anthology texts Archives - The Libertarian Labyrinth

William Henry van Ornum, “What is Anarchy?” (1897)

November 18, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

The average man has imbibed a general idea that anarchy is something quite terrible; and it is only necessary to brand a man as an anarchist to damn him in the eyes of the unthinking […]

Mikhail Bakunin, “What is Authority” (1870)

September 7, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

NOTE: This passage is generally known as part of “God and the State” (Dieu et l’État, first published in 1882), but it appears in Bakunin’s manuscript as part of “Sophismes historiques de l’école doctrinaire des […]

Mikhail Bakunin, “I believe neither in constitutions, nor in laws” (1848)

September 4, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

[Max Nettlau has pointed to this letter as the first evidence of anarchist leanings in Bakunin’s writings.] [Early August, 1848] To Citizen George Herwegh. Paris. [Rue St. Augustins] 40 9 [r. sur Cirque] To George […]

Ernest Coeurderoy, “Demolish Authority!” (1850)

September 4, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

[From Days of Exile, Vol. 1] To make the Revolution pass, like a red-hot iron, across this century, one thing alone must be done: Demolish authority. This proposition has no need of demonstration. Let each […]

P.-J. Proudhon, “The Third Form of Society” (1840)

September 2, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

[From Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, What is Property?] 3. Determination of the third social form. Conclusion Therefore, no government, no public economy, no administration is possible with property for a basis. Community seeks equality and law. Property, […]

Elisée Reclus, “The Development of Liberty in the World” (c. 1850)

September 2, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

The Development of Liberty in the World An Unpublished Study Elisée Reclus I. In past centuries, peoples only fought for their passions or their immediate interests; it was without remorse, it was even with gladness […]

Elisée Reclus, “An Anarchist on Anarchy” (1884)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

“It is a pity that such men as Elisée Reclus cannot be promptly shot.” – Providence Press To most Englishmen, the word Anarchy is so evil-sounding that ordinary readers of the Contemporary Review will […]

Albert R. Parsons on Anarchy (1887)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

“In the effort of the prosecution to hold up our opinions to public execration they lost sight of the charge of murder. Disloyalty to their class, and their boasted civilization is in their eyes a […]

Lucy E. Parsons on Anarchy (1887)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

From Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Scientific Basis as Defined by Some of Its Apostles [We are frequently asked, ‘what is anarchy and what do the anarchists want?’ We are free to confess that in all […]

Dyer D. Lum, “On Anarchy” (1887)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur

I—WHAT IS ANARCHY. The statesman, intent on schemes to compromise principles and tide over clamorous demands for justice, says it is disorder and spoliation. New taxes are then levied to defend the state, to repress […]