Query on Trotsky and anarchism

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Lou.

I've been reading the archives on your mailing list for a while, and
there seem to be a number of knowledgeable comrades participating. I
was wondering if you could forward this question to your list.

I was reading a book called Anarchist Portraits by the anarchist
historian Paul Avrich the other day. He mentions that Trotsky had
toyed with the idea of turning over some land to Makhno in order to
run a sort of experimental anarchist commune. He gives Trotsky's
article "Stalinism and Bolshevism" as the only reference. Searching
the article, the only mention of this we find is:

"In the heroic epoch of the revolution the Bolsheviks went hand in
hand with genuinely revolutionary anarchists. Many of them were drawn
into the ranks of the party. The author of these lines discussed with
Lenin more than once the possibility of allotting the anarchists
certain territories where, with the consent of the local population,
they would carry out their stateless experiment."

I'm a bit curious about this and was wondering if any comrades could
direct me to sources for more information about this. I realize that
there are more pressing matters facing Marxists today than searching
obscure texts for references to an 80-year-old debate, but I was
curious.

Thanks.

-Phillip Crenshaw

--
Louis Proyect, lnp3@xxxxxxxxx on 10/24/2001

Marxism list: http://www.marxmail.org



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