“[Property is Theft!] really is a welcome addition to the literature. Comprehensive, with a well-researched and substantial introduction… including not only the most important of Proudhon’s political writings, but many of his manifestos and letters… Proudhon outlined… the basic tenets of anarchism… Iain McKay and A.K. Press are therefore to be warmly congratulated on this very satisfying and much needed anthology” (Brian Morris, Freedom)

As with any book, particularly one which is as long as Property is Theft!, some errors were not spotted before publication. Since getting my copy, I’ve discovered a few minor mistakes and have listed them on the book’s website, plus corrections as both html and pdf. I include them here as well, before discussing my thoughts on additions to any second edition. As will become obvious, the errors are few and far between and not that significant.

Freedom Bookshop is hosting the book launch of Property is Theft! A Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Anthology.

This is the new comprehensive anthology of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's writings published by AK Press. Proudhon was the first person to call themselves an anarchist and his ideas on property, state, exploitation, workers self-management, federalism and anarchy defined anarchism as a socio-economic theory.

Time has not been kind and I’ve not been able to work on my planned release of a new chapter of Property is Theft! and blog on “Proudhon and Market Socialism”. I have, however, decided to expand the Supplemental Material (online only), specifically material about Proudhon and his ideas.

At long last, Property is Theft! is now at the printers. You can buy it at AK Press ( USA and UK). A little over 2 months late, but still not too bad considering how much material it contains (it comes in at 840 pages). The advance praise for the anthology is included below -- comments coming from the likes of Robert Graham, Lucien van der Walt, David Berry and Mark Leier. There is also a new cover:

Property is Theft! is nearing completion. It is a few months late, but given the wealth of material (much of it newly translated into English) this is not too bad. The book has been indexed and is being proofread for the final time. As part of the whole aim to make it the "definitive" anthology of Proudhon for some time to come, AK Press suggested that it needs a biographical sketch. This is it.

The final stages of getting “Property is Theft!” ready for publication are being reached. The proof-editing is near completion, with the introduction done. Since I got the original version sent off earlier this year, I’ve been finding and fixing typos. I’ve also revised the introduction a bit, mostly the appendix on Proudhon and Marx. I’ll sketch why I made these changes here, particularly as they throw light on both Proudhon’s ideas and how much Marx distorted them.

This month’s (somewhat delayed!) release from “Property is Theft!” is 1851's “General Idea of the Revolution in the Nineteenth Century.”

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!).