Émile Pouget: Difference between revisions

Émile Pouget
Émile Pouget
	1892 police mugshot of Émile Pouget, taken by Alphonse Bertillon
Born	12 October 1860; Pont-de-Salars, Aveyron, France
Died	21 July 1931 (aged 70); Palaiseau, Essonne, France
Occupation	Journalist, writer, anarchist and syndicalist activist
Nationality	French

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Émile Pouget (12 October 1860 – 21 July 1931) was a French journalist, pamphleteer and trade unionist. His combination of anarchist political theory and revolutionary syndicalist tactics have led several authors to identify Pouget as an early anarcho-syndicalist.^[1]^[2]

An iconic pamphleteer, his newspaper Le Père peinard represented a new direction in anarchist journalism, employing vernacular and urban slang.^[3] Pouget was vice-secretary of the General Confederation of Labour from 1901 to 1908.^[4]^[5]^[6] He was the first to promote the term "sabotage" in its current meaning.^[7]

Early life

Émile Pouget was born on 12 October 1860 in Pont-de-Salars in the department of Aveyron.^[8] His father, a notary, passed away at an early age. Following his father's death, Pouget's mother remarried. He grew up in a middle-class household with Republican and left-wing tendencies. Pouget's stepfather lost his position as a petty official because of his political writings in a small-scale journal that he had established.^[9]^[10]

Studying high school in nearby Rodez, Pouget developed a passion for journalism. In 1875, he launched his first newspaper, Le Lycéen républicain (The Republican High Schooler). That same year, his stepfather died and Pouget was forced to move to Paris in search of work. While working at a novelty store, he started following political gatherings and attended meetings of progressive groups in his free time.^[9] In 1879, Pouget was a founder of the first shop assistants' union in Paris, through which he published his earliest antimilitarist texts.^[10]^[9]

Anarchist movement

In July 1881, Pouget was part of the French delegation at the Social Revolutionary Congress in London.^[11]^[12]

During the 1880s, before anarchists began to enter the organized labor movement in large numbers, they typically agitated among the unemployed. In March 1883, the chamber of the carpenters' union summoned the unemployed to protest at Les Invalides.^[13] The protest split into two groups, with around 500 protesters proceeding to march toward the Boulevard Saint-Germain led by former Communard Louise Michel and Pouget.^[9] It was at this protest that the emblematic anarchist black flag was flown for the first time.^[13]^[10] The protesters pillaged three bakeries before being confronted by police at Place Maubert. Michel and Pouget were arrested and sentenced to six and eight years in prison respectively.^[14] Pouget's case was complicated by the fact that revolutionary antimilitarist leaflets advocating a military mutiny were found in his room. Public opinion on the trial was somewhat negative, leading to both activists' early release.^[13] Pouget remained in prison for three years before being granted amnesty due to pressure from Henri Rochefort.^[15]

In 1889, after his release from prison, Pouget became a regular at meetings of the Cercle Anarchiste International, which gathered in Paris' 15th arrondissement to discuss tactics including the general strike and potential alliance with the Bourse du Travail labor councils.^[16] On 24 February 1889, he established his iconic newspaper, Le Père peinard.^[10] Reminiscent of Rochefort's La Lanterne (The Lantern), the paper was published in small pamphlet form. It was written in working-class French slang and was inspired in tone by Jacques Hébert's Le Père Duchesne, popular during the Reign of Terror.^[15]^[17] Already in a September 1889 edition of Le Père peinard, Pouget gave praise the London dock strike, marking the first step in his evolution into syndicalism. However, at this time, he criticized the British workers' formal association into labor unions and especially the unions' parliamentary orientation and reformism.^[18]

Following the promulgation of the Lois scélérates, a set of press laws outlawing the advocacy of any crime, in December 1893, the anarchist movement started a series of political assassinations.^[19] This in turn led to a series of arrests of prominent anarchists and on 21 February 1894, Pouget published his final issue of Le Père peinard and went into exile. He reached London via Algiers and stayed at Giovanni Defendi's delicatessen, together with his partner Marie.^[20]^[21]

Pouget's period of exile in London led to a cross-pollination of ideas between anarchist militants from several countries around Europe.^[22]^[21] During this time, he avoided the anarchist circle Club Autonomie, comprised mainly of French immigrants in London, but maintained contact with Louise Michel, Augustin Hamon and Fernand Pelloutier. Crucially, Pouget's tactical approach became heavily influenced by an international group of militants including Errico Malatesta and Olivia Rossetti Agresti, all of whom were contributors to the anarchist newspaper The Torch.^[23]^[21]

In August 1894, Pouget was charged in absentia during the Trial of the Thirty, but was ultimately acquitted.^[24]^[12] During his exile, he planned to start a newspaper called Le Droit à l’Aisance (The Right to Comfort) with the help of Malatesta, but in the end relaunched Le Père peinard in September 1894 from London.^[22]^[20] The London-based newspaper ran for six months and printed a total of eight issues.^[19] In October 1894, the newspaper argued in favor of anarchists participating within the trade union movement, as a space in which to make contact with the wider working class outside of anarchist affinity groups and subcultures.^[5]^[6]

Despite having been in contact with Malatesta since 1893, Pouget was influenced by him more profoundly during his time in London, at some point even sharing dwellings at Defendi's delicatessen. Pouget's period in London led to his adoption of syndicalist tactics which would, together with Pelloutier's similar trajectory, prove instrumental in the eventual rise to dominance of revolutionary syndicalism in the French labor movement.^[21]^[22]

Syndicalism and the CGT

Cover of Pouget's 1898 pamphlet, *Le Sabotage*.

After returning to France in 1895, Pouget resumed his political activities. On 11 May 1895, he started the newspaper La Sociale, through which he started promoting a more strategic and concrete form of anarchism which would work to influence the labor union movement from within.^[25]^[26]

In July 1896, Pouget attended the fourth congress of the Second International in London. At the congress, anarchist delegates were finally expelled. Concurring with Malatesta's views, Pouget criticized the Marxists' economic determinism and argued against collectivizing agricultural land, as well as the notion of waiting in anticipation for the ostensibly inevitable proletarianization of the peasant class.^[27]^[25]^[28]

In La Sociale, Pouget first argued for the tactic of "sabottage", inspired by the concept of "ca'canny", meaning slowdown, which he came into contact with in the British trade union movement. This was the first mention of the term "sabotage" in this context.^[7] The newspaper continued until October 1896, when Pouget started publishing a renewed Le Père peinard in which his views became increasingly internationalist and militant. He passionately argued for sabotage as a tactic of the labor movement, leading to its adoption by the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) at its Toulouse Congress in September 1897.^[29]^[30] His views on sabotage, as well as a nod to its origins in the British movement, were outlined in greater detail in his 1898 pamphlet "Le Sabotage".^[25] For Pouget, sabotage would also entail physical damage against machines and property, but not persons.^[31]

Despite his initial reluctance to support the Dreyfusard cause during the Dreyfus affair, proclaiming his lack of interest in defending a capitalist and even going so far as to employ antisemitic stereotypes, in 1898 Pouget began to change his views on the matter. In 1899, he was a contributor to Sébastien Faure's Dreyfusard Journal du peuple, where he argued for a revolutionary defense of Dreyfus against the reactionary forces of the army and Catholic Church, and against relying on the impartiality of the legal system.^[32]^[33]

In 1900, Le Père peinard was discontinued and Pouget became the editor of the CGT's daily newspaper La Voix du peuple (Voice of the People), its title a reference to Pierre-Joseph Proudhon.^[26] The first issue was published on 1 December 1900.^[30]

In 1902, the CGT merged with the Fédération des Bourses de travail, headed by anarchist Georges Yvetot from March 1901, following the death of Fernand Pelloutier. The now enlarged CGT elected former Blanquist Victor Griffuelhes as secretary-general, while Yvetot and his former assistant Paul Delesalle headed the section of Bourses du Travail and Pouget headed the section of national federations as vice-secretary and remained the editor of La Voix du peuple. Pouget, Griffuelhes, Yvetot and Delesalle thus became the effective leaders of the syndicalist movement in France in the following decade.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Tensions came to the fore between reformist and revolutionary wings of the CGT in 1903. Pouget emerged as the leading polemicist in defense of the leading revolutionary faction, opposed by the reformist Auguste Keufer. The two exchanged views in two articles regarding the theme of reform or revolution in 1903, where Pouget argued that their methods were not necessarily opposed to one another.^[34] His position was that the struggle for immediate reforms, if done through direct action, was not only an end in itself, but also an evolutionary moment in a process of social change which would gradually intensify to the point of revolution and the overthrow of wage labor. Therefore, he argued, individual reforms served to build a mass social movement with sufficient strength and consciousness to challenge and ultimately end capitalism.^[35] For Pouget, direct action meant the activity of trade unions, undertaken without reliance on political actors.^[36] However, he did not discount the potential utility of individual political action taken outside of the union. Keufer's proposals were in the end heavily defeated at the 1904 Congress of Bourges and the incumbent CGT leadership secured an easy victory.^[34]

The issue reappeared at the Congress of Amiens in October 1906. Here, the two factions agreed on the Charter of Amiens, co-drafted by Pouget, which codified the union's revolutionary syndicalism. The charter announced the complete autonomy of the syndicalist movement and denied all political allegiances, and was the result of a political compromise which both factions could interpret to their advantage.^[34] Namely, for the revolutionary faction, this affirmed its stance against compromise with political parties and thus against parliamentarism, whereas for the reformist faction, this meant an aversion to all forms of politics including anarchism.^[23]^[37]^[1]

In 1908, violent strikes erupted in Draveil and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, where strikers clashed with the army resulting in two deaths.^[38] Following the strikes, the leaders of the CGT, including Pouget, were arrested in early August 1908.^[39] The union convened in Marseille and reaffirmed its tactical position, however the reformist faction started blaming the leadership for the deaths due to their reckless tactics. On 2 February 1909, Griffuelhes resigned and the CGT elected reformist Louis Niel to the position of general secretary.^[40]

After his release from prison, Pouget did not return to his position in the CGT or in La Voix du peuple. According to Pierre Monatte, he increasingly started to view Griffuelhes as arrogant and autocratic. In February 1909, he and other members of the revolutionary faction launched the newspaper La Révolution. It was badly financed and a commercial failure, and ran only until March of that same year. After the failure of this newspaper, Pouget became disillusioned and ceased to participate in the syndicalist movement.^[41]

Later years and death

In late 1909, Pouget reappeared as a regular columnist in Gustave Hervé's insurrectionist La Guerre sociale. Here, he again defended the general strike and the tactic of sabotage with great vigour until the outbreak of World War I, in addition to authoring several stories in Jean Jaurès' L'Humanité in 1913.^[41] From July until 6 September 1914, Pouget unexpectedly lent his unequivocal support to France against Germany. The following year, in L'Humanité, he authored a daily serial titled Vieille Alsace (Old Alsace), a patriotic story concerning the lives of French Alsatians living under German rule.^[42]

By 1920, Pouget was uninvolved in activism, and spent his final years living a quiet life in the southern outskirts of Paris. He earned a modest living compiling artists' catalogues.^[43]

Pouget died on 21 July 1931, in Palaiseau.^[44]

Footnotes

^ ^a ^b Woodcock 2011, p. 355.
^ Baker 2023, pp. 283–284.
^ Woodcock 2011, pp. 328–329.
^ ^a ^b Woodcock 2011, pp. 352–353.
^ ^a ^b ^c Jennings 1990, p. 24.
^ ^a ^b ^c Baker 2023, pp. 267–269.
^ ^a ^b Scalmer 2023, pp. 372–373.
^ de Goustine 1972, p. 13.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Guérin 2005, p. 419.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Bantman 2009, p. 274.
^ Woodcock 2011, p. 283.
^ ^a ^b Butterworth 2010, pp. 22–23.
^ ^a ^b ^c Woodcock 2011, pp. 333–334.
^ Butterworth 2010, p. 44.
^ ^a ^b Guérin 2005, p. 420.
^ Berry & Bantman 2010, p. 129.
^ Butterworth 2010, p. 421.
^ Berry & Bantman 2010, pp. 130–131.
^ ^a ^b Guérin 2005, p. 423.
^ ^a ^b Bantman 2009, pp. 279–280.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Turcato 2012, pp. 134–135.
^ ^a ^b ^c Berry & Bantman 2010, p. 112.
^ ^a ^b Berry & Bantman 2010, pp. 133–136.
^ Woodcock 2011, p. 345.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bantman 2009, pp. 281–282.
^ ^a ^b Woodcock 2011, p. 348.
^ Berry & Bantman 2010, pp. 120–121.
^ Turcato 2012, pp. 145–146.
^ Berry & Bantman 2010, p. 122.
^ ^a ^b Guérin 2005, p. 424.
^ Jennings 1990, pp. 44–45.
^ Jennings 1990, pp. 34–35.
^ Bantman 2009, p. 278.
^ ^a ^b ^c Jennings 1990, pp. 136–138.
^ Baker 2023, pp. 299–300.
^ Baker 2023, p. 135.
^ Baker 2023, p. 269.
^ Jennings 1990, p. 38.
^ Bantman 2009, p. 284.
^ Jennings 1990, p. 138.
^ ^a ^b Jennings 1990, p. 145.
^ Jennings 1990, pp. 164–165.
^ Jennings 1990, p. 191.
^ de Goustine 1972, p. 27.

Works

Almanach du Père Peinard, Paris, 1894 (in French)
Almanach du Père Peinard, Paris, 1896
Almanach du Père Peinard, Paris, 1897
Almanach du Père Peinard, Paris, 1898
Comment nous ferons la Révolution, in collaboration with Émile Pataud, Paris, J. Taillandier, 1909
L'action directe, Nancy, Édition du "Réveil ouvrier", coll. « Bibliothèque de documentation syndicale »
La Confédération générale du travail, Bibliothèque du Mouvement Prolétarien, Librairie des sciences politiques et sociales Marcel Rivière, Paris, 1910
Le Parti du Travail
Le Sabotage, Mille et une nuits, coll. « La petite collection », Paris, 2004
Les Caractères de l'action directe
Les lois scélérates de 1893-1894, en collaboration avec Francis de Pressensé, Paris, Éditions de la "Revue blanche", 1899

Articles

Barbarie française, Le Père Peinard, n°45, 12 janvier 1890
Faramineuse consultation sur l'avenir, Almanach du Père Peinard, Paris, 1896
Jabotage entre bibi et un fiston, Almanach du Père Peinard, Paris, 1894
L'Automne, Almanach du Père Peinard, 1896
L'été, Almanach du Père Peinard, 1897
L'Hiver, Almanach du Père Peinard, 1897
Le Muselage Universel, Almanach du Père Peinard, 1896
Le Printemps, Almanach du Père Peinard, 1897
Le Sabotage, Almanach du Père Peinard, Paris, 1898
Les Lois Scélérates de 1893-1894, Éditions de la Revue blanche, 1899
Patron assassin, Le Père Peinard, 4 juin 1893
Pourquoi et comment Le Père Peinard s'est bombardé Journaleux, Almanach du Père Peinard, 1894
Qu'on châtre la frocaille ! En attendant mieux, Le Monde libertaire, 31 janvier 2002
Un cochon, Le Père Peinard, 10 août 1890

References

de Goustine, Christian (1972). Pouget ou les matins noirs du syndicalisme (in French). Paris: La Tête de Feuille.
Jennings, Jeremy (1990). Syndicalism in France: A Study of Ideas. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-349-08878-2.
Guérin, Daniel, ed. (2005). No Gods, No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism. Translated by Sharkey, Paul. Oakland: AK Press. ISBN 978-1-904859-25-3.
Bantman, Constance (2009). "The Militant Go-between: Émile Pouget's Transnational Propaganda (1880–1914)". Labour History Review. 74 (3): 274–287. doi:10.1179/096156509X12513818419619. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
Butterworth, Alex (2010). The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists, and Secret Agents (PDF). New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 9780375425110.
Berry, David; Bantman, Constance, eds. (2010). New Perspectives on Anarchism, Labour, and Syndicalism: The Individual, the National and the Transnational. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Woodcock, George (2011) [1962]. Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements. Whitefish: Literary Licensing, LLC. ISBN 9781258115272.
Turcato, Davide (2012). Making Sense of Anarchism: Errico Malatesta's Experiments with Revolution, 1889–1900. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-349-33736-1.
Baker, Zoe (2023). Means and Ends: The Revolutionary Practice of Anarchism in Europe and the United States. AK Press. ISBN 978-1-84935-498-1. OCLC 1345217229.
Scalmer, Sean (2023). "Direct Action: The Invention of a Transnational Concept". International Review of Social History. 68 (3): 357–387. doi:10.1017/S0020859023000391. Retrieved 27 January 2024.

External links

Trade union offices
Preceded by New position	Administrative Secretary of the General Confederation of Labour 1901–1902	Succeeded by Jean Bousquet

[FOOTNOTEWoodcock2011355-1] Woodcock 2011, p. 355.

[FOOTNOTEBaker2023283–284-2] Baker 2023, pp. 283–284.

[FOOTNOTEWoodcock2011328–329-3] Woodcock 2011, pp. 328–329.

[FOOTNOTEWoodcock2011352–353-4] Woodcock 2011, pp. 352–353.

[FOOTNOTEJennings199024-5] Jennings 1990, p. 24.

[FOOTNOTEBaker2023267–269-6] Baker 2023, pp. 267–269.

[FOOTNOTEScalmer2023372–373-7] Scalmer 2023, pp. 372–373.

[FOOTNOTEde_Goustine197213-8] Goustine 1972, p. 13.

[FOOTNOTEGuérin2005419-9] Guérin 2005, p. 419.

[FOOTNOTEBantman2009274-10] Bantman 2009, p. 274.

[FOOTNOTEWoodcock2011283-11] Woodcock 2011, p. 283.

[FOOTNOTEButterworth201022–23-12] Butterworth 2010, pp. 22–23.

[FOOTNOTEWoodcock2011333–334-13] Woodcock 2011, pp. 333–334.

[FOOTNOTEButterworth201044-14] Butterworth 2010, p. 44.

[FOOTNOTEGuérin2005420-15] Guérin 2005, p. 420.

[FOOTNOTEBerryBantman2010129-16] Berry & Bantman 2010, p. 129.

[FOOTNOTEButterworth2010421-17] Butterworth 2010, p. 421.

[FOOTNOTEBerryBantman2010130–131-18] Berry & Bantman 2010, pp. 130–131.

[FOOTNOTEGuérin2005423-19] Guérin 2005, p. 423.

[FOOTNOTEBantman2009279–280-20] Bantman 2009, pp. 279–280.

[FOOTNOTETurcato2012134–135-21] Turcato 2012, pp. 134–135.

[FOOTNOTEBerryBantman2010112-22] Berry & Bantman 2010, p. 112.

[FOOTNOTEBerryBantman2010133–136-23] Berry & Bantman 2010, pp. 133–136.

[FOOTNOTEWoodcock2011345-24] Woodcock 2011, p. 345.

[FOOTNOTEBantman2009281–282-25] Bantman 2009, pp. 281–282.

[FOOTNOTEWoodcock2011348-26] Woodcock 2011, p. 348.

[FOOTNOTEBerryBantman2010120–121-27] Berry & Bantman 2010, pp. 120–121.

[FOOTNOTETurcato2012145–146-28] Turcato 2012, pp. 145–146.

[FOOTNOTEBerryBantman2010122-29] Berry & Bantman 2010, p. 122.

[FOOTNOTEGuérin2005424-30] Guérin 2005, p. 424.

[FOOTNOTEJennings199044–45-31] Jennings 1990, pp. 44–45.

[FOOTNOTEJennings199034–35-32] Jennings 1990, pp. 34–35.

[FOOTNOTEBantman2009278-33] Bantman 2009, p. 278.

[FOOTNOTEJennings1990136–138-34] Jennings 1990, pp. 136–138.

[FOOTNOTEBaker2023299–300-35] Baker 2023, pp. 299–300.

[FOOTNOTEBaker2023135-36] Baker 2023, p. 135.

[FOOTNOTEBaker2023269-37] Baker 2023, p. 269.

[FOOTNOTEJennings199038-38] Jennings 1990, p. 38.

[FOOTNOTEBantman2009284-39] Bantman 2009, p. 284.

[FOOTNOTEJennings1990138-40] Jennings 1990, p. 138.

[FOOTNOTEJennings1990145-41] Jennings 1990, p. 145.

[FOOTNOTEJennings1990164–165-42] Jennings 1990, pp. 164–165.

[FOOTNOTEJennings1990191-43] Jennings 1990, p. 191.

[FOOTNOTEde_Goustine197227-44] Goustine 1972, p. 27.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Short description|French anarcho-communist (1860–1931)}}
+{{Short description|French anarchist and revolutionary syndicalist (1860–1931)}}
 {{Infobox writer
-|name = Émile Pouget
+|name        = Émile Pouget
+|image       = Pouget. Émile, Jean, Joseph. 31 ans, né le 12-10-60 à Rodez (Aveyron). Publiciste. Anarchiste. 26-4-92. MET DP290755.jpg
-|image = Émile Pouget.jpg
-|imagesize =
+|imagesize   =
-|caption = Portrait by [[Aristide Delannoy]]
+|caption     = 1892 police mugshot of Émile Pouget, taken by [[Alphonse Bertillon]]
-|pseudonym =
+|pseudonym   =
-|birth_name =
+|birth_name  =
-|birth_date = {{Birth date|1860|10|12}}
+|birth_date  = {{Birth date|1860|10|12|df=yes}}
 |birth_place = [[Pont-de-Salars]], [[Aveyron]], [[France]]
-|death_date ={{death date and age|1931|07|21|1860|10|12}}
+|death_date  = {{death date and age|1931|07|21|1860|10|12|df=yes}}
 |death_place = [[Palaiseau]], [[Essonne]], France
-|occupation = [[Anarchist]] writer and activist
+|occupation  = Journalist, writer, [[anarchist]] and [[syndicalist]] activist
 |nationality = French
 }}
+'''Émile Pouget''' (12 October 1860 – 21 July 1931) was a French journalist, pamphleteer and trade unionist. His combination of [[anarchist]] political theory and [[revolutionary syndicalist]] tactics have led several authors to identify Pouget as an early [[anarcho-syndicalist]].{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|p=355}}{{sfn|Baker|2023|pp=283-284}}
-'''Émile Pouget''' (12 October 1860 in [[Pont-de-Salars]], [[Aveyron]] – 21 July 1931 Lozère, [[Palaiseau]], [[Essonne]]) was a French [[anarcho-communist]],<ref>The Anarchist Papers III, page 97</ref> who adopted tactics close to those of [[anarcho-syndicalism]]. He was vice-secretary of the [[General Confederation of Labour (France)|General Confederation of Labour]] from 1901 to 1908.
+An iconic pamphleteer, his newspaper ''Le Père peinard'' represented a new direction in anarchist journalism, employing vernacular and urban slang.{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|pp=328-329}} Pouget was vice-secretary of the [[General Confederation of Labour (France)|General Confederation of Labour]] from 1901 to 1908.{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|pp=352-353}}{{sfn|Jennings|1990|p=24}}{{sfn|Baker|2023|pp=267-269}} He was the first to promote the term "[[sabotage]]" in its current meaning.{{sfn|Scalmer|2023|pp=372-373}}
-[[Image:Pouget.jpg|thumb|140px|Heading of Pouget's review ''Le Sabotage''.]]
+==Early life==
+Émile Pouget was born on 12 October 1860 in [[Pont-de-Salars]] in the department of [[Aveyron]].{{sfn|de Goustine|1972|p=13}} His father, a notary, passed away at an early age. Following his father's death, Pouget's mother remarried. He grew up in a middle-class household with [[Republicanism|Republican]] and left-wing tendencies. Pouget's stepfather lost his position as a petty official because of his political writings in a small-scale journal that he had established.{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=419}}{{sfn|Bantman|2009|p=274}}
+Studying high school in nearby [[Rodez]], Pouget developed a passion for journalism. In 1875, he launched his first newspaper, ''Le Lycéen républicain'' (The Republican High Schooler). That same year, his stepfather died and Pouget was forced to move to [[Paris]] in search of work. While working at a novelty store, he started following political gatherings and attended meetings of progressive groups in his free time.{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=419}} In 1879, Pouget was a founder of the first shop assistants' union in Paris, through which he published his earliest [[Antimilitarism|antimilitarist]] texts.{{sfn|Bantman|2009|p=274}}{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=419}}
+==Anarchist movement==
+[[Image:Émile Pouget.jpg|thumb|140px|Portrait by [[Aristide Delannoy]].]]
+In July 1881, Pouget was part of the French delegation at the [[1881 London Social Revolutionary Congress|Social Revolutionary Congress]] in [[London]].{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|p=283}}{{sfn|Butterworth|2010|pp=22-23}}
+During the 1880s, before [[anarchists]] began to enter the organized labor movement in large numbers, they typically agitated among the unemployed. In March 1883, the chamber of the carpenters' union summoned the unemployed to protest at [[Les Invalides]].{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|pp=333-334}} The protest split into two groups, with around 500 protesters proceeding to march toward the [[Boulevard Saint-Germain]] led by former [[Communard]] [[Louise Michel]] and Pouget.{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=419}} It was at this protest that the emblematic [[anarchist black flag]] was flown for the first time.{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|pp=333-334}}{{sfn|Bantman|2009|p=274}} The protesters pillaged three bakeries before being confronted by police at [[Place Maubert]]. Michel and Pouget were arrested and sentenced to six and eight years in prison respectively.{{sfn|Butterworth|2010|p=44}} Pouget's case was complicated by the fact that revolutionary antimilitarist leaflets advocating a military mutiny were found in his room. Public opinion on the trial was somewhat negative, leading to both activists' early release.{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|pp=333-334}} Pouget remained in prison for three years before being granted amnesty due to pressure from [[Henri Rochefort]].{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=420}}
+In 1889, after his release from prison, Pouget became a regular at meetings of the Cercle Anarchiste International, which gathered in Paris' [[15th arrondissement of Paris|15th arrondissement]] to discuss tactics including the [[general strike]] and potential alliance with the [[Bourse du Travail]] labor councils.{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|p=129}} On 24 February 1889, he established his iconic newspaper, ''Le Père peinard''.{{sfn|Bantman|2009|p=274}} Reminiscent of Rochefort's ''La Lanterne'' (The Lantern), the paper was published in small pamphlet form. It was written in working-class French slang and was inspired in tone by [[Jacques Hébert]]'s ''[[Le Père Duchesne]]'', popular during the [[Reign of Terror]].{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=420}}{{sfn|Butterworth|2010|p=421}} Already in a September 1889 edition of ''Le Père peinard'', Pouget gave praise the [[London dock strike]], marking the first step in his evolution into [[syndicalism]]. However, at this time, he criticized the British workers' formal association into labor unions and especially the unions' parliamentary orientation and reformism.{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|pp=130-131}}
+Following the promulgation of the ''[[Lois scélérates]]'', a set of press laws outlawing the advocacy of any crime, in December 1893, the anarchist movement started a series of political assassinations.{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=423}} This in turn led to a series of arrests of prominent anarchists and on 21 February 1894, Pouget published his final issue of ''Le Père peinard'' and went into exile. He reached London via [[Algiers]] and stayed at [[Giovanni Defendi]]'s delicatessen, together with his partner Marie.{{sfn|Bantman|2009|pp=279-280}}{{sfn|Turcato|2012|pp=134-135}}
+Pouget's period of exile in London led to a cross-pollination of ideas between anarchist militants from several countries around Europe.{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|p=112}}{{sfn|Turcato|2012|pp=134-135}} During this time, he avoided the anarchist circle Club Autonomie, comprised mainly of French immigrants in London, but maintained contact with Louise Michel, [[Augustin Hamon]] and [[Fernand Pelloutier]]. Crucially, Pouget's tactical approach became heavily influenced by an international group of militants including [[Errico Malatesta]] and [[Olivia Rossetti Agresti]], all of whom were contributors to the anarchist newspaper ''The Torch''.{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|pp=133-136}}{{sfn|Turcato|2012|pp=134-135}}
+In August 1894, Pouget was charged ''in absentia'' during the [[Trial of the Thirty]], but was ultimately acquitted.{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|p=345}}{{sfn|Butterworth|2010|pp=22-23}} During his exile, he planned to start a newspaper called ''Le Droit à l’Aisance'' (The Right to Comfort) with the help of Malatesta, but in the end relaunched ''Le Père peinard'' in September 1894 from London.{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|p=112}}{{sfn|Bantman|2009|pp=279-280}} The London-based newspaper ran for six months and printed a total of eight issues.{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=423}} In October 1894, the newspaper argued in favor of anarchists participating within the trade union movement, as a space in which to make contact with the wider working class outside of anarchist affinity groups and subcultures.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|p=24}}{{sfn|Baker|2023|pp=267-269}}
+Despite having been in contact with Malatesta since 1893, Pouget was influenced by him more profoundly during his time in London, at some point even sharing dwellings at Defendi's delicatessen. Pouget's period in London led to his adoption of syndicalist tactics which would, together with Pelloutier's similar trajectory, prove instrumental in the eventual rise to dominance of [[revolutionary syndicalism]] in the French labor movement.{{sfn|Turcato|2012|pp=134-135}}{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|p=112}}
+==Syndicalism and the CGT==
+[[Image:Pouget.jpg|thumb|140px|Cover of Pouget's 1898 pamphlet, ''Le Sabotage''.]]
+After returning to France in 1895, Pouget resumed his political activities. On 11 May 1895, he started the newspaper ''La Sociale'', through which he started promoting a more strategic and concrete form of anarchism which would work to influence the labor union movement from within.{{sfn|Bantman|2009|pp=281-282}}{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|p=348}}
+In July 1896, Pouget attended the [[International Socialist Workers and Trade Union Congress, London 1896|fourth congress]] of the [[Second International]] in London. At the congress, anarchist delegates were finally expelled. Concurring with Malatesta's views, Pouget criticized the [[Marxism|Marxists']] economic determinism and argued against collectivizing agricultural land, as well as the notion of waiting in anticipation for the ostensibly inevitable proletarianization of the peasant class.{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|pp=120-121}}{{sfn|Bantman|2009|pp=281-282}}{{sfn|Turcato|2012|pp=145-146}}
+In ''La Sociale'', Pouget first argued for the tactic of "sabottage", inspired by the concept of "ca'canny", meaning [[slowdown]], which he came into contact with in the British trade union movement. This was the first mention of the term "[[sabotage]]" in this context.{{sfn|Scalmer|2023|pp=372-373}} The newspaper continued until October 1896, when Pouget started publishing a renewed ''Le Père peinard'' in which his views became increasingly internationalist and militant. He passionately argued for sabotage as a tactic of the labor movement, leading to its adoption by the [[General Confederation of Labour (France)|General Confederation of Labour]] (CGT) at its [[Toulouse]] Congress in September 1897.{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|p=122}}{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=424}} His views on sabotage, as well as a nod to its origins in the British movement, were outlined in greater detail in his 1898 pamphlet "Le Sabotage".{{sfn|Bantman|2009|pp=281-282}} For Pouget, sabotage would also entail physical damage against machines and property, but not persons.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|pp=44-45}}
+Despite his initial reluctance to support the Dreyfusard cause during the [[Dreyfus affair]], proclaiming his lack of interest in defending a capitalist and even going so far as to employ [[antisemitic stereotypes]], in 1898 Pouget began to change his views on the matter. In 1899, he was a contributor to [[Sébastien Faure]]'s Dreyfusard ''Journal du peuple'', where he argued for a revolutionary defense of Dreyfus against the reactionary forces of the army and [[Catholic Church]], and against relying on the impartiality of the legal system.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|pp=34-35}}{{sfn|Bantman|2009|p=278}}
+In 1900, ''Le Père peinard'' was discontinued and Pouget became the editor of the CGT's daily newspaper ''La Voix du peuple'' (Voice of the People), its title a reference to [[Pierre-Joseph Proudhon]].{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|p=348}} The first issue was published on 1 December 1900.{{sfn|Guérin|2005|p=424}}
+In 1902, the CGT merged with the [[Bourse_du_Travail#Fédération_des_Bourses_de_travail_and_the_CGT|Fédération des Bourses de travail]], headed by anarchist [[Georges Yvetot]] from March 1901, following the death of [[Fernand Pelloutier]]. The now enlarged CGT elected former [[Blanquism|Blanquist]] [[Victor Griffuelhes]] as secretary-general, while Yvetot and his former assistant Paul Delesalle headed the section of Bourses du Travail and Pouget headed the section of national federations as vice-secretary and remained the editor of ''La Voix du peuple''. Pouget, Griffuelhes, Yvetot and Delesalle thus became the effective leaders of the syndicalist movement in France in the following decade.{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|pp=352-353}}{{sfn|Jennings|1990|p=24}}{{sfn|Baker|2023|pp=267-269}}
+Tensions came to the fore between reformist and revolutionary wings of the CGT in 1903. Pouget emerged as the leading polemicist in defense of the leading revolutionary faction, opposed by the reformist [[Auguste Keufer]]. The two exchanged views in two articles regarding the theme of reform or revolution in 1903, where Pouget argued that their methods were not necessarily opposed to one another.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|pp=136-138}} His position was that the struggle for immediate reforms, if done through [[direct action]], was not only an end in itself, but also an evolutionary moment in a process of social change which would gradually intensify to the point of revolution and the overthrow of [[Wage labour|wage labor]]. Therefore, he argued, individual reforms served to build a mass social movement with sufficient strength and consciousness to challenge and ultimately end capitalism.{{sfn|Baker|2023|pp=299-300}} For Pouget, direct action meant the activity of trade unions, undertaken without reliance on political actors.{{sfn|Baker|2023|p=135}} However, he did not discount the potential utility of individual political action taken outside of the union. Keufer's proposals were in the end heavily defeated at the 1904 Congress of [[Bourges]] and the incumbent CGT leadership secured an easy victory.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|pp=136-138}}
+The issue reappeared at the Congress of [[Amiens]] in October 1906. Here, the two factions agreed on the [[Charter of Amiens]], co-drafted by Pouget, which codified the union's revolutionary syndicalism. The charter announced the complete autonomy of the syndicalist movement and denied all political allegiances, and was the result of a political compromise which both factions could interpret to their advantage.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|pp=136-138}} Namely, for the revolutionary faction, this affirmed its stance against compromise with political parties and thus against parliamentarism, whereas for the reformist faction, this meant an aversion to all forms of politics including anarchism.{{sfn|Berry|Bantman|2010|pp=133-136}}{{sfn|Baker|2023|p=269}}{{sfn|Woodcock|2011|p=355}}
+In 1908, violent strikes erupted in [[Draveil-Villeneuve-Saint-Georges strike|Draveil and Villeneuve-Saint-Georges]], where strikers clashed with the army resulting in two deaths.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|p=38}} Following the strikes, the leaders of the CGT, including Pouget, were arrested in early August 1908.{{sfn|Bantman|2009|p=284}} The union convened in [[Marseille]] and reaffirmed its tactical position, however the reformist faction started blaming the leadership for the deaths due to their reckless tactics. On 2 February 1909, Griffuelhes resigned and the CGT elected reformist Louis Niel to the position of general secretary.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|p=138}}
+After his release from prison, Pouget did not return to his position in the CGT or in ''La Voix du peuple''. According to [[Pierre Monatte]], he increasingly started to view Griffuelhes as arrogant and autocratic. In February 1909, he and other members of the revolutionary faction launched the newspaper ''La Révolution''. It was badly financed and a commercial failure, and ran only until March of that same year. After the failure of this newspaper, Pouget became disillusioned and ceased to participate in the syndicalist movement.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|p=145}}
+==Later years and death==
+In late 1909, Pouget reappeared as a regular columnist in [[Gustave Hervé]]'s insurrectionist ''La Guerre sociale''. Here, he again defended the general strike and the tactic of sabotage with great vigour until the outbreak of [[World War I]], in addition to authoring several stories in [[Jean Jaurès]]' ''[[L'Humanité]]'' in 1913.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|p=145}} From July until 6 September 1914, Pouget unexpectedly lent his unequivocal support to France against Germany. The following year, in ''L'Humanité'', he authored a daily serial titled ''Vieille Alsace'' (Old [[Alsace]]), a patriotic story concerning the lives of French Alsatians living under German rule.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|pp=164-165}}
+By 1920, Pouget was uninvolved in activism, and spent his final years living a quiet life in the southern outskirts of Paris. He earned a modest living compiling artists' catalogues.{{sfn|Jennings|1990|p=191}}
+Pouget died on 21 July 1931, in [[Palaiseau]].{{sfn|de Goustine|1972|p=27}}
 ==Footnotes==
@@ Line 51: / Line 103: @@
 * ''[http://www.marievictoirelouis.net/document.php?id=157&auteurid=158 Un cochon]'', ''Le Père Peinard'', 10 août 1890
-==Bibliography==
+==References==
+* {{cite book |last1=de Goustine |first1=Christian |title=Pouget ou les matins noirs du syndicalisme |date=1972 |publisher=La Tête de Feuille |location=Paris |url=https://books.google.rs/books?id=YZ4EAAAAMAAJ |language=French}}
+* {{cite book |last1=Jennings |first1=Jeremy |title=Syndicalism in France: A Study of Ideas |date=1990 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-1-349-08878-2}}
+* {{cite book |editor1-last=Guérin |editor1-first=Daniel |editor-link=Daniel Guérin |translator-last1=Sharkey |translator-first1=Paul |title=No Gods, No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism |date=2005 |language=en |isbn=978-1-904859-25-3 |publisher=AK Press |location=Oakland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g4YncZ8MgRsC}}
+* {{cite journal |last1=Bantman |first1=Constance |title=The Militant Go-between: Émile Pouget's Transnational Propaganda (1880–1914) |journal=Labour History Review |date=2009 |volume=74 |issue=3 |pages=274-287 |doi=10.1179/096156509X12513818419619 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233704231_The_Militant_Go-between_Emile_Pouget%27s_Transnational_Propaganda_1880-1914 |access-date=27 January 2024}}
+* {{cite book |first=Alex |last=Butterworth |url=https://dl1.cuni.cz/pluginfile.php/1091470/mod_resource/content/1/Butterworth%20-%20The%20world%20that%20never%20was.pdf |title=The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists, and Secret Agents |publisher=Pantheon Books |year=2010 |isbn=9780375425110 |location=New York |language=en}}
+* {{cite book |editor1-last=Berry |editor1-first=David |editor2-last=Bantman |editor2-first=Constance |title=New Perspectives on Anarchism, Labour, and Syndicalism: The Individual, the National and the Transnational |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |location=Newcastle upon Tyne}}
+* {{cite book |last=Woodcock |first=George |author-link=George Woodcock |title=Anarchism: A History of Libertarian Ideas and Movements |orig-year=1962 |date=2011 |publisher=Literary Licensing, LLC |location=Whitefish |isbn=9781258115272}}
+* {{cite book |last1=Turcato |first1=Davide |title=Making Sense of Anarchism: Errico Malatesta's Experiments with Revolution, 1889–1900 |date=2012 |isbn=978-1-349-33736-1 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |df=mdy-all }}
+* {{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Zoe |title=Means and Ends: The Revolutionary Practice of Anarchism in Europe and the United States |date=2023 |isbn=978-1-84935-498-1 |publisher=[[AK Press]] |oclc=1345217229 |df=mdy-all}}
+* {{cite journal |last1=Scalmer |first1=Sean |title=Direct Action: The Invention of a Transnational Concept |journal=International Review of Social History |date=2023 |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=357-387 |doi=10.1017/S0020859023000391 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-social-history/article/direct-action-the-invention-of-a-transnational-concept/12505D4E6288B6BC01859740280AA6D4 |access-date=27 January 2024}}
+==Further reading==
 * Roger Langlais, ''Émile Pouget, Le Père Peinard'', Éditions Galilée, 1976
 * [[François Bott]], « Le Père Peinard, ce drôle de Sioux », ''[[Le Monde]]'', 30 janvier 1976.
@@ Line 57: / Line 121: @@
 * Emmanuel de Waresquiel, ''Le Siècle rebelle, dictionnaire de la contestation au XXe siècle'', Larousse, coll. « In Extenso », 1999. [[Image:Nuvola apps ksig horizonta.png|30px]]
 * Xose Ulla Quiben, ''Émile Pouget, la plume rouge et noire du Père Peinard'', Éditions Libertaires, 2006.
-* Emile Pouget, ''Le Père Peinard, Journal espatrouillant. Articles choisis (1889–1900)''. Les Nuits rouges, 2006 .
+* Emile Pouget, ''Le Père Peinard, Journal espatrouillant. Articles choisis (1889–1900)''. Les Nuits rouges, 2006.
-==References==
 * Dominique Sommier, [http://www.19e.org/articles/pougetperepeinard/pougetperepeinard.htm ''Émile Pouget et Le Père Peinard, Almanach et hebdomadaire anarchiste (1889-1902)''], sur 19e.org, 2004.
 * Lucien Orsane, [http://jccabanel.free.fr/th_a_la_memoire_de.htm ''À la mémoire d'Emile Pouget, Anarchiste syndicaliste révolutionnaire aveyronnais 1860-1931''], sur Jccabanel.free.fr.
@@ Line 83: / Line 145: @@
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pouget, Emile}}
+[[Category:19th-century male writers]]
-{{France-bio-stub}}
-{{anarchist-stub}}
 [[Category:1860 births]]
 [[Category:1931 deaths]]
-[[Category:People from Aveyron]]
+[[Category:Anarcho-syndicalists]]
+[[Category:Dreyfusards]]
 [[Category:French anarchists]]
+[[Category:French syndicalists]]
+[[Category:French newspaper founders]]
 [[Category:Members of the General Confederation of Labour (France)]]
-[[Category:Anarcho-communists]]
+[[Category:People from Aveyron]]
+[[Category:Revolutionary Syndicalism]]
+[[Category:Trade unionists from Paris]]

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