Theory of Property Archives - The Libertarian Labyrinth

How does property become anarchist?

March 21, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur

If we want a clear indication of the gulf between the possible (resultant) anarchism suggested by Proudhon’s mature work and the historical anarchism that emerged in the late 19th century, we probably don’t have to look beyond the almost universal suspicion that Proudhon’s final works themselves mark a retreat from the anarchist project — and the fact that the resultant anarchy that seems to occupy a central place in that work simply does not seem to register among our theoretical options.

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Ms. 2847 — Theory of Property

May 24, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

[…] [36] Give an exact, firm analysis of all my critiques, Ist Memoir, 1840 2nd Memoir, 1841 3rd Memoir, 1842 Creation of Order, 1843 Economic Contradictions, 1845 Le Peuple, etc., etc., 1848-1852 Justice, liv. V., 1858 Taxation, 1860 Literary Property, 1862 Make this summary as interesting as possible par la hauteur de la question, the strength of the critique, the movement of my mind. Recall the refutations of Mms. Thiers, Troplong, Sudre, etc. Say and repeat that this critique is indestructible in itself, apart from a single hypothesis, (which I will make known soon) ; That, in fact, Property is inadmissible […]

Ms. 2847 — Théorie de la propriété

May 24, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

[…] [36] Donner une analyse exacte et ferme de toutes mes critiques, Ier Mémoire, 1840 2e Mémoire, 1841 3e Mémoire, 1842 Création de l’ordre, 1843 Contradictions économiques, 1845 Le Peuple, etc., etc., 1848-1852 De la Justice, liv. V., 1858 De l’impôt, 1860 De la propriété littéraire, 1862 Rendre ce résumé aussi intéressant que possible par la hauteur de la question, la force de la critique, le mouvement de mon esprit. Rappeler les réfutations de Mms. Thiers, Troplong, Sudre, etc. Dire et répéter que cette critique est en elle-même indestructible hors une seule hypothèse, (que je ferai bientôt connaître.) ; Qu’en effet, […]

The Theory of Property (revision in progress)

May 22, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

This is the beginnings of a revision of the draft translation of Proudhon’s Théorie de la propriété that I originally posted back in 2014. The full draft translation is linked below. Work on the revision has stalled a bit, with other projects taking precedence, but I will have occasion to return to the work on Proudhon’s Pologne manuscripts, including Theory of Property, later this year. THEORY OF PROPERTY BY P.-J. PROUDHON [i] NOTICE THE READER In the preface placed at the beginning of the book on Art, we have undertaken to tell the public the state of the manuscripts […]

Ms. 2846 — Theory of Property

May 22, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

[This page is a work-in-progress.] [1] Dedication. Persons, Property. We work to avoid the economic question. It is from this point of view that I judge contemporary politics. We imagine meeting the needs of the situation with free exchange, with pension funds, with company towns, agiotage, and pisciculture, with the jockey-club! — We are mistaken… We excite the hatred of the populations against the old dynasties; we hopes by this sacrifice to save the aristocracies. The Romanovs, the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns, the Bourbons, etc., that is what we offer up as fodder for the hydra. But we work to save […]

Ms. 2846 — Théorie de la propriété

May 22, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

[This page is a work-in-progress.] [1] Dedicace. Personnes, Propriete. On travaille à éluder la question économique. C’est à ce point de vue que je juge la politique contemporaine. On croit satisfaire aux nécessités de la situation avec du libre échange, des caisses de retraite, des cités ouvrières, de l’agiotage, de la pisciculture, du jockey-club ! — On se trompe… On excite la haine des populations contre les vieilles dynasties ; on espère par ce sacrifice, sauver les aristocraties. Les Romanow, les Habsbourg, les Hohenzollern, les Bourbon, etc., voila ce qu’on offre en pâture à l’hydre. Mais on travaille à sauver les vieilles […]

The Reunification of “Pologne”

May 18, 2017 Shawn P. Wilbur

I needed a break from some other ongoing projects, and decided to take some time to transcribe more of the “Pologne” (Poland) manuscripts. The work turned out to be interesting enough—and the break from other tasks pleasant enough—that I have actually finished transcribing the bulk of the manuscript that would have made up the (announced, but never published) posthumous volume Géographie politique et nationalité (Political Geography and Nationality.) I have one long and not terribly legible footnote to work through, and then lots of miscellaneous manuscript pages to examine, but majority of the text—just under 60,000 words—is ready for proofreading, […]

Un Etat, c’est moi

July 6, 2014 Shawn P. Wilbur

[two_third padding=”0 10px 0 10px”] The manuscript of Proudhon’s Pologne keeps slowly giving up its secrets, and some of them are perfectly designed to blow 21st century anarchist minds. Reexamining The Theory of Property as Chapter VII of Pologne has meant that one of the things I have become most interested in is the reason why a “guarantism” involving individual property seems to be called for by the social and political evolution described in the first six chapters. That has meant reuniting the two manuscripts on the Besançon site, as much as is possible, and looking particularly closely for whatever […]

A passage missing from “The Theory of Property”

July 5, 2014 Shawn P. Wilbur

PROJECT: Principles of Nationality and Property I think that most of the concerns that readers have had regarding The Theory of Property have involved the possibility that something alien to Proudhon’s thought might have been introduced by the editors. Having checked most of the published work against the manuscript, I feel fairly confident that that wasn’t the case. It has been a bit more complicated to determine if any important parts of Proudhon’s argument were excluded from the published text. At some point, I will have a copy of the manuscript with all of the material that was incorporated marked […]

Moving forward with “The Theory of Property”

May 10, 2014 Shawn P. Wilbur

[ezcol_1third] Contr’un Revisited: [commentary coming soon] [/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end] I’ve been spending some quality time with the manuscript of Proudhon’s The Theory of Property, now that it is available through the Ville de Besançon site, and it’s been a fascinating experience. Having spent a lot of time with the published version over the last few years, there were a lot of moments when I could look at a page and, once I had deciphered the handwriting, could immediately place the manuscript material in the published work. On my first pass through, the page where Proudhon proclaims that “Humanity proceeds by approximation” […]