New Book | Zwart Licht: Anarchisten in België rond 1900
Eric Min | Pelckmans, 2023
From the publisher:
From them, you should not expect a blueprint for a new society or a business plan. They do not commit attacks—neither the streets nor the barricades are their domain, but rather the study or the artist's studio. They are anarchists, though you might not immediately think so. They are convinced, however, that the revolution is imminent—not only in Paris or Moscow but also in Belgium.
Around 1900, a generation of intellectuals and artists saw the world shifting. Their new society would bring equality and happiness. Fair pay for labor. Peace. The freedom to love. Schools tailored to children. A life without God or commandments. Ni dieu ni maître!
Who were they? A few bourgeois-bohemians from the Brussels academic circles around Élisée Reclus: Jacques Mesnil, August Vermeylen, and Alexandra David-Néel. Artists from the left-liberal bourgeoisie like Émile Verhaeren, Henry van de Velde, Théo Van Rysselberghe, and their Parisian comrades. The Antwerp crew of De Kapel. A handful of pioneers who founded communes in the green outskirts of Brussels. Poets and educators. Impatient socialists. Brilliant bunglers. Wandering idealists under the dark light of anarchy. It was a beautiful misunderstanding.
[Translation from Dutch: Black Light: Anarchists in Belgium around 1900]
Pelckmans, March 24, 2023.
ISBN 978-94-6401-752-6 (hardcover)
426pp.