Magonism ( es, Magonismo) is an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

, or more precisely

anarcho-communist Anarcho-communism, also known as anarchist communism, (or, colloquially, ''ancom'' or ''ancomm'') is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private property but retains resp ...

school of thought A school of thought, or intellectual tradition, is the perspective of a group of people who share common characteristics of opinion or outlook of a philosophy, discipline, belief, social movement, economics, cultural movement, or art movement. ...

precursor of the

Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...

of 1910. It is mainly based on the ideas of

Ricardo Flores Magón Cipriano Ricardo Flores Magón (, known as Ricardo Flores Magón; September 16, 1874 – November 21, 1922) was a noted Mexican anarchist and social reform activist. His brothers Enrique and Jesús were also active in politics. Followers o ...

, his brothers

Enrique Enrique () is the Spanish variant of the given name Heinrich of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Enric (Catalan), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian), Heinrich (German), Hendrik, Henk (D ...

and Jesús, and also other collaborators of the Mexican newspaper ''

Regeneración () was a Mexican anarchist newspaper that functioned as the official organ of the Mexican Liberal Party. Founded by the Flores Magón brothers in 1900, it was forced to move to the United States in 1905. Jesús Flores Magón published the pape ...

'' (organ of the Mexican Liberal Party), as

Práxedis Guerrero Práxedis Gilberto Guerrero Hurtado (28 August 1882 – 30 December 1910) was a Mexican anarchist poet, journalist and fighter who served as an insurgent leader during the 1910 Revolution. Biography Guerrero was originally from Los Altos de Ib ...

Librado Rivera Librado Rivera (August 17, 1864 - March 1, 1932) was an anarchist during the Mexican Revolution. He co-published the anarchist newspaper '' Regeneración'' with Jesús Flores Magón and Ricardo Flores Magón. He took over editorial duties for the ...

and Anselmo L. Figueroa.

Magonism and anarchism

The Mexican government and the press of the early 20th century called as ''magonistas'' people and groups who shared the ideas of the Flores Magón brothers, who inspired the overthrow of the dictatorship of

Porfirio Díaz José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori ( or ; ; 15 September 1830 – 2 July 1915), known as Porfirio Díaz, was a Mexican general and politician who served seven terms as President of Mexico, a total of 31 years, from 28 November 1876 to 6 Decem ...

and performed an economic and political revolution. The fight against tyranny encouraged by the Flores Magón contravened official discourse of '' Porfirian Peace'' by which the protesters were rated as the ''Revoltosos Magonistas'' (i.e. "Magonist rioters") to isolate any social basis and preserve the image of peace and progress imposed by force. Both of Flores Magón's brothers, like other members of the Mexican Liberal Party (PLM), used the term ''magonista'' to refer to the libertarian movement that promoted; as they felt they were fighting for an ideal and not to elevate in power to a boss or a group, they called themselves "liberals", as they were organized in the PLM, and later "anarchists".

himself affirmed: ''Liberal Party members are not magonistas, they are anarchists!''. In his literary work ''Verdugos y Víctimas'' (i.e. "Executioners and Victims"), one of the characters responds indignantly when he was arrested and judged: ''I'm not a magonist, I am an anarchist. An anarchist has no idols.'' Magonist thinking was influenced by anarchist philosophers such as

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary s ...

and

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Socia ...

, and others such as

Élisée Reclus Jacques Élisée Reclus (; 15 March 18304 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, ''La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes'' ("Universal Geography"), over a period of ...

, Charles Malato,

Errico Malatesta Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expelled from ...

Anselmo Lorenzo Anselmo Lorenzo Asperilla (21 April 1841, in Toledo, Spain – 30 November 1914) was a defining figure in the early Spanish Anarchist movement, earning the often quoted sobriquet "the grandfather of Spanish anarchism," in the words of Murray ...

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...

, Fernando Tarrida del Mármol and

Max Stirner Johann Kaspar Schmidt (25 October 1806 – 26 June 1856), known professionally as Max Stirner, was a German post-Hegelian philosopher, dealing mainly with the Hegelian notion of social alienation and self-consciousness. Stirner is often seen a ...

. They were also influenced by the works of

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

, Gorky and

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

. However, the most influential works were the ones of

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

The Conquest of Bread ''The Conquest of Bread'' (french: La Conquête du Pain; rus, Хлѣбъ и воля, Khleb i volja, "Bread and Freedom"; in contemporary spelling), also known colloquially as The Bread Book, is an 1892 book by the Russian anarcho-communist P ...

'' and '' Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution'', at the same time they were influenced by the Mexican liberal tradition of the 19th century and the self-government system of the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

Magonism and indigenous movement

Indigenous peoples, since the

Spanish conquest of Mexico The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, also known as the Conquest of Mexico or the Spanish-Aztec War (1519–21), was one of the primary events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. There are multiple 16th-century narratives of the eve ...

, searched to preserve the practice of

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the electorate decides on policy initiatives without elected representatives as proxies. This differs from the majority of currently established democracies, which are repres ...

, decision-making in assembly, rotation of administrative charges, the defense of communal property, mutual aid as the community exploitation and rational use of

natural resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest and cultural value. ...

s, shared anarchist principles raised by the magonists. The direct influence of indigenous thought in magonism were the teachings of Teodoro Flores,

mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...

Nahua The Nahuas () are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, a ...

, father of the Flores Magón brothers, and the coexistence of other members of the PLM with indigenous groups during periods of organization and insurrection of PLM, between 1905 and 1910, such as the Popoluca in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

, the

Yaqui The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are a Native American people of the southwest, who speak a Uto-Aztecan language. Their homelands include the Río Yaqui valley in Sonora, Mexico, and the area below the Gila River in Arizona, Southwestern United Sta ...

and Mayo in

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Sonora), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into 72 municipalities; the ...

, and the

Cocopah The Cocopah ( Cocopah: Xawitt Kwñchawaay) are Native Americans who live in Baja California, Mexico, and Arizona, United States. In the United States, Cocopah people belong to the federally recognized Cocopah Tribe of Arizona. Name The ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

. Fernando Palomares, a Mayo indigenous, was one of the most active members of the Liberal Party who took part in the Cananea strike and libertarian campaign of 1911 in

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California. The city, seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali metropolitan area is home to 1,000,0 ...

and

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

Legacy

After the end of the armed phase of

, and after the death of

in 1922, began the rescue of magonist thought, mainly due to trade unionists in Mexico and the United States. In the post-revolutionary Mexico, the figures of Flores Magón brothers was recollected by governments, considering them precursors of the revolution. Both the insurrection of 1910 as social rights enshrined in the

Mexican Constitution of 1917 The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...

was due largely to the ''magonistas'', which since 1906 took up arms and drafted an economic and social program. However, although the demands that led to the revolution in theory were resolved in the Constitution and in the speeches of the revolutionary governments, there was no significant change in the lives of the most vulnerable populations. Also the ''magonistas'' considered not fighting to change the administrators of the state, but to abolish them. For this reason, the survived ''magonistas'' continued to spread anarchist propaganda.

was persecuted and imprisoned during the government of

Plutarco Elías Calles Plutarco Elías Calles (25 September 1877 – 19 October 1945) was a general in the Mexican Revolution and a Sonoran politician, serving as President of Mexico from 1924 to 1928. The 1924 Calles presidential campaign was the first populist ...

and

Enrique Flores Magón Enrique Flores Magón (13 April 1877 – 28 October 1954) was a Mexican journalist and politician, associated with the Mexican Liberal Party and anarchism. His name is most frequently linked with that of his elder brother, Ricardo Flores Mag� ...

, who believed that ''the Mexican social revolution is not yet over'', could enjoy security until the presidency of

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the Me ...

. The Mexican Anarchist Federation, founded in 1941 and active for about 40 years, edited the newspaper ''

'' and spread Magonist thought. In the 1980s Magonism survived among some youth

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...

groups. The ''Biblioteca Social Reconstruir'', founded in 1980 by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

anarchist in exile Ricardo Mestre and located in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

, was a library where to find anarchist literature and works on Ricardo Flores Magón or copies of ''Regeneración''. In 1994, when the

Zapatista Army of National Liberation The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (, EZLN), often referred to as the Zapatistas (Mexican ), is a far-left political and militant group that controls a substantial amount of territory in Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico. Since ...

(EZLN) took up arms in

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...

, claimed the ideas of the Flores Magón brothers. In 1997, indigenous organizations, social groups of libertarians and municipal councils of the state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the Federative Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipaliti ...

, declared the "Citizen Year of Ricardo Flores Magón" from 21 November (1997) to 16 September 1998. In August 2000, driven by indigenous organizations in the State of Oaxaca and libertarian groups in

, the Magonistas Days (''Jornadas Magonistas'') were held for the 100 years of the founding of the newspaper ''

''. Some organizations and youth groups taking part in the 2006 popular uprising in Oaxaca were influenced by anarchist ''magonistas'' ideals.

Literature

*Rubén Trejo: ''Magonismo: utopía y revolución, 1910–1913''. 2005, Cultura Libre – *M. Ballesteros, J. C. Beas, B. Maldonado: ''Magonismo y Movimiento Indígena en México''. 2003, Ce-Acatl AC

References

External links