Our Lost Continent Archives - The Libertarian Labyrinth

A Schematic Anarchism: Notes on Application

November 9, 2022 Shawn P. Wilbur

It’s no very great leap from the position I had already taken in “A Schematic Anarchism” to the one I’ve been exploring in Proudhon’s manuscripts. In general, I have been proposing that we shift our approach from endless, more or less interminable arguments about whether or not a given ideology or practice is anarchism or not to analyses of proposed anarchisms that ask: “If we treat X as an instance of anarchism, in what sense is that claim true and how does it compare to other instances?” The answers to that question ought to demonstrate that some of the proposed anarchisms only qualify in the most trivial senses, on the basis of the most implausible explanations, while others can be plausibly situated among the ranks of anarchisms on the basis of a variety of plausible narratives.

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Anarchy: Lawless and Unprincipled

May 25, 2020 Shawn P. Wilbur

“A distinct, anarchy-centered anarchism is not just possible, but necessary, if we are to confront the systemic challenges facing us, and that anarchism seems likely, if seriously pursued, to be adequate to the task.” Related links: P.-J Proudhon, The Philosophy of Progress [pdf] “Anarchy: Historical, Abstract and Resultant“ “Authority, Liberty and the Federative Principle“ “Notes on Liberty and neo-Proudhonian Anarchism“ Defining Anarchy: The ideal republic is an organization that leaves all opinions and all activities free. In this republic, every citizen, by doing what he wishes and only what he wishes, participates directly in legislation and in government, as he […]

Positive Anarchy and Collective Force

May 11, 2020 Shawn P. Wilbur

Related links: Our Lost Continent and the Journey Back [main page] “Anarchism: Plain and Neo-Proudhonian“ “Legal Order“ “Archy vs. Anarchy“ “Authority and Authority-effects“ Theories of Anarchist Development Anarchy as a Beacon and as a Focus for Synthesis Defining Anarchy: A distinct, anarchy-centered anarchism is not just possible, but necessary, if we are to confront the systemic challenges facing us, and that anarchism seems likely, if seriously pursued, to be adequate to the task. We’re off to a good start, having defined anarchy in terms of a complete break with legal and governmental order. Any anarchism taking this concept of anarchy […]

Anarchy: Into the Maelstrom

May 9, 2020 Shawn P. Wilbur

Related links: Our Lost Continent and the Journey Back [main page] “1840: Proudhon’s Barbaric Yawp“ “Anarchism: Plain and neo-Proudhonian” (April 22, 2020) Defining Anarchy: First, we scuttle the ship of state, with all hands, if need be—ourselves included—if, for the moment, only in the realm of the imagination… After all the preliminaries, all the hesitations, it is time to take the plunge, to do our best to define anarchy in such a way that it can serve us as a guide and instrument in the exploration we have undertaken. And we have told ourselves that the anarchist conception of […]

Anarchist History: No End of Beginnings

July 21, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

After a couple of decades in the wilderness of history, in search of the elusive headwaters of the anarchist tradition, you stop beside some particularly active mountain spring and think that, while no serious seeker would every claim a single source for that tradition, you’ve probably been in the right neighborhood for some time now. Maybe it’s time to start thinking about the return trip.

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Anarchist History: Streamside Reflections and Preparations for the Journey

June 11, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

RELATED: “Our Lost Continent” (April, 2015) “Looking Forward—Mapping Our Lost Continent” (April, 2018) “Neo-Proudhonian Anarchism (A Step toward Synthesis)” (April 19, 2018) “Our Lost Continent: Episodes from an Alternate History of the Anarchist Idea, 1840–1934” (May, 2019) I expect that anyone who has made the experiment—on any scale, really—can attest that it is often much easier to venture out into the wilderness than it is to find our way home again. There is undoubtedly a lesson here for historians of what we call “the anarchist tradition,” and particularly for those of us whose researches have taken us deep into the […]

Anarchist History: Maps and Overland Guides

June 8, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

RELATED: “Our Lost Continent” (April, 2015) “Looking Forward—Mapping Our Lost Continent” (April, 2018) “Our Lost Continent: Episodes from an Alternate History of the Anarchist Idea, 1840–1934” (May, 2019) However cautious I might be about some common metaphors, I have to acknowledge that I have shown much less restraint in talking about mapping and in treating the terrain of anarchist history just a bit literally from time to time. The Libertarian Labyrinth name referred very explicitly to the experience of finding myself dropped—really of dropping myself—into the midst of a history, specifically that of the early anarchists in the United States, […]

Anarchist History: The Metaphor of the Main Stream

June 6, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

As tools for historical and cultural understanding, metaphors are obviously in the “use with great care” category and, as often as not, reveal more about our interpretive preconceptions than they do about the material we seek to interpret. But sometimes that’s just what is called for, as what needs to be more closely examined is at least as much the lens through which we are looking as it is the object of our scrutiny.

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Our Lost Continent: Episodes from an Alternate History of the Anarchist Idea, 1837–1936

May 3, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur

My goal overall is to produce a work that is at least potentially useful and shareable among anarchists of a variety of tendencies, as well as students of “the anarchist idea.” (The phrase is one of Nettlau’s that was obscured in translation.) But, to be honest, I am also very interested not to get too deeply involved in certain kinds of debate about how inclusive anarchist history ought to be. I expect that the best version of the work would hold little interest for those for whom anarchism does not appear still nascent in some important senses. For those willing to at least weigh the possibility of really sharing a historical tradition, I have some hope of presenting a relatively compelling case, but for others, honestly, I got nothin’…

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