Resumen de Neo-malthusianism, anarchism and resistance: world view and the limits of acceptance in Barcelona (1904-1914)
This paper attempts to identify the barriers to the acceptance ofNeo-Malthusian discourse among anarchists and sympathizers in the first years of the 20th century in Barcelona. Neo-Malthusian anarchists advocatedthe use and promotion of contraceptives and birth control as a way to achieveliberation while subscribing toa Malthusian perspective of nature. The revolutionary discourse was disseminated in Barcelona primarily by the journal Salud y Fuerzaand its editor Lluis Bulffi from 1904-1914,at the same time sharing ideological goals with traditional anarchism whileclashing with the conception of a beneficent and abundant nature which underpinned traditional anarchist thought.Given the cultural, social and political importance of anarchism to the history of Barcelona in particular and Europe in general, further investigation intoNeo-Malthusianism and the response to the discourseis needed in order to understand better the generally accepted world-view among anarchists and how they responded to challenges to this vision. This is a topic not fully addressed by current historiography on Neo-Malthusian anarchism.Thisarticle is derivedfrom my Master’s thesis in Contemporary History at the UniversitatAutònoma de Barcelona entitled “Neomathusianismo, anarquismo y resistencias: Los límites de su aceptación en Cataluña”, which contains a further exposition of the ideas included here in, as well as a broader perspective onthe topic
