Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas
Encyclopedia
Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas is a three-volume anthology
of anarchist writings edited by historian Robert Graham
. The anthology is published by Black Rose Books. Each selection is introduced by Graham, placing each author and selection in their historical and ideological context. The focus of the anthology is on the origins and development of anarchist ideas; it is not a documentary history of the world's anarchist movements, although the selections are geographically diverse.
wrote of the first volume in the Independent on Sunday that it "provides a good, comprehensive introduction to the strands, ideas and themes of anarchist and libertarian thought from the feudal era (AD300) to 1939". George Fetherling
of The Georgia Straight
compared the collection favourably to Daniel Guérin
's No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism, observing that in contrast to Guérin's focus on the established canon of 19th-century European anarchist thinkers and adversarial style, Graham's collection "goes much farther afield, not only in scope and time but also in geography", and takes an informative, non-confrontational tone. The Kate Sharpley Library
praised the collection for avoiding both repetitive drabness and the temptation to opt for selections of misrepresentative novelty, and singled out the Latin American and Asian selections as "especially valuable because so little is easily available elsewhere". The volume was also recommended by Kenneth Gregg in a literature review for the anarcho-capitalist website LewRockwell.com
, and by mutualist
scholar Shawn P. Wilbur.
In a review of the collection for the Fall 2006 issue of Labour/Le Travail
, leading post-anarchism
theorist Saul Newman
declared it to be "symptomatic of a growing interest in anarchism and a revitalization of the anarchist tradition", and that it would "serve as an excellent introduction to the anti-authoritarian tradition, and an important resource for the scholar of anarchism". While identifying the collections assembly of
such a diverse range of material as its strength, Newman found its "eclecticism and sheer panoramic scope" also to be a weakness, in that the brevity of the selections often left the reader with only a superficial understanding of the author's work.
and the start of the Second World War, to 1977, by which time there had been a significant resurgence in anarchist ideas and movements. It includes material from Herbert Read
, Emma Goldman
, Daniel Guérin
, Marie Louise Berneri, Paul Goodman
, Martin Buber
, André Breton
, Peggy Kornegger
, Noam Chomsky
, Murray Bookchin
, Colin Ward
, Ivan Illich
, Pierre Clastres
, Paul Feyerabend
, Carol Ehrlich and many others. Its publication was announced by Graham on April 12, 2009. AK Press'http://www.akpress.org/about/aboutakenglish Revolution by the Book http://www.revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/anarchism-a-documentary-history-of-libertarian-ideas%E2%80%94volume-two-the-emergence-of-the-new-anarchism-1939%E2%80%931977/ describes Volume 2 as an exciting read, "because you discover new writers and/or writers you’ve only seen referenced or briefly quoted before (all contextualized by Robert’s introductions)."
Volume 3, subtitled "The Anarchist Current" will cover the period from 1974 to 2010, showcasing the different currents in anarchist theory and practice which have developed since the 1970s. It should be published in 2011 http://blackrosebooks.net/products/view/Anarchism%3A+A+Documentary+History+of+Libertarian+Ideas%2C+Volume+Three/44884.
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
of anarchist writings edited by historian Robert Graham
Robert Graham (historian)
Robert Graham is a Canadian anarchist historian and writer. He is the editor of Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, a three-volume collection of anarchist writings from ancient China to the present day. Volume One, subtitled "From Anarchy to Anarchism", covers the period from...
. The anthology is published by Black Rose Books. Each selection is introduced by Graham, placing each author and selection in their historical and ideological context. The focus of the anthology is on the origins and development of anarchist ideas; it is not a documentary history of the world's anarchist movements, although the selections are geographically diverse.
Volume One
Volume One: From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939) was published in Montreal by Black Rose Books in 2005. Anarchist writer and publisher Stuart ChristieStuart Christie
Stuart Christie is a Scottish anarchist writer and publisher. Christie is best known for being arrested as an 18-year old while carrying explosives to assassinate the Spanish dictator General Franco. He was later alleged to be a member of the Angry Brigade, but was acquitted of related charges...
wrote of the first volume in the Independent on Sunday that it "provides a good, comprehensive introduction to the strands, ideas and themes of anarchist and libertarian thought from the feudal era (AD300) to 1939". George Fetherling
George Fetherling
Douglas George Fetherling is a Canadian poet, novelist, journalist and essayist. One of the most prolific figures in Canadian letters, he has written and edited more than fifty books, including more than a dozen volumes of poetry, two novels, and a multi-volume memoir...
of The Georgia Straight
The Georgia Straight
The Georgia Straight is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by the Vancouver Free Press Publishing Corp...
compared the collection favourably to Daniel Guérin
Daniel Guérin
Daniel Guérin was a French libertarian and author, best known for his work Anarchism: From Theory to Practice, as well as his collection No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism in which he collected writings on the idea and movement it inspired, from the first writings of Max Stirner in the...
's No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism, observing that in contrast to Guérin's focus on the established canon of 19th-century European anarchist thinkers and adversarial style, Graham's collection "goes much farther afield, not only in scope and time but also in geography", and takes an informative, non-confrontational tone. The Kate Sharpley Library
Kate Sharpley Library
The Kate Sharpley Library is a library dedicated to anarchist texts and history. Started in 1979 and reorganized in 1991, it currently holds around ten thousand English language volumes, pamphlets and periodicals...
praised the collection for avoiding both repetitive drabness and the temptation to opt for selections of misrepresentative novelty, and singled out the Latin American and Asian selections as "especially valuable because so little is easily available elsewhere". The volume was also recommended by Kenneth Gregg in a literature review for the anarcho-capitalist website LewRockwell.com
LewRockwell.com
LewRockwell.com is a 501 libertarian web magazine operated by Burton Blumert , Lew Rockwell , Eric Garris , and others associated with the Center for Libertarian Studies ; its motto is "anti-state, anti-war, pro-market"...
, and by mutualist
Mutualism (economic theory)
Mutualism is an anarchist school of thought that originates in the writings of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, who envisioned a society where each person might possess a means of production, either individually or collectively, with trade representing equivalent amounts of labor in the free market...
scholar Shawn P. Wilbur.
In a review of the collection for the Fall 2006 issue of Labour/Le Travail
Labour/Le Travail
Labour/Le Travail is an academic journal which publishes articles on the labour movement in the Canada, sociology, labour economics, and employment relations. Although its focus is Canadian, the journal carries articles about the United States and other nations as well.Labour/Le Travail is...
, leading post-anarchism
Post-anarchism
Post-anarchism or postanarchism is the term used to represent anarchist philosophies developed since the 1980s using post-structuralist and postmodernist approaches. Some prefer to use the term post-structuralist anarchism, so as not to suggest having moved "past" anarchism...
theorist Saul Newman
Saul Newman
Saul Newman is a political theorist and central post-anarchist thinker.Newman coined the term "post-anarchism" as a general term for political philosophies filtering 19th century anarchism through a post-structuralist lens, and later popularized it through his 2001 book From Bakunin to Lacan...
declared it to be "symptomatic of a growing interest in anarchism and a revitalization of the anarchist tradition", and that it would "serve as an excellent introduction to the anti-authoritarian tradition, and an important resource for the scholar of anarchism". While identifying the collections assembly of
such a diverse range of material as its strength, Newman found its "eclecticism and sheer panoramic scope" also to be a weakness, in that the brevity of the selections often left the reader with only a superficial understanding of the author's work.
Subsequent volumes
Volume 2, subtitled "The Emergence of the New Anarchism", covers the period from 1939, with the defeat of the Spanish RevolutionSpanish Revolution
The Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to...
and the start of the Second World War, to 1977, by which time there had been a significant resurgence in anarchist ideas and movements. It includes material from Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
, Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
, Daniel Guérin
Daniel Guérin
Daniel Guérin was a French libertarian and author, best known for his work Anarchism: From Theory to Practice, as well as his collection No Gods No Masters: An Anthology of Anarchism in which he collected writings on the idea and movement it inspired, from the first writings of Max Stirner in the...
, Marie Louise Berneri, Paul Goodman
Paul Goodman (writer)
Paul Goodman was an American sociologist, poet, writer, anarchist, and public intellectual. Goodman is now mainly remembered as the author of Growing Up Absurd and an activist on the pacifist Left in the 1960s and an inspiration to that era's student movement...
, Martin Buber
Martin Buber
Martin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
, André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
, Peggy Kornegger
Peggy Kornegger
Peggy Kornegger is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in a wide variety of feminist, spiritual, and political publications, including Spirit of Change, Bay Windows, Sojourner, Second Wave, Sinister Wisdom, and Plexus. In the 1970s, she was an editor of Second Wave magazine and the book...
, Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
, Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin
Murray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist author, orator, and philosopher. A pioneer in the ecology movement, Bookchin was the founder of the social ecology movement within anarchist, libertarian socialist and ecological thought. He was the author of two dozen books on politics,...
, Colin Ward
Colin Ward
Colin Ward was a British anarchist writer. He has been called "one of the greatest anarchist thinkers of the past half century, and a pioneering social historian." -Life:...
, Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich was an Austrian philosopher, Roman Catholic priest, and "maverick social critic" of the institutions of contemporary western culture and their effects on the provenance and practice of education, medicine, work, energy use, transportation, and economic development.- Personal life...
, Pierre Clastres
Pierre Clastres
Pierre Clastres, , was a French anthropologist and ethnographer. He is best known for his fieldwork among the Guayaki in Paraguay and his theory on stateless societies.-Theories:...
, Paul Feyerabend
Paul Feyerabend
Paul Karl Feyerabend was an Austrian-born philosopher of science best known for his work as a professor of philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked for three decades . He lived a peripatetic life, living at various times in England, the United States, New Zealand,...
, Carol Ehrlich and many others. Its publication was announced by Graham on April 12, 2009. AK Press'http://www.akpress.org/about/aboutakenglish Revolution by the Book http://www.revolutionbythebook.akpress.org/anarchism-a-documentary-history-of-libertarian-ideas%E2%80%94volume-two-the-emergence-of-the-new-anarchism-1939%E2%80%931977/ describes Volume 2 as an exciting read, "because you discover new writers and/or writers you’ve only seen referenced or briefly quoted before (all contextualized by Robert’s introductions)."
Volume 3, subtitled "The Anarchist Current" will cover the period from 1974 to 2010, showcasing the different currents in anarchist theory and practice which have developed since the 1970s. It should be published in 2011 http://blackrosebooks.net/products/view/Anarchism%3A+A+Documentary+History+of+Libertarian+Ideas%2C+Volume+Three/44884.
External links
- Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas at Black Rose Books
- Robert Graham’s Anarchism Weblog, intended to provide additional commentary and selections to accompany the anthology