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Bakunin on Proudhon and Marx

April 24, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

James Guillaume, in the “Biographical Notice” in his French edition of Bakunin’s Works, includes part of an 1870 manuscript written by Bakunin on the subject of Proudhon and Marx: Proudhon, despite all his efforts to shake off the traditions of classical idealism, nonetheless remained all his life an incorrigible idealist, inspired, as I told him two months before his death, sometimes by the Bible, sometimes by Roman law, and always a metaphysician to the fingertips. His great misfortune is that he never studied the natural sciences, and he never adopted its methods. He had some instincts of genius that made […]

Proudhon to Jeanne Deroin

April 20, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

[A letter, apparently not included in the Correspondence, from Proudhon to Jeanne Deroin. The date is uncertain. Working translation; all the usual cautions apply.] Paris, August 4 [1848?]. Madame. You have understood me perfectly: what I pursue under the name of the abolition of usury and of property, is the restoration of the family, it is the advent of the man-king, and of the woman-queen. Until this great reform is accomplished, men and women will not love one another: cupidity will infect their union, and behind cupidity comes brutality of the senses. Libertinism replaces love, and murder, finally, takes its […]

Working Translations

Han Ryner on the “Subjective” (from the Anarchist Encyclopedia)

April 17, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ezcol_2third] I suppose if the stuff that keeps me from getting important translation done is also translation of a useful sort, then my failure to stay on task isn’t quite so serious. In any event, chipping away at the entries in the Anarchist Encyclopedia is useful, and Han Ryner (Henri Ner) remains a rather under-represented voice in English. (These are working translations; all the usual cautions apply.) Subjective, Subjectivism, Subjectivity. These words are directly opposed to objective, objectivism, objectivity. The senses of the words subject and object and their compound forms are so varied in philosophy that their semantic history […]

“Property is Theft!” book launch in London

April 15, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

[From Iain McKay] Freedom Bookshop is hosting the book launch of“Property is Theft! A Pierre-Joseph ProudhonAnthology”. This is the new comprehensive anthology of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon’s writings published by AK Press. Proudhon was the first person to call themselves an anarchist and his ideas on property, state, exploitation, workers self-management, federalism and anarchy defined anarchism as a socio-economic theory. Join Iain McKay, the editor of “Property is Theft!”and author of “An Anarchist FAQ”, to discuss Proudhon’s ideas and why they are still importanttoday. “Property is Theft!” book launch: Saturday, 2pm to 4pm,21st May 2011 Freedom Bookshophttp://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/bookshop/ Angel Alley84b Whitechapel High StreetLondon […]

Contr'un

16th Annual Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair

April 7, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’m headed for the train station in about an hour, on my way to the 2011 Bay Area Anarchist Book Fair, where I’ll be tabling with Corvus Editions both Saturday and Sunday, April 9-10. Stop by and say “hello” if you’re at the fair. I’ve packed some translation work, so with a little luck I’ll have some new material by Joseph Charlier and Claude Pelletier ready to post soon after my return early next week.

Contr'un

Black and Red Feminism from 19th Century France

April 5, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’m gathering material for a fairly major foray into the works of 19th century French feminists, including completing the translations of some of the responses to Proudhon. But every major foray has to start with some exploratory expeditions, and I’ve gathered up a first selection of work by Jeanne Deroin and Andre Leo to plug the project at the Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair this weekend. Most of the material has appeared on this blog before, but this is the first time I’ve collected the various pieces. Read and distribute. Print and sell if you like. Pamphlet edition Pdf for onscreen […]

Joseph Déjacque, “The Human Being” (1857)

April 4, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve been working to track down the various feminist critiques of Proudhon by his contemporaries, and translate those which have not been translated. I was actually about half-way through a translation of Déjacque’s “On the Human Being, Male and Female,” when I stumbled across this translation that appeared in Lucifer the Lightbearer. I’ll try to post my own translation later , but Jonathan Mayo Crane rendering of the French certainly captures the spirit of Déjacque’s assault. Mayo’s translation appeared in two sections, and I’m posting them separately. THE HUMAN BEING. (Letter written to P. J. Proudhon by Joseph Déjacque in […]

Two Socialist Catechisms

March 28, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ezcol_2third] I’ve been reading around Proudhon quite a bit lately, trying to establish contexts as a step towards further clarifying his ideas. And I have been in search of 19th century English translations of the French socialists, as a step towards establishing the contexts for people like William B. Greene and William Henry Channing. There are large chunks of the writings of Charles Fourier, Victor Considerant, and a number of the important French socialist-feminists tucked away in the pages of American papers. The translations are often partial, and occasionally untrustworthy, but I’ve been setting aside time each week for searching, […]

Proudhon, “Man is Free”

March 26, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ezcol_2third] The short article by Proudhon, “God is Evil,” which I posted awhile back, was essentially the introduction to a longer piece, “Man is Free,” which followed it. I now have both articles translated and posted to the Libertarian Labyrinth archive. [/ezcol_2third] [ezcol_1third_end] [/ezcol_1third_end]

Proudhon, The Theory of Property – Chapter 2

March 24, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

Here’s another short chapter from The Theory of Property: THE THEORY OF PROPERTY Pierre-Joseph Proudhon CHAPTER II That property is absolute: prejudice opposed to absolutism. The recognition or institution of property is the most extraordinary, if not the most mysterious, act of the Collective Reason, an act that much more extraordinary and mysterious as, by its principle, property rejects collectivity and reason equally. Nothing is more simple, more clear than the material fact of appropriation: a corner of land is unoccupied; a man comes and establishes himself there, exactly as the eagle does in his canton, the fox in a […]