An article about John Most, the German anarchist. It discusses his ideas on revolution and tactics between 1882 and 1886, showing that he was not an anarchist although heading in that direction. It appeared in Black Flag Anarchist Review (Spring 2026)
(more…)Category: Anarchist History
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Peter Kropotkin: Science and Syndicalism
This is a write-up of my notes for the book launch of Kropotkin’s Modern Science and Anarchy in Nottingham, 17th of November 2018. This, in turn, was a slightly revised version of a talk I did in Edinburgh early that year. As with all my subsequent write-ups, this is more what I aimed to say rather than what was said (this, for example, has far fewer jokes than uttered on the day). Still, it covers the main points said on the day.
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Review: Black Flame
A short review of Black Flame which, in general, is very good. I have my disagreements with it, particularly on its inclusion of Marxist-syndicalists into the wider anarchist tradition and exclusion of Proudhon. This was written before the revelation that Michael Schmidt had ties to white nationalism. Needless to say, the book itself shows no signs of that and remains a good, if flawed, account of class struggle anarchism.
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The Revolutionary Ideas of Emma Goldman
A talk given in Glasgow in 2024 about Emma Goldman and her anarchist ideas.
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A Few Thoughts on Anarchism
Written to mark the 175th anniversary of Proudhon’s What is Property? this article places anarchism in its intellectual and social context and disputes the notion that anarchism can be best considered as a fusion (or confusion) of liberalism and socialism. It is not. It appeared under a different title in Black Flag No. 237 (2015)
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