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Title: Anarchism in Norway Author: Gabriel Kuhn Date: 2009 Language: en Topics: Norway, history Source: Retrieved on 22nd November 2021 from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp0067 Notes: Published in The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest.
Three authors of the 1800s are widely regarded as predecessors of
Norway’s anarchist movement: Marcus Thrane (1817–90), who instigated the
“Thrane movement” by founding the Drammens Arbeiderforening (Drammen
Labor Union) in 1848 under the influence of Pierre Joseph Proudhon;
famed playwright Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906), who proclaimed a “no-state
theory”; and Hans Jæger (1854–1910), most prominent representative of
the Kristiania Bohème, a movement of the 1880s best known for
propagating sexual liberty and gender equality.
Arne Garborg (1851–1924) and Julius Mortensson-Egnund (1857–1934), who
founded the journal Fedraheimen (Home of the Forefathers) in 1877, are
commonly referenced as the country’s first self-declared anarchists.
Fedraheimen was published as an “anarchocommunist” journal by editor
Rasmus Steinsvik (1863–1913) until 1891. In the same year, the
anarchocommunist group Libertas was founded by German anarchists. Its
most prominent member became Kristofer Hansteen (1865–1906), who also
published a paper called Anarkisten (The Anarchist) (1898–9). In 1906
Hans Jæger published Anarkiets bibel (Anarchy’s Bible), one of the
best-known anarchist books published in Norwegian.
Radical Swedish workers – among them the prominent Swedish anarchist
Albert Jensen (1879–1957) – had a big influence on Norway’s anarchist
movement in the early twentieth century. They were involved both in the
foundation of Norges Ungsocialistiske Forbund (Norway’s Young Socialist
Alliance) (NUF) in 1909 (later Norges Social-Anarkistiske Forbund, or
Norway’s Social Anarchist Alliance), and the Norsk Syndikalistisk
Føderasjon (Norwegian Syndicalist Federation) (NSF) in 1916. The latter
had strong ties to Sveriges Arbetarers Centralorganisation (Central
Organization of Sweden’s Workers) (SAC). Notable NUF journals included
Storm (1909–12) and Direkte Aktion (1912–18). Of particular importance
for the anarchist movement was the NSF journal Alarm (1919–40).
In 1940 the Nazi Occupation all but put an end to the country’s
anarchist movement. However, in the 1950s Alarm reappeared under a new
name, Solidaritet, and some anarchosyndicalist organizations were
founded, most notably the Syndikalistiske Ungdomsforbund (Syndicalist
Youth Alliance), although all of them were shortlived. Solidaritet
ceased publication in 1960.
Various anarchist organizations emerged in the following decades. Among
the most popular were the Bodø Anarkistiske Liga (Bodø’s Anarchist
League) in the early 1970s and Folkemakt (People Power) in the late
1990s. In 1977 the Norsk Syndikalistisk Føderasjon was revived. The
influential ongoing anarchist journal Gateavisa (Street News) began
publishing in 1970.
Since the 1970s, anarchist ideals have also featured strongly in
practical attempts at egalitarian communal living. Projects have reached
from rural communes around Karlsøy (in the country’s far north) or
Farsund (in Norway’s southwest) to a relatively strong squatting scene
in Oslo and the occupied Svartlamon neighborhood in Trondheim. Current
focus points of the country’s anarchist counterculture are the community
centers Blitz, Hausmania, and Hjelmsgate (Oslo) and the bookstore Ivar
Matlaus (Trondheim).
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REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Bals, J. & Beyer-Arnesen, H. (2006) Utopi, revolusjon, sosialisme
(Utopia, Revolution, Socialism). Oslo: News From Nowhere.
Bull, E. et al., (Eds.) (198590) Arbeiderbevegelsens historie i Norge. 6
bind (History of the Workers’ Movement in Norway. 6 Vols.). Oslo: Tiden.
Fagerhus, H. (2004) Anarkismen og syndikalismen i Norge gjennom 150 ĂĄr
(150 Years of Anarchism and Syndicalism in Norway). Available at
. Accessed February 3, 2008.
Nettlau, M. (1996) A Short History of Anarchism. London: Freedom Press.