We invite you for a talk and conversation about the history of Dutch anarchism 1870-1940 Thursday June 8th, from 19:15 - 21:45 in the Anarchist Library, Bollox, Eerste Schinkelstraat 14 Amsterdam.

The Netherlands has an amazing yet largely obscured history of struggles for a better world. In the last part of the 19th and early 20th century the anarchist movement had a powerful influence at the personal, local, national and international level and a myriad of inspiring and surprisingly relevant stories should be more widely known. Anarchists didn’t just aim to overthrow capitalism in some abstract (or sometimes nearby) future, but actively attempted to shape their communities, their surroundings and their personal lives to fit their ideals. This makes their commitment to the full life denied by capitalism timeless and without equivalent.
This talk will provide a general overview of the development of the Dutch anarchist movement between 1870 and 1940 and single out several stories to give life to a period that feels distant in many ways. In this way a general outline of the anarchist struggles for freedom will form, and specific inspirational stories will give life to the whole. Hopefully these histories will enhance our sense of historically rooted activism, help us draw lessons from our past, show how activism is natural and desirable, and just be an inspirational interval in everyday capitalist reality.
We hope to see and share with you there!

Talk will be in English.

Image: Anarchist youth of the Amsterdam-based Moker (Hammer) group on an adventure in 1921 for the liberation of one and all