What was the Capital of the Russian-Language Anarchist Press in 1917?

• In Event: ‘Down with Authority and Capital!’: Anarchist Media and Revolutions, 1917-1921

Abstract

This paper captures a dynamic picture of the Russian-language anarchist press in 1917, a pivotal year in the history of the revolutionary press that saw the dismantlement of state censorship after the fall of Tsarism. However, the ensuing establishment of Soviet power posed new challenges to the media landscape. Periodicals, leaflets, pamphlets, and books were one tangible result of anarchist operations in 1917. Collating bibliographical data on them indicates where and when nodes of the anarchist movement operated in 1917 and how they were interlinked. Whilst the production of texts was an activity relatively independent of material conditions, with some contributors to the anarchist press writing from exile or prison, the production and distribution of printed matter indicate access to resources like printing equipment, skilled compositors and printers, bookshops and posts. Thus, mapping the results of these activities reveals the relative strength of Russian-language anarchists in various locations in Switzerland, the USA, Russia, etc. This presentation offers valuable insights into the transnational operation of the anarchist movement, an important but under-researched section of the revolutionary movement, and a notable part of the European and North American exiled milieu.

Author

• Dmitrii Ivanov, Independent Scholar