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

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ganization (the Union) that orients the mass organizations (workers and peasants) in
their political direction and is supported as needed by a centralized army is nothing
more than a new political power ...
The authors of the Platfo rm forget they are following an old road in seeking to
create an organization based on a single ideological and tactical conception. They
are creating an organization that will have more or less hostile relations with other
organizations that do not have exactly the same conceptions. They do not understand
that this old road will lead inevitably to the same old results: the existence not
of a single organization but of many organizations. They will not be in a cooperative,
harmonious relationship, but rather in conflict with each other even though they are
all anarchist: each organization will claim the sole, the profound truth. These organizations
will be concerned with polemics against each other rather than developing
propaganda and activities to help the anarchist movement in general ...
The role and aim of an organization are fundamental. There cannot be a serious
organization without a clear definition of this question. The aims of an organization
are determined in a large part by its fo rm. The authors of the Platfo rm attribute the
role ofleading the masses, the unions and all other organizations, as well as all activities
and developments to the anarchist organization ... We reject any idea that the anarchists
should lead the masses. We hope that their role will only be that of
ideological collaboration, as participants and helpers fu lfilling our social role in a
modest manner. We have pointed out the nature of our work: the written and spoken
word, revolutionary propaganda, cultural work, concrete living example, etc.
Despite being kept under house arrest by the Fascist regime in Italy, Malatesta managed to
obtain a copy of the Platfo rm and to publish the fo llowing response in the October 1927 issue
of the Italian anarchist paper, II Risveglio, in Geneva. It has most recently been reprinted in
Malatesta, The Anarchist Revolution: Polemical Articles 1924-1931 (London: Freedom
Press, 1995).
I BELIEVE IT IS NECESSARY ABOVE ALL and urgent fo r anarchists to come to terms
with one another and organize as much and as well as possible in order to be able to
influence the direction the mass of the people take in their struggle fo r change and
emancipation ...
But it is obvious that in order to achieve their ends, anarchist organizations
must, in their constitution and operation, remain in harmony with the principles of
anarchism; that is, they must know how to blend the free action of individuals with
the necessity and the joy of cooperation which serve to develop the awareness and