translations Archives - Page 8 of 10 - The Libertarian Labyrinth

Early uses of the term “capitalisme” in French

July 19, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

The accounts of the early uses of the term “capitalism” have not kept up at all with the sources now available for research. For example, on Wikipedia we find: According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the term capitalism was first used by novelist William Makepeace Thackeray in 1854 in The Newcomes, where he meant “having ownership of capital.” Also according to the OED, Carl Adolph Douai, a German-American socialist and abolitionist, used the term private capitalism in 1863. The initial usage of the term capitalism in its modern sense has been attributed to Louis Blanc in 1850 and Pierre-Joseph […]

Black and Red Feminism

Feminism in Lyon before 1848 — Eugénie Niboyet

June 6, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

This short account of the life of Eugénie Niboyet is the first part of an article that appeared in the Revue d’histoire de Lyon (Vol. 7, 1908, pp. 348-358). The second half of the article focuses on Flora Tristan in Lyon in 1844—which will be at least slightly more familiar subject-matter for most people—but the lesser-known Mme. Niboyet was really one of the most formidable figures of feminism in the 19th century. She was a prolific writer, editor, and translator. She organized around women’s issues, pacifism and the abolition of the death penalty. She had close ties to most of […]

Charles Fourier on the Pear-Growers’ Series

June 3, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

This illustration of Fourier’s theory of the play of passional attractions and progressive series is something I have referred to in the past, in “The Lesson of the Pear-Growers’ Series.”Ian Patterson has done a lovely, complete translation of it for the Cambridge edition of The Theory of the Four Movements, but I’ve wanted for some time to spend enough time with the French to work up a usable translation of my own, since I expect to have recourse to the example again in forthcoming work. Working through Fourier’s prose is at once maddening and delightful, since there is frequently a […]

Fundamental Principles of Socialism (1849)

May 30, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

Here’s another translation from the work of Proudhon’s associate, C.-F Chevé, the statement of principles from Le Socialiste : journal de l’égal-échange [The Socialist: Journal of Equal-Exchange], which he co-edited. This is taken from the first issue, July 1849. Some differences with Proudhon’s position will be immediately obvious, not the least of which is his tendency to use “anarchy” in the sense of disorder (although, to be fair, Proudhon and nearly all the anarchists of his generation also did this from time to time.) This “general account” is actually fairly lengthy, and was serialized over multiple issues. I’ve provided this […]

Contr'un

Proudhon, What is Government? What is God?

May 26, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

Proudhon’s essay “What is Government? What is God?” appeared first in the Voix du Peuple, November 5, 1849, then as the preface to The Confessions of a Revolutionary, as well as in the Melanges volumes of the Lacroix collected works. It was the occasion for one of the more important responses by Pierre Leroux—a response which seems to have influenced William Batchelder Greene.

Maxime Leroy, Stirner vs. Proudhon (1905)

May 26, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve posted a working translation of Maxime Leroy’s essay, “Stirner vs. Proudhon,” which originally appeared in 1905 in La Renaissance latine. The essay is really not much about Proudhon, and is perhaps ambivalent in its approach to Stirner, but it is certainly interesting enough to have been worth the work.

Jules Allix, a most unusual Communard

April 28, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

I’ve been spending a lot of time this month working on the “Black and Red Feminism” project, trying to expand the pilot pamphlet into something a little more broadly representative, for release as a small hardcover volume. That’s meant a lot of exploring, a few new figures of the “usual suspects” gallery here, and a little burst of new translations, like the Séverine story I just posted, and a Paule Mink story I hope to complete tomorrow. While I have not been looking as closely at the male feminists of the 1848 and Paris Commune periods, a few individuals have […]

communism

Down with the Communists! (by a communist)

April 25, 2011 Shawn P. Wilbur

Just for fun, here’s a short, entertaining dialogue by “utopian” communist Étienne Cabet (undated, but probably 1848-9.) DOWN WITH THE COMMUNISTS! A Bourgeois. — Yes, sir! Down with the Communists! An Icarian.— No, sir. You shouldn’t say “Down with the Communists!” The Bourgeois. — Down, down with the Communists! The Icarian. — But why do you want that so badly? The Bourgeois. — Because they are brigands!… The Icarian. — Really! If that was true, you would be right, and I would cry out with you… But why do you say that they are brigands ? The Bourgeois. — Because […]

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 […]

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 […]