Anarchism

Seny and Rauxa

Seny, or ‘common sense’ is an important word in Catalan, and many Barcelonans consider it as their principal virtue. It makes them rich and sets them apart from the rest of Spain, or at least from the Spain of dreaming Don Quixotes and creaky old grandees who regarded commerce with distaste.

Seny, however, has a counterpart: rauxa, or ‘uncontrolled passion’. While Eusebi Güell and his high-flying cronies sought Utopia in Modernisme and modernization, their mistreated workers sought theirs in Anarchism. The bourgeoisie sublimated their rauxa in Wagner, architectural excess, exotic sex (at least judging by the old bills of fare at Barcelona’s bordellos) and worse, the Anarchists expressed their rauxa by erecting barricades; Engels, in his Bakuninites in Action, noted that Barcelonans were better at erecting them than anyone. But there was seny on the Anarchist side as well; their magazine Acràcia was well written and carefully thought out.