A write up of a talk given in Glasgow in May 2022 on the life and ideas of Peter Kropotkin to mark the anniversary of his birth. As usual, this write-up reflects what I wanted to say rather than what was actually said but it is close enough.
(more…)Category: Peter Kropotkin
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A Few Notes about Anarchist Economics
A short discussion of what anarchist economics could be. While there is no “Anarchist” economics as such, there are works on economics by anarchists to build upon. It indicates that there are two aspects of this subject — the economics of an anarchist society and an analysis and critique of capitalism. The two are interrelated, for what we oppose in capitalism would not exist within an anarchist economy. From 2018.
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“How Revolutions must not be made” — and the alternative
A review of Goldman’s account of her experiences in Russia, plus a review of a classic collection of Kropotkin’s essays. Both contain much wisdom for modern revolutionaries.
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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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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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