THE ANARCHIST MOVEMENT IN THE NETHERLANDS

There exists a national anarchist network in the Netherlands
who meetings are very poorly attended (about 15 people every
meeting). Its members don't do very much. They don't even
have a publication. This network is a kind of informal meeting
place for folk who call themselves anarchists and who don't
even have a political programme. The name of the network is
Landelijk Anarchistisch Samenwerkingsverband (National
Network of Anarchist Co-operation) or LAS.

In the North of the country, there is a regional organisation,
the Noordelijk Gewest van Vrije Socialisten (Northern Region
of Libertarian Socialists) or NGVS. It's members organise,
every year over Easter an informal demonstration. It is a
tradition which goes back to the 20s. In those days the anti-
militarist movement was quite strong. In 1933 it's members
bought a plot of land as the authorities had banned their
meetings. Although there had been a law in favour of
conscientious objection dating back to 1923, many refused to
take advantage of it and were sentenced to 2 years
imprisonment. There was therefore a strong mobilisation out
of which was born the NGVS, but now most of its members
are of the older generation.. Their quarterly, Recht Voor Allen
Van Onderop (Justice for the Underdogs) is of very poor
quality. There is also a rival grouping in the North, the
Noordelijk Genootschap van Vrije Socialisten (Northern
Association of Libertarian Socialists) who also put out a
quarterly publication Recht Voor Allen (Justice for All). To
explain the rivalry between the groups would take a lot of ink
and I imagine that even those most closely involved probably
are unaware of its causes. The majority of those who are
members of these groups are real ageing anarchist working
class militants

There are two other publications. These emanate from the
younger generation. There is the quarterly AS (anarcho-
socialist) which is published in Rotterdam. This is a
publication coming from an independent group of intellectuals.
Nearly all its editors are academics. The contents of this
publication are theoretical. Many of its editors are members of
a political party. Theirs is a fairly revisionist anarchism which
they call 'pragmatic'. They favour a... 'Libertarian State'!

Then there is Buiten de Orde (Out of Order) the publication of
a formerly anarcho-syndicalist group. The group is called Vrije
Bond (Free Union). It's not an anarchist publication in the
strictest sense of the term but it's adherents publish articles on
anarchism. One of its editors puts forward a 'post-modernist
anarchism' that is to say he makes a distinction between
anarchism and anarchy. In his view anarchism as an ideology
is dated. In Amsterdam there is De Raaf (The Raven). This is
the quarterly of the group called the Anarchist Federation of
Amsterdam (FAA). Recently, our group Vrije Socialist has
been collaborating with this group. De Raaf publishes articles
coming from a wide range of anarchist groups and individuals.
In Amsterdam there is also a weekly alternative paper which
sometimes publishes articles on anarchism, NN (this means
nomen nescio, unknown suspect). The contents of these
articles are also post-modernist.

PETER ZEGERS (Vrije Socialist - Amsterdam)

Contacts

* AS, BP 43, 2750 AA Moerkapelle.

* Buiten de Orde, BP 1338, 3500 BH Utrecht.

* De Raaf/FAA, BP 51217, 1007 EE Amsterdam.

* LAS, BP 189, 7800 AD Emmen.

* NGVS/Recht Voor Allen, BP 48, 8430 AA Oosterwolde.

* NGVS/Recht Voor Allen van Onderop, BP 37, 8426 ZM Appelscha.

* NN, Van Ostadestraat 233n, 1073 TN Amsterdam.

* Vrije Bond, BP 61523, 2606 AM Den Haag.

* Vrije Socialist, BP 713, 1000 AS Amsterdam.
