Month: August 2012

Contr'un

1838: Property is theft (Jules Leroux)

August 30, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
EPISODES in another history of anarchism: In volume 4 of the Encyclopédie nouvelle, which appeared in 1838, Jules Leroux contributed a lengthy entry on Political Economy. There is a lot there that is of interest, but perhaps nothing that touches this passage for topical interest here in the mutualist blogosphere: Et la propriété se trouve être nécessairement définie en ces termes: La possession et l’usage d’un objet propre à satisfaire un besoin. Supprimez le mot possession, et la propriété disparaît. Supprimez le mot usage, et la propriété devient une chose immorale, anti-humaine : c’est l’accaparement, c’est le vol. That is: […]
Contr'un

A Tale of Three Provisos

August 21, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
Related: Some thoughts on Locke’s proviso Responses on Locke’s proviso “Must we say, with some who pretend to metaphysics, that property is the expression of individuality, of the personality, of the self? But possession largely suffices for that expression…” — P.-J. Proudhon, The Theory of Property “I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe …. and am not contained between my hat and boots…” — Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” It’s funny, in some ways at least, how Proudhon has earned a rather scandalous reputation for his work on property, while Locke remains the name to […]
The Sex Question

Stories by Voltairine de Cleyre and Lizzie Holmes

August 20, 2012
The anarchist tradition has always had a literary side. Even Proudhon was fond of inserting the occasional illustrative tale in his works. And the French tales of proletarian life which have been featured here had their counterparts in the English-language traditions. For instance, Lizzie M. Holmes wrote dozens of short stories for the anarchist and labor press, and Voltairine de Cleyre wrote a number as well. I’ve assembled a collection of Voltairine de Cleyre’s “Sketches and Stories,” combining the material from the Collected Works volume with a few sketches which were not included there. And I’ve also collected a few […]
The Sex Question

“La Frondeuse” zine, Issues 3 & 4

August 20, 2012
The Black and Red Feminism zine has been reborn as La Frondeuse [The Troublemaker, or The Anti-Authoritarian.] The name is borrowed from one of Séverine’s collections. Issue 3 features works by Louise Michel, Paule Mink and Séverine. Issue 4 contains works by Jenny d’Héricourt under various pen-names. The name-change comes with a bit of fancy repackaging, and will be retroactive. I’ll be revising and repackaging the material from the two issues of Black and Red Feminism as issues of La Frondeuse, and a number of titles from the old Corvus catalog will be expanded and revised in uniform editions. With […]
poetry

Jeanne Marie, “Revelation” (1849)

August 20, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[“Jeanne Marie” (probably Jeanne-Marie Monniot) also contributed this poem to l’Opinion des Femmes. A literal translation follows.] Révelation. Mère, comme il fait froid! la terre est toute blanche; Le mont, déjà trois fois, a roulé l’avalanche; Un instant a suffi pour chasser les beaux jours Et dépouiller le val de verdure et d amours. Les oiseaux frissonnants désertent le bocage, La plaine est comme un lac immense et sans rivage, Les pauvres voyageurs errants sur les chemins. Qu’ils sont infortunés, mère, et que je les plains, Alors qu’auprès de l’âtre où la flamme pétille, Lisant à la lueur de la […]
The Sex Question

Jeanne Marie, “On Woman” (1849)

August 19, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
[The articles by “Jeanne Marie” in l’Opinion des Femmes have been attributed to a number of people, including Jeanne Deroin and Jeanne-Marie-Fabienne Poinsard, aka Jenny d’Hericourt, but the most likely identification seems to be Jeanne-Marie Monniot.] On Woman In 1622, Marie Le Jars de Gournay, adoptive daughter of Montaigne, published a work entitled On the Equality of the Sexes, where by a tight reasoning, and an irresistible logic, she proved that at all times God had desired that equality. A bit later, around 1673, a learned doctor at the Sorbonne, Poulain de la Barre, also wrote a spiritual and victorious […]
fourierism

Edouard Silberling, Entries from the Dictionary Of Phalansterian Sociology

August 9, 2012
[ezcol_2third] Entries from the DICTIONARY OF PHALANSTERIAN SOCIOLOGY ABANDONMENT.—The abandonment of the weak, of children and of the elderly is one of the characteristics that civilization has borrowedfrom savagery. New Industrial World.109, 407, 424.—The civilized order can only produce eviland hypocrisy. It is powerless to ensure the effective protection of the weak. Supportfor children quickly degenerates intoexploitation, under the mask of charity, and assistance for the infirmand elderly degenerates into abuse. BEE.—The beehive and the hornets’ nest depict the two political orders of harmony and civilization. Q. 429.—The hive depicts the three functions of unitary industry: production, distribution, consumption. III. […]
Contr'un

“We are in one sense, a poverty-stricken people”

August 4, 2012
If you look at the sidebar of the blog, you will find that I have added a section for “Mutualist Classics.” Eventually, there should be a pretty good little library linked there—mutualists are not, as it turns out, an impoverished people when it comes to literature—but I want to start with a few texts that may be unfamiliar to many readers, but which strike me as particularly useful. The first two texts I’ve linked are short works of fiction by Sidney H. Morse. Morse is one of the figures who seems to appear everywhere in the story of mutualist and […]
Contr'un

The Importance of Proudhon

August 3, 2012 anarchisms_w4l2ii
Anarchists can be touchy about any sort of authority, so we are frequently at pains to say that we are not followers of any particular leader or historical figure. That’s good. Among other things, the historical figures we’re most likely to follow were almost all pretty clear about how undesirable that would be. And there’s something a little disconcerting about anarchists when they do invest perhaps a bit too much of their identity in an identification with some one of those anarchist figure, whether historical or current.

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Contr'un

Mutualism and “Market Anarchism”

August 3, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
  Let’s tackle a controversial question: Is mutualism a form of “market anarchism”? It’s a useful sort of question, even though the correct answer is probably “that depends….” Since mutualism has its roots in a world where the distinctions that make a label like “market anarchism” useful simply didn’t exist, distinctions which may themselves run counter to the “classical” mutualist project, it’s tempting to say “no.” But since we’re in the process of rediscovering and reimaging mutualism in a world where the question of “markets” is of real importance, we have to resist the temptation. For those mutualists who have […]