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Platformism is ananarchist organizational theory that aims to create a tightly coordinated anarchist federation. Its main features include a commontactical line,federalism, a unified politicalpolicy and a commitment tocollective responsibility.
First developed byPeter Arshinov in response to the perceived disorganization of theRussian anarchist movement, platformism proposes that a "general union of anarchists" be established to agitate, educate and organize theworking classes. It advocatesworking within existingmass organizations, such astrade unions, in order to transform them into vehicles for asocial revolution. In the course of revolution, platformists emphasize the creation ofworkers' councils, such as thefree soviets, to serve as institutions ofself-management in astateless society.
The roots of platformism go back as far as the organizational principles ofMikhail Bakunin,[1] particularly in his theory of "organisational dualism". Bakunin proposed that anarchists form their own revolutionary organisations that would encourage and agitate workers to rebel against the state and capitalism, and once asocial revolution had replaced the state with a federation ofvoluntary associations, it would then further agitate against any attempted reconstitution of the state by political parties.[2]
The Platform's most direct predecessor was theDraft Declaration of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, adopted in 1919 by theMilitary Revolutionary Council of theMakhnovshchina. TheDraft Declaration called for a "Third Revolution" against the Bolshevik government, in order to establish a regime offree soviets.[3] It centered theRevolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine as the nucleus of this revolution, where the organization's entire membership would carry out the decision-making process.[4] In 1921, the Makhnovists published anotherDeclaration that proclaimed adictatorship of the proletariat in the form of an anarchist-led trade union system, for whichNestor Makhno himself was accused ofBonapartism.[5]
During this period, theNabat Confederation of Anarchist Organizations, which had originally been established as a loose-knit organization, developed into a tightly organized structure with a unified policy and an executive committee, in what a member would later describe as a precursor to platformism.[6]
After their flight into exile,Russian andUkrainian anarchists began to call for the reorganization of the anarchist movement, considering that chronic disorganization had led to their defeat during theRevolution.[7] Among the anarcho-communists,Peter Arshinov was the most vocal advocate of reorganization.[8]
On 20 June 1926, theOrganizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft) was published inDelo Truda, with an introduction penned by Arshinov.[9] Considering the goal of anarchism to be asocial revolution that would create astateless andclassless society, thePlatform proposed the establishment of a General Union of Anarchists to educate theworking class and raiseclass consciousness.[10] This General Union was to be organised according to the principles oftheoretical unity,tactical unity andcollective responsibility,[11] and would be governed by anexecutive committee that coordinated collective action and political policy.[12]
ThePlatform was first presented at a meeting of theDelo Truda group, with attendees also includingBulgarian,Chinese,French andItalian anarchists. At the meeting, Arshinov introduced the document as a way forward for the international anarchist movement to "marshal its forces".[13] Although supported byNestor Makhno, Arshinov'sPlatform was opposed by most prominent anarchists at the time.[14]French anarchists in attendance, led bySebastien Faure, criticised it as Russocentric, considering it unapplicable to the material conditions in France.[15] In the years that followed, Faure'sAnarchist Synthesis, which rejected platformism in favor of a more loose-knit organization, contributed to dividing the anarchist movement into "synthesists" and "platformists".[16]
The Platform's harshest critics includedVolin,Senya Fleshin andMollie Steimer,[17] who denounced thePlatform as an attempt to create an anarchistpolitical party,[18] which they feared would inevitably result in the formation of apolice state.[17] Arshinov responded by claiming hisPlatform actually abided by anarchist principles, as it consciously avoidedcoercion and preserveddecentralization.[19] The debate also took a more personal turn as Makhno and Arshinov attacked Volin, which attracted denunciations from other critics of thePlatform,[20] includingAlexander Berkman, who denounced Makhno as amilitarist and Arshinov as aBolshevik.[19]
After years of defending the ideas of Platformism, in the early 1930s, Arshinov joined theCommunist Party and defected to theSoviet Union,[21] where he would disappear during theGreat Purge.[22] Nestor Makhno himself died in 1934, leaving thePlatform without any prominent defenders.[23] Nevertheless, both the opponents and remaining supporters of thePlatform managed to reconcile at Makhno's funeral.[24] Volin himself took up the publication of Makhno's memoirs, which were published in the years after his death.[25]
During theSpanish Revolution of 1936, a number of revolutionary anarchist hard-liners formed theFriends of Durruti Group in opposition to the state'smilitarisation of theconfederal militias.[26] After the Revolution wassuppressed, the group publishedTowards a Fresh Revolution, which called for a revolutionary council to reform the militias and bring the economy back under the control of theConfederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT), which would effectively have dissolved thegovernment of Spain.[27] In the wake of the1944 Bulgarian coup d'état, the Federation of Anarchist Communists of Bulgaria (FAKB) issued its ownPlatform, which argued for a specifically anarcho-communist federation, coordinated by a central secretariat, which would participate in trade unions and prepare for a social revolution.[28]
In 1953, the French anarchistGeorges Fontenis published hisManifesto of Libertarian Communism, which attacked the prevailing synthesist orientation of the French anarchist movement, becoming the founding document for the Libertarian Communist Federation (FCL).[29] Drawing from aspects of thePlatform, Fontenis'Manifesto called for an anarchistrevolutionary vanguard to work within existing mass organizations in order to develop amass movement, with the eventual aim of dissolving itself into the movement and achieving a social revolution.[30] In the years that followed, the FCL united together with the North African Libertarian Movement (MLNA) to establish the Libertarian Communist International (ICL), but their suppression by the French state forced the organization's dissolution in 1957.[31] Platformism was revived in France during the events of theMay 1968 movement, when theRevolutionary Anarchist Organization (ORA) was founded, although it would remain the minority tendency within the wider anarchist movement.[32] The formation of the ORA accelerated the establishment of other anarchist federations throughout Europe, such as theAnarchist Federation (AF) in Britain and the Federation of Anarchist Communists (FdCA) in Italy, while the ORA itself would eventually be succeeded by theLibertarian Communist Union (UCL).[33]
Especifismo (English:Specifism) was first developed in 1972 by theUruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU), with the publication of its textHuerta Grande, which proposed the creation of a unified political policy directly applicable to the material conditions in Uruguay.[34] The collapse of the rulingright-wing dictatorships towards the end of theCold War resulted in the emergence of many otherespecifista groups throughout Latin America, in a process spearheaded by the FAU.[35] In 2003, theAnarkismo.net website was established by an international network of anarcho-communist organizations, including both Latin Americanespecifistas and European platformists, which publishes news and analysis in a variety of different languages.[36]
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