Squadism (or sometimes "Squaddism") was the practice of physical,

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

. The term, often used pejoratively by liberal anti-fascists eschewing violence, originated in the

Anti-Nazi League The Anti-Nazi League (ANL) was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups i ...

, an anti-fascist campaigning organisation dominated by the heterodox Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party (SWP). The SWP formed "squads", fighting units, in 1977, initially to defend and steward meetings against violent attacks from the fascist National Front. However, other anti-fascist squads emerged separately from the SWP, such as the

Sari Squad The Sari Squad refers to a group of women of largely South Asian descent who fought against racist attacks and anti-immigration policies in London, United Kingdom in the early 1980s. History The name "sari" refers to the well-known South Asian fema ...

. The name associated eventually with all of the fighting groups of that era, i.e., "Squads" originated with the already established Manchester-based anti fascist fighting group, drawn from many groups on the left and non-aligned anti fascists which first adopted the name "The Squad" for its, previously very ad hoc, fighting unit in 1977.Steve Tilzey and Dave Hann. ''No retreat'' Milo Books. 2003 The adoption of the name, "Squad", had only an accidental connection with the very similar " Peoples Squads" in Italy in the early 1920s. Squads were active in the North West of England and then Glasgow, the Midlands, Hatfield, and London in this period.Dave Hann ''Physical Resistance'' Zero Books, 2012, p.265-317Sean Birchall ''Beating the Fascists'', Freedom Press, 2010 The core of the fighting units were SWP members, but also included many members of other left groups and non-aligned anti fascists. The squads were formed to directly combat the rising tide of fascist "street" violence being experienced by the Left, and black communities, during this period, from the National Front in particular. The regionally-based direct action squads operated within, but also considerably beyond, the ANL.A short history of the Anti-Nazi League
Squad members also used violence and intimidation to break up meetings, marches and other gatherings of

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

groups such as the National Front and the

British Movement The British Movement (BM), later called the British National Socialist Movement (BNSM), is a British neo-Nazi organisation founded by Colin Jordan in 1968. It grew out of the National Socialist Movement (NSM), which was founded in 1962. Frequentl ...

The idea behind the tactic was to ensure the safety of ANL and general left meetings through efficient stewarding, and also to generally intimidate groups seen as

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

, without generating media publicity for the far right. Squadism became increasingly frowned upon by the ANL/SWP leadership when the National Front's expansion fell away in the late 1970s. By 1979/80, the ANL leadership had decided that the National Front was a broken force, and so militant campaigning anti-fascism was no longer a priority.Dave Renton ''When We Touched the Sky'' Militant anti-fascists both within and without the SWP strongly disagreed with what they saw as a mistaken and opportunistic abandonment of militant activity. The SWP leadership had also for some time been concerned that in areas of London and Manchester the semi-clandestine combat groups had become a law unto themselves.Dave Hann ''Physical Resistance'' Zero Books, 2012, p.277 A campaign led by the Central Committee within the SWP against "squadists" was organised in late 1981, on the back of an "operation" by the Manchester Squad which resulted in five of its members (and four non-Squad SWP students) receiving prison sentences. Many of the individual SWP members who had defended the Left from fascist attack across the UK for many years were expelled during late 1981 to early 1982. When the ANL was disbanded in the late 1970s, many ex-squad members went on to form

Anti-Fascist Action Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was a militant anti-fascist organisation, founded in the UK in 1985 by a wide range of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations. It was active in fighting far-right organisations, particularly the National Front an ...

and

Red Action Red Action was a British leftist political group formed in 1981. It became known for violently confronting groups such as the British National Party on the streets, and for being the main organisational force behind Anti-Fascist Action. In 199 ...

(AFA), whose "Stewarding Group" was active (along the same lines as the earlier "Squads") from the mid-1980s until the early 1990s. As a term of abuse, "squadism" is taken to mean vanguardist, secretive, adventurist, direct action against fascist organisations; isolated from mass anti fascist activities. This negative, pejorative labelling of any combat group based physical force action against fascism has since the 1980s been the political orthodoxy on most of the British Left.Mark Hayes and Paul Aylward
Anti-Fascist Action: Radical resistance or rent-a-mob?
soundings issue 14 Spring 2000 Anarchist groups and other anti fascists in particular however have continued the direct physical action, "squadist" approach to fascist street mobilisations to the present day, via a variety of nationally networked groupings over the years, such as "No Platform" and "Antifa" Similar currents have existed elsewhere, with analogous terminology. In Italy, for example, the

Arditi del Popolo The ''Arditi del Popolo'' (''The People's Daring Ones'') was an Italian militant anti-fascist group founded at the end of June 1921 to resist the rise of Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party and the violence of the Blackshirts (''squadris ...

(people's squads) pursued a similar policy in the 1920s and were suppressed by the

Communist Party of Italy The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current ...

.The Arditi del Popolo in Italy the first anti-fascist organization (1921-22)
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Footnotes

Further reading