Jack of All Arts

Daniel Guérin

Black and white photo of Daniel Guérin smiling in front of an abstract painting featuring a bird-like creature.
Daniel Guérin speaking at a Popular Front meeting, 1936. Source unknown.
Formal black and white portrait of a young Daniel Guérin in a suit and tie, facing slightly left with a serious expression.
Daniel Guérin in his later years, smiling and leaning casually against a piece of furniture, with a large photograph of a shirtless young man in the background.
Similar to the previous image, Daniel Guérin is seen laughing with the same photograph of a young man behind him, cropped more closely.

Born: May 19, 1904
Birthplace: Paris, France
Death: April 14, 1988
Gender identity: Cisgender Man
Pronouns: he/him
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Nationality: French
Ethnicity: White European
Profession: Political Theorist, Essayist, Historian, Publisher, Activist
Years Active: 1926–1988
Genres: Political Theory, History, Autobiography
Associated Movements: Anarchism, Marxism, Libertarian Communism, French Libertarian Socialism, Anticolonialism, LGBTQ+ Liberation

Overview

Daniel Guérin was a French libertarian-communist and revolutionary intellectual, known for bridging anarchism and Marxism while living openly as a bisexual man in a time of repression. His work ranged across critiques of fascism, analyses of colonialism, and pioneering queer anarchist theory.

Early Life and Education

Daniel Guérin was born in Paris in 1904 into a bourgeois family. His early life was shaped by France’s social upheaval during and after World War I. Though raised in privilege, he rejected bourgeois norms. His radicalization stemmed from personal experiences, including romantic relationships with young male workers and exposure to French colonial atrocities during travels in Indochina and the Middle East.

Career

Guérin began publishing in the late 1920s and became a prominent figure on the French left. He contributed to multiple leftist journals and worked as an editor and translator. He remained active through the 1980s, influencing generations of anarchists, socialists, and queer radicals.

Activism

Guérin was active in anti-fascist resistance, the Popular Front, and anti-colonial movements. He supported the Spanish CNT during the Civil War and worked alongside Trotskyist, anarchist, and syndicalist circles. He was outspoken against the Vietnam War, imperialism, and racism, connecting these struggles to working-class liberation and queer emancipation.

Writing

Key works include:

In these works, Guérin critiqued centralized power, exposed capitalist support for fascism, and promoted revolutionary socialism rooted in popular self-organization.

Biobibliography

Daniel Guérin’s intellectual output spanned over six decades and comprised an extensive body of work in political theory, anarchism, anti-fascism, and queer liberation. His works were published in French and translated into multiple languages. Below is a comprehensive list of major works, anthologies, and key translations:

Major Works (French):

  • Fascisme et grand capital (1936)
  • Front populaire, révolution manquée (1937)
  • La lutte de classes sous la Première République (1946–1949, 2 vols.)
  • Pour un marxisme libertaire (1969)
  • Ni Dieu ni Maître: Anthologie de l’anarchisme (1970, 2 vols.)
  • L’anarchisme: de la doctrine à l’action (1965)
  • Trois problèmes de la révolution (1958)
  • Écrivains de la révolution (1970)
  • La Révolution française et nous (1988)
  • À la recherche d’un communisme libertaire (1984)
  • De l’Oncle Tom à Luther King (1964)
  • Jeunesse du socialisme libertaire (1983)
  • L’anarchisme et le marxisme (1976)

Queer and Sexuality-Focused Works:

  • Kinsey et la sexualité (1955)
  • Homosexualité et révolution (1954, revised 1968)
  • Proudhon, In the Closet (Proudhon et l’amour, 1969, trans. Jesse Cohn, 2013)
  • Eux et moi (autobiographical, published posthumously)
  • Autobiographie politique (1983)

Translations and English-Language Editions:

  • Fascism and Big Business (New York: Monad Press, 1973, tr. Frances and Mason Merrill)
  • Anarchism: From Theory to Practice (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1970, tr. Mary Klopper)
  • No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism (AK Press, 2005)
  • Homosexuality and the Revolutionary Movement (translations published in queer anarchist zines and by Bastard Press)
  • Towards a Libertarian Communism (Freedom Press, 1988)

Posthumous and Archival Publications:

  • Daniel Guérin Reader (compiled selections in English, unpublished)
  • Eux et moi: journal d’une révolution sexuelle (Unpublished manuscript excerpts archived in French queer studies collections)
  • Essays and letters reprinted in anarchist and socialist journals such as La Révolution prolétarienne, Le Libertaire, and La Jeune République
  • Contributions to Black Flag, Le Monde Libertaire, and Socialisme ou Barbarie

Guérin’s papers, including unpublished letters, drafts, and correspondence with figures like André Breton, Jean Malaquais, and Simone Weil, are archived in various collections, notably at the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the International Institute of Social History (IISH) in Amsterdam.

Publication Timeline

  • 1936 – Fascisme et grand capital
  • 1937 – Front populaire, révolution manquée
  • 1946–1949 – La lutte de classes sous la Première République (2 vols.)
  • 1954 – Homosexualité et révolution
  • 1955 – Kinsey et la sexualité
  • 1958 – Trois problèmes de la révolution
  • 1964 – De l’Oncle Tom à Luther King
  • 1965 – L’anarchisme: de la doctrine à l’action
  • 1968 – Revised edition of Homosexualité et révolution
  • 1969 – Pour un marxisme libertaire; Proudhon et l’amour (Proudhon in the Closet)
  • 1970 – Ni Dieu ni Maître (2 vols.); English edition Anarchism: From Theory to Practice
  • 1976 – L’anarchisme et le marxisme
  • 1983 – Autobiographie politique; Jeunesse du socialisme libertaire
  • 1984 – À la recherche d’un communisme libertaire
  • 1988 – La Révolution française et nous; English edition Towards a Libertarian Communism
  • Posthumous – Eux et moi (unpublished); Daniel Guérin Reader (unpublished compilation)

Themes

  • Anti-fascism and class struggle
  • Anti-colonial resistance
  • Queer liberation and sexual repression
  • Reconciliation of anarchism and Marxism
  • Critique of vanguardism and statism
  • Revolutionary self-management

Styles

Guérin’s style was polemical, erudite, yet accessible. He blended historical narrative with theoretical insight and unapologetic sexual frankness, often drawing from firsthand experiences. His work is known for its courage to bridge taboo subjects with rigorous socialist analysis.

Quotes

  • “It was in bed with them that I discovered the working class, much more than through Marxist writings.”
  • “To liberate the masses, one must begin by trusting them.”
  • “Socialism without liberty is tyranny.”
  • “Fascism is the armed wing of capitalism in crisis.”

Honors

Guérin was often marginalized by mainstream French socialism for his sexual politics. Despite this, he remained influential in anarchist and New Left circles, and posthumously became a celebrated figure in queer and anti-authoritarian history.

Legacy

Daniel Guérin’s legacy includes:

  • Bridging anarchism and Marxism into libertarian socialism
  • Foundational queer anarchist critique
  • Influence on 1968 and post-68 New Left radicalism
  • Pioneering analysis of fascism as capitalist reaction
  • Critique of homophobia and misogyny within the Left, particularly in his re-examination of Proudhon

He remains a central figure for radical scholars, anarchists, and queer liberationists.

Sources Cited

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