Anarchist Writers

The latest text from “Property is theft!” is Proudhon’s 1848 “Toast to the Revolution.”

Two postings this time, on the theme of elections. As is well known, Proudhon both argued against standing candidates and for abstaining in elections (during the Second Empire) and, in 1848, he stood for Parliament twice, with success in a by-election. The postings cover both these periods with this blog also discussing Proudhon, Marx and the Paris Commune (again!).

The latest extracts from “Property is Theft!” are now available. As well as the remaining parts of the introduction, extracts of two texts from the start and end of Proudhon’s political life are included. These are 1841’s Letter to M.

This update of Property is Theft! is focused on two key issues, Proudhon and Marx as well as Proudhon’s influence on the Paris Commune (which explains why it has been updated on the 18^th of March!). The two are inter-related, simply because many key “Marxist” positions are first found in Proudhon’s work or date from the 1871 revolt and, ironically, simply repeat the ideas raised by the Communards who in turn found them in Proudhon…

A two new extracts are now on line, both from an important discussion by Proudhon about the state, what it is and why anarchists are against it. They are part of the polemic he undertook with the state socialists Louis Blanc and Pierre Leroux at the end of 1849 and beginning of 1850. The previously posted letter to Leroux is part of that debate.

I've added quite a few sections, including most of the introductory material and the glossary of terms, people and events. Hopefully the introduction will give some idea of why Proudhon is important as both a thinker in his own right and as founder/father of anarchism.

First off, I've added a new text to the "Property is theft!" book page, namely the classic article "The Malthusians

Welcome to the new blog for the new Pierre-Joseph Proudhon anthology, Property is Theft! This is due to be published in November this year by AK Press and will mark the 170th anniversary of Proudhon's "What is Property?" and the birth of anarchism as a named socio-economic theory.