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The Theory of Property, Chapter VIII

January 11, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

Of the chapters from Proudhon’s The Theory of Property which have not yet appeared in translation, the first is the Introduction compiled by Proudhon’s friends, which surveyed his previous works; the third, fourth and fifth chapters amount to a summing up of Proudhon’s scattered thoughts on the varieties of property, legal opinions on the subject, and the history of property. All of these contain interesting material, including the data on which the New Theory was constructed. But arguably the most interesting of the remaining chapters are the seventh, which explains in some detail the “equilibration” of property, and the eighth, […]

P.-J. Proudhon, The Philosophy of Progress (1853)

January 8, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

It’s coming up on three years since I completed my initial working translation of Proudhon’s The Philosophy of Progress. In that time, I’ve subjected the text to three rather complete revisions, and various more minor adjustments. The result is a new edition of the New Proudhon Library volume, which I’ll be releasing as Corvus Editions’ first offset-printed release in the near future. Details of the release are coming together, but it looks like it will be something about midway between previous pamphlets and my hand-bound hardcover editions, with a heavy cover made from repurposed materials. In the meantime, the text […]

“Theory of Property” controversies

January 5, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

In the interest of covering as many of the bases as possible, relating to The Theory of Property, and Proudhon’s posthumous works in general, I’ve spent some time this week exploring the debates within Proudhon’s circle specifically concerning The Theory of Property. A key exchange appeared in La Presse, in November 1865, initially pitting J. A. Langlois and Georges Duchêne against Alfred Darimon, over the question of the style and extent of the editing in the posthumous works. Abraam Rolland and Gustave Chaudey expressed themselves in disagreement with Langlois and Duchêne on the most appropriate form for the posthumous works […]

“Notice to the Reader,” from Proudhon’s “The Principle of Art”

January 4, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

NOTICE TO THE READER Two days before his death, in the presence of his wife, Proudhon dictated to his eldest daughter a document by which, after having designated a certain number of friends to watch, as much over the interests as his family as the publication of his works, he charged us specially and collectively of this last care. The first time that we have been able to gather the six, we have recognized, for those of us whose position keeps us far from Paris, the impossibility of working actively at the ordering of the manuscripts left by Proudhon. Thus […]

The Posthumous Works of Proudhon

January 4, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

The previous post, “What is certain is that property is to be regenerated among us,” has spurred some further research on the relation of The Theory of Property to Proudhon’s works of the early 1860s. Check the comment thread for a number of of interesting items from Proudhon’s correspondence, and the Libertarian Library blog for the “Notice to the Reader” from The Principle of Art, the first of the Posthumous Works.

“What is certain is that property is to be regenerated among us”

January 2, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ezcol_1third] Contr’un Revisited: [commentary coming soon] [/ezcol_1third][ezcol_2third_end] I was asked to clarify Proudhon’s position on property, by someone reading the AK Press anthology, Property is Theft! I had been under the impression that, although Iain McKay’s introductory material consistently claims that Proudhon did not “change his mind” about property, the concluding chapter of The Theory of Property was included—and there is nothing ambiguous about that material. Unfortunately, besides placing the material from The Theory of Property in an Appendix, and suggesting that Proudhon had considered it of less importance than The Political Capacity of the Working Classes, which he was […]

2012 translation plans / an anarchist-communist children’s book from 1901

January 1, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’m in the process of working out my 2012 plan of action, including which works I’m going to concentrate of translating. I’m collaborating with a colleague on some of Charles Fourier’s more entertaining writings, and will be serializing The Exploits of Ravachol in the “Gallery of Rogues,” but what I generally find is that I can only give one translation project so much attention in a given day or week, before the work gets dull and, more importantly, I don’t get a chance to process and internalize what I’ve learned from translating a given set of passages. If some of […]

Joseph Déjacque, The Servile War

December 30, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] The Servile War. Joseph Déjacque Property is robbery. Slavery is murder. P. J. Proudhon. We are Abolitionists from the North, come to take and release your slaves; our organization is large, and must succeed. I suffered much in Kansas, and expect to suffer here, in the cause of human freedom. Slaveholders I regard as robbers and murderers; and I have sworn to abolish slavery and liberate my fellow-men. John Brown. A handful of free soilers have just attempted a relief of slaves on the frontiers of Virginia and Maryland. They […]

Joseph Déjacque, on “Exchange” (1858)

December 30, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] EXCHANGE Joseph Déjacque (from Le Libertaire, No. 6, September 21, 1858) “Be then frankly an entire anarchist and not a quarter anarchist, an eighth anarchist, or one-sixteenth anarchist, as one is a one-fourth, one-eighth or one-sixteenth partner in trade. Go beyond the abolition of contract to the abolition not only of the sword and of capital, but also of property and of authority in all its forms. Then you will have arrived at the anarchist community; that is to say, the social state where each one is free to produce or […]

Mother Earth—raw bibliography

December 29, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve posted a listing of bibliographic data for articles in Mother Earth—in “raw” form, as complete as I have been able to make it, given the state of the card catalog data I was working with and the digital files I have been able to double-check that data against. As I mentioned when the data was all entered into the Libertarian Labyrinth wiki archive, this is a project which I would love to pursue—and not just with Mother Earth—assuming people see this sort of work as useful. I’ll update the listings as I can verify and complete them.