First, I’ve been busy working on two talks – one in Glasgow and another in Edinburgh. I’ve posted a couple of new articles: Precursors of Syndicalism II (on the I.W.P.A. and the “Chicago Idea”) and a review of Rupturing the Dialectic by Harry Cleaver. In addition, I added something to the AFAQ blog on The Symbols of Anarchy, revisited and something on the Proudhon blog entitled Hal Draper on Proudhon: the anatomy of a smear.

The last is something I’ve addressed elsewhere a couple of times, but when I saw (yet again!) the same cherry-picked Proudhon quote in a book chapter praising that numpty Hal Draper I thought I should go into it again, but in more detail. Draper seems to be considered something of an academic by some Marxists, personally he comes across as a hack – a hack with an irrational hatred of anarchism. His biases are clear enough, but I guess he says what Marxists want to hear and so they regurgitate him as he regurgitated Schapiro. Suffice to say, I’ve addressed some his claims in AFAQ (and elsewhere) and it is very easy – and quick – to refute his assertions. Not exactly what I would call a great scholar…

This particular cherry-picked quote does the rounds and it comes as no real surprise to discover Proudhon did not, as such, actually write the quote Schapiro presents and which Draper repeats. But, then again, making up and tampering with Proudhon quotes has been the case since Marx in 1847. I doubt that this will make much difference, but it shows the time and energy required to just a single quote! And Schapiro’s article is full of similar inventions and distortions.

Second, book news. PM Press has now published a new edition of Voline’s The Unknown Revolution which includes a lengthy introduction by yours truly. It , I hopes, fills in some gaps in Voline’s account as well as showing how subsequent research has confirmed his analysis. Also, Freedom Press has confirmed it will be publishing my collection of George Barrett pamphlets and articles from Freedom later this year. I’m glad this is happening, as his Anarchist Revolution and Objections to Anarchism are good, clear, accounts of anarchism. Both projects, incidentally, were finished while I was on strike last year.

Third, an update on A Libertarian Reader. I’ve selected the texts, written the introduction and am now working through the document adding introductory paragraphs to the texts and appropriate footnotes. As noted before, due to the quality and quantity of the texts I’ve decided to turn it into two volumes. Here is the contents of volume 1:

A Libertarian Reader: Fighting for Freedom, 1857 to 1936

• 1857 On The Male and Female Human Being - Joseph Déjacque
• 1858 Exchange - Joseph Déjacque
• 1863 The Federative Principle - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
• 1863 Anarchy - César de Paepe
• 1868 Communism and Property - André Léo
• 1868 Report of the Brussels section - Brussels International Workers Association (IWA)
• 1868 Resolution on Collective Ownership - IWA
• 1868 Resolution on War - IWA
• 1869 Women and Morals: Freedom or Monarchy - André Léo
• 1869 The Present Institutions of the International in Relation to the Future - César de Paepe
• 1869 Organisation and the General Strike - Michael Bakunin
• 1869 Programme - International Alliance of Socialist Democracy
• 1869 Policy of the International - Michael Bakunin
• 1869 Resolution and Discussion on Resistance Societies - IWA
• 1870 The Presidency of Mutual Assistance Societies - Eugène Varlin
• 1870 Manifesto - Paris IWA
• 1870 Workers Societies - Eugène Varlin
• 1870 Letter to Richard Albert - Michael Bakunin
• 1871 To Worker of the Countryside - André Léo
• 1871 Appeal to the citizenesses of Paris - A Group of Citizenesses
• 1871 Declaration to the French People - Paris Commune
• 1871 The Programme of the Commune - André Léo
• 1871 Federalism - James Guillaume
• 1871 Revolution without Woman - André Léo
• 1871 The Internationale - Eugène Pottier
• 1871 Circular to all the Federations of the International Workers' Association - Jura IWA
• 1871 Statement before the Military Tribunal - Louise Michel
• 1872 Manifesto - Spanish IWA
• 1872 Resolutions of the Saint-Imier Congress - IWA
• 1878 Work and Wealth - Ingalls Joshua King
• 1880 Anarchy and Communism - Carlo Cafiero
• 1883 Karl Marx as Friend and Foe - Benjamin Tucker
• 1883 Defence Statement - Louise Michel
• 1883 Manifesto - IWPA
• 1884 A Factory as it might be - William Morris
• 1885 Political Rights - Peter Kropotkin
• 1885 The International - Albert Parsons
• 1886 Haymarket Speech - August Spies
• 1886 Parsons' Plea for Anarchy - Albert Parsons
• 1886 Freedom - Charlotte Wilson
• 1886 I am an Anarchist - Lucy Parsons
• 1887 On Anarchy - Lucy Parsons
• 1887 Socialist Letters - Ernest Lesigne
• 1888 Work and Organisation - Francesco Merlino
• 1889 Why are we anarchists? - Elisee Reclus
• 1889 Anarchistic Socialism - Victor Yarros
• 1889 Anarchy versus Social Democracy - John Turner
• 1890 The Slavery of Our Times - Leo Tolstoy
• 1890 Sex Slavery - Voltairine de Cleyre
• 1891 The Soul of Man under Socialism - Oscar Wilde
• 1892 Mutualism - Dyer Lum
• 1895 The Effects of Persecution - Peter Kropotkin
• 1896 Why I Am an Anarchist - Louise Michel
• 1896 Appeal of 1st May 1896 - Fernand Pelloutier
• 1896 The Forthcoming Congress - F. Domela Nieuwenhuis
• 1896 Social Democracy in Germany - Gustav Landauer
• 1896 Let us be Just - William Tcherkesoff
• 1896 Anarchy Defended by Anarchists - John Most and Emma Goldman
• 1896 Anarchism and Violence - Louisa Sarah Bevington
• 1897 Organisation - Errico Malatesta
• 1898 Sabotage - Pouget Emile
• 1898 Liberty through Education - Various
• 1899 Libertarian or Anarchist? - Henry Glasse
• 1899 November Eleventh - Voltairine de Cleyre
• 1899 Toward Anarchy - Errico Malatesta
• 1905 Industrial Workers of the World Congress: Two Speeches - Lucy Parsons
• 1905 Direct Action and the General Strike in Russia - Peter Kropotkin
• 1906 The Charter of Amiens - CGT
• 1907 Stirner: The Ego and Its Own - Max Baginski
• 1907 Anarchists and Unions - Peter Kropotkin
• 1907 Motions - International Anarchist Congress
• 1908 Preamble - IWW
• 1909 A New Declaration of Independence - Emma Goldman
• 1910 Working-Class Socialism - E.J.B. Allen
• 1911 Cranky Notions - Joseph Labadie
• 1911 Tom Mann Quits Politics - Tom Mann
• 1911 Anarchy and the Labour War - George Barrett
• 1911 Manifesto of 23 September 1911 - MLP
• 1911 Mary Wollstonecraft, Her Tragic Life and Her Passionate Struggle for Freedom - Emma Goldman
• 1912 The Commune has risen! - Voltairine de Cleyre
• 1912 [Article from The Syndicalist] - Tom Mann
• 1913 There is power in a union - Joe Hill
• 1914 Without Bosses - Ricardo Flores Magon
• 1915 Solidarity Forever - Ralph Chaplin
• 1915 International Anarchist Manifesto on the War - Various
• 1916 Come, Workers, Let Us Take Counsel Together - Alexander Berkman
• 1917 Non-Governmental Society - Edward Carpenter
• 1917 Self-Government in Industry - G.D.H. Cole
• 1917 The Deadly Parallel - IWW
• 1917 [The Bolsheviks and the Constituent Assembly] - Golos Truda
• 1919 Justice for the Negro - IWW
• 1920 Guild Socialism Restated - G.D.H. Cole
• 1920 To All Peasants and Workers of the Ukraine - Makhnovists
• 1920 An Anarchist Programme – Italian Anarchist Union
• 1920 A letter from Kropotkin - Peter Kropotkin
• 1920 Report from Moscow - Otto Ruhle
• 1920 Revolution and Dictatorship: On one anarchist who has forgotten his principles - Luigi Fabbri
• 1921 The Goals for Which We Fight - Kronstadt Izvestia
• 1921 Forces of Revolution - Sébastien Faure
• 1921 Class struggle or class hatred? - Errico Malatesta
• 1922 Principles of Revolutionary Syndicalism - IWA
• 1923 What is behind the label? A plea for clearness - Sylvia Pankhurst
• 1926 Reflections on the General Strike - Emma Goldman
• 1926 The True Nature of the State - Rudolf Rocker
• 1926 The Struggle Against the State - Nestor Makhno
• 1929 Now and After: The ABC of Communist Anarchism - Alexander Berkman
• 1932 Statement of Principles - FIJL
• 1933 Nationalism and Culture - Rudolf Rocker
• 1935 There is no Communism in Russia - Emma Goldman
• 1935 Colonies – a Short Cut to Freedom? - Sidney Solomon
• 1936 A Warning Voice - CNT
• 1936 The Confederal Conception of Libertarian Communism - CNT
• 1936 The Working Class in Struggle - J Ribeyron
• 1936 From the collective contract to worker control - N. Faucier
• 1936 Interview with the Toronto Star - Buenaventura Durruti
• 1936 The Party and the Working Class - Anton Pannekoek
• 1936 State, Class and bureaucracy in the USSR - Camillo Berneri
• 1936 Solidarity - Emma Goldman

As can be seen, I’ve tried to include people from all schools of libertarian socialism – mutualism, collectivist-anarchism, communist-anarchism, individualist anarchism, Guild Socialism, revolutionary syndicalism, council communism, situationism, other forms of libertarian Marxism and, of course, the occasional individual outwith specific categories. It also, I hope, will show the origins of revolutionary anarchism in the First International, with translations of French texts which show the influence of Proudhon far better than the English translations of the time. As is clear, the bulk of the texts are from the revolutionary anarchist tradition – as this is historically accurate in terms of numbers, but also expresses my own political preferences. Also, from  a personal perspective as a fan of Proudhon, it is interesting to note (or footnote, in this case) the clear links between later forms of anarchism (collectivism and communism) with mutualism. Notions raised by him are echoed later by many, many others – sometimes unknowingly, I am sure, but still it indicates how he addressed issues of concern for all socialists and raised many of the same solutions.

I tried to include rare texts, in the main, ones which are not in other books. Obviously, some works above are a chapter or extracts of the books indicated by their titles. Talking of which, I have preferred to include the whole article or chapters in question, and so have only rarely excluded text (and have included cuts with “[…]”). I’ve included many anarchists who have become less well-known over the years. And, yes, I’ve included people who did not remain libertarians – why forget their contributions? I’ve tried to include key events and organisations, showing that libertarians were involved in mass movements and history shaping events. There are also a few songs… but no poems! A lot is newly translated, including new versions of texts available elsewhere.

The introduction is complete. It is based, perhaps needless to say, on 160 Years of Libertarian but supplemented by later research, including Propertarianism and Fascism. It also draws upon Anarchist Organisation – Practice as Theory Actualised (talking of which, I should get around to completing the longer version of this, which was the first draft).

I’m happy with the texts selected, they give – I think – a good overview of libertarian ideas and they show how disgraceful is the right-wing appropriation of the word is. The libertarians of the 1920s and 1930s were fighting fascism, while the likes of von Mises were supporting it. Not to mention that even the briefest look at the notions advocated by right-“libertarians” shows that they are hardly libertarian – property is their concern, not liberty. Hence all the injustices and authoritarian social relations which drove the original libertarians are usually ignored by the propertarians – when not defended by them!

What also comes across is just now positive and constructive libertarian socialism is, why it inspired mass movements. To see it associated with a bunch of authoritarians seeking to defend their preferred private hierarchies is beyond sad – but, then, we are talking about the right and their grasp of ethics has always been slight (even in their own terms, as shown by their knowing theft of the word libertarian from the left shows).

The second volume will cover from 1937 to 2016 – many of these texts have already been identified, but I am sure more will be added. Also, there will be short biographies of all the individuals and groups included, along with summarises of the various schools of libertarian thought. I will also cover the question of ideological overlap and evolution. However, these are thoughts for later this year. I need to get volume 1 complete and sent to PM Press!

Until I blog again, be seeing you…