Graham R (Ed.) - Anarchism - A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas Volume One - From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)

Chapter 6
- The CotifCict In The First Internationa{
25. Bakunin: The Organization of the International (1871)
By 1871, when Bakunin wrote this article, it had become clear that within the International
there existedfundamental disagreements over its proper role and structure. Marx and hisfollowers
emphasized the importance of creating socialist political parties with a central executive
authority as part of their strategy fo r social change. The anti-authoritarian, federalist
and anarchist sections of the International advocated social revolution through the direct action
of the trade union sections. In this selection, Bakunin emphasizes that the International,
as an international association of workers, must necessarily take an anti-statist position, and
that its internal organization must be consistent with its ideals, lest it replicate the authoritarian
institutions it is seeking to overthrow. Th e first part of this translation is taken from
Sam Dolgoffs Bakunin on Anarchism; the concluding portion is taken from Robert M. Cutler's
collection, The Basic Bakunin: Writings 1869-1871 (New Yo rk: Prometheus, 1992),
and is reprinted with his kind permission.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL, having fo r its objective not the creation
of new despotisms but the uprooting of all domination, will take on an essentially
different character from the organization of the State. Just as the State is
authoritarian, artificial, violent, foreign, and hostile to the natural development of
the popular instincts, so must the organization ofthe International conform in all respects
to these instincts and these interests. But what is the organization of the
masses It is an organization based on the various fu nctions of daily life and of the
different kinds oflabour. lt is the organization by professions and trades. Once all the
different industries are represented in the International, including the cultivation of
the land, its organization, the organization ofthe mass ofthe people, will have been
achieved.
The organization of the trade sections and their representation in the Chambers
of Labour creates a great academy in which all the workers can and must study