Platformism is a form of anarchist organization
that seeks unity upon its participants, having
as a defining characteristic the idea that
each platformist organization should include
only members that are fully aligned with the
group ideas, rejecting people with any level
of conflicting ideas.
It stresses the need for tightly organized
anarchist organizations that are able to influence
working class and peasant movements.
"Platformist" groups reject the model of Leninist
vanguardism, they instead aim to "make anarchist
ideas the leading ideas within the class struggle".
According to platformists, the four main principles
by which an anarchist organisation should
operate, are ideological unity, tactical unity,
collective responsibility and federalism.
== Overview ==
In general, platformist groups aim to win
the widest possible influence for anarchist
ideas and methods in the working class and
peasantry—like especifismo groups, platformists
orient towards the working class, rather than
to the far left.
This usually entails a willingness to work
in single-issue campaigns, trade unionism
and community groups; and to fight for immediate
reforms while linking this to a project of
building popular consciousness and organisation.
They therefore reject approaches that they
believe will prevent this, such as insurrectionary
anarchism, as well as "views that dismiss
activity in the unions" or that dismiss anti-imperialist
movements.The name "platformist" derives from
the 1926 Organisational Platform of the General
Union of Anarchists (Draft).
This was published by the Group of Russian
Anarchists Abroad, in their journal Dielo
Truda ("Workers' Cause" in Russian).
The group, which consisted of exiled Russian
anarchist veterans of the 1917 October Revolution
(notably Nestor Makhno who played a leading
role in the anarchist revolution in Ukraine
of 1918–1921), based the Platform on their
experiences of the revolution and the eventual
victory of the Bolsheviks over the anarchists
and other groups.
The Platform attempted to address and explain
the anarchist movement's failures during the
Russian Revolution outside Ukraine.
The document drew praise and criticism from
anarchists worldwide and sparked a major debate
within the anarchist movement.Today platformism
is an important current in international anarchism.
Around thirty platformist and especifista
organisations are linked together in the Anarkismo.net
project, including groups from Africa, Latin
America, North America and Europe.
At least in terms of the number of affiliated
organisations (if not in actual membership
in some countries), the Anarkismo network
is larger than other anarchist international
bodies, like the synthesist International
of Anarchist Federations and the anarcho-syndicalist
International Workers' Association.
However, it is not a formal "international"
and has no intention of competing with these
other formations.
== Organisational ideas ==
The Platform describes four key organisational
features which distinguish platformism:
Tactical unity — "A common tactical line
in the movement is of decisive importance
for the existence of the organisation and
the whole movement: it avoids the disastrous
effect of several tactics opposing each other;
it concentrates the forces of the movement;
and gives them a common direction leading
to a fixed objective".
Theoretical unity — "Theory represents the
force which directs the activity of persons
and organisations along a defined path towards
a determined goal.
Naturally it should be common to all the persons
and organisations adhering to the General
Union.
All activity by the General Union, both overall
and in its details, should be in perfect concord
with the theoretical principles professed
by the union".
Collective Responsibility — "The practice
of acting on one's personal responsibility
should be decisively condemned and rejected
in the ranks of the anarchist movement.
The areas of revolutionary life, social and
political, are above all profoundly collective
by nature.
Social revolutionary activity in these areas
cannot be based on the personal responsibility
of individual militants".
Federalism — "Against centralism, anarchism
has always professed and defended the principle
of federalism, which reconciles the independence
and initiative of individuals and the organisation
with service to the common cause".The Platform
argues that "[w]e have vital need of an organisation
which, having attracted most of the participants
in the anarchist movement, would establish
a common tactical and political line for anarchism
and thereby serve as a guide for the whole
movement".
In short, unity meant unity of ideas and actions
as opposed to unity on the basis of the anarchist
label.
== Publication history ==
The Organisational Platform of the General
Union of Anarchists (Draft) was written in
1926 by the Group of Russian Anarchists Abroad,
a group of exiled Russian and Ukrainian anarchists
in France who published the Dielo Truda journal.
The pamphlet is an analysis of basic anarchist
beliefs, a vision of an anarchist society
and recommendations as to how an anarchist
organisation should be structured.
== Antecedents of the Platform ==
The authors of the Platform insisted that
its basic ideas were not new, but had a long
anarchist pedigree.
Platformism is not therefore a revision away
from classical anarchism, or a new approach,
but a "restatement" of existing positions.They
cited Peter Kropotkin arguing that "the formation
of an anarchist organisation in Russia, far
from being prejudicial to the common revolutionary
task, on the contrary it is desirable and
useful to the very greatest degree" and argued
that Mikhail Bakunin's "aspirations concerning
organisations, as well as his activity" in
the First International, "give us every right
to view him as an active partisan of just
such an organisation".
Indeed, "practically all active anarchist
militants fought against all dispersed activity,
and desired an anarchist movement welded by
unity of ends and means".
== Problems caused by poor translations ==
The Platform used to be known in English as
the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian
Communists, a result of its having been translated
from the French edition popularized in the
early 1970s.
In his book Facing the Enemy: A history of
Anarchist Organization from Proudhon to May
1968 (p. 131), Alexandre Skirda attributes
much of the controversy about the Platform
to the original 1926 French translation made
by its opponent Voline.
Later translations to French have corrected
some of the mistranslations and the latest
English translation, made directly from the
Russian original, reflects this.
== Other terms ==
Some platformist organisations today are unhappy
with the designation, often preferring to
use descriptions such as "anarchist communist",
"social anarchist", "libertarian communist/socialist"
or even especifist.
Most agree that the 1926 Platform was sorely
lacking in certain areas and point out that
it was a draft document, never intended to
be adopted in its original form.
The Italian Federation of Anarchist Communists
(FdCA), for example, do not insist on the
principle of "tactical unity", which according
to them is impossible to achieve over a large
area, preferring instead "tactical homogeneity".
== The Platform today ==
Today there are organisations inspired by
the Platform in many countries, including:
The Workers Solidarity Movement in Ireland
Black Rose Anarchist Federation/Federación
Anarquista Rosa Negra (BRRN)' in the United
States
Common Cause in Ontario, Canada
The Federación Comunista Libertaria (FCL)
and Organización Comunista Libertaria (OCL)
in Chile
The Federación Anarco-Comunista de Argentina
(FACA) and Línea Anarco-Comunista (LAC) in
Argentina
The Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici (FdCA)
in Italy
The Coordenação Anarquista Brasileira (CAB)
in Brazil
Unión Socialista Libertaria in Peru
The Organisation Communiste Libertaire and
Alternative Libertaire in France
The Alianza de los Comunistas Libertarios
(ACL) in Mexico
The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group (MACG)
and Sydney Anarchist Communist Trajectory
(SACT) in Australia
Motmakt in Norway
Libertære Socialister in Denmark
The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (ZACF)
in South Africa
The Revolutionary Confederation of Anarcho-syndicalists
by the name of.
N.I.
Makhno (RKAS), which is an international anarcho-syndicalist,
platformist confederation with sections and
individual members in Ukraine, Russia, Georgia,
Germany, Latvia, Bulgaria and IsraelOrganisations
inspired by the Platform were also among the
founders of the now-defunct International
Libertarian Solidarity network and its successor,
the Anarkismo network, which is run collaboratively
by roughly 30 platformist and especifista
organisations around the world.
== Criticisms ==
The Platform attracted strong criticism from
some sectors on the anarchist movement of
the time, including some of the most influential
anarchists such as Voline, Errico Malatesta,
Luigi Fabbri, Camillo Berneri, Max Nettlau,
and Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman and Gregori
Maximoff.
== The "synthesist" alternative ==
As an alternative to platformism Voline and
Sébastien Faure proposed synthesist anarchist
federations, which they envisioned to form
under the principles of anarchism without
adjectives.In place of the Platform's stress
on tight political and organisational unity,
the "synthesist" approach argued for a far
looser organization that would maximise numbers
i.e. a big tent approach.
Platformists view such organisations as weak
despite their numbers as the lack of common
views means an inability to undertake common
actions—defeating the purpose of a common
organisation.
== Malatesta's shift to "agreement" with collective
responsibility ==
While such criticisms indicated a direct rejection
of the Platform's proposals, others seem to
have arisen from misunderstandings.
Notably, Malatesta initially believed that
the Platform was "typically authoritarian"
and "far from helping to bring about the victory
of anarchist communism, to which they aspire,
could only falsify the anarchist spirit and
lead to consequences that go against their
intentions".
However, after further correspondence with
Makhno—and after seeing a platformist group
in formation—Malatesta concluded that he
was actually in agreement with the positions
of the Platform, but had been confused by
the language they had used: But all this is
perhaps only a question of words.
In my reply to Makhno I already said: "It
may be that, by the term collective responsibility,
you mean the agreement and solidarity that
must exist among the members of an association.
And if that is so, your expression would,
in my opinion, amount to an improper use of
language, and therefore, being only a question
of words, we would be closer to understanding
each other."
And now, reading what the comrades of the
18e say, I find myself more or less in agreement
with their way of conceiving the anarchist
organisation (being very far from the authoritarian
spirit which the "Platform" seemed to reveal)
and I confirm my belief that behind the linguistic
differences really lie identical positions.
== See also ==
Especifismo
Synthesis anarchism, Voline's and Sébastien
Faure´s response to platformism
