The Iberian Anarchist Federation (, FAI) is a Spanish

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

organization. Due to its close relation with the

Confederación Nacional del Trabajo The (CNT; ) is a Spanish anarcho-syndicalist national trade union center, trade union confederation. Founded in 1910 in Barcelona from groups brought together by the trade union ''Solidaridad Obrera (historical union), Solidaridad Obrera'', ...

(CNT)

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

union, it is often abbreviated as CNT-FAI. The FAI publishes the periodical '' Tierra y Libertad''. The '' Iberian'' part of its name alludes to the purpose of unifying Spanish and Portuguese anarchists in a Pan-Iberian organization. The FAI meetings were initially attended by members of the Portuguese anarchist organizations União Anarquista Portuguesa and Confederação Geral do Trabalho, including the

Zaragoza Zaragoza (), traditionally known in English as Saragossa ( ), is the capital city of the province of Zaragoza and of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the ...

Congress of the CNT in 1936. However, it later ceased to have Portuguese participation and become an entirely Spanish organization. It is still in operation today and aligns itself with the International of Anarchist Federations (IAF-IFA).

History

It was founded in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in 1927 (after a preliminary meeting the previous year in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France), to campaign for keeping the CNT on an

path by challenging the bureaucracy of the CNT—which it viewed as having grown to become a mediating link between labor and capital, rather than a representative of the

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

. This issue was becoming especially tense, as

Miguel Primo de Rivera Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquis of Estella, Grandee, GE (8 January 1870 – 16 March 1930), was a Spanish dictator and military officer who ruled as prime minister of Spain from 1923 to 1930 during the last years of the Resto ...

's dictatorial regime took over in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and engineered a crackdown on labour movements. The disproportional hegemony which the FAI gained over CNT politics in the early 1930s led to confrontation with the less radical

revolutionary syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...

members. From 1931, in the first years of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of democratic government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931 after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII. ...

, possibilist union officials ( Treintism, the pro-Republican 'Treinta' and their followers) were systematically forced out of office or expelled, leading to the creation of anti-FAI opposition unions within the CNT in March 1933. The most moderate trade-unionists, under Ángel Pestaña, were ultimately expelled, forming the Syndicalist Party in April 1934, and leaving the CNT leadership under firm FAI control by the time of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. Members of the FAI were at the forefront of the fight against

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces i ...

's forces during the Civil War, mainly in the Eastern Army (''Ejército del Este''). Since Franco's death, and Spain's transition to representative democracy, the FAI has continued to function. Though the organization shares members with the CNT, the FAI's membership is secret.Roca Martínez, p.116

References

Sources

* Jason Garner, Goals and Means: Anarchism, Syndicalism and Internationalism in the Origins of the Federación Anarquista Ibérica, AK Press, 2016, 362pp, * Stuart Christie, ''We, the anarchists! A study of the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI) 1927-1937'', ChristieBooks (distributed by Central Books), 128pp, *

Film

*'' Living Utopia'' (''Vivir la Utopia'') by Juan Gamero,

Arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

- TVE, Catalunya 1997. Short description and link to view the fil

External links

Official website

The Spanish Revolution, 1936-39
Anarchy Now! resource page
FAI articles on libcom.org

''Tierra y Libertad''

''Federacion Anarquista''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federacion Anarquista Iberica Organizations established in 1927 Anarchist organisations in Spain Anti-fascist organisations in Spain Libertarian socialist organizations Politics of Portugal Politics of Spain Organisations of the Spanish Civil War Syndicalism Syndicalist trade unions Far-left politics in Spain Anarchist Federations Spanish Revolution of 1936 Confederación Nacional del Trabajo International of Anarchist Federations

History

See also

References

Sources

Film

External links