What is "especifismo"

Especifismo (English: specifism or especifism) is one of the two main forms of anarchist activism championed by FARJ ( Federação Anarquista do Rio de Janeiro) and other South American anarchist organizations, the other being social insertion. Especifismo emerged as a result of anarchist experiences in South America over the last half of the 20th century starting with the Federación Anarquista Uruguaya (FAU), which was founded in 1956 by anarchists who saw the need for an organization which was specifically anarchist.

Especifismo has been summarized as:

• The need for specifically anarchist organization built around a unity of ideas and praxis.
• The use of the specifically anarchist organization to theorize and develop strategic political and organizing work.
• Active involvement in and building of autonomous and popular social movements via social insertion.

Other organizations that propound especifismo include the Federação Anarquista Gaúcha (FAG), the Federação Anarquista Cabocla (FACA), the Federação Anarquista do Rio de Janeiro (FARJ), the Columna Libertaria Joaquin Penina ( Joaquin Penina) Libertarian Column) from Rosario, Argentina, the Columna Libertaria Errico Malatesta from Buenos Aires, and the Red Libertaria de Buenos Aires (RLBA), also from Argentina. The Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front in South Africa also takes especifismo as one of its points of reference.

Especifismo is considered to have come to broadly similar conclusions to the Organizational Platform of the General Union of Anarchists (Draft) and may be considered to be very similar to Platformism, which in turn claims its roots lie in the organisational work of figures like Mikhail Bakunin, Errico Malatesta and Nestor Makhno.