Updating Anarchism: The Transnational Debate on Anarchist Ideology and Tactics in the Aftermath of the First World War

This article focuses on a debate concerning the need to revise certain aspects of anarchist ideology and tactics in the light of perceived deficiencies in anarchist revolutionary praxis, which the failure of different national movements to achieve tangible advances during the post-First World War revolutionary wave of 1918‐1923 had made evident. It charts how the debate began in the Italian Press following Mussolini’s rise to power in October 1922, and then became transnational after the intervention of the Italian anarchist, Errico Malatesta, attracted the interest of anarchists in other countries in Europe and the Americas. Malatesta developed a contemporary vision of an anarchist revolutionary tactics which had implications for other aspects of policy. As well as analysing the main points of the debate, the article also examines the transnational links which enabled the debate to cross national boundaries resulting in anarchists in Italy, France, Switzerland, the United States, Cuba, Uruguay and Argentina becoming involved. Their arguments reflected a feeling expressed internationally that certain tactics and even basic ideas may have needed updating. These arguments also reflected, however, national differences on the approach to many of the issues.