Popular athenaeum
The popular ateneo or worker ateneo is the name given to a type of ateneo that arises from the tradition of the republican movement in Spain and It also occurred in other Spanish-speaking countries. "There arose [in the last decades of the 19th century] a whole network of specifically cultural associations (universities, study centers, etc.) of diverse ideological tendencies, united, however, by the same purpose: education and culturization of the popular classes". In which popular culture is reinforced, and "Quand parlem of popular culture, estem parlant de cultura que irt del poble i regresa al poble, sense that quedi quedi monopolitzada en cap estament of the society" (translated from Catalan: When we talk about popular culture, we are talking about culture that leaves the town and returns to the town, without being monopolized in any section of society).
Originally formed as cultural associations, their proliferation, especially between the 80s of the XIX century and the Second Spanish Republic, was largely favored by the lack of official educational infrastructures for the working class; in many cases they had their own premises or used the infrastructures of the unions or community associations. Some popular athenaeums were politically aligned with republican and leftist thought and with various militant organizations in Spain, and were the meeting point for the dissemination of their ideas.
Among the activities of the popular ateneos could be found informative bulletins, publication of books and pamphlets, excursions to the countryside, conferences and talks, theater, poetry recitals, debates, Esperanto classes, or open access libraries; generally these activities were self-financed by the users. Some of these athenaeums, due in some way to anarcho-syndicalist influence, maintained rationalist schools in which the children of the workers were educated in a secular and progressive environment.
An example of a historical popular university is the Ateneu Enciclopedic Popular, which throughout history has gone through different administrations and which exists to this day.
History
The etymological word athenaeus comes from the Greek goddess of wisdom Athena. According to this term, the Athenaeums are centers in which culture is disseminated. In Spain from the middle of the XIX century, both the bourgeoisie (such as the Ateneo de Madrid, or the Ateneo de Barcelona) and the working class create their own Athenaeums, in which cultural activities are carried out according to their needs. Its main motto would be "culture as a means for the emancipation of the people".
In the case of the Athenaeums managed by the popular classes, these received numerous names depending on the people who acted in them or the perspective that they wanted to be given. So they were called: Libertarian, worker, popular, anarchist, eclectic, syndicalist, neutral, rationalist, social outreach, Town Houses, Popular Universities, etc.
Many of these cultural centers have been strongly linked to anarcho-syndicalism since their beginnings and can be considered as its cultural branch. In the case of the libertarian ateneos, one of the founders of the CNT, Anselmo Lorenzo, insisted that the first thing that the unions of each locality should do was create a libertarian ateneo.
Throughout the first four decades of the XX century, libertarian and popular athenaeums multiplied, as well as the people who participated in them. In many, schools were created for the children of workers that included methods of the most advanced pedagogy, based on the proposals of Francisco Ferrer Guardia. Some, due to their quality and number of constant participants, have gone down in the history of education, such as the Escuela Natura del Clot in Barcelona, which operated until the end of the Spanish Civil War.
It can be said that the popular or libertarian ateneos were a true popular university for the working class of all ages, where they gradually acquired the cultural training that had been denied them due to their social condition. The rationalist impulse, of liberation through culture, gives it sufficient strength and legitimacy before the working class, which treated the athenaeums and popular libraries with reverence. They also serve as a meeting place for the people of the neighbourhood, where people debate, get to know each other, create bonds and raise their problems with others.
They are also the first time that many working women find a place where they are on equal terms with men, where they are going to learn, and where they are making contact with anarchism. The success of the libertarian athenaeums was overwhelming, creating a worker and supportive culture, and it can be affirmed that they replaced the State or the religious orders in the educational role of their time.
Among the activities of the popular ateneos could be found informative bulletins, editions of books and pamphlets, excursions to the countryside, conferences and talks, theater, poetry recitals, debates, Esperanto classes, or open access libraries; generally these activities were self-financed by the users. Some of these athenaeums, due in some way to anarcho-syndicalist influence, maintained rationalist schools in which the children of the workers were educated in a secular and progressive environment. They gave great importance to hygiene as a preventive of diseases, knowledge of contraceptive methods and sexuality.
The Athenaeums that had a school, as well as making sure to pay the teachers. There used to be adult literacy classes in the evenings. And one of the key pieces of the Athenaeums was that they were trying to get hold of a library, which in many towns was the largest in the area. This phenomenon of cultural diffusion was fully justified, only in 1930 it is estimated that between 1/3 and 1/4 of the Spanish population was illiterate. There were also quite a few variations between some athenaeums and others. They were aware of this and used to help each other, even promoting various federation projects between athenaeums, which never came to fruition.
The heyday of the libertarian ateneos took place before and also at the beginning of the Civil War, in which hundreds of them flourished throughout all the neighborhoods and towns of Republican Spain. In the city of Valencia alone there were about 15. In Madrid there would be about 30. In all of Catalonia there would be about 200. However, they always suffered from economic scarcity, and they saw how young people were being recruited progressively as the war progressed, leaving in the hands of women and non-combatant men. When the war ended, the athenaeums were dissolved. In the case of the Ateneu Enciclopèdic Popular de Barcelona, which had 26,000 members (it was probably the largest association in Barcelona), its books were burned on the Ramblas by the Falangists.
As we have insinuated, the ateneos as workers' institutions, were strongly linked to the anarchist movement in Spain. However, the socialist workers (PSOE, UGT and POUM, mainly) also participated and even organized gatherings in their areas of influence. In many cases they were open organizations that accommodated different political tendencies. Athenaeums linked to the Federal Party were not rare.
Transition
After Franco's death in 1975, numerous popular athenaeums appeared, especially in Catalonia, Valencia and Madrid. For example, in Barcelona there were around twenty Athenaeums [1]. In them, the function of making the people literate is no longer the main thing, as it was before the end of the civil war, since the State already guaranteed it. Child schooling already covered the majority of the population. But there continued to be a series of social, urban, or labor problems in the neighborhoods that could be dealt with from the Ateneo assemblies, often in collaboration with the Neighborhood Associations or with the CNT-AIT union, on which it sometimes depended. As was the case before the Civil War, there were quite a few popular gatherings linked to other labor movements, in this case in the 70s, to the communist movement.
Thus, the Athenaeums re-emerge as a place of meeting, culture and social struggle. However, around 1979, many neighborhood associations were being co-opted by leftist political parties, capturing some of their key militants and deactivating the demands in the neighborhoods. The associationism that existed in the 70s was declining until 1982. It is the process known as "disenchantment". The Ateneu Popular de Nou Barris survives from that time, in Barcelona [2], which was the result of a neighborhood squatting.
In the athenaeums there were talks, debates, meetings. Workers' struggles such as those of Vitoria, Roca, Michelín, or that of the stevedores were supported. Some members of these struggling companies stopped by the premises to report their situation. Likewise, the prisoners' struggle was supported, both individually and through the support coordinator for COPEL or by campaigning against prisons.
News
But the athenaeums, despite a decline during the 80s and part of the 90s, resurfaced in the late 90s and the century XXI. During the 1980s, some athenaeums were linked to the new youth movements of the time. This is the case of punk and the first squats. For example, the Libertarian Athenaeum of Sants (Barcelona), was reborn as an occupation in 1989. Other athenaeums, such as the Libertarian Athenaeum of Gracia or the Poble Sec b> (Barcelona), also encouraged the occupation of homes and spaces, as well as the confluence of these first squatters and punks with anarchists and social struggles.
In the specific case of the Basque Country, numerous Gaztetxes (youth houses) flourished, which became the athenaeums in this area, normally linked to the nationalist movement, although some were also linked to the libertarian and countercultural (punk) movements there. This is how the political-social environment associated with the squatter movement was created.
During the 90s, the ateneos progressively became linked to the squatter movement. An example of this was the Cornellá Libertarian Athenaeum, squatted since 1987, or the aforementioned Sants. In many cases they were transformed into Social Centers, which came to be an adaptation of the athenaeums to the new times. However, the ateneos also survived as independent entities. The case of the organization of Ateneos Populares and Casales populares by the Catalan left-wing independence movement began to arise, which today has around 70 ateneos and social centers. Also in Galicia the independence movement is organizing its own social centers. There are about 20.
On the libertarian side, in addition to the social centers squatted by the Spanish state, which some would be assimilated to athenaeums and others not, there are about 50 directly linked to anarchism (not necessarily squatted: there are many rented and others are ceded by unions). In addition to another 40 centers that do not receive that name but study centers, foundations, social library, etc. somehow linked to libertarian ideas. (see link to the Directory of Libertarian Athenaeums)
In Italy, libertarian athenaeums have been created in Milan and Naples, probably created with that name as a tribute to the classic libertarian athenaeums. In Latin America they are often called Libertarian Social Centers, or Center for Libertarian Studies.
Operation
In the functioning of the athenaeums it is usually an assembly member. It is governed by an assembly where agreements are proposed, debated or reached. This democratic horizontality in the way of functioning is opposed to the habitual practice in certain old worker associations, and some current popular associations, in which there was or exists a board of directors that is the one who makes the decisions. There are also differences regarding the economic autonomy of the athenaeums. Those most closely linked to the anarchist movement are in favor of total self-management of resources and to finance themselves they resort to solidarity activities and quotas; They also encourage the squatting of spaces to hold conferences or request the space to the CNT union. However, other popular universities, which are usually linked to organizations of the social democratic left, accept subsidies.
Finally, although culture and leisure are clear features of the Athenaeum, they usually try to make the space transcend mere entertainment, becoming a meeting place and debate for social transformation, being frequently used by social and political movements from the area. The Ateneo seeks to reach society.