Spain's communist model village

[BelgianMadCow]

From the Guardian, about a small village in Andalucia that is bucking the trends in crisis-stricken Spain.

The first part of Marinaleda's miracle is that when its struggle to create utopia began, in the late 1970s, it was from a position of abject poverty. The village was suffering more than 60% unemployment; it was a farming community with no land, its people frequently forced to go without food for days at a time, in a period of Spanish history mired in uncertainty after the death of the fascist dictator General Franco. The second part of Marinaleda's miracle is that over three extraordinary decades, it won. Some distance along that remarkable journey of struggle and sacrifice, in 1985, Sánchez Gordillo told the newspaper El País: "We have learned that it is not enough to define utopia, nor is it enough to fight against the reactionary forces. One must build it here and now, brick by brick, patiently but steadily, until we can make the old dreams a reality: that there will be bread for all, freedom among citizens, and culture; and to be able to read with respect the word 'peace '. We sincerely believe that there is no future that is not built in the present."

SNIP

Sánchez Gordillo's philosophy, outlined in his 1980 book Andaluces, Levantaos and in countless speeches and interviews since, is one which is unique to him, though grounded firmly in the historic struggles and uprisings of the peasant pueblos of Andalusia, and their remarkably deep-seated tendency towards anarchism. These communities are striking for being against all authority. "I have never belonged to the communist party of the hammer and sickle, but I am a communist or communitarian," Sánchez Gordillo said in an interview in 2011, adding that his political beliefs were drawn from those of Jesus Christ, Gandhi, Marx, Lenin and Che.

The town co-operative does not distribute profits: any surplus is reinvested to create more jobs. Everyone in the co-op earns the same salary, €47 (£40) a day for six and a half hours of work: it may not sound like a lot, but it's more than double the Spanish minimum wage. Participation in decisions about what crops to farm, and when, is encouraged, and often forms the focus of the village's general assemblies – in this respect, being a cooperativista means being an important part of the functioning of the pueblo as a whole. Where once the day labourers of Andalusia were politically and socially marginalised by their lack of an economic stake in their pueblo, they are now – at least in Marinaleda – called upon to lead the way. Non-co-operativists are by no means excluded from involvement in the town's political, social and cultural life – it's more that if you are a part of the co-operative, you can't avoid being swept up in local activities outside the confines of the working day.

SNIP

Marinaleda's alternative is decades in the making, but other anti-capitalist alternatives are sprouting in the cracks of the Spanish crisis, in the form of numerous quotidian acts of resistance, not just strikes and protests, but everyday behaviour – the occupation of vacant new-builds by those made homeless by their banks, firemen refusing to evict penniless families, doctors refusing to turn away undocumented immigrants. There is also a new Marinaleda-style farming co-operative in Somonte, a collective farm established on occupied government land in 2012, only an hour or so's drive from the village. When I visited Somonte earlier this year, I met Marinaleños who had left their home to bring Sanchez Gordillo's message of "land belongs to those who work it" to new terrain.

Similar things are happening in Greece, where the potato movement has spun off a whole "no intermediary" line of products that go directly from local producer to local consumers.

[leveymg]

1. Could also be described as Anarcho-Syndicalism, which was strong in Spain before Franco

Last edited Mon Oct 21, 2013, 12:07 PM - Edit history (1)

All those who have read Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" know about that history of the Spanish Anarchists, and their differences with the Spanish Communist Party.

[BelgianMadCow]

2. Your post sent chills through my spine

since I was thinking of Orwell's Homage to Catalonia when posting. I haven't actually read it, can't find it in library here. Have you & did you like it? I've seen it pointed out as his "other" important work. I also take it the below paragraph in the Guardian article is a reference to that book without explicitly mentioning it:

No one ever forgets "that strange and moving experience" of believing in a revolution, as George Orwell reflected after arriving in Barcelona on the brink of civil war to a society fizzing with energy as it fleetingly experienced living communism. Marinaleda is neither fully communist nor fully a utopia: but take a step outside the pueblo and into contemporary Spain, and you will see a society pummelled, impoverished and atomised, pulled into death and destruction by an economic system and a political class who seem not to care whether the poor live or die. Sánchez Gordillo's achievements are more than just the concrete gains of land, housing, sustenance and culture, phenomenal though they are: being there is a strange and moving experience, and, as Orwell suggested, an unforgettable one.

[leveymg]

3. The Anarchists were strong in the north, while the Communists dominated the Left in Madrid and the

South during the Civil War.

Homage to Catalonia is one of the best written accounts of the Spanish Civil War in the English language. It's told from the perspective of Eric Blair (George Orwell) who was an Independent Labour Party activist and an International Brigades volunteer. Orwell fought on the front-lines with the Anarchists and Basque against the Fascists in the Barcelona and northern region before he was shot in the neck and returned to England. It's particularly valuable for its insight into the political and organizational struggles within the Left that to a very great degree led to their defeat.

If instead of Barcelona he had ended up further south in Madrid, as did Hemingway (the other great English-language writer who went to Spain with the International Brigades, as fictionalized in "For Whom the Bell Tolls", also a good read), Orwell's story and political outlook would no doubt have ended up different. The high quality of Orwell's writing and clarity of humanitarian vision was always consistent, however.

Very strongly recommended.

[BelgianMadCow]

4. All right

I'm going hunting, then Thanks for the write-up!

On edit: quickest hunt ever: one can read it for free (though I have to confess I much prefer paper when it comes to reading).

Here: http://george-orwell.org/Homage_to_Catalonia/