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Working Translations

Elisée Reclus, “Why Are We Anarchists?” (1899)

July 13, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
Pourquoi sommes-nous anarchistes ? Les quelques lignes qui suivent ne constituent pas un programme. Elles n’ont d’autre but que de justifier l’utilité qu’il y aurait d’élaborer un projet de programme qui serait soumis à l’étude, aux observations, aux critiques de tous les révolutionnaires communistes. Peut-être cependant renferment-elles une ou deux considérations qui pourraient trouver leur place dans le projet que je demande. Nous sommes révolutionnaires parce que nous voulons la justice et que partout nous voyons l’injustice régner autour de nous. C’est en sens inverse du travail que sont distribués les produits du travail. L’oisif a tous les droits, même […]
Corvus Editions

Corvus Editions: Anarchistic Frontiers

July 12, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
I am not sure there is any way forward but to gather together the fruits of the last couple of decades or research and present them for use, as if there was an audience ready and willing to use them. And since we’re talking about works deemed insufficiently commercial even for the niches filled by anarchist publishers and academic presses, the way to do that is through print-on-demand volumes. So the next phase of the Corvus Edition story involves a line of collections published through Lulu.

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Working Translations

Elisée Reclus, “The Anarchist” (1902)

July 11, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
By definition, the anarchist is the free man, [1] the one who has no master. The ideas that he professes are indeed his own through reasoning. His will, springing from the understanding of things, focuses on a clearly defined aim; his acts are the direct realization of his individual intent. Alongside those who devoutly repeat the words of others or the traditional saying, who make their being bend and conform to the caprice of a powerful individual, or, what is still more grave, to the oscillations of the crowd, he alone is a man, he alone is conscious of his value in the face of all these spineless and inconsistent things that dare not live their own lives.

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Working Translations

What is the Anarchist Entente? (1928)

July 11, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
Each tendency makes its own propaganda, each association functioning as it sees fit, each paper expounding its specific claims. No polemics between persons or tendencies. Neither shop competition nor struggles to monopolize. Neither absorption, nor fusion, nor confusion. To each its place its place in the sun, its tactics, its path and its pace, its achievements and its experiences, provided that it does not entail recourse to the State or to governmental sanctions. Peace among us and war to the archists.

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egoist anarchism

John Henry Mackey, “L’Œuvre de Max Stirner: L’Unique et sa propriété”

July 10, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
Qu’est-ce que L’unique et sa propriété ?  — Que nous apporte ce livre ? — Où résident sa grandeur, son importance, son immoralité ? — En un mot, quel est le secret de la puissance qu’il exerce « sur nous » ?

A toutes ces questions, l’œuvre elle-même est la seule qui peut naturellement donner une réponse adéquate. Seule son étude approfondie et réitérée peut nous en approcher, et rien ne saurait et ne doit remplacer et ce travail et cette jouissance.

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Han Ryner

Han Ryner (1861-1938)

July 6, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
Working Translations: Han Ryner, “The Revolt of the Machines“ (1896) Han Ryner, “A Transition” (“The Secret of Don Juan”) (1897) (FR/EN) Han Ryner, “Duel upon Duel” (“The Penny-Pincher”) (1899) (FR/EN) Han Ryner, “The Paradox” (1915) Han Ryner, “Love Victorious” (1917) Han Ryner, “Deo Optimo Maximo” (1919) (FR/EN) Han Ryner, “What is the Individual?” (1919) Han Ryner, “The Little Exile” (1920) Han Ryner, from “The Congress of Poets“ Han Ryner, “Subjective, Subjectivism, Subjectivity” (Anarchist Encyclopedia) (FR/EN) Revue Anarchiste, “Is the Anarchist Ideal Achievable?” (1930) (FR/EN) Related links: Amis de Han Ryner Wikisource Anarchist Library [English] [French] Anarlivres: bibliography
Benjamin R. Tucker

Benjamin R. Tucker (1854-1939)

July 5, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
While some of my earliest major projects focused on the work of Tucker and his circle, including the digitization of Liberty, Libertas and the Radical Review, my extensive notes have never been collected online. This page is finally an attempt to draw that material in one place, starting with the notes from the old Libertarian Labyrinth wiki and existing posts here in the main archive. Related Links: Benjamin R. Tucker [category feed] Liberty (1881-1907) The Radical Review (1877-1878) The Why I Ams What Mutualism Was: Coming to Terms with Our Anarchist Past “I hope to do some work for the […]
From the Archives

Sidney H. Morse, “Ethics of the Homestead Strike” (1892)

July 4, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
“Ethics of the Homestead Strike” appeared in the third volume of The Conservator over the signature “* * *.” In the next volume, another tale, “A Social Symphony: In Six Movements,” appeared with the same signature. It was, however, interrupted after the fourth “movement.” The style of the work suggests it is another work by Sidney H. Morse, so I have included it here, at the end of “Ethics.” Related links: in The Conservator [Google Books] pamphlet [Google Books] Bilbliography: * * * [Sidney H. Morse], “Ethics of the Homestead Strike,” The Conservator 3 no. 6 (August, 1892): 42-44; 3 […]