Working Translations

Proudhon Library

Poland: Principles, 1.1

April 20, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
[ezcol_1half] Première partie. Les principes. — Chapitre premier. Histoire et nationalité. Question polonais.—L’histoire conçue comme une instruction judiciaire : nécessité pour écrire l’histoire et juger un nation de poser quelques principes.—Doctrine d’immanence : que l’organisme politique est le produit de la spontanéité sociale, et que là où cette dernière fait défaut, l’état devenant impuissant et impossible, la nationalité demeure nulle.—Épuisement de le spontanéité dans les nations : Juifs, Grecs, Romains et Italiens.—Divisions de l’histoire de Pologne : conclusion défavorable à la revendication des Polonais. §1.— Question polonaise. Les Polonais se plaignent qu’un crime a été commis contre leur nationalité vers la fin du 18e […]
Bakunin Library

Mikhail Bakunin, “The Reveille of the Peoples” (1870)

April 15, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
The Germans have just rendered an immense service to the French people. They have destroyed its army. The French army! That terrible instrument of imperial despotism, that unique reason for the existence of the Napoleons! As long as it existed, bristling with its fratricidal bayonets, there was no salvation for the French people. France could have a pronunciamento as in Spain, a military revolution, but never liberty. Paris, Lyon and so many other worker cities of France, know it well. Today that immense army, with its formidable organization, no longer exists. France can be free. It will be free, thanks […]
Bakunin Library

Mikhail Bakunin, from “Philosophical Considerations on the Divine Phantom, the Real World and Man” (1870)

April 6, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
[Here is a selection from the beginning of the “Appendix” to The Knouto-Germanic Empire and the Social Revolution, which Bakunin wrote in November-December, 1870.] Philosophical Considerations on the Divine Phantom, the Real World and Man 1. The System of the World This is not the place to enter into philosophical speculations about the nature of Being. However, as I find myself forced to use this word, nature, often, I believe I should say what I mean by it. I could say that nature is the sum of all really existing things. But that would give a completely dead idea of […]
Bakunin Library

Mikhail Bakunin, “Letter to Arnold Ruge” (May 1843)

February 28, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
[Translated from the French text published in La vie ouvrière, No. 112, May 20, 1914, ] B. to R. St. Peter’s Island, Lake Biel, May 1843. Our friend Marx has passed on your letter from Berlin. You seem disgruntled with Germany. You only see the family and the bourgeois, cooped up with all its thoughts and all its desires between four stakes, and you do not want to believe in the springtime that will make it emerge from its hole. Ah, dear friend! Do not lose faith! You especially, do not lose it! What! me, the Russian, the Barbarian, I […]
anarchist synthesis

Ricardo Mella, “The Bankruptcy of Beliefs” and “The Rising Anarchism” (1902-03)

January 18, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
It’s been quiet here for quite a while, while I have been concentrating on writing and research in some new areas. A lot of my attention has been focused on the question of “anarchist synthesis” and my exploration of the debate surrounding it has finally forced me to dive deep into the Spanish-language anarchist periodicals of the early 20th century. Sources like La Revista Blanca and the “Suplementos” of the Argentinian paper La Protesta are remarkably rich in material from a variety of tendencies and nations, and the research has uncovered a number of very interesting discussion on the question […]
Working Translations

Sebastien Faure, “A word to my dear friends in the AFA” (1928)

January 5, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
This is the second of two previously untranslated sections of “The Anarchist Synthesis.” [ezcol_1half] Un mot à mes chers amis de l’Association des fédéralistes anarchistes (l’AFA) Mes chers amis, Je vous connais presque tous personnellement et je sais quel est votre état d’esprit. J’ai le sentiment que tous vous approuverez l’initiative que je prends et qu’aurait pu prendre tout comme moi n’importe lequel d’entre vous, s’il y eût songé. Vous estimerez donc que, d’une part, il convient de répandre à profusion cette idée de la « Synthèse anarchiste » servant de base à un regroupement entièrement nouveau des forces anarchistes […]
Working Translations

Sébastien Faure, “An appeal to all the comrades residing in France” (1928)

January 4, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur
This is the first of two previously untranslated sections of “The Anarchist Synthesis.” [ezcol_1half] Appel à tous les compagnons quel que soit leur pays d’origine résidant en France: Le débat sur la synthèse anarchiste, comme base d’une organisation anarchiste entièrement nouvelle en France est et reste ouvert. Il n’est pas question de l’étouffer. Pour qu’il soit fécond, il est indispensable qu’il se poursuive dans une atmosphère de franchise, de loyauté et de camaraderie. Sinon, loin de cicatriser la plaie, il ne ferait que l’envenimer. Mais je sais qu’il existe un nombre considérable de camarades qui, las de nos querelles intestines […]
anarchism without adjectives

Fernando Tarrida del Mármol, “La teoría revolucionaria” (1889)

December 17, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_half padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] LA TEORÍA REVOLUCIONARIA Lema: La teoría revolucionaria que puede considerarse mas conforme con la Naturaleza, la Ciencia y la Justicia, es la que prescinde de todo dogma político, económico y religioso. – X. Vamos a demostrar que para establecer una teoría revolucionaria que no pugne con la Naturaleza, la Ciencia ó la Justicia, cuando no contra las tres á la vez, es indispensable deshacerse de todo dogma, sea político, sea social, sea económico. sea religioso. I Dogmas Políticos La política es el arte de gobernar á los pueblos. Desde los tiempos antiguos hasta nuestros días, […]
Proudhon Library

Proudhon, “LVIII. — System of public reason, or social system” (Justice)

November 28, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
LVIII. — Système de la raison publique, ou système social. Que de fois ne me suis-je pas entendu adresser ce compliment que la critique jalouse se hâterait, pour l’honneur du siècle, de retirer, si elle en comprenait la portée : Vous êtes un admirable destructeur; mais vous ne construisez rien. Vous jetez les gens à la rue, et vous ne leur offrez pas le moindre abri. Que mettez-vous à la place de la religion? Que mettez-vous à la place du gouvernement? Que mettez-vous à la place de la propriété? On me dit à présent: Que mettez-vous à la place de […]
anarchist synthesis

Voline, “On Synthesis” (1924)

October 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
  On Synthesis I. Legend maintains that Jesus Christ gave no response to the question of Pontius Pilate: “What is truth?” And it is very likely that in these tragic moments he hardly had the heart to concern himself with philosophical arguments. But even if he had had the time and the desire to engage in a controversy concerning the essence of truth, it would not have been easy for him to respond in a definitive manner. Many centuries have passed since then. Humanity has made more than one step toward knowledge of the world. The question of Pontius Pilate […]