a book and very general information to get started

[Catalan Midget]

My cousin who is a firm believer in Marx and his theories first attracted me to Communism. I believed I in the idea of communism for a couple years but the more I read about communist history, the more I realize that it would just create a new high class in our society and wouldn’t work. In the pasts months I have been turning more towards anarchism and I just need information on beliefs, theories and different kinds of anarchism (if there is such a thing).
My school’s library doesn’t have any books by Bakunin, and the only book that I found with the key word "anarchism" argued against it and for a total capitalist society. Can you direct me to a book that I could read to find out more about the ideology? I’m also interested in maybe your own beliefs and positions, especially in relation to communism.
Thanks!

[JolaMetal]

I can recommend 'The ABC of Anarchism' by Alexander Berkman, a very good book.

[Guest]

"Demanding the Impossible: History of Anarchism" by Peter H. Marshall covers anarchism from ancient times up until modern times...big book but well worth having!

[Tom]

Any Goldman is excellent, especially the stuff about the Bolshevik revolution if you want firm criticisms of marxism. Some Berkman would be useful, too.

Reading about the spanish anarchists in and before the 1936 revolution is a good introduction and case study, as well.

[Poop]

Oh, about the Spanish anarchists: Does anyone know if Homage to Catalonia provides some useful information?

Yes. I know. It does.

Homage to Catalonia is about Orwell's experience in the Spanish Civil War. The main themes that stuck out in my mind were the lack of romanticization of war and Communist backstabbing.

Orwell fought in the POUM (Workers' party for Marxist Unification) militia alongside the CNT, the anarchosyndicalist militia. Orwell doesn't really make a distinction between the CNT and POUM militiamen, and mentions that some of the militiamen in the POUM were actually members of the CNT. Orwell was never ideological and never called himself an anarchist, but he's close enough that many anarchists have a lot of respect for him anyway. He speaks glowingly of the conditions of Barcelona on his arrival, describing it as a city where the workers, not bosses, were in control of their lives.

He tells what it was like to be fighting for the anti-fascist forces when the Stalinist PSUC staged a coup and started implementing its dictatorship over the anti-fascist forces. He also discusses the distortions and lies spewed by the Communists and the foreign press. The Communists accused the POUM of being Trotskists in collusion with the fascists. The right-wing foreign press told of raped nuns, murdered priests, burned churches, etc., and the left-wing press denied that there had been any revolution at all, and insisted that the war was between fascism on one side, and republican capitalism on the other.

I highly recommend "Homage to Catalonia," but then, I'm a huge Orwell fan. If you want to learn about anarchism or about anarchists' role in the Spanish Civil War, this wouldn't be my first recommendation, though.

Some of the anarchist books that I've read and might recommend to Catalan midget are
"Anarchism and other essays" by Emma Goldman
"Anarcho-syndicalism" by Rudolf Rocker

Some books about anarchism and its relation to marxism that might interest you:
"Marx: A Radical Critique" by Alan Carter
"My Disillusionment in Russia" and "My Further Disillusionment in Russia" by Emma Goldman
"Anarchism and Sovietism" by Rudolf Rocker
"The Bolshevik Myth" by Alexander Berkman
"Authoritarian Socialism: A Geriatric Disorder" (in the Socio-politics link) by Morpheus

[Guest]

Thurs. 05/09/08 19:41 EDT
post #62

I'm not sure if Lysander Spooner's [url=http://jim.com/treason.htm]No Treason: The Constitution
Of No Authority[/url] is an appropriate "book" to recommend, given the
question, but I still think it's an amazing piece of writing. It's very short,
and you don't need a library to read it; it's free on the web!

[MMMark]

Thurs. 05/09/08 19:43 EDT
post #62

The above post is mine, by the way.

Edit:

The State by Franz Oppenheimer is also good, although perhaps not exactly what
Catalan Midget is looking for. Like No Treason, it is also free on the web.

[Catalan Midget]

thank you to all for the information

About the Homage to Catalonia book, and anarchists in Spain. The information by Poop is all correct i would just like to add that during the Spanish Civil War the anarchist movement in Catalonia varied greatly from the one in other parts of Republican Spain, and Orwell only discusses what he saw in the Aragon Front and during the May Day's in Barcelona when the Stalinist PSUC and other govenment forces killed the revolution.

One last question, YKL said that he wouldn't define Anarchism as an ideology. What is it then? an idea? a way to see a future better world?

[Levee_En_Masse]

Well said, but it should be pointed out that some anarchists don't internalize that point, that they basically regard it as an ideology and present it as such.

Anarchy is the abolition of all ideologies. Ideologies fucked up the whole 20 century (nationalism, nazism, communism, conservativism, capitalism). Ideologies are fucking up the whole world right now (neoliberalism, neoconservativism, capitalism). Not to speak of organized religion. Ideologies are oppressive to the world and to every individual's mind to wich it sets artificial limits. Every ideology claims to be able to create the optimal final state of the world. Thus, it creates hierarchy among those who invented it and those who believe in it. Anarchy isn't an ideology because it doesn't limit one's mind, because it doesn't say what's right but what's wrong. Every individual and every group has to figure out what's right considering the things which are wrong. And finally, anarchy isn't an ideology because it can't be achieved but only pursued. There is no final state of an anarchist society because such a society would require constant cultural and philosophical revolutions.

[.homage]

I would recommend Bookchin's Remaking Society. It's much more recent and much less boring than the ABC's of Anarchism. I think it is very underrated, if not ignored (part of which is the fault of Bookchin and his confrontational character). It takes head-on the idea of human nature, including the naiveties of a lot of early (and recent) anarchist thought, by delving deep into the anthropological record and then following the development of hierarchy through to modernity. Fascinating stuff.

I'm actually kind of surprised that people would recommend the ABC's and Emma Goldman, too. Goldman was really not a theorist and provides no help for a newbie looking for grounding.

On that note, I also would NEVER recommend Bakunin. I would only recommend Proudhon if one was getting into issues of property. If you are going to read the classics I would have to recommend Kropotkin and Fields, Factories, and Workshops and maybe from there Conquest of Bread and Mutual Aid.

Mis dos pesos...

[.homage]

Anarchy is the abolition of all ideologies. Ideologies fucked up the whole 20 century (nationalism, nazism, communism, conservativism, capitalism). Ideologies are fucking up the whole world right now (neoliberalism, neoconservativism, capitalism). Not to speak of organized religion. Ideologies are oppressive to the world and to every individual's mind to wich it sets artificial limits. Every ideology claims to be able to create the optimal final state of the world. Thus, it creates hierarchy among those who invented it and those who believe in it. Anarchy isn't an ideology because it doesn't limit one's mind, because it doesn't say what's right but what's wrong. Every individual and every group has to figure out what's right considering the things which are wrong. And finally, anarchy isn't an ideology because it can't be achieved but only pursued. There is no final state of an anarchist society because such a society would require constant cultural and philosophical revolutions.

Sorry, but that's really naive. Anarchism is an ideology based on freedom, free association, mutual aid, etc. Pretending to have "no ideology" is just as much an ideology as other ideologies. This is analogous to scientists who don't want science to be regulated. By "unregulating" science, it is effectively unaccountable to society which means you are regulating society from control over research agendas, etc. Therefore, "unregulation" is regulation just like "no ideology" is an ideology.