As I may have mentioned before, I am a firm believer in the need to understand and study history – particularly of anarchism and anarchists. I do not think we can know where we are – or how to progress – without have a grasp of how we got to where we are now. If we do not know our own history, we are at the mercy of those who do – or, more likely, those who claim they do.

Peter Kropotkin needs little introduction. The Russian Prince who became one of the leading anarchist thinkers of his time, his articles and books are still – rightly – recommended to those seeking to understand anarchism and have convinced many to join the movement.

I have been somewhat quieter than normal for the last two months. Suffice to say, been a bit busy. First, I finished my introduction to Kropotkin’s Modern Science and Anarchy and sent it to AK Press. I also completed my chapter (“The State and Revolution: Theory and Practice”) of forthcoming AK Press Russian Revolution book.

First off, happy New Year! I hope 2016 will be a good one – so far, it looks like it will be for me. Big changes are coming and that will probably mean, for a while, fewer articles and blogs. But, then, I’ve not been that prolific recently. I have, however, found the time to get a rare Kropotkin translation revised and which is presented below in full for the first time.

This is a write-up of the notes of a talk made at the 2014 London Anarchist bookfair. I have made a few slight changes/additions. On the day I skipped the section of “small-scale” production (“Kropotkin the Medievalist?) and covered the differences between communist-anarchism and syndicalism in the discussion period. It is based, of course, on the work I did for Direct Struggle Against Capital: A Peter Kropotkin Anthology. A newly translated article by Kropotkin from May 1890 (“The action of the masses and the individual”) is appended.

Below is a newly translated article by Kropotkin from 1890. It is part of the debates over the May Day demonstrations and libertarian participation in the labour movement. Of note is Kropotkin’s talk of the General Strike years before it became associated with syndicalism (although, as discussed before, Bakunin and his comrades raised it twenty years before).

Okay, first off still incredibly busy so not able to do much libertarian-wise. The good news is that a new Black Flag collective is off the ground and we are getting an issue together for the next London Anarchist bookfair in October. Which will mean I won’t be able to get to many meetings due to stall duty. Still, a small price to pay for ensuring the movement has a printed voice (even if it will be, initially, bi-yearly).

A short update. Suffice to say, I’m been very busy of late. I decided to get back to revising An Anarchist FAQ, namely its appendices – starting with the critique of David McNally’s terrible “Socialism from Below” pamphlet. It has taken more time than I had anticipated – mostly due to how bad it is.

Peter Alexeivich Kropotkin was born in Moscow on December the 9^th in1842 within a royal family that could trace its origins to the founders of the Tsarist regime. As a member of the Russian ruling class, he received the best education his father’s exploitation of his serfs could provide. At the age of fifteen, he entered the Corps of Pages in St. Petersburg, an elite Court institution attached to the imperial household.

This is a write up of a talk I did at the 2012 London anarchist bookfair. It explores the interwoven nature of revolutionary anarchism and syndicalism, showing how the standard Leninist account of both is false. It shows how syndicalism evolved as a key anarchist tactic within the First International and how revolutionary anarchists like Bakunin and Kropotkin advocated syndicalist ideas and tactics. Suffice to say, this is the talk I hoped to give – the actual one may not have equalled these hopes! The title is a Kropotkin quote, one much repeated in his works