The Hidden History of the Anarchist Atlantic: Errico Malatesta in America, 1899-1900

Abstract

In this article I retell an episode in the life of the Italian anarchist Errico Malatesta, a journey to North America undertaken between 1899 and 1900. In contrast to accounts that present such episodes as the wanderings of knights errant at the mercy of events, I recast Malatesta’s journey in terms of goal-oriented action, incorporating a complex background into my redescription. The task requires accounting for two inter-related characters of European anarchist movements: their transnationalism, i.e. their extending beyond national borders, and their cross-nationalism, or mutual involvement in each other’s national struggles. Much like “the hidden history of the revolutionary Atlantic” described in Linebaugh and Rediker’s Many-Headed Hydra, the history of anarchism has remained largely invisible to analyses of national scope. In contrast, Malatesta’s journey makes sense only within a transatlantic framework of analysis. I put Malatesta’s journey in perspective by showing that apparently local issues such as the editorship of a Paterson anarchist newspaper were relevant for the movement in Italy; that Spanish anarchists were instrumental in bringing Malatesta to North America; and that Malatesta’s involvement with Spanish anarchists was part of a fabric of personal contacts and common initiatives that could occur in Milan or Barcelona as in Buenos Aires, London, New York, or Havana. I conclude that Malatesta’s journey was not a diversion from his engagement in Europe, but was part of a sustained train of activity that knew no spatial or temporal break. It can only be understood in the context of a vast network of militants that was not limited to a national territory or a specific language, but relied on the transatlantic mobility and cross-national cooperation of its members.