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Carlo Pisacane, “Testamento politico” (1857)

May 10, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

TESTAMENTO POLITICO DI CARLO PISACANE Nel momento d’imprendere un’ arrischiata impresa, voglio manifestare al paese le mie opinioni, onde rimbeccare la critica del volgo, corrivo sempre ad applaudire i fortunati e maledire i vinti. I miei principi politici sono abbastanza noti; io credo che il solo socialismo, ma non già i sistemi francesi informati tutti da quell’ idea monarchica e dispotica che predomina nella nazione, ma il socialismo espresso dalla formola: Libertà ed Associazione, sia il solo avvenire non lontano dell’Italia, e forse dell’Europa: questa mia idea l’ho espressa in due volumi, frutti di circa sei anni di studio; non […]

Bernard Lazare, “Michel Bakounine” (1895)

May 6, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

Quelqu’un qui connut et aima Michel Bakounine, publie aujourd’hui un volume d’œuvres de celui qu’on se plaît encore à appeler le père du Nihilisme (1). Ce volume ne comprend que des fragments et ceux qui le doivent suivre ne contiendront aussi que des opuscules inachevés. On pourrait quand même essayer d’exposer ici la métaphysique de Bakounine et indiquer quelles furent ses conceptions économiques. Il vaut cependant mieux, pour un tel travail, attendre de posséder l’œuvre complète, car il ne siérait pas de commettre les erreurs de jugement ou de fait qui furent commises par ceux qui, précédemment, parlèrent de Bakounine […]

Émile Buré, “Michel Bakounine” (1901)

May 6, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

Michel Bakounine Le docteur Nettlau, dans un important ouvrage qui a été remis aux bibliothèques, s’emploie à faire revivre Michel Bakounine, « révolutionnaire émérite, conspirateur expérimenté et grand charmeur d’hommes ». Il nous suffira, dans cette courte notice, de préciser quelques dates en nous aidant de la thèse de M. A. François : Michel Bakounine et la Philosophie de l’Anarchie. Michel Bakounine naquit dans le district de Torjok, entre Pétersbourg et Moscou, d’un père, ancien attaché à la légation russe de Florence, que ses idées libérales avaient éloigné de la Cour. En 1832, à dix-huit ans, le jeune Michel est […]

William Batchelder Greene Timeline & Miscellany

May 6, 2016

1819 April 4: William B. Greene born in Haverhill, MA. Records show the name as “Green,” and this is probably before WBG’s father changed his own name from Peter Nathaniel Green to Nathaniel Greene. 1821 Mary Gardiner Greene born in Haverhill, MA. In 1821, the Greenes moved to Boston, where Nathaniel established the American Statesman. 1831 May(?): WBG enters Chauncy Hall School, Boston, G. F. Thayer, principal. 1833 May: WBG leaves Chauncy Hall School, enters Haverhill Academy, Haverhill, Ebenezer Smith, Jr., principal. 1834 October: WBG leaves Haverhill Academy. October 9: WBG sets out from NYC, en route to Havre and […]

A new Proudhon Library: looking forward

April 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

There are some discussions going on about perhaps attempting a Proudhon Library comparable to the Bakunin Library publishing project currently underway. It has taken four years to move from the decision to publish the Bakunin works to the point where we are now, with two volumes nearing completion and a fairly clear plan for the rest. Given the much greater extent and complexity of Proudhon’s work, the planning stage is likely to be at least as lengthy. But there are other difficulties as well. There is more than a bit of resistance to be overcome if we’re going to have […]

Bakunin and Proudhon / Authority and Anarchy

April 25, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ezcol_2third] If (in the passage from God and the State discussed in the last post) Bakunin has not simply changed the meaning of the word “authority” from one paragraph to the next, as he moves from his general critique to his consideration of “the authority of the bootmaker,” then we presumably have a case in which authority must indeed be rejected when considered in general, but cannot be spurned or simply pushed away (repoussé) in the messy realm of practice, where the limits of our knowledge and the limitations of our animality confront us on a regular basis. We find […]

Bakunin and Proudhon / Authority and Anarchy

April 20, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

If (in the passage from God and the State discussed in the last post) Bakunin has not simply changed the meaning of the word “authority” from one paragraph to the next, as he moves from his general critique to his consideration of “the authority of the bootmaker,” then we presumably have a case in which authority must indeed be rejected when considered in general, but cannot be spurned or simply pushed away (repoussé) in the messy realm of practice, where the limits of our knowledge and the limitations of our animality confront us on a regular basis. We find ourselves […]

The “authority” of the bootmaker

April 15, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve remarked elsewhere on the curious phenomenon of self-proclaimed anarchists who are much more comfortable with the language of governmentalism and authority than they are with the concept of anarchy. It is curious, but it is far from inexplicable. After all, some of the most famous pioneers of anarchist thought muddied those waters rather enthusiastically at times. Over the years, I have spent quite a bit of time working through Proudhon’s complicated engagements with property, the State, anarchy and other terms. There are potentially cautionary tales there regarding just about any strategy we might take with these complex and contested […]

Library update: April 2016

April 14, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] [June update: See the posts on “Strategies of Interpretation” and “Strategies of Presentation” for some additional information on the edition.] The hardest thing about assembling an edition like the Bakunin Library is knowing when you can safely stop planning and exploring, and finally settle down to the work itself. Ideally, it would have been wonderful to take ten years to work through everything and then prepare the reader as a summary volume. But it’s been necessary to be realistic about where the English-speaking community is with respect to Bakunin and about […]

Letter to Albert Richard (April 1, 1870)

April 12, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

April 1, 1870. Geneva. Dear friend. I still find myself here and every day await news of the arrival of the relation that you know, in order to go to meet them. Complete reaction in the International of Geneva.—The factory [fabrique] has triumphed on all fronts in my absence, and no one has been found to halt that triumph. L’Egalité has become a reactionary paper. Here is the program: Cooperation and the local politics of bourgeois radicalism. From now on the International of Geneva will no longer be anything but a stepping-stone to bring the Perrets and Grosselins to power. […]