Anarchist companionship

The anarchist companionship was the relationship system of the anarchist movement in Western Europe at the end of the 19th century, encompassing both formal and informal anarchist networks guided by shared values such as hospitality and financial or practical aid to fellow companions. These networks also engaged in supporting other social struggles of the period—even those that were not explicitly anarchist.

This transnational network, lacking a real nerve center or central authority, allowed anarchists of the time to meet, consult, and undertake joint actions while providing them with significant mobility across Europe. The companions shared a set of structuring elements that united them: common values, a shared commitment to the anarchist struggle, and a collective imaginary, particularly shaped by the anarchist press and songs of the period.

Born as a response to state repression in Europe, this shifting and decentralized network proved difficult for authorities to control. They portrayed it as the result of a vast international anarchist conspiracy—an interpretation that does not reflect the reality of anarchist companionship. Attempts to suppress it generally failed due to its elusive nature.

After the Ère des attentats (1892–1894) and the growing distinction between individualist anarchists and anarcho-communists, anarchists turned to other forms of action and coordination, particularly anarcho-syndicalism. Although anarchist companionship eventually disappeared, some anarchists continue to use the term to refer to themselves, making it an anarchist counterpart to the more communist-linked term of 'comrade'.