At The Cafe Anarchist Communist Group (ACG)

We are going through an unprecedented time of human history, in which even the future of the planet is at stake. This was not inevitable. It is the result of the systems
that have been brutally imposed by a ruling elite, including colonial expansion and imperialism, which gave rise to global capitalism. This system as spread to every corner of the world, bringing with it exploitation, oppression, wars and environmental disaster.

We believe that only anarchist communism can save the day. The ruling class is desperate to make us think that the serious issues we are facing can be resolved within
capitalism, with continual growth and profits for a few. Too many in the trade unions, reformist parties and environmental believe the same.  Demands for a ‘Just Transition’ or a ‘green economy’ are still all within the logic of capitalism.

Other options are being put forward by Communists of the Leninist tradition. Though they call for revolution, theirs would be a top-down one, sacrificing our freedom in the process.

Anarchism, without the communism, is also an inadequate solution. Focusing on individual freedom and being anti-authority does not address the big changes that need to take place in our economic and social systems.

Instead we
propose anarchist communism. As Malatesta said:

“We too aspire to communism as the
most perfect achievement of human solidarity, but it must be anarchist communism, that is, freely desired and accepted, and the means by which the freedom of everyone is guaranteed and can expand; for these reasons we maintain that State communism, which is authoritarian and imposed, is the most hateful tyranny that has ever afflicted, tormented and handicapped mankind.”

 

 

 

Public Discussion Meeting hosted by the ACG.

This is a complete and unedited recording of a public discussion meeting held in June 2022 by the ACG on the cost of living.

This is a podcast of our pamphlet Land and Liberty- arguing the case for building movement for land justice as part of a general revolutionary movement for anarchist communism.

Nick Heath talks about anarchist communism and how this current is the main way forward for building a well-organised, revolutionary, working class anarchist movement.

Recently two important books on anarchist communism have appeared. They both seek to reclaim the tradition of anarchist communism, and both have been written by veterans of the anarchist communist movement. The first to appear has been A Defence of Anarchist Communism by Brian Morris, followed by The Idea: Anarchist Communism, Past, Present and Future. Brian has been defending the “integrity, importance and contemporary relevance of anarchist communism as a historical movement and as a political tradition” for more than 40 years in pamphlets, articles, books and letters. In Defence of Anarchist Communism is a very valuable book, and one that will hopefully rehabilitate anarchist communism and bring it to the attention of many new readers. As Brian writes: “…it is important to recognise and stress the vitality and continuing relevance of anarchist communism as a political tradition. Like all social movements, anarchist communism is complex, diverse, and ever-changing, open and responding to new events and new ideas…”

Nick Heath’s book seeks to rehabilitate the current of anarchist-communism and make it better known and understood; and to renovate and modernise it. It offers a prehistory of the idea of anarchist communism, its origins in the First International and extensive chapters on the history of anarchist communism in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. As such it will be the first comprehensive work on anarchist communism, one where it is not sidelined or where it ends up as a footnote.