Anarchist Collectives

The Anarchist Collectives reveals a very different understanding of the nature of radical social change and the means of achieving it.



Sam Dolgoff, editor of the best anthology of Bakunin's writings, has now produced an excellent documentary history of the Anarchist collective in Spain. Although there is a vast literature on the Spanish Civil War, this is the first book in English that is devoted to the experiments in workers' self-management, both urban and rural, which constituted one of the most remarkable social revolutions in modern history. - Paul Avrich



The eyewitness reports and commentary presented in this highly important study reveal a different understanding of the nature of socialism and the means for achieving it. - Noam Chomsky



Table of Contents



Introduction, by Murray Bookchin



Part One: Background



1. The Spanish Revolution

The Two Revolutions

The Trend Towards Workers' Self-Management



2. The Libertarian Tradition

The Rural Collectivist Tradition

The Anarchist Influence

The Political and Economic Organization of Society



3. Historical Notes

The Prologue to Revolution

The Counter-Revolution and the Destruction of the Collectives



4. The Limitations of the Revolution



Part Two: The Social Revolution



5. The Economics of Revolution



Economic Structure and Coordination

A Note on the Difficult Problems of Reconstruction

Money and Exchange



6. Workers' Self-Management in Industry



7. Urban Collectivization

Collectivization in Catalonia

The Collectivization of the Metal and Munitions Industry

The Collectivization of the Optical Industry

The Socialization of Health Services

Industrial Collectivization in Alcoy

Control of Industries in the North



8. The Revolution of the Land



9. The Coordination of Collectives

The Peasant Federation of Levant

The Aragon Federation of Collectives: The First Congress



10. The Rural Collectives

A Journey Through Aragon

The Collectivization in Graus

Libertarian Communism in Alcora

The Collective in Binefar

Miralcampo and Azuqueca

Collectivization in Carcagente

Collectivization in Magdalena de Pulpis

The Collective in Mas de Las Matas



11. An Evaluation of the Anarchist Collectives

The Characteristics of the Libertarian Collectives



Conclusion

Bibliography

Index

Appendix

Photographs and Posters