All for the working class! Economic imaginary and social transformation in the Asturian revolution of 1934

Abstract

The October Revolution of 1934 in Asturias was the last great proletarian insurrection in Western Europe. For 15 days a new social order was established, characterised by the introduction of a socialised economic system. The aim of this article is twofold. On the one hand, to analyse the ideas, imaginaries and economic representations that acted as an impulse for the people who took part in the Asturian insurrection of 1934. On the other hand, this text seeks to analyse in a monographic way the economic actions developed by the revolutionary committees during the organisation of everyday life in the areas under their control. It seeks to show how the revolutionaries, with a defined proletarian identity, developed economic imaginaries and practices based on Marxist and libertarian social justice, although marked by self-management and improvisation.