Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library

OBJECTIVITY AND LIBERAL SCHOLARSHIP
very least, we can say this much: Jackson presems no evidence to suppOrt his
conclusion; there is a factual basis fo r questioning it. I have cited a number of
sources that the liberal historian would regard, quire correctly, as biased in
favor of the revolution. My point is that the failure of objectivity, the deepseated
bias of liberal historians, is a matter much less normally taken for granted,
and that there are good rounds for supposing that this failure of objectivity
has seriously distorted the judgments that are rather brashly handed down
about the nature of the Spanish revolution.
Continuing with the analysis of Jackson's judgmems, unsupported by any
cited evidence, consider his remark, quoted above, that in Barcelona "the naive
optimism of the revolutionary conquests of the previous August had given way
to feelings of resemmem and of somehow having been cheated." It is a fact that
by January 1937 there was great disaffection in Barcelona. But was this simply
a consequence of "the unsuspected complexity of modern society?" Looking
imo the matter a bit more closely, we see a rather different picture. Under
Russian pressure, the PSUC was given substantial control of the Catalonian
governmem. "putting into the Food Ministry [in December 1936] the man
most to the Right in present Catalan politics, Comorera"87-by virtue of his
political views, the most willing collaborator with the general Communist
party position. According to Jackson, Comorera "immediately took steps to
end barter and requisitioning, and became a defender of the peasants against
54 rhe revolution" (p. 314); he "ended requisition, restored money payments, and
protected the Catalan peasants against further collectivization" (p. 361). This
is all that Jackson has to say about Juan Comorera.
We learn more from other sources: fo r example, Borkenau, who was in
Barcelona for the second time in January 1937-and is universally recognized
as a highly knowledgeable and expert observer, with strong anti-anarchist sentiments.
According to Borkenau, Comorera represented "a political attitude
which can best be compared with that of the extreme right wing of the
German social-democracy. He had always regarded the fight against anarchism
as the chief aim of socialist policy in Spain .... To his surprise, he fo und unexpected
allies for his dislike [of anarchist policies] in the communists."88 It was
impossible to reverse collectivization of industry at that stage in the process of
counterrevolution; Comorera did succeed, however, in abolishing the system
by which the provisioning of Barcelona had been organized, namely, the village
committees, mostly under CNT influence, which had cooperated (perhaps,
Borkenau suggests, unwillingly) in delivering flour to the towns.
Continuing, Borkenau describes the situation as follows:
... Comorera, starting from those principles of abstract liberalism
which no administration has followed during the war, but of
which right-wing socialists are the last and most religious admirers,
did not substitute for the chaotic bread committees a centralized
administration. He restored private commerce in bread,