Anarchist Writers

An article on the life and ideas of André Léo, an early French feminist and (libertarian) socialist. A member of the First International and a leading participant in the Paris Commune. It first appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Vol. 4 No. 2 (Summer 2024).

A review of a book on evolutionary theory and altruism which discusses Kropotkin. Unfortunately, as shown, the account of Kropotkin’s ideas is flawed and so both “mutual aid” and his contribution to science are obscured.

An article debunking a Leninist article on Emma Goldman. It shows the dishonesty of the original article and indicates Goldman’s class struggle anarchist-communist politics and life. It first appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review Vol. 4 No. 2 (Summer 2024).

The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:

https://www.blackflag.org.uk

The main focus of this issue is Emma Goldman. While much, rightly, has been written about this stalwart of the movement for fifty years, it has all too often been focused on her life or her feminism. While this is understandable – her life was eventful (to say the least) and her feminism is important – this has led to a downplaying of her communist-anarchism. Here we seek to address this by means of a debunking of a deeply dishonest Leninist account of her life. This shows two things.

A review of a book by a leading Trotskyist which shows his ignorance of anarchism. It shows the flaws within his account of Bakunin and Kropotkin plus discusses the roots of a mentality which allows someone to write about a subject (anarchism) which they clearly known next to nothing about.

The Dutch-American primatologist and ethologist Frans de Waal died of stomach cancer on 14 March 2024. His research was of interest to anarchists for it centred on primate social behaviour, including conflict resolution, cooperation, inequity aversion and empathy. In other words, subjects which Peter Kropotkin pioneered in Mutual Aid and Ethics.

This first appeared in Scottish Anarchist Number 2 (1995) and was written in response to the collapse of Barings Bank. It discusses the issues associated for anarchists and labour with the increased globalisation of capitalism. Some slight changes have been made to fix typos and add references.

The new issue of Black Flag: Anarchist Review is now available:

https://www.blackflag.org.uk

We cover two women who played key parts in British anarchism, albeit in different eras. Charlotte M. Wilson played a key role in the earliest days of the British anarchist movement. She was a co-founder with Kropotkin of Freedom in 1886, which she edited and wrote for. While she eventually dropped out of the movement, her contribution warrants remembering. Marie-Lousie Berneri likewise played a key role in the movement, this time in the late 1930s and 1940s. The daughter of Camillo Berneri, she helped with Spain and the World (later Revolt!, then War Commentary before becoming Freedom in 1945) and the rebirth of anarchism as an organised movement in Britain. Her early death was a tragic loss, as can be seen from the writings we include.

A discussion on Anarchist approaches to national liberation movements using the film Braveheart as its starting point. It appeared in the third issue of (the short-lived) Scottish Anarchist (1995). At the present time, independence via the ballot-box has run into a (predictable) dead-end and it can only be hoped that a move to anti-parliamentarian tactics develops (most obviously, general strikes)

My introduction to the 2022 PM Press edition of Peter Kropotkin’s Words of a Rebel. As well as the original 1885 book, it includes later prefaces (1904 Italian edition and the 1919 Russian edition) and Afterword to the 1919 Russian edition as well as supplementary material by Kropotkin on the labour movement from Le Révolté written as the same time. The Bibliographical Sketch has been updated to reflect new research on the first translations into English of its texts.