WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, OCL CA #346 - Henri Simon passed away on December 16th at the age of 102 (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Following the life of the host of the magazine Échanges et mouvement is

to travel through the history of the anti-Stalinist revolutionary
workers' movement since the end of the Second World War. From the PCF to
Socialisme ou barbarie stemming from Trotskyism; from ILO to ICO
(Information correspondance ouvrière) then to Échanges until today, he
consistently positions himself in the councilist line of the
German-Dutch communist left of the years 1925/30 illustrated among
others by Anton Pannekoek, Otto Rhüle or Paul Mattick. We will soon
return in CA to this current very close to the libertarian communism to
which we claim to belong.
In his eyes "The emancipation of the workers will be the work of the
workers themselves" was far from being a formula hackneyed by all the
avant-gardes claiming to show the way to the proletarians. Rejecting the
usefulness of parties, workers' councils were the only form emerging
from the working class capable of remaining under its control. To learn
more about the life and personality of Henri Simon, you should not miss
watching or rewatching Jeanne NETON's documentary HENRI SIMON -
L'HISTOIRE D'UN (NON-)MILITANT (50 minutes, 2018, produced by Affinités
électives, available online. A version with English subtitles exists.

You can also listen to the radio program l'Egregore on the OCL website,
dated December 23, 2024, entitled "Henri Simon vu par lui-même". This
replay of an interview conducted in 2020 by the website "Sortir du
capitalisme", which covers:

* An analysis of his original family context, that of an atheist family
in a rural village between the two wars marked by Catholic hegemony and
a class division between agricultural workers - farmers - middle class -
notables, before a radicalization of antagonisms at the time of the
Popular Front;
* An account of his time in the PCF and from the CGT to Socialisme ou
Barbarie and to council communism, notably through a growing critique of
wage labor and its morality that led to his exclusion from the CGT;
* A brief critical history of Socialisme ou Barbarie (up to the
exclusion of Henri Simon in 1958 due to his differences with
Castoriadis), of his anti-capitalist and anti-bureaucratic analyses, of
his internal differences on the subject of council communism, Leninism,
the future of capitalism and the de Gaulle coup d'état and of his
reaction to the major events of the 1950s (East Germany 1953, Algerian
War, Hungary 1956);
* A history of the organizations co-founded by Henri Simon during the
1960s (ILO and ICO), their position of refusal of avant-gardism at the
time of the strikes of May-June 1968, and their relations with the
Situationist International;
* A description of his thesis project on the sociology of refusal to
work, never completed due to a burglary;
* An original analysis of class struggles in Poland in 1976 and
1980-1981, in Spain during the 1970s and in England in 1984-1985
(miners' strike), with a critical analysis of the role of unions
(notably Solidarnosc).

A company activist, Henri always refused to play any specific role in
the unfolding of the class struggle, remaining faithful to the idea that
any revolutionary change should be brought about by the workers themselves.

Although he was first and foremost an activist in journal groups in
which he wrote countless articles, he is also the author of numerous
books. These include:

Une expérience d'organisation ouvrière. Le Conseil du personnel des
Assurances Générales-Vie, 1957 (reprinted in 2002);
"June 25, 1976 in Poland: Workers against Capital" (March 1984-March
1985), Acratie, 1987;
"From Anti-Francoism to Post-Francoism. Political Illusions and Class
Struggle", (co-written with his Dutch comrade Cajo Brendel) republished
by Spartacus, 1979.
Under the pseudonym Mosin, he had also published 2 studies in the form
of brochures for Exchanges and Movement in recent years: Progress and
Barbarism Rare Earth, Lithium, Cobalt: Capitalist Innovation Kills in
2018 and The Unpredictable Predictable. Climate, Silences and
Manipulations in 2021.

A tireless correspondent with revolutionaries around the world, his
epistolary work is probably the most considerable. The publication by
Acratie of his correspondence with his old comrade Henry Chazé (Gaston
Davoust) includes 2 volumes already published - "You make History!"
1955-1962 from SoB to ICO, "Le vent en Poupe" 1963-1968, Overcoming
Marxism? ".

Volume 3 "Hope and Dislocation" 1968-1974 What is a revolutionary group?
is announced for 2025[1].

It is a lesser known fact that Henri Simon is also the author of
stories, tales or poems about which he remained discreet and which he
concealed under his public and political life.  His passing may allow us
to access this part of his writings that his modesty has too often
reserved for a restricted circle.

With his passing, a whole part of the living memory of council communism
and the French ultra-left is fading.

Dear subscriber,
A number of you have been worried about not having received the Échanges
newsletter since its issue 185 dated winter 2023-2024. The weakening of
Henri Simon and then his death provide the explanation... A tribute will
be paid to him on January 24 and 25.
On Friday, January 24, Henri's ashes will be scattered in the memorial
garden of Rozay-en-Brie (Seine-et-Marne), the village where he grew up.
The next day, Saturday, January 25, a tribute will be paid to him
(followed by a Spanish inn) in Paris, at the EDMP premises, 8, impasse
Crozatier, from 5pm to 9pm.
These circumstances have led us to think about the future of the newsletter.
With Henri's agreement, we have decided to release a special issue of
the magazine, which will be its last. Our idea is to solicit texts from
different people wishing to write about their experience with Échanges
during its long existence (50 years in April!), whether this encounter
lasted or not... We would like to receive all contributions before
mid-January 2025, so that it can be distributed on January 25 in Paris.
One rule: no tributes, no hagiography, please!
Do not hesitate to respond to these different points by writing to us
at: echangesetmouvement@gmail.com or: Échanges et mouvement, BP 241,
75866 Paris Cedex 18

Friendships and solidarity,
Échanges & Mouvement

Notes
[1]it has been published since this article was written

https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4334
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