Archive Socialisme ou Barbarie at MayDay Rooms

WE’VE MET OUR TARGET! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO KINDLY DONATED TO THIS APPEAL. WE WILL BE CLOSING THIS ACCOUNT IN THE COMING DAYS.

Housmans Bookshop has received a large donation of archival material that includes a full run of journals belonging to the Libertarian Socialist organisations Socialisme ou Barberie and Solidarity. We wish to raise funds to purchase this material from Housmans and donate them to the MayDay Rooms for safekeeping.

Housmans -based behind London's King Cross station- is more than just a radical bookshop. For the last 8 decades Housmans has provided London's radicals -and those visiting the city- with vital meeting space, acting as a place to exchange ideas and strategy, connect with others and build community.

It has- throughout its existence- provided office space for campaigns and organisations fighting back against a world predicated on war and exploitation.

Every so often, Housmans will come into receivership of archival material, donated by the relatives of former patrons, who hope the sale of this material can contribute to Housmans' continuation and its financial health.

Recently Housmans has received a sizeable donation of such material, the historical significance of which, resonates with the research interests of our group. We think this material merits being kept together, rather than being sold separately.

As such, we would like to raise £400- to give to Housmans in exchange for this material, which we will then donate to London's MayDay Rooms where it can be freely accessed by those interested in the ideas these materials contain.

MayDay Rooms is an archive and safe haven for radical social movement ephemera, you can read more about the project and their mission here.

The materials we wish to acquire from Housmans are -

A full set of journals belonging to the French libertarian socialist organisation-

Socialisme ou Barbarie (SoB) whose novel theoretical innovations greatly impacted the discussions of the international communist movement(s) in the latter half of the last century.

And-

A full run of journals belonging to the British libertarian socialist organisation Solidarity - who inspired by SoB, would also inspire discussion and practice among British militants during and after 1968.

We are asking friends and supporters of Pagliacci Rossi to make a small donation to this fund to secure these materials for our movement and future generations.

Who we are >

Pagliacci Rossi is a small research collective who hold a residency with MayDay Rooms. We run regular events and discussions about the history of Italian workerism and its after-lives.

Signed - Seth Wheeler- on behalf of Pagliacci Rossi.