Sam Dolgoff
Encyclopedia
Sam Dolgoff was an American anarchist and anarcho-syndicalist.
Dolgoff was born in the shtetl
of Ostrovno in Vitebsk
, Russia
, moving as a child to New York City
in 1905 or 1906, where he lived in the Bronx and in Manhattan
's Lower East Side
where he died. His father was a house painter, and Dolgoff began house painting at the age of 11, a profession he remained in his entire life.
Sam joined the Industrial Workers of the World
in the 1922 and remained an active member his entire life, playing an active role in the anarchist movement for much of the century. He was a co-founder of the Libertarian Labor Review magazine, which was later re-named Anarcho-Syndicalist Review
to avoid confusion with America's Libertarian Party
.
Dolgoff was a member of the Chicago Free Society Group in the 1920s, Vanguard Group
member and editor of its publication Vanguard: A Journal of Libertarian Communism in the 1930s, and co-founded the Libertarian League
in New York in 1954. He wrote articles for anarchist magazines as well as books as the editor of highly-acclaimed anthologies, some of which are listed below. He was active in many causes, and attended groups like New York's Libertarian Book Club regularly.
Dolgoff, and his wife Esther, served as a link to anarchism's past to young anarchists of the 1960s and 1970s living in New York. He focused upon anarchism's (specifically anarcho-syndicalism's) roots in workers' movements and served as a moderating counterbalance to the punk-era anarchists who tended towards 'monkeywrenching' and confrontations with the police. Although Dolgoff was friends with Murray Bookchin
, a notable anarchist theorist of the period, he was opposed to Bookchin's theory of Social Ecology
, rooted as he was in the classical anarchist traditions of Mikhail Bakunin
and Peter Kropotkin
.
Dolgoff was born in the shtetl
Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
of Ostrovno in Vitebsk
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, moving as a child to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1905 or 1906, where he lived in the Bronx and in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
where he died. His father was a house painter, and Dolgoff began house painting at the age of 11, a profession he remained in his entire life.
Sam joined the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
in the 1922 and remained an active member his entire life, playing an active role in the anarchist movement for much of the century. He was a co-founder of the Libertarian Labor Review magazine, which was later re-named Anarcho-Syndicalist Review
Anarcho-Syndicalist Review
Anarcho-Syndicalist Review is an American anarchist magazine, published two to four times a year, which focuses on anarcho-syndicalist theory and practice. The magazine was co-founded in 1986 by Sam Dolgoff....
to avoid confusion with America's Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party (United States)
The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
.
Dolgoff was a member of the Chicago Free Society Group in the 1920s, Vanguard Group
Vanguard Group (anarchist)
The Vanguard Group was an anarchist political group active during the 1930s, which published the periodical Vanguard: Journal of Libertarian Communism, led by Sam Dolgoff ....
member and editor of its publication Vanguard: A Journal of Libertarian Communism in the 1930s, and co-founded the Libertarian League
Libertarian League
Libertarian League was a name used by two American libertarian or social anarchist organisations during the twentieth century.The first Libertarian League was founded in Los Angeles in 1920. Although mainly anarchist its membership included people from many different political perspectives with the...
in New York in 1954. He wrote articles for anarchist magazines as well as books as the editor of highly-acclaimed anthologies, some of which are listed below. He was active in many causes, and attended groups like New York's Libertarian Book Club regularly.
Dolgoff, and his wife Esther, served as a link to anarchism's past to young anarchists of the 1960s and 1970s living in New York. He focused upon anarchism's (specifically anarcho-syndicalism's) roots in workers' movements and served as a moderating counterbalance to the punk-era anarchists who tended towards 'monkeywrenching' and confrontations with the police. Although Dolgoff was friends with Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist author, orator, and philosopher. A pioneer in the ecology movement, Bookchin was the founder of the social ecology movement within anarchist, libertarian socialist and ecological thought. He was the author of two dozen books on politics,...
, a notable anarchist theorist of the period, he was opposed to Bookchin's theory of Social Ecology
Social ecology
Social ecology is a philosophy developed by Murray Bookchin in the 1960s.It holds that present ecological problems are rooted in deep-seated social problems, particularly in dominatory hierarchical political and social systems. These have resulted in an uncritical acceptance of an overly...
, rooted as he was in the classical anarchist traditions of Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was a well-known Russian revolutionary and theorist of collectivist anarchism. He has also often been called the father of anarchist theory in general. Bakunin grew up near Moscow, where he moved to study philosophy and began to read the French Encyclopedists,...
and Peter Kropotkin
Peter Kropotkin
Prince Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a Russian zoologist, evolutionary theorist, philosopher, economist, geographer, author and one of the world's foremost anarcho-communists. Kropotkin advocated a communist society free from central government and based on voluntary associations between...
.
Sources
- Sam Dolgoff, 88, Dies; Organizer for I.W.W., New York Times, October 26, 1990. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE6DD1539F935A15753C1A966958260
- Avrich, Paul. Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America, AK Press,
- Greeman, Richard. Dangerous Shortcuts and Vegetarian Sharks, ISBN 1430323078.
- Kayton, Bruce. Radical Walking Tours of New York City, Seven Stories Press, 2003, ISBN 1583225544.
- Porton, Richard. Film and the Anarchist Imagination, Verso, 1999, ISBN 1859847021.
Selected publications
- Ethics and American Unionism (1958)
- The Labor Party Illusion (1961)
- Bakunin on Anarchy (1971; revised 1980)
- The Anarchist Collectives: Workers' Self-Management in the Spanish Revolution, 1936-1939 (1974)
- The Cuban Revolution: A Critical Perspective (1974)
- A Critique of Marxism (1983)
- "Modern Technology and Anarchism" (1986)
- Fragments: A Memoir (1986, ISBN 0-946222-04-5).
External links
- An obituary and short biography of Sam Dolgoff on libcom.org