We thank our comrade Jean-Yves from UCL for dedicating a review to our
book Marxists and Libertarians: Revolutionary Affinities (Libertalia,2025)[3]. The title of his article is: "A Re-edition: What For?". We
reply: a) to replace the first edition, which is out of print and which
the publisher (Fayard!) refused to reprint; b) because there are young
readers interested in this topic; and c) to update the text with a few
additions. --- We are grateful to our comrade for his review. It is
indeed very important for us to inform the readers of Alternative
libertaire about the publication of our book.
However, we cannot hide a certain disappointment. Not because of the
criticisms, which are normal, but because of the complete absence of any
positive feedback about the book... The entire review is exclusively
negative. And sometimes a bit "inaccurate."
For example, according to the reviewer, the new version is "virtually
identical" to the first. The "only notable change" is supposedly the
bibliographical references added by the publisher. However, in addition
to these partial changes, we have added two new chapters, one of which
is on internationalism, discussing the convergences and solidarities
between Marxists and libertarians, in solidarity with Ukraine, Rojava,
and Palestine, and in the fight against fascism. The reviewer is free to
believe that this chapter is uninteresting, but it would have been more
appropriate to point it out to the readers of AL.
The reviewer criticizes us for not having addressed Marx's authoritarian
practices in the First International. Admittedly, this is a legitimate
criticism, but we chose not to list all of Marx's criticisms of
Bakunin's followers and vice versa, in order to focus on their shared
support for the Paris Commune. We plead guilty to this choice.
We accept another criticism: referring only to the International
Workingmen's Association without mentioning the larger and more recent
international anarchist networks. This should be corrected in a third
edition. But suggesting that our goal was to "muddy the waters" is
unfounded. The comrade complains that we don't analyze the differences
between libertarian currents, but he doesn't set a good example by
failing to distinguish between "Leninist organizations, in their
Stalinist, Trotskyist, or Maoist variants." The anarchists of the
CNT-FAI[1]in Barcelona in 1937 were perfectly capable of distinguishing
between Stalinists and comrades in the POUM[2](even though they claimed
to follow Lenin and Trotsky).
The reviewer accuses us of "mixing up the good and bad points without
any serious basis." The only example given is the section on elections.
According to Comrade Jean-Yves, we "caricature their positions." On the
contrary, we acknowledge that even the most revolutionary Marxists are
not immune to the electoralism denounced by anarchists. Where is the
caricature? Another argument from the comrade: "The NPA regularly seeks
alliances with reformist organizations." However, as we have already
explained several times, our book is not an NPA document, and our
opinions are not always those of our party, which admits-yes, indeed! -
Different viewpoints on several subjects...
We had hoped that our comrades at Alternative libertaire would discuss
our book in the spirit of "revolutionary affinities" and "solidarity
convergences" between our currents. Too bad. Perhaps another time.
Michael Löwy and Olivier Besancenot
Olivier Besancenot and Michael Löwy, Marxists and Libertarians,
Libertalia, 2025, 224 pages, EUR10.
Submit
[1]National Confederation of Labor - Iberian Anarchist Federation.
[2]Workers' Party of Marxist Unification.
[3]"A re-edition: what for?", Alternative libertaire no. 364, October 2025.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Droit-de-reponse-Marxistes-et-libertaires
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