Anarchism : Anarchist and Anti-Authoritarianism

Legal Means, by Charlotte Wilson
LEGAL MEANS.     Mr. Champion--whose lecture in Regent's Park on September 3rd, was delivered in a tone of conviction and earnestness which must have impressed 0a very large audience--said there were two legal means fitted to advance Socialism in this country--namely, boycotting and the ballot.     For boycotting he instanced a combination of London workmen to atop payment of rents. The idea is good as far as it goes, but is it practicable' Mr. Champion did not trouble to show this,, nor do I wish to prove the contrary. At the same time I much doubt whether the boycott can be considered as legal, or if it can be sustained by other than illegal means. At any rate its presumed legality may be los... (From : AnarchyArchives.)

Leeds and London, by Charlotte Wilson
LEEDS AND LONDON. The use of the strike as an offensive and defensive weapon against Capitalism has been illustrated during the past few weeks by noteworthy revolts of workers in Leeds and London. In the former city -the men have gained what they desired; in the latter they have supplied the capitalist newspapers with some sensational news by which to catch the pence of the multitude, whilst they have practically lost their, cause and allowed a number of the most energetic among them to lose their employment. The reason of this difference of fortune which has befallen the gas workers of Leeds and the postmen and policemen of London is not far to seek. In the Yorkshire town the men were determined and united. Following up the tactics of ... (From : AnarchyArchives.)

Law and Order in Ireland, Part 1, by Charlotte Wilson
LAW AND ORDER IN IRELAND. I.-HOW THEY WERE INTRODUCED. THE student of Ireland's history scarcely knows whether to pity her people for their sufferings, or scorn them for having so long endured such shameful wrongs.     Before the fifth century there is not much authentic Irish history, but up to that time there are misty records of "happier things." The people then enjoyed, if not profound peace, an easeful liberty, dwelling in tribes under the patriarchal sway of chiefs they had themselves elected. Land was held in common, or where it was specifically held, no right of primogeniture barred its redistribution Wives equaled their husbands in dignity, and the most stringent laws were those regarding hospitality t... (From : AnarchyArchives.)

Law and Order in Ireland, Part 11, by Charlotte Wilson
LAW AND ORDER IN IRELAND.XI.-GOOD GOVERNMENT.     The success of the Ulster plantation being satisfactorily gauged by the increase I of gold in English coffers,, royal and otherwise, James and his creatures resolved to make a similar attempt in Leinster. The owners andcultivators of the rich acres in the eastern province were too numerous to be harried into exile like the ! Earls Tyrone and Tyrconnel, or to be cleared out by acts of attainder, but the ingenuity of James and his sycophants devised a commission to inquire into defective titles.     All manner of evidence was to be collected, what and how estates were held, the number of the inhabitants and their lords, what rents were paid b... (From : AnarchyArchives.)

Law and Order in Ireland, Part 10, by Charlotte Wilson
LAW AND ORDER IN IRELAND. X.--THE PARLIAMENTARY IMPOSTURE. To ease the tender conscience of James I., and to stop the mouths of those whom his plantation had despoiled either directly or indirectly, it was resolved that a Parliament should be assembled which would set a seal of legality upon the highbanded proceedings in Ulster.     Of course, before issuing the writs to summon the representatives of the people robbed of their birthright, means were taken to ensure to the Government a good working majority.     Sir George Carew and Sir John Davis undertook to pack both the Upper and the Lower use.     Satisfactory results were expected from the new counties and boroughs which... (From : AnarchyArchives.)

This article appears in Anarchy Archives with the permission of the author. On "Remaking of the American Left" Murray Bookchin      STANLEY ARONOWITZ has written a generally admirable and important work in Socialist Review, "The Remaking of the American Left," that deserves widespread discussion. For the present, I would like to focus on what I regard as a core issue of the article, notably Aronowitz's distinction "between the ideological left of socialists, communists, libertarians of various sorts . . . and the popular left" which in past decades consisted of movements for redistributive justice," by which I take Aronowitz to mean the traditional labor, agrarian, and unemployed movements of the 1... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

1989
GREEN PERSPECTIVES A Left Green Publication Number 20 November 1989 P.O. Box 111 Burlington, VT 05402 The Meaning of Confederalism by Murray Bookchin     Few arguments have been used more effectively to challenge the case for face-to-face participatory democracy than the claim that we live in a "complex society." Modern population centers, we are told, are too large and too concentrated to allow for direct decision-making at a grassroots level. And our economy is too "global," presumably, to unravel the intricacies of production and commerce. In our present transnational, often highly centralized social system, it is better to enhance representation in the state, to incre... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

1849
These letters, addressed to Frederic Bastiat, an economist, originally appeared in a debate published in The Voice of the People, in 1849. Interest and Principal Arguments Drawn from the Operations of the Bank of France It is not true--and the facts just cited prove beyond a doubt that it is not--that the decrease of interest is proportional to the increase of capital. Between the price of merchandise and interest of capital there is not the least analogy; the laws governing their fluctuations are not the same; and all your dinning of the last six weeks in relation to capital and interest has been utterly devoid of sense. The universal custom of banks and the common sense of the people give you the lie on all these points in a ... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

1984
This article appears in Anarchy Archives with the permission of the author. Green Program Project -- Discussion Paper No. 2 Popular Politics vs. Party Politics Note: This article was written and published in the River Valley Voice, a New England publication, during the 1984 Democratic primary campaign. Although it makes repeated allusions to the 1984 elections, the views it expresses have a more lasting value, and are submitted for discussion to the reader as a Green Program Project paper. Murray Bookchin A new American politics is definitely needed today. The problem we face is what kind? If the goal of "independent political action" is to gain "power," to "function effectively" as a means to "lobby" or "reso... (From : Anarchy Archives.)

1970 3. a) Anarchism in the Russian Revolution Anarchism in the Russian Revolution Anarchism had found its second wind in revolutionary syndicalism; the Russian Revolution gave it its third. This statement may at first surprise the reader, accustomed to think of the great revolutionary movement of October 1917 as the work and domain of the Bolsheviks alone. The Russian Revolution was, in fact, a great mass movement, a wave rising from the people which passed over and submerged ideological formations. It belonged to no one, unless to the people. In so far as it was an authentic revolution, taking its impulse from the bottom upward and spontaneously producing the organs of direct democracy, it presented all the characteristics of a social revolution with libertarian tendencies. However, the relative weakness of the Russian anarchists prevented them from exploiting situations which were exceptionally favorable to the triumph of their ideas. The Revolution ...