Anarchism and modernity in nineteenth-century Spain

ABSTRACT

This article analyses the relationship between anarchism and modernity, paying specific attention to the tensions and paradoxes that arose between the two. The central thesis of this piece is that within nineteenth-century Spanish anarchism, a modernity-anti-modernity tension operated, enforced by the modern imaginary while also trying to transcend and end it. The original responses of anarchism to the pre-established schemes are observed from the study of anarchist conceptions of the human being, society, temporality, and nature. It is argued that paradox is a central element of the modern historical experience, since new currents were born out of its principles that strained and questioned the very philosophical bases of enlightened modernity. Thus, anarchism is interpreted as one of the “monsters” of modernity.

KEYWORDS:

• Anarchism
• modernity
• anti-modernity
• Spain

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the reviews and comments of their doctoral advisors Ana Aguado and Nerea Aresti. Furthermore, the author appreciates the help of Richard Cleminson, Jorge Ramos, Luis Toledo and Vicent Galiana. Also, the author is grateful to Julia Fernandez for her careful work on the translation of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. There are other philosophical and political thoughts which are born from modernity and try to transcend some aspects. With antimodernity I mean the non-modern conceptions I have found in nineteenth-century anarchist sources. Nevertheless, this is not a characteristic that uniquely defines anarchism. For example, in the scientific socialism of this context, there are also tensions with modern conceptions and new critical proposals in relation to them. However, due to the characteristics of this investigation, it will not be possible to go deeper into other cases. Although it should be taken into account that a differentiating element of anarchism are the responses it offered regarding the modernity-anti-modernity tension that will be studied in this article.

2. The Once de Noviembre (“November 11th”) group was the collective that convened the Second Socialist Contest (Segundo Certamen Socialista 1889), one of the most important anarchist acts of the 19th Century. The event took place to promote a working culture that served the working classes as a means of propaganda and for their emancipation. The quotes collected in this article are from the minutes of the Second Socialist Contest, in which all the award-winning texts were published.

3. FTRE: Workers’ Federation of the Spanish Region (1881–1888).

4. FRE-AIT: Spanish Regional Federation of the International Workers’ Association (1870–1881).

5. Thanks to this article, El Condenado received its first complaint, as it is possible to be observed in: 1872. “La primera denuncia.” El Condenado, 21 March. These repressive measures had important consequences for the printing press and for the subsequent distribution of the newspaper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, under Grant FPU18/01095.