Anarchism and feminism have always been closely linked. Many outstanding feminists have also been anarchists, including the pioneering Mary Wollstonecraft (author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman), the Communard Louise Michel, Voltairine de Cleyre and the tireless champion of women’s freedom, Emma Goldman (see her famous essays “The Traffic in Women”, “Woman Suffrage”, “The Tragedy of Woman’s Emancipation”, “Marriage and Love” and “Victims of Morality”, for example). Freedom, the world’s oldest anarchist newspaper, was founded by Charlotte Wilson in 1886. In addition, all the major anarchist thinkers (bar Proudhon) were supporters of women’s equality. The “Free Women” movement in Spain during the Spanish revolution is a classic example of women anarchists organising themselves to defend their basic freedoms and create a society based on women’s freedom and equality (see Free Women of Spain by Martha Ackelsberg for more details on this important organisation). Read more…
Links
- Anarcha-feminism and Gender Anarchy Resource page
- NEFAC’s Anarcha-Feminism page
- PMS Media
- MAMA Mothers’ Alliance for Militant Action
- La Rivolta
- Mujeres Creando
- Spunk Library, Anarcha Feminism index
- Radical Cheerleaders of the World Unite
- Feministicka Skupina
- Health and Body Resources on anarcha.org
- Gender and Prison Resources on anarcha.org
- Radical Queer Resources on anarcha.org
General Websites
- The Anarcha Project
A people’s history project covering interviews with anarchist women.< - AnarchaFeminism (Anarchist Feminism)
- Anarchafeminist Manifesto / Manifeste Anarchofeministe
- Left & Womens liberation
- MujeresLibres
Anarchist Feminist mailing list - Southern Girls Convention 2001
- Spunk Library: Anarcha-feminism section
Women’s Centers
- la karakola
A women-occupied social center in the center of Madrid
Readings
- Anarcha-feminism and Animal Liberation
- Anarchism: The Feminist Connection by Peggy Kornegger
- “Are you Stuck on “Manarchy”?” Poor Communication Can’t Smash Patriarchy
- Feminism: A Male Anarchist’s Perspective by Pendleton Vandiver
- Feminism and Anarchism: Towards a Politics of Engagement by Krysti Guest
- The Fight for Women’s Freedom pamphlet (pdf)
- Lynne Farrow: Feminism As Anarchism
- Martha Ackelsberg: A Short Biography & Selected Works
- A Message To “Anarchist” Men, And Then Some by Molly Tov
- Mujeres Creando, An interview with Julieta Ojeda of Mujeres Creando (Women Creating By Sophie Styles
- No Authority But Oneself: The Anarchist Feminist Philosophy of Autonomy and Freedom by Sharon Presley
- Notes towards an (anarchist? feminist?) critique of (anarchism? feminism?) by caitlin hewitt-white
- Politicizing Gender: Moving toward revolutionary gender politics
- Quiet Rumours: An Anarcha-Feminist anthology Introduction
- RAW by Nicki Clarke
- The Revolt of Adam & Eve A Green Anarcha-Feminist Perspective by Witch Hazel
- Sekhmet #8 – Anarcha-feminist zine from New Zealand.
- Sex, Class and Women’s Oppression(Workers Solidarity) -download pdf pamphlet
- What It Is To Be A Girl In An Anarchist Boys’ Club
- What We Want. An Anarcha-feminist Perspective on Feminism by Jennifer Sauer
- Why Women are oppressed
- Women’s Radio Collectives, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Dealing with sexism in our movement
- Activist Scenes are No Safe Space for Women: On Abuse of Activist Women by Activist Men
- Sexual Abuse in Activist Communities by Tamara K. Nopper
- Listen Anarchist! Sexism in the Movement by Miriam and Ali (pdf)
- The Precarious Union of Anarchism and Feminism by Red Sonja
- Sexism in the Anarchist Movement by Angela Beallor
- Let Patriarchy Burn
- More on dealing with sexism in the movement at anarcha.org
- Strong Hearts and Poisoned Waters: The Exclusion of Women of Color and the Reproductive Rights Movement in the U.S. by Puck
- Sexist, Racist Sexual Politics Censors and Suppresses the Rape and Torture of Iraqi Women in Abu Ghraib Prison by Tiffany King
- Raising Children of Color in White Anarchist Circles by Victoria Law
- Activist Scenes are No Safe Space for Women: On Abuse of Activist Women by Activist Men by Tamera K. Nopper
- Frozen Inside (Questions on Consent) by Cindy
- The World’s Largest Workplace: Social Reproduction and Wages for Housework by PJ Lilley & Jeff Shantz
- Why We’re Not Getting Married by Martha Ackelsberg and Judith Plaskow
- Untying the Knots: Marriage Equality and the Struggle for Civil Rights by Jill Shenker
- Women’s Choices: Promoting the ideal abortion law- a blank sheet of paper
- A Radical Critique of the Liberal Pro-Choice Movement
- Anarcha-Feminism – Thinking about Anarchism
Lucy Parsons (1853-1942)
“Anarchism has but one infallible, unchangeable motto, ‘Freedom.’ Freedom to discover any truth, freedom to develop, to live naturally and fully.”
- Commentary on Lucy Parsons
- Lucy Parsons (1853-1942): The Life of an Anarchist Labor Organizer
- Lucy Parsons: Woman of Will
Dr. Marie Equi (1872-1952)
- Radical Politics, Radical Love: The Life of Dr. Marie Equi
- Lesbian anarchist and labor organizer
- Radical Politics, Radical Love: The Life of Dr. Marie Equi
- Gays in Labor Movement
Voltarine de Cleyre
Make no laws whatever concerning speech and speech will be free; so soon as you make a declaration on paper that speech shall be free, you will have a hundred lawyers proving that “freedom does not mean abuse, nor liberty license”; and they will define and define freedom out of existence. Let the guarantee of free speech be in every man’s determination to use it, and we shall have no need of paper declarations. On the other hand, so long as the people do not care to exercise their freedom, those who wish to tyrannize will do so; …
Voltairine de Cleyre — Anarchism and American Traditions
- Voltairine de Cleyre, the Anarchist Tradition and the Political Challenges
- Organizing for Radical Social Change: Voltairine de Cleyre and anarcha-feminism
- Poetry of Voltairine de Cleyre
- Anarchism and American Traditions by Voltairine De Cleyre
- Voltairine de Cleyre by Sharon Presley
- Voltairine de Cleyre — Anarchist without Adjectives by Sara Baas
- Direct Action by Voltairine De Cleyre
- Voltairine de Cleyre’s Biographical Information
Emma Goldman
Oscar Wilde defines a perfect personality as “one who develops under perfect conditions, who is not wounded, maimed, or in danger.” A perfect personality, then, is only possible in a state of society where man is free to choose the mode of work, the conditions of work, and the freedom to work. One to whom the making of a table, the building of a house, or the tilling of the soil, is what the painting is to the artist and the discovery to the scientist — the result of inspiration, of intense longing, and deep interest in work as a creative force.
Emma Goldman — “Anarchism: What It Really Stands For”
- Collected Works
- Anarchism and Other Essays
- The Failure of Christianity
- Living My Life
- My Disillusionment In Russia
- My Further Disillusionment In Russia
- On Frick’s Assassination
- On the shooting of Henry Clay Frick by Alexander Berkman
- The Philosophy of Atheism
- The Place of the Individual in Society
- Political Persecution in Spain
- A Sketch of Alexander Berkman
- The Social Significance of the Modern Drama
- The Unjust Treatment of Homosexuals
- Writing about Emma Goldman
- Emma Goldman in Exile review (1)
- Emma Goldman in Exile review (2)
- Anarchy in Interpretation: The Life of Emma Goldman
- Additonal Resources on Emma Goldman
- The Emma Goldman Papers (DL SunSITE)
- Emma Goldman
- Emma Goldman Archive
- Bibliography
Women of Anarchist Spain
“Her development, her freedom, her independence, must come from and through herself. First, by asserting herself as a personality, and not as a sex commodity. Second, by refusing the right of anyone over her body; by refusing to bear children, unless she wants them, by refusing to be a servant to God, the State, society, the husband, the family, etc., by making her life simpler, but deeper and richer. That is, by trying to learn the meaning and substance of life in all its complexities; by freeing herself from the fear of public opinion and public condemnation.”
Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays, p. 211
