Summary

The term 'affinity group' is the English translation of the Spanish 'grupo de afinidad' which was the organisational form devised as the basis of the Federación Anarquista Ibérica (The Iberian Anarchist Federation, FAI) in Spain in the period prior to the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco (1936-1975). The affinity group has features that apply to many social situations and were later adopted intuitively by various radical groups. Affinity groups were designed to be autonomous, communal and directly democratic, combining revolutionary lifestlyle with everyday behaviour. Under conditions of political repression, affinity groups are highly resistant to police infiltration. (Bookchin, Murray, 1969, 'Affinity Groups', Appendix to 'Listen Marxist', accessed 31 August 2017 from https://www.marxists.org/archive/bookchin/1969/listen-marxist.htm#h6 )

Resources

Pamphlets

• The Direct Action Reader, [This copy courtesy of Viola Wilkins], Melbourne, 2000, 21 pp. images PDF Details
• Welcome to S11 AWOL, Autonomous Web of Liberation (AWOL) [This scan courtesy of Viola Wilkins], Melbourne, 2000, 2 pp. images PDF Details