The Anarchist Workers Association (AWA) was one of a number of class-struggle anarchist organisations that existed prior to the resurgence of

anarchism in the United Kingdom Anarchism in the United Kingdom initially developed within the religious dissent movement that began after the Protestant Reformation. Anarchism was first seen among the radical republican elements of the English Civil War and following the S ...

during the miners' strike of 1984.

History

The Organisation of Revolutionary Anarchists (ORA) was first established as a faction within the reconstituted

Anarchist Federation of Britain The Anarchist Federation of Britain was a British anarchist organisation that participated in the anti-war movement during World War II, organising a number of strike actions and providing support to conscientious objectors. Over time it gravita ...

(AFB), which had formed in reaction to the AFB's "powerlessness and lack of formal structure". The ORA grouped itself around the newspaper ''Libertarian Struggle'', which circulated about 1,500-2,000 copies, making it larger than most other anarchist periodicals at the time. The grouping accepted

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

activity, while also remaining critical of "union bureaucrats". In 1975, the ORA split off from the AFB and reconstituted itself as the Anarchist Workers Association (AWA), in order to emphasise its workerist orientation. It declared itself in favour of

class conflict In political science, the term class conflict, class struggle, or class war refers to the economic antagonism and political tension that exist among social classes because of clashing interests, competition for limited resources, and inequali ...

and advocated for a violent

social revolution Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political system ...

to overthrow

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

. With the emergence of the

punk subculture The punk subculture includes a diverse and widely known array of Punk rock, music, Punk ideologies, ideologies, Punk fashion, fashion, and other forms of expression, Punk visual art, visual art, dance, Punk literature, literature, and film. La ...

, there came a renewed interest in anarchism, but this caught the AWA at a time when it was in disarray. In 1977, the AWA experienced a split, with its remnants forming the Libertarian Communist Group (LCG). Its new name represented the group's break with anarchism, as it considered the British anarchist movement of the time to be "unable to intervene actively in the struggles of the working class". During the

1979 United Kingdom general election The 1979 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 3 May 1979 to elect List of MPs elected in the 1979 United Kingdom general election, 635 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The election was hel ...

, the LCG participated in Socialist Unity, a

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

electoral alliance that failed to achieve any meaningful results in the polls, leading the LCG to merge with

libertarian Marxists Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other ...

of Big Flame. In response to the rise of

Thatcherism Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character a ...

, the Labour Party entered a period of relatively more

left-wing politics Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

, with a number of Trotskyist groups joining the party. Although the LCG had theoretically opposed Trotskyism, their close collaboration with Trotskyist organisations influenced many of the LCG's former members to themselves join the Labour Party, adopting the Trotskyist tactic of

entryism Entryism (also called entrism, enterism, infiltration, a French Turn, boring from within, or boring-from-within) is a political strategy in which an organization or state encourages its members or supporters to join another, usually larger, organiz ...

. In 1984, a number of former members of the LCG established the Libertarian Communist Discussion Group (LCDG), which formed the nucleus for an organisation that eventually grew into the Anarchist Federation.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Anarchism 1975 establishments in the United Kingdom 1984 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Anarchist organisations in the United Kingdom Communist organisations in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1975 Organizations disestablished in 1984