Month: July 2008

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Proudhon seminar: Onward!

July 2, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
[Links to the main discussion list and project page are now in the sidebar. Please join the list if you want to take advantage of the discussion. -shawn] Plan of Attack As I said, I would like to start my discussion of the material with Chapter 5, Part II, Section 3. I intend to deal with that final section in two posts, taking them in reverse order: 1) Proudhon’s ten point program (below)2) The nature of “liberty” I’ll follow that with some discussion of Chapter One, Proudhon’s discussion of method, probably on Thursday. By that time, I hope to have […]
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Proudhon seminar: Initial thoughts

July 2, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
Proudhon’s What Is Property? poses a variety of interpretive problems, not the least of which is that its careful series of examinations of the various justifications for simple, individual property are frequently overshadowed by the slogan, “Property is robbery!” That phrase remained important to Proudhon, even after he came to his own terms with property. “I do not come to retract,” he said in May, 1848, “heaven forbid! I persist in regarding this provocative definition as the greatest truth of the century.” However, in the same “Toast to the Revolution,” he clarified the nature of the statement: “When I say, […]
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Un commerce équitable est-il possible ?

July 1, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
The new issue of the French-language Offensive bears the title “Un commerce sans capitalisme.” It asks the question: “Et si le commerce et l’échange étaient indissociables de la création de véritables espaces de résistance ?” / “And if commerce and exchange were inseparable from the creation of real spaces of resistance?” This one looks well worth tracking down. (Hat tip to the Research on Anarchism list.)
Proudhon Library

J.-A. Langlois, “P.-J. Proudhon: His Life and His Works” (1875)

July 1, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
The Tucker translation of What Is Property? is prefaced by a translation of J. A. Langlois’ “P. J. Proudhon: His Life and Work,” the biographical introduction to Proudhon’s collected Correspondence. Tucker includes a disclaimer regarding Langlois’ account: In the French edition of Proudhon’s works, the above sketch of his life is prefixed to the first volume of his correspondence, but the translator prefers to insert it here as the best method of introducing the author to the American public. He would, however, caution readers against accepting the biographer’s interpretation of the author’s views as in any sense authoritative; advising them, […]
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What Is Property? seminar

July 1, 2008 Shawn P. Wilbur
As announced, I’ll be doing a close reading of Proudhon’s first memoir from What Is Property? during the month of July, and I am inviting one and all to read along. I have set up a discussion list and wiki page on the anarchylist.org site. Please subscribe to the list if you are interested in participating in the main discussion. If you’re not up to that kind of commitment, I will be posting material on this blog, and compiling a running list of seminar-related material on the wiki page. My ambitions for the reading are fairly simple: I would like […]