Alternative Libertaire was a monthly newspaper published in Belgium from 1975 to 2005.[87] For the duration of its publication (30 years and 282 issues), its openness to debates and its posters contributed to broadening the audience of libertarian ideas inFrench-speaking Belgium.[88]
The richness and notoriety ofAlternative Libertaire was due to the many links that the newspaper forged over time.Alternative Libertaire was a newspaper written by its readers. A dissident newspaper for different readers.[89] It was a newspaper that wanted to be open to debate. Its goal was not to address convinced activists but to reach out to the periphery of the movement, that is to say the supporters who hesitate to get involved or who by their ideas are interested in libertarian or anti-authoritarian practices.
The visibility of the newspaper was such that even today, it is not uncommon to see copies of its very popular posters[90] or placards[91] in bars, associations, libraries or even schools. The openness of the newspaper led the libertarian movement to leave its groupuscular tendencies and played a big role in the propagation of libertarian ideas.[92][93]
The Union Communiste Libertaire Bruxelles is a local Brussels group that is part of the French-speaking anarcho-communist federationUnion communiste libertaire.
In March 2013, Brussels anarcho-communist activists in contact with the French organisationAlternative libertaire founded a local group Alternative Libertaire Bruxelles.[94]
In March 2018, the Brussels collective adopted the operating principles of anarchist “specifism” (Especifismo). The aim is to strengthen the structure of the organisation and to facilitate the insertion of anarchist activists within social movements.
The organisation is structured in thematic fronts of struggle (trade union, feminist, antifascist, queer, social ecology) which aim to coordinate and implement the political line decided by the collective.[95]
Following the merger of Alternative Libertaire and the Coordination des Groupes Anarchistes in 2019, a new anarcho-communist organisation is founded L'Union Communiste Libertaire. The local Brussels group then takes the name of Union Communiste Libertaire Bruxelles.
