Podcast Summary: "Anarchism and Sexuality"

LSE Public Lectures and Events Podcast
Date: December 4, 2014
Host: Claire Hennings (LSE Gender Institute)
Panelists:

• Terence Kissack (author, Free Comrades: Anarchism and Homosexuality in the United States)
• Martha Ackelsberg (author, Free Women of Spain: Mujeres Libres and anarchist feminist history)
• Richard Cleminson (Univ. of Leeds, historian of Spanish and UK anarchism, sexuality, and eugenics)

Main Theme and Purpose

This panel explored the intersections of anarchism and sexuality across history, focusing on anarchist movements’ debates and practices around sexual equality, emancipation, and the politics of desire. Panelists discussed both historical examples—in the US and Spain in particular—and reflected on implications for contemporary sexual politics, including same-sex marriage, sex work, and the legacy of radical sexual imaginaries.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introduction: Anarchism, Sexual Freedom, and Historical Memory

• Claire Hennings (Host) opened by situating the panel as part of a broader project on "counter-histories" to sexual rights—emphasizing international and historical perspective (00:42).
• The focus: how anarchist history and ideas contribute to thinking about sexual politics today.

2. Terence Kissack: US Anarchists and the Origins of Queer Politics

[04:45–25:38]

a. Defining Anarchism’s Approach to Sexuality

• Noted that not all anarchists were "sex radicals," but a significant subset deeply shaped early sexual politics.
• Emma Goldman (anarchist activist):

  “Anarchism stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion, the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property...free access to the earth and full enjoyment of the necessities of life according to individual desires, tastes, and inclinations.” (06:03)

• Emphasis was on desire, not just needs—opening space for radical sexual politics.

b. Early Articulations of Sexual Freedom

• Victoria Woodhull (US anarchist):

  "I have an inalienable and natural right to love whom I may ... and with that right, neither you nor any law you can frame, have any right to interfere." (08:06)

• Anarchist sexual politics were rooted in a critique of patriarchy and articulated by women leaders.

c. Frameworks for Talking about Sexuality

• Main themes:
  • Engagement with literature and art (Whitman, Oscar Wilde) as a way to articulate same-sex desire.
  • Response to the Oscar Wilde trials (1895), which became a touchstone for discussing state oppression of sexual minorities.
  • Interaction with emerging sexology—Emma Goldman, for instance, gave public lectures on sexuality and read these sciences through a radical lens.

d. Alexander Berkman’s Prison Memoirs

• Alexander Berkman (jailed anarchist):
  • Memoir offers one of the first American political treatments of homosexuality.
  • Describes the brutality of prison, initial horror at homosexuality, but eventual recognition of loving relationships as a form of solidarity in adversity.
  • Key dialogue between Berkman and “George” centers on love between men:

    “You’re laughing at me, you’re horrified by what I’m saying.”—“No, no, I don’t. I understand you completely.” (21:15)

  • Berkman prefaces the memoir with Wilde’s poem—a “condemnation of the prison” and a coded solidarity with sexual minorities.

e. Lasting Implications

• Anarchist critique of marriage resonates with debates about same-sex marriage today:
  • Marriage as "a charmed circle of legitimacy," potentially reinforcing state and patriarchal power rather than subverting it.

3. Martha Ackelsberg: Spanish Anarchist Women and Sexual Politics

[25:53–54:01]

a. Spanish Anarchism’s Egalitarian Vision

• Early 20th C. Spanish anarchism sought a non-hierarchical, communal society—freedom as a social product (28:00).

• Rejected purely economic analyses; saw church, state, and patriarchal forms of domination as equally significant.

• “You cannot create an egalitarian society through authoritarian or inegalitarian means.” (30:50)

b. Education and Direct Action

• Emphasis on literacy and cultural knowledge to enable both self-transformation and collective struggle (32:00).
• Education via schools, playgroups, theater, work collectives—transforming everyday practice.

c. Women’s Subordination and the Rise of Mujeres Libres

• Cited anarchists’ recognition of “artificial” gender inequality caused by social structure:
  • “Woman's presumed inferiority...is purely artificial, the inevitable consequence of civilization which…makes of the woman a slave, and of her compañero a ferocious tyrant.” —Mariano Gallardo (36:22)
• Women began organizing themselves in small groups to discuss tailored solutions, leading to the formation of Mujeres Libres (“Free Women”).

d. Sexuality in Theory and Practice

• They promoted free love, birth control, critique of monogamy, and women’s autonomy—though often with ambivalence.

• “To be a woman captivated by culture and by acquiring a new, free consciousness, is neither to renounce motherhood nor to deny one's femininity…It is rather to be in contact with life in all of its aspects and to be responsible for one's decisions without having to humiliate oneself or trail behind men.” —Sorrel Berenguer (43:33)

• Recognized sexual expression as part of personhood but rarely discussed homosexuality openly, despite prominent lesbians in their ranks (e.g., Lucia Sanchez Saornil).

e. Critique of Marriage and Prostitution

• “A wedding certificate was nothing other than a contract of sale…We must not simply dress up bourgeois morality in new clothes.” —Lucia Sanchez Saornil (49:21)
• Sought to end prostitution through economic empowerment and training, saw it as a social consequence, not as a moral failing.

f. Structural Change over Individual Rights

• Avoided language of sexual rights and identity. Emphasized collective action and consciousness-raising to change both “intellectual and sexual arenas.”

4. Richard Cleminson: Comparative and Critical Reflections

[54:01–66:03]

a. The Breadth of Anarchist Innovation

• Anarchism was novel and international—advancing sex radicalism, birth control debates, and sometimes eugenics (in Argentina’s Protesta journal).
• Noted the historic importance of anarchists in posing new questions of sexual autonomy and criticizing state and church control.

b. Interconnected Struggles

• Drew connections among sexual freedom, birth control, the economy of the household, and same-sex desire, stressing the movement’s holistic critique.

c. Education and Feminist Transformation

• Cited Mujeres Libres’ dual strategy: “captación” (recruitment) and “capacitación” (empowerment) for women.
• Spanish anarchist publications were numerous and sophisticated, debating topics such as evolutionary theory far ahead of their time.

d. Ambivalences and Limits

• Free love was often implicitly heteronormative and monogamous; marginalization of homosexuality persisted.
• Some male anarchists opposed birth control as anti-revolutionary, reflecting ongoing debate.
• Science was sometimes naively embraced as inherently emancipatory.
• Power and hierarchy remained unresolved challenges, exemplified by Spanish anarchists’ participation in the Republican government.

5. Q&A Session: Contemporary Relevance and Critiques

[70:10–99:57]

A. Same-Sex Marriage and Anarchist Critique

• Kissack:

  “What is the practical and political effect of validating marriage above other social relations? … By creating a valid form of same sex desire, are we pushing to the sides polyamory, queer sex, kinky sex in ways that actually harm people in the community?” (73:34)

• Martha Ackelsberg:

  “The danger of a focus on same sex marriage is to re-center a kind of heteronormativity or homo-normativity, so that certain kinds of relationships are recognized, other kinds are not… What they were trying to do is to question that norm altogether.” (77:00)

B. Sex Work and Labor in Anarchist Thinking

• Historic anarchists sometimes viewed sex work as necessarily coerced; contemporary anarchists call for recognizing all work under capitalism as coerced, and resist singling out sex work for special condemnation.
• Audience member (contemporary anarchist):

  “Why do we look at sex work as degrading? Is it because of our views on women and what sex means in terms of power? … We should critique work under capitalism as a whole.” (84:26)

C. Education, Power, Science, and Sexual Categories

• Education was transformative, not passive—a means to collective empowerment rather than simple instruction.
• Persistent problems: the power to define sexual norms, the invention of “homosexuality” and “heterosexuality” as social categories (Cleminson).
• Science (including sexology and psychoanalysis) was viewed with both hope and naiveté:
  • “Anarchism in the late 19th century… was grappling with these new inventions and how to position themselves within this new sexological framework...” (97:01–97:21)

D. Visions for Anarchist Sexual Liberation Today

• All panelists expressed the need for a “wider revolutionary vision”: addressing precarity, healthcare, housing, and the structural roots of sexual oppression.
• Cleminson, on binaries:

  “The division between heterosexuality and homosexuality, between male and female … are inventions… We can collectively and individually try to sideline these oppressive discourses.” (97:21)

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Emma Goldman (quoted):

  “Anarchism stands for…the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion…from the dominion of property…from the shackles and restraint of government…” (06:03)

• Victoria Woodhull:

  “I have an inalienable and natural right to love whom I may…to change that love every day if I please…” (08:06)

• Berkman’s Memoir Dialogue:

  “You’re laughing at me, you’re horrified by what I’m saying.”—“No, no, I don’t. I understand you completely.” (21:15)

• Sorrel Berenguer (via Ackelsberg):

  “To be a woman captivated by culture and by acquiring a new, free consciousness, is neither to renounce motherhood nor to deny one's femininity … It is rather to be in contact with life in all of its aspects and to be responsible for one’s decisions without…trail[ing] behind men.” (43:33)

• Cleminson’s “House of Sexual Satisfaction” anecdote:

  "One of the proposals of the time was to establish houses of sexual satisfaction…People would have a brief medical exam as they went in…Off one went into the house…One satisfied one's desires if one was lucky, and then one could come back the next day." (62:10)

• Martha Ackelsberg on revolutionary vision:

  “…So much of what's going on…can’t really be addressed precisely because we're operating from way too small a frame…If you start talking…about how living under capitalist patriarchy doesn't work for people, that it's oppressive, that's what we need to try to address the problems of today.” (95:10)

Important Timestamps

• 00:42: Episode introduction – the panel’s connection with broader sexual freedom projects
• 04:45–25:38: Terence Kissack’s overview of US anarchist sexual politics and Oscar Wilde
• 25:53–54:01: Martha Ackelsberg on Spanish anarchism, Mujeres Libres, and women’s sexuality
• 54:01–66:03: Richard Cleminson: Comparative insights and critique
• 70:10–99:57: Audience Q&A, with focus on marriage, sex work, the invention of sexual categories, and contemporary anarchist perspectives

Conclusion

This episode highlighted the complex, transnational history of anarchist engagement with sexuality—revealing both pioneering insights and persistent limitations. The panel demonstrated how debates over free love, marriage, sexual labor, gender, and queerness were (and remain) deeply shaped by broader struggles against hierarchy, capitalism, and patriarchy. While anarchist movements offered some of the earliest critiques of sexual repression and calls for sexual liberation, their legacy is mixed—a source not only of inspiration for today’s radical politics but also of necessary critique.

The discussion concluded by insisting on the importance of linking sexual politics to broader struggles for collective liberation, and on the ongoing project of reimagining both intimacy and social relations beyond the confines of state and capital.