Born in 1950 I have worked at a high school, at the International Institute of Social History and at Erasmus University Rotterdam. DUring my time at Erasmus for a couple of years I was at the editorial board of the International Review of Social History. I have retired in 2014. I have specialized in the history of social movements, and of anarchism in particular.
This chapter tries to reconstruct the influence of the anarchism of his youth on the post-1945 wo... more This chapter tries to reconstruct the influence of the anarchism of his youth on the post-1945 work of the 'visionary' painter Melle (Oldeboerrigter).
The Russian Revolution was not an anarchist revolution. Dutch anarchists and the Russian
Revoluti... more The Russian Revolution was not an anarchist revolution. Dutch anarchists and the Russian Revolution 1917-19 The reactions of Dutch anarchists to the Russian Revolution are until now as good as unexplored. This contribution tries to fill this gap by analyzing five anarchist and syndicalist newspapers. Together they represent the whole spectrum of Dutch anarchism. The anarchists and their newspapers can be divided into two groups: those who considered anarchism as a principle and project to bring human civilization into a new stage of perfection, and those who focussed more narrowly on anarchism as a movement to liberate workers in order to create a society in which these workers themselves, through their trade unions, would control production and distribution. The central question is whether these different interpretations of anarchism guided opinion on what had happened in Russia. The final answer is positive. The first group, inspired by the works of a Russian, Peter Kropotkin, was very critical of the Russian socialists, although it applauded their peace initiatives. The second group saw the whole revolution much more as a struggle, in which injustice and killings were unavoidable, than as a means to create a new anarchist society in which justice would reign for all. A copy of the paper can be obtained from the author
Contribution about Domela Nieuwenhuis as freethinker. For Domela Nieuwenhuis freethought not only... more Contribution about Domela Nieuwenhuis as freethinker. For Domela Nieuwenhuis freethought not only was about criticising the church and religion, but it also meant freedom of speech and of action. His propaganda tried to show his followers that a non-Christian reading of the Bible was possible and that the Bible still would contain important moral lessons.
The history of anarchism displays an alternation of activity and dis¬appearance. This article arg... more The history of anarchism displays an alternation of activity and dis¬appearance. This article argues that actually there are two different patterns, one short-lived and the other having a much slower pace. Both patterns differ as to causes of disappearance and reasons for revival. According to modern social movement theory, anarchism with its weak organizational structure should have disappeared long ago. Therefore, this article tries to explain the staying power of anarchism. It highlights the importance of the individual anar¬chists, their networks and the flexibility of the anarchist groups. Anarchist culture plays a key role by nurturing an anarchist life¬style and keeping the movement attractive to new adherents. Social movement theory is of limited value when analyzing anarchism. Identity theories fail to capture it as a social movement and other social movement theories stay too much within existing political structures and / or focus on single-issue movements.
... 5 process of colonial contact enhanced opportunities for many Indian merchants, and indigenou... more ... 5 process of colonial contact enhanced opportunities for many Indian merchants, and indigenousentrepreneurs benefited from ... study of the rise of the vine and its consequences for urban life in ... This is an area of intense historio-graphical interest today that goes far beyond the ...
How did Max Nettlau handle transnational relations in his famous history of anarchism and how muc... more How did Max Nettlau handle transnational relations in his famous history of anarchism and how much of a nationalist was Nettlau himself?
This essay analyses the antimilitarist activities of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, with a focus o... more This essay analyses the antimilitarist activities of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, with a focus on the problems he faced during the First World War.
This is a biography of an fairly unknown worker, an engineer, who not only founded the third soci... more This is a biography of an fairly unknown worker, an engineer, who not only founded the third socialist union of the Netherlands, but in 1880 also was one of the founding fathers of the Sociaal Democratische Bond (Social Democratic Union), the second socialist organisation in the Netherlands. During 1885-1887 he worked at the construction of the Panama Canal. His socialism was inspired by his freemasonry, which also guided his atheism in later years. He wrote a lot of essays and poems, the latter are analysed in the last chapter, which enable the author to reconstruct his inner life.
This chapter traces the history of the library of the Dutch anarchist Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhui... more This chapter traces the history of the library of the Dutch anarchist Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis. It pays special attention to what happened with this library after the death of its owner in 1919. In 1931 it was taken over by the Economic History Library, from where in 1936 it came into the custody of the International Institute of Social History. Over the years quite some books seem to have disappeared into other libraries, whereas other books have been added to the library even when they had nothing to do with Domela Nieuwenhuis or with anarchism.
Memoirs of the Dutch anarchist Piet Honig. He belonged to the first anarchist groups in the Nethe... more Memoirs of the Dutch anarchist Piet Honig. He belonged to the first anarchist groups in the Netherlands. After 1898 he settled in Belgium (Brussels, Mechelen, Leuven) and became an ardent individualist anarchist, who had regular contact with John Henry Mackay.
Why was Harm Kolthek, before 1914 leader of the Dutch syndicalist federation, the NAS, buried a p... more Why was Harm Kolthek, before 1914 leader of the Dutch syndicalist federation, the NAS, buried a poor man and had his comrade of the French CGT, Léon Jouhaux, a state funeral?
This chapter tries to reconstruct the influence of the anarchism of his youth on the post-1945 wo... more This chapter tries to reconstruct the influence of the anarchism of his youth on the post-1945 work of the 'visionary' painter Melle (Oldeboerrigter).
The Russian Revolution was not an anarchist revolution. Dutch anarchists and the Russian
Revoluti... more The Russian Revolution was not an anarchist revolution. Dutch anarchists and the Russian Revolution 1917-19 The reactions of Dutch anarchists to the Russian Revolution are until now as good as unexplored. This contribution tries to fill this gap by analyzing five anarchist and syndicalist newspapers. Together they represent the whole spectrum of Dutch anarchism. The anarchists and their newspapers can be divided into two groups: those who considered anarchism as a principle and project to bring human civilization into a new stage of perfection, and those who focussed more narrowly on anarchism as a movement to liberate workers in order to create a society in which these workers themselves, through their trade unions, would control production and distribution. The central question is whether these different interpretations of anarchism guided opinion on what had happened in Russia. The final answer is positive. The first group, inspired by the works of a Russian, Peter Kropotkin, was very critical of the Russian socialists, although it applauded their peace initiatives. The second group saw the whole revolution much more as a struggle, in which injustice and killings were unavoidable, than as a means to create a new anarchist society in which justice would reign for all. A copy of the paper can be obtained from the author
Contribution about Domela Nieuwenhuis as freethinker. For Domela Nieuwenhuis freethought not only... more Contribution about Domela Nieuwenhuis as freethinker. For Domela Nieuwenhuis freethought not only was about criticising the church and religion, but it also meant freedom of speech and of action. His propaganda tried to show his followers that a non-Christian reading of the Bible was possible and that the Bible still would contain important moral lessons.
The history of anarchism displays an alternation of activity and dis¬appearance. This article arg... more The history of anarchism displays an alternation of activity and dis¬appearance. This article argues that actually there are two different patterns, one short-lived and the other having a much slower pace. Both patterns differ as to causes of disappearance and reasons for revival. According to modern social movement theory, anarchism with its weak organizational structure should have disappeared long ago. Therefore, this article tries to explain the staying power of anarchism. It highlights the importance of the individual anar¬chists, their networks and the flexibility of the anarchist groups. Anarchist culture plays a key role by nurturing an anarchist life¬style and keeping the movement attractive to new adherents. Social movement theory is of limited value when analyzing anarchism. Identity theories fail to capture it as a social movement and other social movement theories stay too much within existing political structures and / or focus on single-issue movements.
... 5 process of colonial contact enhanced opportunities for many Indian merchants, and indigenou... more ... 5 process of colonial contact enhanced opportunities for many Indian merchants, and indigenousentrepreneurs benefited from ... study of the rise of the vine and its consequences for urban life in ... This is an area of intense historio-graphical interest today that goes far beyond the ...
How did Max Nettlau handle transnational relations in his famous history of anarchism and how muc... more How did Max Nettlau handle transnational relations in his famous history of anarchism and how much of a nationalist was Nettlau himself?
This essay analyses the antimilitarist activities of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, with a focus o... more This essay analyses the antimilitarist activities of Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, with a focus on the problems he faced during the First World War.
This is a biography of an fairly unknown worker, an engineer, who not only founded the third soci... more This is a biography of an fairly unknown worker, an engineer, who not only founded the third socialist union of the Netherlands, but in 1880 also was one of the founding fathers of the Sociaal Democratische Bond (Social Democratic Union), the second socialist organisation in the Netherlands. During 1885-1887 he worked at the construction of the Panama Canal. His socialism was inspired by his freemasonry, which also guided his atheism in later years. He wrote a lot of essays and poems, the latter are analysed in the last chapter, which enable the author to reconstruct his inner life.
This chapter traces the history of the library of the Dutch anarchist Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhui... more This chapter traces the history of the library of the Dutch anarchist Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis. It pays special attention to what happened with this library after the death of its owner in 1919. In 1931 it was taken over by the Economic History Library, from where in 1936 it came into the custody of the International Institute of Social History. Over the years quite some books seem to have disappeared into other libraries, whereas other books have been added to the library even when they had nothing to do with Domela Nieuwenhuis or with anarchism.
Memoirs of the Dutch anarchist Piet Honig. He belonged to the first anarchist groups in the Nethe... more Memoirs of the Dutch anarchist Piet Honig. He belonged to the first anarchist groups in the Netherlands. After 1898 he settled in Belgium (Brussels, Mechelen, Leuven) and became an ardent individualist anarchist, who had regular contact with John Henry Mackay.
Why was Harm Kolthek, before 1914 leader of the Dutch syndicalist federation, the NAS, buried a p... more Why was Harm Kolthek, before 1914 leader of the Dutch syndicalist federation, the NAS, buried a poor man and had his comrade of the French CGT, Léon Jouhaux, a state funeral?
This is a presentation of Constance Bantman and Bert Altena (eds), Reassessing the Transnational ... more This is a presentation of Constance Bantman and Bert Altena (eds), Reassessing the Transnational Turn. Scales of analysis in Anarchist and Syndicalist Studies (Oakland, CA: PM Press 2017)
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Papers by Bert Altena
Revolution 1917-19
The reactions of Dutch anarchists to the Russian Revolution are until now as good as unexplored.
This contribution tries to fill this gap by analyzing five anarchist and syndicalist
newspapers. Together they represent the whole spectrum of Dutch anarchism. The anarchists
and their newspapers can be divided into two groups: those who considered anarchism as a
principle and project to bring human civilization into a new stage of perfection, and those who
focussed more narrowly on anarchism as a movement to liberate workers in order to create a
society in which these workers themselves, through their trade unions, would control production
and distribution. The central question is whether these different interpretations of
anarchism guided opinion on what had happened in Russia. The final answer is positive.
The first group, inspired by the works of a Russian, Peter Kropotkin, was very critical of the
Russian socialists, although it applauded their peace initiatives. The second group saw the
whole revolution much more as a struggle, in which injustice and killings were unavoidable,
than as a means to create a new anarchist society in which justice would reign for all.
A copy of the paper can be obtained from the author
Revolution 1917-19
The reactions of Dutch anarchists to the Russian Revolution are until now as good as unexplored.
This contribution tries to fill this gap by analyzing five anarchist and syndicalist
newspapers. Together they represent the whole spectrum of Dutch anarchism. The anarchists
and their newspapers can be divided into two groups: those who considered anarchism as a
principle and project to bring human civilization into a new stage of perfection, and those who
focussed more narrowly on anarchism as a movement to liberate workers in order to create a
society in which these workers themselves, through their trade unions, would control production
and distribution. The central question is whether these different interpretations of
anarchism guided opinion on what had happened in Russia. The final answer is positive.
The first group, inspired by the works of a Russian, Peter Kropotkin, was very critical of the
Russian socialists, although it applauded their peace initiatives. The second group saw the
whole revolution much more as a struggle, in which injustice and killings were unavoidable,
than as a means to create a new anarchist society in which justice would reign for all.
A copy of the paper can be obtained from the author