Kirwin R. Shaffer
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037641
- eISBN:
- 9780252094903
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037641.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This introductory chapter positions anarchism in Puerto Rico as a unique entity in the movement's history. In Puerto Rico, anarchists expressed their concerns and visions through their own brand of ...
More
This introductory chapter positions anarchism in Puerto Rico as a unique entity in the movement's history. In Puerto Rico, anarchists expressed their concerns and visions through their own brand of cultural politics, which was directed against Puerto Rican and U.S. colonial rulers in order to promote an antiauthoritarian spirit and countercultural struggle over how the island was being run and the future directions that it should pursue. Alongside this was a consistent anticlericalism against one of the perceived central pillars of cultural authoritarianism in Puerto Rico dating to the days of Spanish rule: the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover, while cultural politics reflected one way that anarchists engaged in debates over Puerto Rico-specific issues, many of these cultural debates were actually linked transnationally.Less
This introductory chapter positions anarchism in Puerto Rico as a unique entity in the movement's history. In Puerto Rico, anarchists expressed their concerns and visions through their own brand of cultural politics, which was directed against Puerto Rican and U.S. colonial rulers in order to promote an antiauthoritarian spirit and countercultural struggle over how the island was being run and the future directions that it should pursue. Alongside this was a consistent anticlericalism against one of the perceived central pillars of cultural authoritarianism in Puerto Rico dating to the days of Spanish rule: the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover, while cultural politics reflected one way that anarchists engaged in debates over Puerto Rico-specific issues, many of these cultural debates were actually linked transnationally.
Kirwin R. Shaffer
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037641
- eISBN:
- 9780252094903
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037641.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter investigates these Bayamón anarchists in 1920 and early 1921, through the newspaper El Comunista. The paper became the longest-running, most financially successful anarchist newspaper in ...
More
This chapter investigates these Bayamón anarchists in 1920 and early 1921, through the newspaper El Comunista. The paper became the longest-running, most financially successful anarchist newspaper in the island's history. El Comunista stridently attacked U.S. militarism and interventionism in the Caribbean Basin, offered a qualified opposition to calls for Puerto Rican independence, and found growing distribution throughout and financial backing from Spanish-speaking anarchist groups in the United States. The distribution, support for the Bolsheviks, and fervent attacks on U.S. policies led the Wilson administration in Washington to target the Bayamón anarchists during the Red Scare. The resulting closure of the newspaper spelled the end to the most successful anarchist organization to emerge on the island.Less
This chapter investigates these Bayamón anarchists in 1920 and early 1921, through the newspaper El Comunista. The paper became the longest-running, most financially successful anarchist newspaper in the island's history. El Comunista stridently attacked U.S. militarism and interventionism in the Caribbean Basin, offered a qualified opposition to calls for Puerto Rican independence, and found growing distribution throughout and financial backing from Spanish-speaking anarchist groups in the United States. The distribution, support for the Bolsheviks, and fervent attacks on U.S. policies led the Wilson administration in Washington to target the Bayamón anarchists during the Red Scare. The resulting closure of the newspaper spelled the end to the most successful anarchist organization to emerge on the island.
