This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Making Another World Possible identifies the British contribution to the genealogy of modern green and anti-capitalist thinking by examining left libertarian ideologies in the late 19th and early 20th century Britain and highlighting their influence on present day radical thought. As capitalism heralded the triumph of technology, greater production, and a new urban industrial society, some imagined alternatives to this notion of progress based on endless economic growth. The book examines the development of ideas from these dissidents who included communists, class warriors, free thinkers, secularists, and Christian communitarians. All shared the same beliefs that the benefits of industrialism could only be realized through equality and that urban culture depended on a healthy agriculture and harmony with the natural world - concerns that are still of great importance today. This distinctive history of anarchist ideas reappraises the work of thinkers and revises the historical picture of the radical milieu in 19th and 20th century Britain. It will be an essential resource to anyone researching the history of ideas and studying anarchism.

Reports of people rejecting political authority, assaulting it with words and often violent acts, are actions that are part of modern life. Anarchism has been considered a dead movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, but it assumed a renewed and substantial relevance in the late twentieth century. Robert Hoffman points out in his incisive Introduction that anarchists have always been viewed either as foolish idealists or, at the other extreme, as serious threats to justice and social tranquility. But, the editor argues, most anarchists have been ordinary people who have shared a singular passion for what they believe to be a just society.

To clarify widespread misconceptions about anarchism, this volume offers a lively debate on the subject, consisting of works by both advocates of anarchism and people who take it seriously but reject it. Represented here, in the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Leo Tolstoy, George Bernard Shaw, Bertrand Russell, and others, are different types, styles, and periods of anarchist writing, reflecting a rich variety of thought arising from the anarchist perspective. The essays deal with many of the different strands of anarchists, including anarchist attacks on democracy, patriotism, and military conscription, and provide an outline of the movement's tumultuous history. Against these are set pieces that argue anarchism's impossibility and estimate its relevance to social change.

The debate format of "Anarchism" introduces the reader to a fresh perspective and understanding of vital issues of political and social theory, and provokes him to examine his own thinking. Looking at both sides of the controversy, this volume discourages unquestioning or over-confident opinions. Although the anarchist credo that man can live without government is difficult or impossible for most people to accept, as long as we find it difficult to live within the framework of government control, the influence and potential appeal of anarchist thought will continue to be felt.

This volume, originally published in 1972, remains a major contribution to anarchist literature. It is one man's vision of an anarchist society based on ethical values-without laws, without political authority, and without concentrations of power. An active anarchist since youth and a contributor to anarchist journals for many years, Giovanni Baldelli lived anarchism from within the anarchist movement and the ethical community that the movement aspires to be. In this book he clearly sets forth the anarchist's alternatives to government- viable principles of organization for an ethical society.

The revival of anarchist movements is here viewed as stemming from extreme centralization of governmental authority and stringent political collectivism-communist or democratic-that is incompatible with personal freedom, economic justice, ethical society, and possibly with continued human existence. Baldelli also shows how anarchist movements, aimed at the abolition of government and the initiation of a reign of freedom and voluntary cooperation, have seriously threatened institutions of government, violence, oppression, and exploitation throughout the world.

"Social Anarchism" is one anarchist's outlook. While offering solutions to difficulties in traditional anarchist thought, Baldelli differs from many other anarchists on certain issues-especially with regard to economic theory. For him, the exploitation of ethical capital is far more relevant to anarchism than the exploitation of labor. He also advances a new theory of value, reexamines the concept of authority and contrasts it with that of power, and provides answers to the question of how to oppose power effectively without perpetuating it. Throughout the book, Baldelli underscores his contention that many paths can lead to an anarchist society and that the respect of those who choose one way versus those who choose another is already anarchism put into practice.

This volume of collected essays by some of the most prominent academics studying anarchism bridges the gap between anarchist activism on the streets and anarchist theory in the academy. Focusing on anarchist theory, pedagogy, methodologies, praxis, and the future, this edition will strike a chord for anyone interested in radical social change.

This interdisciplinary work highlights connections between anarchism and other perspectives such as feminism, queer theory, critical race theory, disability studies, post-modernism and post-structuralism, animal liberation, and environmental justice. Featuring original articles, this volume brings together a wide variety of anarchist voices whilst stressing anarchism's tradition of dissent. This book is a must buy for the critical teacher, student, and activist interested in the state of the art of anarchism studies.

Examining the political theory of anarchism from a philosophical and historical perspective, Paul McLaughlin relates anarchism to the fundamental ethical and political problem of authority. The book pays particular attention to the authority of the state and the anarchist rejection of all traditional claims made for the legitimacy of state authority, the author both explaining and defending the central tenets of the anarchist critique of the state. The founding works of anarchist thought, by Godwin, Proudhon and Stirner, are explored and anarchism is examined in its historical context, including the influence of such events as the Enlightenment and the French Revolution on anarchist thought. Finally, the major theoretical developments of anarchism from the late-nineteenth century to the present are summarized and evaluated. This book is both a highly readable account of the development of anarchist thinking and a lucid and well-reasoned defence of the anarchist philosophy.

This book provides a historical account of anarchist geographies in the UK and the implications for current practice. It looks at the works of Frenchman Elisee Reclus (1830-1905) and Russian Pyotr Kropotkin (1842-1921) which were cultivated during their exile in Britain and Ireland. Anarchist geographies have recently gained considerable interest across scholarly disciplines. Many aspects of the international anarchist tradition remain little-known and English-speaking scholarship remains mostly impenetrable to authors. Inspired by approaches in historiography and mobilities, this book links print culture and Reclus and Kropotkin's spheres in Britain and Ireland. The author draws on primary sources, biographical links and political circles to establish the early networks of anarchist geographies. Their social, cultural and geographical context played a decisive role in the formation and dissemination of anarchist ideas on geographies of social inequalities, anti-colonialism, anti-racism, feminism, civil liberties, animal rights and 'humane' or humanistic approaches to socialism. This book will be relevant to anarchist geographers and is recommended supplementary reading for individuals studying historical geography, history, geopolitics and anti-colonialism.

In Neo-Impressionism and Anarchism in Fin-de-Siecle France, Robyn Roslak examines for the first time the close relationship between neo-impressionist landscapes and cityscapes and the anarchist sympathies of the movement's artists. She focuses in particular on paintings produced between 1886 and 1905 by Paul Signac and Maximilien Luce, the neo-impressionists whose fidelity to anarchism, to the art of landscape and to a belief in the social potential of art was strongest. Although the neo-impressionists are best known for their rational and scientific technique, they also heeded the era's call for art surpassing the mundane realities of everyday life. By tempering their modern subjects with a decorative style, they hoped to lead their viewers toward moral and social improvement. Roslak's ground-breaking analysis shows how the anarchist theories of Elisee Reclus, Pierre Kropotkin and Jean Grave both inspired and coincided with these ideals. Anarchism attracted the neo-impressionists because its standards for social justice were grounded, like neo-impressionism itself, in scientific exactitude and aesthetic idealism. Anarchists claimed humanity would reach its highest level of social and moral development only in the presence of a decorative variety of nature, and called upon progressive thinkers to help create and maintain such environments. The neo-impressionists, who primarily painted decorative landscapes, therefore discovered in anarchism a political theory consistent with their belief that decorative harmony should be the basis for socially responsible art.

In this clear and penetrating study, Ruth Kinna goes directly to the heart of this controversial ideology, explaining the influences that have shaped anarchism and the different tactics and strategies that have been used by anarchists throughout history to achieve their ends. Kinna covers themes both historical and acutely contemporary, including: Could anarchy ever really be a viable alternative to the state? Can anarchist ideals ever be consistent with the justification of violence? How has anarchism influenced the anti-globalization movement?

‘A gripping thriller from the man on the inside. You need to read this.’ Andy McNab ‘Tom Fletcher was the ultimate Downing Street operator’ David Cameron A global conspiracy. A man on the run. What happens when diplomacy fails?An unputdownable thriller, written with unique insight into the highest levels of diplomacy. From the former ambassador and No.10 foreign policy advisor Tom Fletcher, an urgent 21st-century thriller. In the aftermath of a global pandemic, a beautiful and charismatic human rights activist is murdered, live on the internet, at the British Embassy in Paris. It is a mystery that no one wants solved. But, when governments refuse to investigate, Ambassador Ed Barnes is determined to find out the truth himself. The quest for answers plunges Barnes into a world of cyber terrorists and warlords, taking him to Oxford, Copenhagen, the mountains of Snowdonia and Lebanon, where he picks up the trail of a shocking conspiracy. This is an international crisis – but also a personal one. Only Barnes can save his family, his diplomatic service and even his country. But can he save himself? Perfect for readers of Robert Peston’s The Whistleblower, Tom Bradby or Frank Gardner. Praise for The Ambassador ‘As one long convinced the truth is very often stranger than fiction I enjoyed Tom Fletcher’s debut novel The Ambassador. The author can draw authenticity from a career spent at the coal face of diplomacy and intelligence, which is why it is a page turner’ Frederick Forsyth ‘A diplomatic genius’ Gordon Brown ‘A terrific read that blends fact, fiction and fantasy. And a call for all of us to reflect on friendship, family and trust. What do we stand for, and what will we do to defend it?’ Sir Graeme Lamb, former Commander of the SAS ‘A week is a long time in diplomacy: intrigue, betrayal, comradeship and reconciliation! A great read!’ Mark Sedwill, Former National Security Adviser ‘A very good novel… recommended’ Alastair Campbell ‘Vivid and atmospheric, [The Ambassador] rockets around the world with intoxicating verve … Hugely engaging’ Daily Mail ‘A compelling tale of cyber-crime, terrorism and assassination… A real page-turner’ Tortoise

The Spanish Civil War became the setting for the struggle between revolution and counter-revolution as well as being, for many outsiders, the place of armed conflict between the forces of democracy and fascism. This book is a path-breaking synthesis of political, social and cultural history concerning the anarchist revolution during the Spanish Civil War by Spain's leading historian of the Civil War.

In his new introduction to "The Anarchists," Horowitz points out that anarchism is an ideology in search of a movement, and also a psychology in search of a polity. While this seems to be a paradox, the fact is that anarchism has more than one hundred thousand entries on electronic search engines, but one can search high and low for a society that embraces its essential anti-Statist vision. At the same time, anarchism continues to attract people to its premises, seemingly generation after generation. Despite similarities in values and goals, anarchism seems especially attractive to those for whom individualism rather than collectivism provides a way of life. In this, it stands at the opposite pole from Behemoth, from the gods of political order.

"The Anarchists" is a rich collection of theories and practices in the words of those who have rebelled against the restrictive institutions and oppressive conditions imposed by state power upon the individual. Idealists and self-seekers, saints and assassins, they have often served as the conscience of the world and have expressed with eloquence and convictions, the deep-seated sense of anarchy that resides, to a greater or lesser degree, in most human beings.

Anarchism is not simply a European import; it is deeply rooted in the American political experience. The volume gives strong representation to this side of the anarchist tradition. Thomas Paine wrote, "Government even in its best state is but a necessary evil. This was a sentiment echoed by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who said, "the less government we have the better." The Anarchists offers the most thoughtful and comprehensive selection of writings by and about those who protest against all rule by man over man, particularly that embodied in the State. As such, this anthology presents the history and philosophy of anarchism in the words of thirty-five of its greatest students, observers, and proponents.

Emma Goldman called Voltairine de Cleyre "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced." Yet her writings and speeches on anarchism and feminism--as radical, passionate, and popular at the time as Goldman's--are virtually unknown today. This important book brings de Cleyre's eloquent and incisive work out of undeserved obscurity. Twenty-one essays are reprinted here, including her classic works: "Anarchism and the American Tradition," "The Dominant Idea," and "Sex Slavery." Three biographical essays are also included: two new ones by Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell, and a rarely reprinted one by Emma Goldman. At a time when the mainstream women's movement asked only for the right to vote and rarely challenged the status quo, de Cleyre demanded an end to sex roles, called for economic independence for women, autonomy within and without marriage, and offered a radical critique of the role of the Church and State in oppressing women. In today's world of anti-globalization actions, de Cleyre's anarchist ideals of local self-rule, individual conscience, and decentralization of power still remain fresh and relevant.

Repeated intelligence failures in Iraq, Libya and across the Middle East and North Africa have left many critics searching for a smoking gun. Amidst questions of who misread - or manipulated - the intel, a fundamental truth goes unaddressed: western intelligence is not designed to understand the world. In fact, it cannot. In The Covert Colour Line, Oliver Kearns shows how the catastrophic mistakes made by British and US intelligence services since 9/11 are underpinned by orientalist worldviews and racist assumptions forged in the crucible of Cold War-era colonial retreat. Understanding this historical context is vital to explaining why anglophone state intelligence is unable to grasp the motives and international solidarities of 'adversaries'. Offering a new way of seeing how intelligence contributes to world inequalities, and drawing on a wealth of recently declassified materials, Kearns argues that intelligence agencies’ imagination of 'non-Western' states and geopolitics fundamentally shaped British intelligence assessments which would underpin the 2003 invasion of Iraq and subsequent interventions.

'Well-being for all is not a dream.' In this brilliantly enjoyable, challenging rallying-cry of a book, Kropotkin lays out the heart of his anarchist beliefs - beliefs which surged around the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and which have a renewed relevance and poignancy today. Humane, thoughtful - but also a devastating critique of how modern society is organized (with the brutal, narrow few clinging onto their wealth and privileges at the expense of the many), The Conquest of Bread is a book to be argued over, again and again.

Anarchy and the Art of Listening is an ethnography of politics as it is practiced on the other side of the spoken word, in the act of listening. James Slotta explores how people in the Yopno Valley of Papua New Guinea cultivate their listening to exercise power, shape their futures, and sustain their communities in the face of ambitious leaders and powerful outside institutions. As in many parts of the global south, missionaries, NGO workers, educators, mining companies, politicians, development experts, and others have sought to transform life in and around the Yopno Valley. But as this book makes clear, people there have not been a passive and pliable audience for these efforts. They have brought their skills as "anarchic listeners" to these encounters, advancing political agendas of their own. To understand political life in the Yopno Valley, we need to look not only at political speech but at the practices that lie on the other side of the word in the act of listening. This, Slotta suggests, is also true well beyond the bounds of the Yopno Valley.

Revolution in its Leninist guise has been a dominant force in the world for most of the 20th century, and the Chinese revolution has been, with the Russian revolution, one of its two most important manifestations. Mao Zedong, the architect of victory in China in 1949, stands out as one of the dominant figures of the century. Guerilla leader, strategist, conqueror, ruler, poet and philosopher, he placed his imprint on China, and on the world. Even though today communism is widely seen as bankrupt, Mao Zedong's achievements as an innovative disciple of Lenin and Stalin in the most populous nation on earth guarantees his place in history. Whatever the ultimate fate of communism in China, the fact of Mao's influence on events during more than five decades, and its resonance after his death, will remain. This edition of Mao Zedong's writings provides abundant documentation in his own words regarding his life and thought. It has been compiled from all available Chinese sources, including not only the 20-volume edition published in Tokyo years ago, but many new materials issued in China since 1978, both openly and for internal circulation. The editors have pursued a threefold goal: firstly, to translate every text by Mao which could be obtained, so as to make this English version as complete as possible; secondly, to annotate the materials in sufficient detail to make them accessible to the non-specialist reader; and thirdly, to combine accuracy with a level of literary quality which is intended to make the volumes agreeable as well as instructive to read. Volume 1 includes translations of the entire contents of the authoritative "Mao Zedong Zaoqi Wengao 1912.6-1920.11" ("Draft writings from Mao Zedong's early period, June 1912-November 1920"), published in Beijing in 1990, plus some 15 additional texts for the same period which have been attributed to Mao. Among the items thus made available in English are his first surviving work, a middle school essay of 1912 in praise of Shang Yang; his very extensive "Classroom Notes" of late 1913 on the lectures of his most influential teachers, Yang Changji and "Yuan the Big Beard"; a dozen letters to his then close friend Xiao Zisheng (Siao-yu), who described a shared odyssey in "Mao-Tse-tung and I were Beggars"; his marginal annotations of 1918 to the German philosopher Friedrich Paulsen's work on ethics, in which Mao proclaimed himself a believer in "individualism" and an admirer of Nietzsche; and many important letters, articles, and other writings documenting his evolution from liberalism to anarchism and finally to Marxism in 1919-1920.

Revolution in its Leninist guise has been a dominant force in the world for most of the 20th century, and the Chinese revolution has been, with the Russian revolution, one of its two most important manifestations. Mao Zedong, the architect of victory in China in 1949, stands out as one of the dominant figures of the century. Guerilla leader, strategist, conqueror, ruler, poet and philosopher, he placed his imprint on China, and on the world. Even though today communism is widely seen as bankrupt, Mao Zedong's achievements as an innovative disciple of Lenin and Stalin in the most populous nation on earth guarantees his place in history. Whatever the ultimate fate of communism in China, the fact of Mao's influence on events during more than five decades, and its resonance after his death, will remain. This edition of Mao Zedong's writings provides abundant documentation in his own words regarding his life and thought. It has been compiled from all available Chinese sources, including not only the 20-volume edition published in Tokyo years ago, but many new materials issued in China since 1978, both openly and for internal circulation. The editors have pursued a threefold goal: firstly, to translate every text by Mao which could be obtained, so as to make this English version as complete as possible; secondly, to annotate the materials in sufficient detail to make them accessible to the non-specialist reader; and thirdly, to combine accuracy with a level of literary quality which is intended to make the volumes agreeable as well as instructive to read. Volume 1 includes translations of the entire contents of the authoritative "Mao Zedong Zaoqi Wengao 1912.6-1920.11" ("Draft writings from Mao Zedong's early period, June 1912-November 1920"), published in Beijing in 1990, plus some 15 additional texts for the same period which have been attributed to Mao. Among the items thus made available in English are his first surviving work, a middle school essay of 1912 in praise of Shang Yang; his very extensive "Classroom Notes" of late 1913 on the lectures of his most influential teachers, Yang Changji and "Yuan the Big Beard"; a dozen letters to his then close friend Xiao Zisheng (Siao-yu), who described a shared odyssey in "Mao-Tse-tung and I were Beggars"; his marginal annotations of 1918 to the German philosopher Friedrich Paulsen's work on ethics, in which Mao proclaimed himself a believer in "individualism" and an admirer of Nietzsche; and many important letters, articles, and other writings documenting his evolution from liberalism to anarchism and finally to Marxism in 1919-1920.

Were the occupations of 2010-11 - from Spain to Tahrir Square to Occupy Wall Street - a success or failure? Are they the model for urban radical politics? This book challenges common understandings and underlying assumptions of what constitutes activism and resistance. It proposes a critical urban theory of politics and citizenship that is grounded in the city as it is inhabited. For those who are marginalized, the city is a double-edged sword of oppression and emancipation. This book argues for an intersectional approach that actively dismantles hierarchies and embraces a wider range of acts of resistance and creative transformation, one in which we recognize these acts of citizenship as a form of constitutionalism. Wood reframes the theorization of protest and of the city, 'post-political' literature and the history of protest, and Marxist and anarchist ideas about the time and space of politics. Through this, she adopts a unique approach to provide new theoretical insights and challenges to post-political thinking. This book will be valuable reading for those interested in political, urban and social geography, in addition to political economy and progressive politics in the urban context.

The battles between Athenian anarchists and the Greek state have received a high degree of media attention recently. But away from the intensity of street protests militants implement anarchist practices whose outcomes are far less visible. They feed the hungry and poor, protect migrants from fascist beatings and try to carve out an autonomous political, social and cultural space. Activists within the movement share politics centred on hostility to the capitalist state and all forms of domination, hierarchy and discrimination. Based on extensive ethnographic fieldwork among Athenian anarchists and anti-authoritarians, Anarchy in Athens unravels the internal complexities within this milieu and provides a better understanding of the forces that give the space its shape. -- .

The Autonomous Life? is an ethnography of the squatters' movement in Amsterdam written by an anthropologist who lived and worked in a squatters' community for over three years. During that time she resided as a squatter in four different houses, worked on two successful anti-gentrification campaigns, was evicted from two houses and jailed once. With this unique perspective, Kadir systematically examines the contradiction between what people say and what they practice in a highly ideological radicalleftcommunity. The squatters' movement defines itself primarily as anti-hierarchical and anti-authoritarian, and yet is perpetually plagued by the contradiction between this public disavowal and the maintenance of hierarchy and authority within the movement. This study analyses how this contradiction is then reproduced in different micro-social interactions, examining the methods by which people negotiate minute details of their daily lives as squatter activists in the face of a fun house mirror of ideological expectations reflecting values from within the squatter community, that, in turn, often refract mainstream, middle-class norms. Using a unique critical perspective informed by gender and subaltern studies, this study contributes to social movements literature through a meticulous analysis of the production of power and hierarchy in a social movement subculture. -- .

The anarchist movement had a crucial impact upon the Mexican working class between 1860 and 1931. John M. Hart destroys some old myths and brings new information to light as he explores anarchism's effect on the development of the Mexican urban working-class and agrarian movements.

Hart shows how the ideas of European anarchist thinkers took root in Mexico, how they influenced revolutionary tendencies there, and why anarchism was ultimately unsuccessful in producing real social change in Mexico. He explains the role of the working classes during the Mexican Revolution, the conflict between urban revolutionary groups and peasants, and the ensuing confrontation between the new revolutionary elite and the urban working class.

The anarchist tradition traced in this study is extremely complex. It involves various social classes, including intellectuals, artisans, and ordinary workers; changing social conditions; and political and revolutionary events which reshaped ideologies. During the nineteenth century the anarchists could be distinguished from their various working- class socialist and trade unionist counterparts by their singular opposition to government. In the twentieth century the lines became even clearer because of hardening anarchosyndicalist, anarchistcommunist, trade unionist, and Marxist doctrines. In charting the rise and fall of anarchism, Hart gives full credit to the roles of other forms of socialism and Marxism in Mexican working-class history.

Mexican anarchists whose contributions are examined here include nineteenth-century leaders Plotino Rhodakanaty, Santiago Villanueva, Francisco Zalacosta, and Jose Maria Gonzales; the twentieth-century revolutionary precursor Ricardo Flores Magon; the Casa del Obrero founders Amadeo Ferres, Juan Francisco Moncaleano, and Rafael Quintero; and the majority of the Centro Sindicalista Ubertario, leaders of the General Confederation of Workers.

This work is based largely on primary sources, and the bibliography contains a definitive listing of anarchist and radical working-class newspapers for the period.

A vibrant, deeply human portrait of a woman dedicated to fierce protest against the tyranny of institutions over individuals, by the celebrated author Emma Goldman is the story of a modern radical who took seriously the idea that inner liberation is the first business of social revolution. Her politics, from beginning to end, was based on resistance to that which thwarted the free development of the inner self. The right to stay alive in one's senses, to enjoy freedom of thought and speech, to reject the arbitrary use of power-these were key demands in the many public protest movements she helped mount. Anarchist par excellence, Goldman is one of the memorable political figures of our time, not because of her gift for theory or analysis or even strategy, but because some extraordinary force of life in her burned, without rest or respite, on behalf of human integrity-and she was able to make the thousands of people who, for decades on end, flocked to her lectures, feel intimately connected to the pain inherent in the abuse of that integrity. To hear Emma describe, in language as magnetic as it was illuminating, what the boot felt like on the neck, was to experience the mythic quality of organized oppression. As the women and men in her audience listened to her, the homeliness of their own small lives became invested with a sense of drama that acted as a catalyst for the wild, vagrant hope that things need not always be as they were. All you had to do, she promised, was resist. In time, she herself would become a world-famous symbol for the spirit of resistance to the power of institutional authority over the lone individual. In Emma Goldman, Vivian Gornick draws a surpassingly intimate and insightful portrait of a woman of heroic proportions whose performance on the stage of history did what Tolstoy said a work of art should do: it made people love life more.

This book traces the history of the London anarchist movement and stresses the complex network continuing to link it closely with European countries and North America. At the time of original publication in 1983, fresh biographical material concerning the chief British converts, threw new light on the Greenwich Park bomb of 1894. The study analyses the anarchist view on education, work, trade unions, marriage and alternatives to the centralised social and political system established by western capitalism.