In her short life, Voltairine de Cleyre distinguished herself as a leading intellectual, activist, speaker and writer within the American and worldwide anarchist movement. Emma Goldman called her "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced." Her activity and works covered many subjects, including anarchism, feminism, education and the labour movement, but sadly, both are virtually unknown today. Only one collection of her writings has previously been published -- The Selected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre in 1914, edited by Alexander Berkman and published by Goldman's "Mother Earth".

Hopefully these new books with provide a new generation of radicals access to her ideas and activism. Of the three, two are collections of her writings, namely the Voltairine de Cleyre Reader (VdCR) and Exquisite Rebel (ER). The third, Gates of Freedom (GoF) aims to investigate her ideas and, as such, has little in the way of her writings.It has, however, an excellent overview of her life and ideas as well as commentary on her works by its author, Delamotte. Sadly, only a few articles, poems and letters by Voltairine are reprinted but these do include important texts.

This means by all three books contain essential essays by Voltairine and, consequently, no one book is more definitive than others. Of the three, VdCR is the best (and published by anarchists!) as it contains most ofher key essays. ER, while having some essential writings, is marred by the editors' introductions and essays. If you can stomach or ignore these,ER is worth buying as it complements VdCR well by containing important texts like "Anarchism" and "Why I am an Anarchist". GOF's essays, in contrast, do an excellent job of explaining Voltairine's ideas and placing them in the context of the anarchist movement and its ideas as well as reprinting key works.
Why Voltairine is important
So why is Voltairine so important? Simply because of the quality of her thought. Its richness makes it as fresh and relevant for radicals today as it was one hundred years ago. Though never as (in)famous as Emma Goldman, her ideas on anarchism, feminism, class struggle, freedom and capitalism are of equal importance.

Drawn to anarchism once she was aware of the injustice meted out to the Haymarket Martyrs, Voltairine initially was an individualist anarchist in the mould of Benjamin Tucker. However, she quickly saw the limitations of that position and moved to the revolutionary mutualism of her mentor Dyer D. Lum before working with Goldman and Berkman on their magazine "Mother Earth." While finally becoming a communist-anarchist, she (like Errico Malatesta) advocated "Anarchism without Adjectives," recognising there was little point in splitting the movement over future social arrangements and that an anarchist society would see a multitude of social experimentation and diversity based on individual desiresand objective circumstances.

Her odyssey through anarchism reflected the change in American anarchism itself as America moved (with help of the state) from a predominantly rural pre-capitalist society to a predominantly urban capitalist one. As she put it

"Originally the American movement, the native creation which arose with Josiah Warren in 1829, was purely individualistic; the student of economy will easily understand the material and historical causes for such development. But within the last twenty years the communist idea has made great progress, owning primarily to that concentration in capitalist production which has driven the American workingman to grasp at the idea of solidarity, and, secondly, to the expulsion of active communist propagandists from Europe."
("The Making of an Anarchist")

Her changing positions allow an insight into why social anarchism is more popular within anarchist circles than individualism or mutualism. It also indicates why anarchism and capitalism are incompatible. However, itis the common thread of hatred of hierarchy and the means to end it which makes Voltairine's ideas so important and worth reading today. Her emphasis on self-liberation, her awareness that we must free ourselves from mental as well as physical fetters and that the oppressed (such as women and workers) have to rely on their own efforts and practice what they preach that makes her such an important thinker.

Anarchism, for her, not only raises the possibility of a better future, one which genuinely respects individual freedom, but also urges us to apply what we can of our ideas today. By encouraging the oppressed to revolt, we bring anarchism closer

"Anarchism . . . teaches the possibility of a society in which the needs of life may be fully supplied for all, and in which the opportunities for complete development of mind and body shall be the heritage of all. . . [It] teaches that the present unjust organisation of the production and distribution of wealth must finally be completely destroyed, and replaced by a system which will insure to each the liberty to work, withoutfirst seeking a master to whom he must surrender a tithe of his product,which will guarantee his liberty of access to the sources and means of production. . . Out of the blindly submissive, it makes the discontented; out of the unconsciously dissatisfied, it makes the consciously dissatisfied . . . Anarchism seeks to arouse the consciousness of oppression, the desire for a better society, and a sense of the necessity for unceasing warfare against capitalism and the State." ("McKinley's Assassination from the Anarchist Standpoint")
Anarcha-feminism
Obviously, feminism (or the "Women Question" as it was called back then) was a major focus for Voltairine. Reading her feminist essays such as "Sex Slavery" gives you a glimpse why. They paint a horrifying picture of how stifling the lives of women were at that time.

Not having the vote was just the start of it. Women had few legal rights and married women became little more than the property of their husband. They could not dispose of their own property without the husband's consent, could not sign contracts, sue or be sued, nor did they have any custody rights. The father's parental right superseded the mother's. Violence within marriage against women was allowed (the concept of marital rape simply did not exist). Economically, there were few opportunities for either single or married women. Sweatshop conditions, long hours and low pay were the lot of working class women while those of the middle classes might be able to work as a teacher or nurse. Sex outside of marriage was considered shameful and that women may want and like it was not considered a possibility outside of radical circles (if at all). Birth control was nearly unheard of and abortion rights non-existent (Emma Goldman, for example, was imprisoned for publicising both).

Yet while, in the west, things have got better (thanks to the women's movement and activists and thinkers like Voltairine), sexism and patriarchy still remain and so does the relevance of Voltairine's work. Given that women have had the vote for some time, it is clear that sexism has deeper roots than can be got at by a mere cross on a bit of paper every four or five years.

She rightly rejected the idea that patriarchy or sexism could be ignored by radicals as a side issue, arguing that you "can have no free, orjust, or equal society, nor anything approaching it, so long as womanhood is bought, sold, housed, clothed, fed, and protected, as a chattel." She rejected the idea that fighting patriarchical relationships could wait until "after the revolution" (as many socialists and anarchists did at the time). They had to be fought now, as part of the general struggle for freedom for "if social progress consists in a constant tendency towards the equalization of the liberties of social units, then the demands of progress are not satisfied so long as half society, Women, is in subjection. . . . Woman . . . is beginning to feel her servitude; that there is a requisite acknowledgement to be won from her master before he is put down and she exalted to -- Equality. This acknowledgement is, the freedom to control her own person." ("The Gates of Freedom") However, she did not stop there. For Voltairine, whether in society, the workplace or in the home, the "freedom to control her own person" has to be wrested from authority whether it was exercised the state, bosses or by men.

Voltairine attacked the idea that gender roles are inherent in human nature, seeing them as the result of socialisation. In "The Gates of Freedom," she skilfully refuted one pseudo-scientific explanation of women's inferior position in society by demonstrating the author's assumptions simply reflected the society he was trying to defend. She stressed that while inequality bred the social and mental habits that are used to justify it, "equal opportunity, and the same environment which developed the present intellectual superiority of man will soon develop the intellectual equality of woman. We are inferior in these things,because we have never had the chance to be equal."

As an anarchist, she based her ideas on reaching such an environment on the need for self-liberation, on the oppressed using direct action to break their chains. As she put it, "as a class I have nothing to hope from men . . . No tyrant ever renounced his tyranny until he had to. If history ever teaches us anything it teaches this. Therefore my hope lies in creating rebellion in the breasts of women." This implied that women had to look to themselves for change, not men or the state. "I never expect men to give us liberty," she argued. "No, Women, we are not worth it, until we take it . . . By insisting on a new code of ethics founded on the law of equal freedom: a code recognising the complete individuality of woman. By making rebels wherever we can. By ourselves living our beliefs. . . . We are revolutionists. And we shall use propaganda by speech, deed, and most of all life-- being what we teach." ("The Gates of Freedom")

This advocacy that women must put into practice their ideas of equality is an important contribution of Voltairine's. She herself lived in conformity with her feminist principles and this forced those who came into contact with her to confront her ideas, and their own sexism and assumptions, in concrete not just abstract terms. This was the case within the anarchist movement itself, which (in theory) was meant to oppose patriarchy along with all other forms of hierarchy. In practice, this was not the case, as Voltairine points out in the essay "Sex Slavery" even those who repudiate the State still clung to the notion that they were the heads of families and that a woman's place was in the home.

http://www.anarkismo.net/newswire.php?story_id=2135

http://anarchism.ws/writers/anarcho.html

And Voltairine was right, too, not just about women but about all oppressed people: in the most important sense, no one ever "gives" an oppressed people or group their freedom or "brings" democracy to an entire other nation.

Historian and civil rights activist Howard Zinn penned a play entitled Emma three years ago. For the May anarchist theatre fest a production will be presented in Montreal either on May 8 or 9. This and locally authored and produced skits will be part of the two-day show.

I received the call-out for submissions, which I have pasted below.

WANTED: ANARCHIST PLAYS FOR MONTREAL'S 1ST ANARCHIST THEATRE FESTIVAL

Montreal's newly created 'Anarchist Theatre Festival' is now seeking submissions of anarchist theatre
pieces to be staged May 8 & 9, 2006. This will be North America's first ever festival of anarchist theatre.

The festival is part of Montreal's annual 'Festival of Anarchy' that leads up to the city's
7th annual 'Anarchist Bookfair,' May 20 & 21st, the largest anarchist event in North America.

We are looking for theatre pieces about anarchists, anarchist ideas, history, or any subject related to anarchism. We will consider plays or monologues that are original new work, or that have already been performed, or that have been written by anarchists (historical or contemporary). The pieces can be either full productions or staged readings in either French or English.

We are looking for work that is anti-State, anti-capitalist, non-sexist,
non-homophobic, anti-Empire, anti-authoritarian, etc. We want anarchist content written by either
anarchist playwrights or writers who are sympathetic to anarchism. ( Please see the 'Principles' section of the web site of the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair for a more detailed description of appropriate guidelines for 'anarchist' content. http://anarchistbookfair.taktic.org )

We ask all potential participants to explain why they believe their proposal would fit in this Festival.

This is an all-volunteer event, thus, without any remuneration. The Festival will provide publicity, an appropriate indoor venue, and a guaranteed interested audience. (All proceeds from sale of tickets will
cover Festival expenses and be used for staging future festivals.)

If interested, please send either an outline of your proposal, or a few sample pages from your work
NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 22, 2006 to either: [email protected]
or
@ Theatre Festival
c/o S. Laplage
6797 rue de Normanville
Montréal, Quebec
H2S 2C2
If you submit anything by snail mail, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
*******************************************************

quote:

---

let's try the words anarchy and feminism together instead //
and nobody ever speaks or hears about voltairine decleyre //
you open up the His Story books and the pages are bare //
like no women ever spoke about wages unfair // . . .

---

You are so ON TOPIC no wonder you posted here.

I clicked on the profile icon and noticed you put 'hali' in for location. But I doubt you are living in Haliburton County, Ontario, the only 'hali' I know. Your other bio and link facts point to Montreal and total bilingualism.

Please post more poetry on your blog. Women are taking over the dub and the rap scene as the top performers around, and it is appropriate that this thread is feminism.

If you are from MTL can you clue me in about the Lulu (LouLou?) Lounge on Bleury? On the Monday spoken word show, some rappers promoted the Wednesday open mike at this venue. They also gave a promo for The Underground Poets Society here.

You picked up on the Anarchist Bookfest coming up in May in Montreal, but your post didn't mention the new Theatrefest, except to catch that Emma is on. Why don't you look over the call-out and go here for more info. The details on how to submit a short script, which I hope you will consider, are in the post above.

Howard Zinn is fine. We still need more women writing about women in this fête, so please come in.

Since I know all the babblers will be passing on your blog address, would you also run the call-out for anarchist submissions there?

Edited to clean up link positioning. rjp

[ 07 February 2006: Message edited by: Ross J. Peterson ]

QPIRG meetings at both Concordia and McGill (find out where they distribute lit or google the sites) are the biggest hub. The anarchist bookstore and library (upstairs) on w. side of Saint-Laurent betw. Ontario and Sherbrooke is a good place to meet anarcho-this or that.

But with your skills, honey, check out what I'm going to see tomorrow night and nights following:

Lola Lounge
1023 Bleury, Mtl Phone (514) 875-0004

The Open Mike at

Parlay 4 Sho: Spoken Word/Open mic
Feb 8, 8pm, $3. Lola Lounge, 1023 Bleury 514.875-0004

Parlay 4 Sho is connected to a Thursday evening workshop at the Little Burgundy community centre on Workman Street. Maybe they are mostly femmes. At least the performers on the Monday spoken word show on CKUT were women and did an excellent job.

As for Marx, don't forget that Marx's youngest daughter Eleanor was very much a radical activist and writer in her own right. Sad story too, her cad of a companion (Edward Aveling) makes one think of Shaw's "Unsocial Socialist"...

anarchodemia

-=-

Glad we're communicating on a couple words I asked about.

I had to crop the photos.

The originals show the empty table and chairs on the left. It made the place look too empty.

Ross

Each image is hosted on an anonymous server site. Just click on the link or paste it into your browser, please.

http://xs67.xs.to/pics/06064/zook.jpg

http://xs67.xs.to/pics/06064/P1050570_2.JPG

http://xs67.xs.to/pics/06064/P1050567_2.JPG

http://xs67.xs.to/pics/06064/P1050566_1.JPG

http://xs67.xs.to/pics/06064/Open_Mike.jpg

In the comments that follow, cut from an email I sent a friend, I did not mention it. I will up front. A couple white guys were right in there with, as they say, the brothers and the sisters, rapping in style. Me being white though and much older, I come from a different tradition. By rap standards I'm homey and cornpone.
Here goes the out-take and ciao, glad you came along.

Last Saturday I enjoyed Anna Fuerstenberg's performance and storytelling. Old World Jewish tales brought timewise right from the pogroms, the advance of fascism in Italy, then Spain and to our doorstep in Montreal.

She sent me, much appreciated, a copy of her poem "In the Sheltering Night," which I enjoyed hearing the first time that night. I'll google her, but doubt I'll find much.