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International of Anarchist Federations

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International of Anarchist Federations
AbbreviationIAF
FormationSeptember 5, 1968; 57 years ago (1968-09-05)
Founded atCarrara, Italy
Location
  • Active in at least 19 countries
MethodsOrganizing cultural and militant activities
Providing a platform to meet other anarchists
Organizing congresses
MembershipUnknown; able to unite up to 5,000+ anarchists for a gathering (2023)
Affiliations Anarchism

The International of Anarchist Federations (IAF) is an international anarchist organization founded by the Carrara Congress (1968). It is based on the principle of anarchist synthesis, which means it seeks to unite all tendencies of anarchism within the same organization. It is subdivided into anarchist federations at the national, regional, or local level, which in turn participate in the International.

The IAF organizes congresses every four years which serve as a gathering and a place of expression for the anarchist movement. It is one of the principal anarchist organizations at the beginning of the 21st century.

History

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Context

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Birth of anarchism and first organizations

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In the 19th century, the development of capitalism saw the formation of several opposing political ideologies and movements, particularly anarchism, Marxism, and socialism.[1] Anarchists advocate for the struggle against all forms of domination perceived as unjust, among which is economic domination, with the development of capitalism.[2] They are particularly opposed to the State, viewed as the institution enabling the endorsement of many of these dominations through its police, army, and propaganda.[3] They want to replace the State and capitalism by equalitarian, voluntary, stateless societies.[4]

During the 1880s, the Anti-authoritarian International, a foundational organisation in anarchist history—which brought together a major part of the anarchists and provided important theoretical foundations for the movement—disappeared.[1] It was replaced by other systems of organisation among anarchists, notably companionship and, later, anarcho-syndicalism.[1]

Birth and spread of the anarchist synthesis

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From the 1920s until approximately the 1940s, intense debates traversed anarchist circles regarding their modes of organisation.[5] Two positions emerged and opposed each other: on the one hand, Platformism, promoted by Nestor Makhno, argued that anarchists should gather in an organisation with a clear and restricted political line; on the other hand, Synthesis, promoted by Errico Malatesta, Volin or Sébastien Faure, considered that to unite all anarchist tendencies in one organisation, it must be open to and inclusively gather all these currents.[5]

Within the framework of these theoretical oppositions, and in response to the reformism of the CNT in the late 1920s, the first anarchist federation of the Synthesis line was born: the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI), founded in 1927.[6] The Francophone Anarchist Federation (FAF) was founded in 1937, and other similar organisations spread throughout the world, in Japan or Korea, for example.[7][8]

Founding of the IAF and subsequent history

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In 1968, the International of Anarchist Federations (IAF) was established at the congress of Carrara, building on the previously established international network at the initiative of the FAF, the FAI, the FAIt and the Bulgarian Federation in exile.[9]

Established along synthesist lines, the IAF brought together anarchist federations from Argentina, Australia, Britain, Bulgaria, Cuba, France, Germany, Greece, Iberia, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.[10] The IAF affirmed its commitment to the principles of anarcho-communism at its second congress in 1971, but soon lost its Cuban section due to its soft line on the Castro government. Nevertheless, the IAF managed to develop further links in Hong Kong and Vietnam and made contact with other anarchist federations in Europe and South America.[11]

According to the historian Ruth Kinna, the organization is part of the tradition of the First International and adopts principles of decentralized federation and group autonomy to strengthen local struggles.[12] She writes that their goal is:[12]

The abolition of all forms of authority, whether economical, political, social, religious, cultural or sexual, the construction of a free society, without classes or States or frontiers, founded on anarchist federalism and mutual aid.

Congresses and gatherings

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The IAF holds congresses every 4 years.[9] The last ones were the following:[13]

The IAF was also involved, especially through the FAF, in organizing the 19th international anarchist gathering in St. Imier, in 2023, to celebrate the 130 years since the founding of the Anti-authoritarian International.[14][15] This was arguably the biggest anarchist gathering of the 21st century, uniting more than 5,000 of them.[15]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Berthier 2015, p. III.
  2. ^ Jourdain 2013, p. 13-15.
  3. ^ Ward 2004, p. 26-33.
  4. ^ Baker 2023, p. 78.
  5. ^ a b Avrich 1971, pp. 241–242.
  6. ^ Schmidt 2013, pp. 65–66.
  7. ^ van der Walt & Schmidt 2009, p. 246.
  8. ^ Schmidt 2013, pp. 89–90.
  9. ^ a b "About". International of Anarchist Federations. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  10. ^ Schmidt 2013, pp. 92–93.
  11. ^ Schmidt 2013, p. 93.
  12. ^ a b Kinna 2019, p. n.40.
  13. ^ "Meetings". International of Anarchist Federations. Retrieved 2025-12-01.
  14. ^ Kern, Thomas Kern, Benjamin von Wyl, Benjamin von Wyl, Thomas (2023-08-08). "'Sabotage everywhere': at the Swiss birthplace of global anarchism". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2025-12-01.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ a b "Le plus grand congrès anarchiste du 21e siècle". Divergences. Retrieved 2025-12-01.

Bibliography

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