A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #373 - Political Legacy - Platform/Synthesis: An Opposition That Still Relevant (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

While a century later the debate between the Platform and the Synthesis 
may seem old and outdated, it continues to reveal profound divisions in 
the very nature of anarchism, divisions that still shape the 
organizational landscape of the entire anarchist movement today. --- The 
historical situation of 1926 is quite different from our own: we no 
longer experience the hope of an imminent world revolution; we are 
neither in the aftermath of the First World War and the traumas it 
engendered, nor in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution and the 
experiment of a libertarian society in Ukraine, with its hopes and 
failures... All these points might suggest that, given their specific 
contexts of drafting, the elements of both the Platform and the 
Synthesis are now obsolete, as they respond to the needs of a bygone 
era. Thus, it may be legitimate to ask whether the debate between the 
Platform and the Synthesis is still relevant today.

Quite clearly, the question of anarchist organization is no longer posed 
as it was a century ago. The Platform takes on a quasi-military 
organizational form, inspired by the Makhnovshchina, with the aim of 
being ready to defend the coming revolution. Thus, today, so-called 
platformist organizations do not seek to reproduce the text verbatim; 
they adapt it to our times and our contexts, while retaining its basic 
spirit. This modernization leads, for example, French libertarian 
communists, since the time of the Union of Libertarian Communist Workers 
(UTCL), to prioritize strategic unity over tactical unity[1]. Meanwhile, 
other libertarian communist organizational models have also emerged, 
such as specificism, which today influences (in addition to the 
Platform) social and organized anarchists worldwide.

From the Synthesis perspective, the basic thesis that divides anarchism 
into three currents (libertarian communism, anarchist individualism, and 
anarcho-syndicalism) is outdated. Its context is the outcome of the 1907 
International Anarchist Congress in Amsterdam, which crystallized the 
opposition between libertarian communists advocating an anarchist 
"party"[2](Malatesta) and anarcho-syndicalists calling for anarchists to 
concentrate their efforts in trade unions (Monatte). This thesis is now 
entirely obsolete: organized anarchists (including the UCL) have fully 
embraced the strategy of organizational dualism, which combines trade 
union involvement with the construction of a specific libertarian 
communist organization.

However, some elements remain timeless. The anarchist movement remains 
permeated by anti-organizational principles: from the valorization of 
local affinity groups (loosely organized and, due to a lack of 
structure, reproducing social oppressions), to the rejection of 
anarchist coordination in the construction of counter-powers, which is 
perceived as authoritarian.

Beyond the debate between Platform and Synthesis, libertarian communists 
of the Platformist tendency have reconciled the best of revolutionary 
Marxism and the best of anarchism to make anarchist organization a means 
to serve the emancipation of the working masses.

Niya (UCL Paris Nord-Est)
The Definition of Anarchism
And yet, there is one point in the Platform/Synthesis debate that still 
fractures the anarchist movement today between the heirs of these two 
major tendencies: the question of the origin of anarchism, of its very 
nature. The Platform, in its time, sought to give anarchism a definitive 
form, a form in which all organized anarchists and class strugglers find 
common ground, regardless of the period.

Whereas the Synthesis defines anarchism as a "philosophical and social 
movement"[3], the Platform excludes moral and philosophical aspects from 
its definition. On the contrary, for us, Platformists, anarchism is "not 
a beautiful fantasy, nor an abstract philosophical idea: it is the 
social movement of the working masses"[4]. Anarchism was born in the 
workers' movement of the First International; its great 
ideas-self-management, socialization, federalism, communalism, etc.-are 
spontaneous creations of workers struggling against capitalism and the 
State, seeking to build a new, egalitarian, and anti-authoritarian 
society. The thinkers described as "precursors" or "founders" invented 
nothing; their role was to transcribe the emancipatory aspirations of 
the masses.

Our legacy
This rupture leads to another. The automatic exclusion of individualists 
from the conception of anarchism is in total contradiction with the 
Synthetists' desire to unify anarchism. We, the Platformists, 
acknowledge the inability of libertarian communists to organize 
effectively with individualists, who have historically been proponents 
of disorganization. The division between these two conceptions of 
anarchism is so great that it can only lead to constant quarrels, 
contradictory militant strategies and practices that neutralize each 
other... These differences could only lead to the stagnation and 
ineffectiveness of our organizations, which is why it is important to 
remain within the Platform, to preserve its legacy while remaining 
grounded in our present in order to adapt it as best as possible.

Voline (1882-1945) is one of the theorists of the Anarchist Synthesis.

The Charbinoise Paper
Consequently, the four pillars of platformism-tactical and strategic 
unity, theoretical unity, collective and individual responsibility, and 
federalism-remain major references for all anarchist organizations 
worldwide that seek to become a significant political force, to have 
effective revolutionary activity, and a real base among the masses. For 
an organized class-struggle anarchism!

Arkann (UCL Amiens)

EXCERPTS FROM VOLINE'S ANARCHIST SYNTHESIS
The term "anarchist synthesis" refers to a trend currently emerging 
within the libertarian movement, seeking to reconcile and then 
"synthesize" the different currents of thought that divide this movement 
into several factions, some more hostile to one another than others. 
Essentially, it aims to unify, to a certain extent, anarchist theory and 
also the anarchist movement into a harmonious, ordered, and complete 
whole.[...]

The three main ideas that, according to the Declaration, should be 
accepted by all serious anarchists in order to unify the movement are as 
follows:

1. Definitive acceptance of the syndicalist principle, which indicates 
the true method of social revolution;

2. Definitive acceptance of the communist (libertarian) principle, which 
establishes the organizational basis of the new society in formation;

3. Definitive acceptance of the individualist principle, the total 
emancipation and happiness of the individual being the true goal of the 
social revolution and the new society.

While developing these ideas, the Declaration attempts to clearly define 
the notion of "social revolution" and to counter the tendency of some 
libertarians to adapt anarchism to the so-called "transitional period." 
That said, instead of reiterating the arguments of the Declaration, we 
prefer to develop the theoretical argument of the synthesis ourselves.

Validate

[1]See the article in the same issue, "Beyond the Platform: Tactical 
Unity in Question."

[2]"By anarchist party, we mean all those who want to contribute to 
achieving anarchy, and who, consequently, need to set themselves a goal 
to reach and a path to follow." Malatesta, "The Organization," 
L'Agitazione, 1897.

[3]Sébastien Faure, The Anarchist Synthesis, 1928.

[4]Archinov, Nestor Makhno, Ida Mett, Valesvsky, Linsky, Platform for 
the Organization of Libertarian Communists, 1926.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Plateforme-Synthese-Une-opposition-qui-fait-toujours-sens
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